#3 Wayne State 77 MSU Moorhead 73
Senior All-American forward Ashley Arlen netted a career-high 38 points while senior guard Ali Schwartzwald chipped in with a career-high 18 points as #3 Wayne State College rallied for a 77-73 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win Saturday evening over MSU Moorhead at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minnesota. The Wildcats move to 26-2 overall and finish Northern Sun Conference play with a 20-2 league mark while the host Dragons are 14-12 and 11-11 in league play.
The Wildcats got off to a sluggish start, trailing 13-2 with 13:52 to play in the first half. WSC trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half (23-9) before mounting a rally late in the half to trail 33-29 at halftime.
The host Dragons maintained their lead until midway through the second half. Wildcat senior guard Clare Duwelius sank a pair of free throws with 11:19 left in the game to give WSC its' first lead at 51-50. After WSC took a pair of three point leads, MSU Moorhead regained the lead at 58-57 on a Brittany Mayclin three pointer with 8:11 to play. WSC then took the lead for good by scoring the next six points and took a 63-58 lead on a pair of Ashley Arlen free throws with 6:49 remaining.
WSC held a pair of five point leads, but MSU Moorhead pulled within one at 73-72 with 31 seconds to play on a Angie Jetvig three point play. Wildcat senior guard Ali Schwartzwald drained a pair of free throws with 30 seconds remaining, putting the 'Cats up three at 75-72. Jetvig and Schwartzwald each went one for two at the line to make the score 76-73 with 16 seconds to play. MSU Moorhead's Kaycee Charette missed a three pointer with 11 seconds to play and Wayne State's Ashley Arlen grabbed the rebound and was fouled. She made one of two free throws, Arlen's first miss from the line in 17 attempts during the game, to seal the 77-73 win over the stubborn Dragons.
Arlen led all scorers with a career-high 38 points for the Wildcats, going 9 of 19 from the field and 16 of 17 at the charity stripe. Ali Schwartzwald chipped in with her career-high of 18 points including 8 of 10 from the foul line, surpassing her previous career-best of 16 set against Colorado Mines on November 11th. Clare Duwelius also reached double figures for WSC with 10 points.
WSC shot 42 percent from the field, making 21 of 50 shots including 8 of 18 behind the three point line. The 'Cats were impressive from the charity stripe for a second straight night, making 27 of 32 (84 percent) at the free throw line after draining 28 of 31 Friday evening at Minnesota, Crookston.
MSU Moorhead's top scorer was Angie Jetvig with 22 points followed by Megan Strese with 14 and Marisa Yernatich with 10. The Dragons finished the game making 26 of 53 shots for 49 percent while making 7 of 17 from the three point line and 14 of 18 (77 percent) at the free throw stripe.
The Dragons held a 36-28 edge in rebounding over Wayne State thanks to 11 rebounds from Jetvig while Arlen hauled in seven board to pace the Wildcats. WSC had a season-low seven turnovers in the game while MSU Moorhead had 14 turnovers. Schwartzwald was credited with six assists in the contest for WSC.
Wayne State, the top seed in the 2012 NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament, will host Northern State Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. in a first round game at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.
