#18 Wayne State 72 Cal State Stanislaus 49
The Wayne State College women's basketball team, ranked 18th in the USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll, opened the 2010-11 season Friday evening with a 72-49 win over Cal State Stanislaus in a non-conference contest played in Turlock, California. The Wildcats used balanced scoring with four players in double figures while shooting 49 percent from the field in the victory.
WSC trailed just once in the game, 2-0, and there were two ties early in the contest. With the score tied at 9-9 with 12:32 left in the first half, the Wildcats went on a 10-2 run over the next 2:26 with Alyssa Fischbach scoring six of the points to put WSC up 19-11 at the 10:06 mark of the first half. Ashley Arlen's three pointer with 8:14 to play in the half gave WSC its first double digit lead of the game at 24-13, but Cal State Stanislaus made a run at the Wildcats and pulled within three at 28-25 following a Katie Busi basket with 3:49 remaining in the half. Wayne State responded and scored the next nine points and took a 37-25 lead with 1:06 to go in the half on a Renee Wood three pointer and the Wildcats ended the half with a 37-29 lead.
The Wildcats scored the first four points of the second half to take a 41-29 lead and never let the host Warriors get any closer than 10 points the rest of the night as Wayne State pulled away in the second half for the win. The Wildcats put the game out of reach midway through the second half as WSC went on a 14-3 run over a span of 6:34 to take a 60-37 lead with 10:38 remaining following a Mara Hjelle jumper. 12 Wildcat players saw action in the game as WSC went on to the lopsided win to capture the season opener.
Wayne State had four players in double figures in scoring led by senior center Mara Hjelle with 16 points and 10 rebounds followed by senior forward Alyssa Fischbach with 12 points and nine boards. Junior point guard Ali Schwartzwald accounted for 12 points, one shy of her career-high, while NSIC Preseason Player of the Year Ashley Arlen opened with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Wildcats made 26 of 53 shots from the field for 49.1 percent, hitting 6 of 14 three pointers. WSC was 14 of 19 at the charity stripe.
For Cal State Stanislaus, Katie Busi scored a team-high 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Warriors. CSUS shot just 24.7 percent from the field on 21 of 85, making 6 of 13 from the three point line. The Warriors were just 1 of 2 at the foul line.
WSC won the rebounding battle over Cal State Stanislaus 46-36 thanks to 10 boards apiece by Arlen and Hjelle and nine from Fischbach. The Wildcats did have 24 turnovers to just 10 for the Warriors.
Wayne State will be on the road again next weekend, playing at the Colorado Christian Tip Off Classic in Lakewood, Colorado. The Wildcats meet host Colorado Christian Friday night at 8:00 p.m. and then face Colorado School of Mines, an NCAA Tournament qualifier from last season, Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
