Saturday, January 31, 2009

Wayne State 70 Concordia University 62

Wayne State sophomore center Jodie Boss scored 16 of her career-high tying 22 points in the second half to lead WSC in a 70-62 NSIC women's basketball victory over Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday evening in Wayne.  Wayne State improved to 11-9 overall and 8-5 in the NSIC with the win.  The visiting Golden Bears dropped to 13-10 overall and 5-8 in the NSIC with the loss.

           

Concordia led for the majority of the first half.  The Golden Bears led by as many as seven points in the opening half of play and took a 32-30 lead into the halftime break.  CSP extended the lead early in the second half and led by as many as eight points on two separate occasions.  However, Wayne State managed to hang around and took their first lead of the game at 56-55 with just under five minutes to play on a layup by Alisha Brown.  With the game tied 58-58 with just over three minutes remaining, Jodie Boss sparked a key run to give the Wildcats the advantage.  Boss hit a layup with 2:15 remaining and was fouled on the play.  She connected on the free throw to give WSC a 61-58 lead.  Boss then came up with a steal on CU's next possession.  WSC's Clare Duwelius then found Boss for another layup to boost the Wildcat lead to five at 63-58 with 1:48 left in the game.  The Golden Bears got as close as three at 64-61, but Wayne State held on for the win. 

           

Wayne State hit 22 of 60 shots in the game for 36.7 percent.  The 'Cats were 8-14 from the three point line and hit 18 of 24 free throws for 75 percent.  The Golden Bears made 24 of 67 shots in the contest for 35.8 percent.  Concordia-St. Paul hit 9 of 28 three point attempts and went just 5-13 from the free throw line.  Wayne State held a 49-41 rebounding advantage.  Concordia-St. Paul had 12 turnovers while WSC had 11. 

           

Jodie Boss led the way for Wayne State, adding a game-high 11 rebounds and five blocks to her 22 points.  Clare Duwelius added 12 points and four assists while Ali Schwartzwald scored 10 points for the 'Cats.  Candace Olstad scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the way for CU.  Kali Olstad added 15 points for the Golden Bears.         

           

Wayne State will be on the road next Saturday night when the Wildcats visit Augustana College in Sioux Falls for a 6:00 p.m. Northern Sun Conference contest.