#8 Wayne State 59 St. Cloud State 50
Clare Duwelius scored a game-high 18 points while senior All-American forward Ashley Arlen notched her sixth double-double of the season and moved into seventh place on the all-time WSC scoring list Tuesday evening as the NCAA Division II 8th-ranked Wildcats held off St. Cloud State 59-50 in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball played at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud, Minnesota. WSC moves to 13-1 overall and remains in first place in the NSIC with a 7-1 league mark with St. Cloud State falling to 5-6 on the year and 2-5 in league play following the loss.
Wayne State led the game from start to finish, but for the second straight night had to hold off a late rally to secure the win. The Wildcats opened the game scoring 14 of the first 16 points, taking a 14-2 lead six minutes into the contest. Wayne State's biggest lead of the half came at 23-7 with 7:49 following two Alisha Brown free throws, but St. Cloud State held the Wildcats without a basket for the rest of the half as the Huskies trimmed the WSC advantage to 25-21 at halftime.
The Wildcats opened the second half scoring the first seven points and regained a double-digit lead at 32-21 on an Ashley Arlen jumper with 17:05 to play. WSC extended their lead to the biggest of the night at 19 points, 44-25, on an Eva Benson jumper with 12:21 remaining. But St. Cloud State came storming back again, going on a 17-2 run, and pulled within four at 49-45 on a Sam Price three pointer with 3:49 left.
The host Huskies got within four again with 46 seconds left on another Price three pointer to make the score 54-50, but the Wildcats sank 5 of 6 free throws in the final 42 seconds, two each from Ali Schwartzwald and Ellen Hansen and one by Ashley Arlen, to make the final score 59-50.
Duwelius led all scorers with 18 points to pace the Wildcats in scoring, going 7 of 12 from the field and 4 of 6 behind the three point line. The senior from Des Moines, Iowa now has 205 career three pointers, ranking third on the all-time WSC list. Arlen recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 15 rebounds, moving her into seventh place on the WSC all-time scoring list. She now has 1,348 points, moving past former Wildcat teammate Mara Hjelle (1,334 points from 2007-11).
WSC finished the game making 18 of 42 shots for 42.9 percent. The 'Cats were 6 of 19 behind the three point line and made 17 of 22 free throws.
St. Cloud State's top scorer was Sam Price with 16 points, the only Husky player in double figures. SCSU was just 18 of 60 from the field for 30 percent. The Huskies were 7 of 17 from the three point line and 7 of 8 at the charity stripe.
WSC won the rebounding battle 39-32 thanks to 15 rebounds from Arlen and a career-high 10 rebounds by sophomore forward Ellen Hansen. St. Cloud's top rebounder was Aaryn Booker with four caroms. The Wildcats had a season-high 25 turnovers in the contest compared to 17 on St. Cloud State.
The Wildcats will be at home this weekend, hosting Minnesota Duluth Saturday and Bemidji State Sunday in NSIC contests beginning at 2:00 p.m. each day.
