#8 Wayne State 74 Bemidji State 49
Senior All-American forward Ashley Arlen scored a game-high 26 points on 12 of 16 shooting to power #8 Wayne State College in a 74-49 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win over Bemidji State at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The win was the 37th straight at home for the Wildcats, now 15-1 overall while remaining in first place in the NSIC with a 9-1 league mark. Bemidji State drops to 5-9 overall and 3-6 in league play.
The Wildcats got off to a quick start, taking a 9-0 lead in the opening four minutes of the contest. WSC took their first double digit lead at 20-8 with 13:12 left in the half on a three pointer by Ellen Hansen. The 'Cats were able to build a 23 point advantage at 37-14 with 6:29 to go on an Ashley Arlen layup before Bemidji State started to hit some shots from the outside. A three pointer by Shannon Thompson with 29 seconds left before halftime cut the Wildcat lead to 41-29 before WSC took a 44-29 lead at halftime.
Bemidji State stayed within reach of the Wildcats for the first part of the second half until the Wildcats put together a 15-3 scoring spurt over a 5:55 span of the second half to take a commanding 68-43 lead 6:46 to play and the Wildcats went on to the 74-49 win over Bemidji State.
Ashley Arlen scored a game-high 26 points on 12 of 16 shooting to lead the Wildcats. It was her seventh game over 20 points this season. Freshman reserve guard Ashton Yossi also reached double digits for WSC with 13 points, going 5 of 10 from the field with a trio of three pointers.
Wayne State finished the game making 31 of 62 shots for 50 percent, the seventh game this season that the Wildcats have shot 50 percent or better from the field. The 'Cats were 8 of 23 from the three point line and just 4 of 9 at the free throw stripe.
Bemidji State's top scorer was Ellie Wessling with 16 points followed by Shannon Thompson with 14. The Beavers connected on 17 of 60 shots from the field for 28.3 percent, making 6 of 20 beyond the three point arc. BSU was 9 of 16 at the charity stripe.
Both teams had 40 rebounds with Ellen Hansen grabbing a game-high 10 caroms for Wayne State while Samantha Baldwin hauled in eight boards for the Beavers. WSC point guard Alisha Brown handed out a game-high six assists, giving her 15 for the weekend.
The Wildcats will be on the road Saturday, visiting travel partner Augustana College in a 4:00 p.m. contest. The game will feature two of the top teams in the NSIC with WSC leading the league at 9-1 and 15-1 overall while Augustana is tied with Mary for second place in league play at 8-2 and 11-3 overall.
