Wayne State 66 St. Cloud State 52
Sophomore forward Ashley Arlen scored a game-high 25 points and Wayne State won for the first time ever in St. Cloud as the Wildcats posted a 66-52 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win at St. Cloud State Friday evening. It was the fourth straight win and sixth win in the last seven games for Wayne State, now 15-4 overall and 8-4 in the NSIC, while St. Cloud State drops to 8-11 overall and 3-9 in league play.
Wayne State and Ashley Arlen got off to a quick start as the Cascade, Iowa native scored the first nine points of the game to give the Wildcats an early 9-0 lead with 16:24 to play in the first half. The host Huskies got within three points at 13-10 following a Talisha Barlow jumper at the 11:35 mark to force WSC head coach Chris Kielsmeier to call a timeout. The Wildcats responded out of the timeout with a 13-4 run over the next 6:07 and took a 26-14 lead on a Renee Wood three pointer with 5:28 to go in the first half. WSC ended the half with a nine point lead at 28-19, holding St. Cloud State to just 21 percent shooting (7 of 33) in the first half.
In the second half, Wayne State withstood a pair of St. Cloud State runs and ended the game strong. WSC held a 34-25 lead with 16:45 to play following a jumper by Ashley Arlen, but SCSU got within two points at 36-34 with 13:20 left on a Talisha Barlow jumper. Three pointers by Arlen and Clare Duwelius and a jumper by Arlen allowed WSC to take a 10 point lead (44-34) with 11:55 remaining. The host Huskies threw one more run at the Wildcats and got as close as three at 50-47 with 7:47 to play after a three pointer by Jordi Gerking. WSC then used a jumper from Mara Hjelle, a three pointer from Duwelius and a three point play by Alisha Brown to score the next eight points, taking a 58-47 lead with 4:59 to play. SCSU never got closer than nine points the rest of the night as WSC went on to the 66-52 win.
Arlen led all scorers for Wayne State with a game-high 25 points, making 11 of 16 shots from the field and 2 of 2 at the free throw stripe. Sophomore Clare Duwelius was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 17 points off the bench, sinking 5 of 11 shots from the field and 4 of 8 from behind the three point line.
Wayne State finished the game making 25 of 53 shots for 47.2 percent. The 'Cats were 6 of 16 behind the three point line and 10 of 11 from the charity stripe.
For St. Cloud State, Becca Friestleben scored 12 points followed by Talisha Barlow with 10. The Huskies made just 20 of 61 shots from the field for 32.8 percent. SCSU was 7 of 27 from the three point line and 5 of 7 at the free throw line.
Both teams finished the game with 36 rebounds. Mara Hjelle grabbed 13 boards to lead Wayne State while Friestleben hauled in eight caroms for St. Cloud State. WSC had 22 turnovers in the game while forcing the Huskies into 21 miscues.
Wayne State will be on the road again Saturday evening for a key NSIC contest at NSIC leading and 23rd-ranked Concordia-St. Paul starting at 6:00 p.m.
