#4 Wayne State 78 Minnesota State 60
Senior guard Clare Duwelius led five Wildcat players in double figures Friday evening as the NCAA Division II 4th-ranked Wayne State College women's basketball team opened Northern Sun Conference play with a 78-60 win over Minnesota State at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The win moves Wayne State to 7-0 overall and 1-0 in the NSIC while handing Minnesota State its first loss of the season, now 4-1 and 0-1 in league play. It was also the 32nd straight win by the Wildcats at Rice Auditorium.
The game was close for much of the first half, featuring five ties and six lead changes, until a Wildcat scoring spurt late in the first half gave WSC its double digit lead at halftime. With the score tied at 22-22 with 8:17 to go before halftime, the Wildcats went on a 14-0 run over the next 4:43 to take a 36-22 lead on a Eva Benson layup with 3:34 left in the half. WSC built a pair of 16 point leads before Minnesota State scored the final five points of the half to make the halftime score 44-33.
Minnesota State made a run at the Wildcats early in the second half, getting as close as six points at 47-41 with 15:35 remaining on a Jameila Hudnell layup. WSC then reeled off eight straight points to push the lead back to 14 points a 55-41 with 11:44 to play on Eva Benson's jumper. Minnesota State got within 10 points at 55-45, but WSC put the game away by scoring 10 of the 12 points to take a commanding 67-47 lead with 5:08 play and went on to the 78-60 win.
Duwelius led a balanced scoring attack for WSC with 14 points followed by Eva Benson's 13 points. Ashley Arlen and Alisha Brown produced 12 points apiece while Ali Schwartzwald scored 10. WSC shot 57.8 percent from the floor, making 27 of 48 shots. The 'Cats were 6 of 13 from the three point line and 20 of 29 at the charity stripe.
For Minnesota State, Ali Wilkinson scored 19 points with Laura Weber adding 10. The Mavericks made 21 of 63 shots for 33 percent, hitting 5 of 21 three pointers and 13 of 14 at the free throw line.
WSC held a slight 35-32 rebounding edge over the Mavericks with Ellen Hansen and Ashley Arlen grabbing seven boards each for the Wildcats while Wilkinson hauled in a game-high nine boards for Minnesota State.
Wayne State will be at home again Saturday afternoon hosting Southwest Minnesota State in a Northern Sun Conference contest starting at 4:00 p.m.
