#7 Wayne State 63 St. Cloud State 41
Wayne State College held St. Cloud State to 24.6 percent shooting (16 of 65) while making 10 three pointers as the #7 Wildcats pulled away in the second half for a 63-41 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win over St. Cloud State Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The host Wildcats improve to 18-2 overall with their 38th straight win at home and remain tied for first in the NSIC at 12-2 while St. Cloud State falls to 9-9 on the season and 6-8 in league play with the loss.
The first half was a defensive battle and struggle for the Wildcats, who had 14 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes of play. But strong shooting kept WSC in the game as the 'Cats built a 24-18 halftime lead. The visiting Huskies held a 16-13 lead with 3:15 to play in the first half, but Wayne State finished the half strong and used an 11-2 run capped by an Ashley Arlen three pointer with 11 seconds left in the half to take a 24-18 halftime lead.
WSC opened the second half strong and used solid three point shooting to put the Huskies away. A Clare Duwelius three pointer at the 16:13 mark gave the 'Cats their first double digit lead of the night at 32-22. WSC then put the game out of reach by going on a 14-4 run, taking a 46-26 lead with 9:12 to play on an Ashton Yossi three point shot. The 'Cats built their lead to a game-high 27 point advantage at 61-34 with 2:40 to play before finishing with a 63-41 win.
Freshman reserve guard Ashton Yossi paced Wayne State in scoring with 11 points followed by Ellen Hansen with 10. WSC shot a respectable 50 percent from the field on 21 of 42 shots including 10 of 21 from the three point line. The 'Cats were only 11 of 18 at the free throw stripe.
St. Cloud State was led by Jordi Gerking and Carley Jeffery with eight points apiece. The Huskies were held to just 24.6 percent shooting by WSC on 16 of 65 shooting. SCSU was just 4 of 23 behind the three point line and 5 of 7 from the charity stripe.
WSC held a slim 38-35 edge in rebounding over St. Cloud State thanks to a game high nine rebounds from Eva Benson while the top rebounder for the Huskies was Nicole Anderson with five. The Wildcats were credited with 16 assists in the game with Ali Schwartzwald recording seven followed by Alisha Brown with five. Ashley Arlen notched a game-high four blocked shots for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats will be at home again Saturday afternoon hosting Concordia-St. Paul in a 4:00 p.m. Northern Sun Conference contest at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.
