#4 Wayne State 60 Northern State 38
#4 Wayne State College held Northern State to 23 percent shooting and senior All-American forward Ashley Arlen scored 20 of her game-high 27 points in the first half as the Wildcats cruised to a 60-38 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win Friday evening at Northern State in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The Wildcats improve to 9-0 overall and 3-0 in the NSIC while Northern State slips to 5-3 overall and 1-2 in league play.
After Northern State scored the first basket of the game for a 2-0 lead, Wayne State never trailed again taking control of the game thanks to a dominant first half performance from Arlen. The 6-2 senior forward from Cascade, Iowa poured in 20 points to help WSC take a 35-17 lead at halftime.
WSC took their first double digit lead at the 13:00 mark of the first half at 16-6 following a jumper by Ali Schwartzwald. Back-to-back three pointers by Arlen gave the Wildcats a 22-6 lead with 11:42 to play in the half. The 'Cats took their biggest lead of the first half with 51 seconds to play before halftime on a Arlen three point play to give Wayne State a 35-17 halftime advantage.
The Wildcats maintained their sizeable lead throughout the second half. Northern State got as close as 15 points at 44-29 with 9:48 to play, however Wayne State went on a 14-2 run and took their biggest lead of the game at 27 points, 58-31, with 4:19 remaining following an Ashton Yossi basket before finishing with the 60-38 win over the Wolves.
Arlen was the lone Wayne State player to reach double figures, scoring a game-high 27 points with 20 coming in the first half. She was 10 of 15 from the field, 4 of 5 behind the three point line and 3 of 4 at the free throw stripe.
Wayne State finished the game making 24 of 59 shots for 40.7 percent, connecting on 8 of 18 three pointers and 4 of 6 free throws.
For Northern State, Alison Kusler was the lone double digit scorer with 11 points. The Wolves were held to just 23.6 percent shooting on 13 of 55 from the field, including 2 of 15 behind the three point line. NSU was 10 of 11 at the free throw stripe.
Northern State held a 46-30 advantage in rebounding over the Wildcats, but had 21 turnovers in the game to just nine by the Wildcats. Arlen and Eva Benson each grabbed six rebounds to lead Wayne State on the glass while senior reserve guard Alisha Brown handed out five assists in the win.
Wayne State is on the road again Saturday afternoon for a 4:00 p.m. contest at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota.
