#9 Wayne State 71 South Dakota School of Mines 65
Freshman guard Ashton Yossi scored 16 points to lead a Wayne State bench that produced 39 points as the NCAA Division II 9th-ranked Wildcats held off stubborn South Dakota School of Mines 71-65 in non-conference women's basketball played Friday evening at Goodell Gymnasium in Rapid City, South Dakota. The Wildcats improve to 3-0 with the win while the Lady Hardrockers fall to 0-3.
The Wildcats led for nearly the entire first half, but a late run to end the half by South Dakota School of Mines gave the Lady Hardrockers their only lead of the game at halftime at 33-32 in a first half that featured five ties. Wayne State enjoyed an eight point lead at 22-14 with 6:23 to play in the half following a three point play by redshirt freshman forward Jennifer Kalbfell. But the host Hardrockers made a surge at the end of the half and took a 33-32 halftime lead on a jumper by Janelle Strampe to end the half.
The game remained close early in the second half until the Wildcats put together a scoring spurt to take their first double-digit lead of the night midway through the second half. With WSC holding a 41-39 lead with 15:17 to play, the Wildcats used a 13-4 run over the next 4:14 capped by an Ashley Arlen jumper to give WSC a 54-43 lead with 11:03 to play. WSC pushed the lead to 14 at 62-48 on a pair of Ashton Yossi free throws with 7:09 to play.
However, the Lady Hardrockers made one more run at the Wildcats and got as close as two points at 64-62 on a three pointer by Hillary Hawkins with 3:15 remaining. WSC then held South Dakota School of Mines without a basket the rest of the way and the 'Cats pushed the lead back to nine points at 71-62 before escaping with the 71-65 win.
Yossi, a 5-8 freshman guard from Dallas Center, Iowa, paced five players in double figures with 16 points. Ashley Arlen contributed 15 points with Ellen Hansen and Alisha Brown adding 11 points each. Jennifer Kalbfell accounted for 10 points off the bench to go with a team-best eight rebounds for the Wildcats.
For South Dakota School of Mines, Hillary Hawkins poured in a game-high 26 points with Katie Strandholm also reaching double figures with 14. Hawkins also led the Lady Hardrockers in rebounds with six.
Wayne State made 24 of 55 shots from the field for 43.6 percent, connecting on 6 of 21 behind the three point line and 17 of 23 (73.9%) at the free throw line. South Dakota School of Mines was 19 of 51 shooting for 37.3 percent. The Hardrockers made 5 of 13 three pointers and 22 of 27 free throws. WSC held a slim 34-33 edge in rebounding while forcing South Dakota School of Mines into 18 turnovers to Wayne State's 14.
Wayne State will be on the road again Saturday evening visiting Chadron State College in a non-conference contest beginning at 6:00 p.m. Central Time.
