Wayne State 80 Minnesota State 49
Wayne State College, ranked 18th in the USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll pounced on Minnesota State early in a 80-49 win in the Northern Sun opener in Mankato, Minnesota. Ashley Arlen a junior from Cascade, Iowa scored a season high 26 points in the win with 20 of her points coming in the first half. Arlen also grabbed 12 rebounds to earn her second double-double of the season. The win makes the Wildcats 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the NSIC and the loss drops the Mavericks to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the league.
Wayne State jumped on the Mavericks early jumping out to a 12-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game. The Wildcats would continue to put pressure on Minnesota State as Arlen poured in 12 points in the opening 10 minutes of play. WSC held a lead as large as 16 in the first half and never held a lead smaller then seven points (26-19 at the 5:41 mark) in the stanza. Wayne State shot .480 percent from the field in the first half and held the Mavericks to only .260 percent from the field and only allowed MSU one point in the final six minutes of the stanza.
The Wildcats continued their dominance in the opening minutes of the second half. Wayne State outscored the Mavericks 12-3 in the opening five minutes to take a 48-23 lead. Clare Duwelius was red hot in the second half as the junior from Des Moines, Iowa scored eight straight points. A pair of three pointers by Julie Ann Wagner extended the Wildcats lead to 34 points as the Wildcats cruised from that point on to take the NSIC opener 80-49.
The Wildcats dominated the boards grabbing 43 rebounds compared to the Maverick's 25 boards. Wayne State shot 50 percent (27 of 54) from the field and 43 percent (9 of 21) from the three point line. Wayne State shot 71 percent (17 of 24) from the charity stripe. Minnesota State was held to 35 percent (19 of 55) from the field and 30 percent (6 of 20) from the three point line. Minnesota State held the advantage in turnovers with only 15 compared to the Wildcats 17.
Wayne State was led by Arlen with her second double-double of the season, a season high 26 points and 12 boards. Arlen shot 75 percent from the field going 9 of 12. Duwelius added 15 points all of which came in the second stanza. Wagner also added a season high 11 points for the Wildcats as the senior was 3 of 4 from behind the arc. Mara Hjelle chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds with five of her seven rebounds came off of the offensive glass.
The Mavericks were led by Lauren Barber who had 13 points. Laura Weber added 12 points and four rebounds. Ali Wilkinson led Minnesota State with five rebounds.
Wayne State will conclude their Northern Sun Conference road trip Saturday evening with a 6:00 p.m. contest at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minnesota.
