January 30, 2009

St. Cloud State 63 Wayne State 54

St. Cloud State earned a 63-54 NSIC women's basketball win over Wayne State on Friday evening in Wayne.  The visiting Huskies never trailed in the game and moved to 17-2 overall with a 10-2 mark in the NSIC with the win.  Wayne State dropped to 10-9 overall and 7-5 in the NSIC with the loss. 

SCSU led by as many as 15 in the first half and settled for a 39-26 halftime lead.  St. Cloud State hit 16 of 32 shots in the first half while WSC managed to connect on just 11 of 29 shots (37.9 percent) in the opening half of play.  Wayne State managed to hang around in the second half and got as close as five on two separate occasions.  However, SCSU was able to hang on for the 63-54 win. 

           

St. Cloud State hit 22 of 57 shots in the game for 38.6 percent.  The Huskies were 17 of 26 at the foul line and 2 of 6 from behind the three point line.  Wayne State made 21 of 64 shots on the evening for 32.8 percent.  The 'Cats were 9 of 11 from the free throw line, but made just 3 of 21 three point attempts in the contest.  St. Cloud State held a 48-37 rebounding advantage in the game and had 18 turnovers compared to 13 for Wayne State. 

           

Rachel Booth led the way for St. Cloud State with 18 points and 12 rebounds.  Booth was held to just two points in the second half after scoring 16 in the first half.  Katie Tacheny and Talisha Barlow each added 12 points for the Huskies.  Wayne State was led by Laquisha Cook's game-high 25 points.  Mara Hjelle was the only other player in double figures for the 'Cats with 10 points.  Hjelle also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while Jodie Boss added seven boards and five blocked shots for WSC in the loss.    

           

Wayne State will be at home again Saturday evening when Concordia, St. Paul pays a visit to Rice Auditorium for a 6:00 p.m. Northern Sun Conference game.