Wayne State 70 #11 Augustana College 65

            In a game that featured 10 ties and 14 lead changes, Wayne State junior forward Jordan Spencer's career-high 30 points powered the Wildcats to a thrilling 70-65 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win Monday evening over #11 Augustana College at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Wildcats move to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in league play with the win while the Vikings are 3-1 and 0-1 in the NSIC.  The win also marked the 300^th career coaching victory for Wayne State head coach Chris Kielsmeier, who is now 300-79 in his 14^th season of coaching and 121-35 in his sixth season at Wayne State College.
            The Wildcats jumped out to an early 17-4 lead working the ball inside to Spencer and Shantel Lehmann.  The Wildcats took their biggest lead of the first half at 20-6 on a Millie Niggeling trey with 12:18 to go in the half. 
            But Augustana rallied with a big scoring surge and capped a 21-7 run over a span of 6:32 and took their first lead of the game at 32-31 with 2:25 to go in the half on a layup from Rhianna Gullickson.  The Wildcats had just one point in the final 4:00 of the first half allowing Augustana to take a 34-32 lead at halftime.
            The second half was a classic battle with neither team leading by more than three points after the Vikings scored the first four points of the second half to take a 38-32 lead.  The lead changed hands 13 times between the two clubs to go with nine ties in the final 20 minutes.
            The Wildcats never held a lead of more than three points in the second half until the final three seconds when Addy Roller clinched the win with a pair of free throws to make the final score 70-65. 
            Augustana's final lead came at 65-64 with 2:44 to play on an Emily Schulte 3-pointer.  Wildcat senior forward Ellen Hansen sank a pair of free throws to give the Wildcats a 66-65 lead with 1:57 remaining. 
            The Vikings missed three straight shots before WSC final converted on the other end of the floor as Niggeling sank a jumper on an offensive rebound following a Jordan Spencer miss to put the 'Cats in front 68-65 with 25 seconds to play.
            Augustana missed a long 3-pointer with 12 seconds to play and the Vikings had to foul Addy Roller, who sealed the win by sinking two free throws with three seconds to play for the 70-65 win.
            Jordan Spencer paced Wayne State in scoring with a career-high 30 points on 12 of 20 shooting from the floor.  She was also 6 for 8 at the foul line and grabbed 11 rebounds in the win.  Ellen Hansen and Millie Niggeling followed with nine points apiece.
            Wayne State finished the game making 22 of 56 shots for 39 percent, going 3 of 13 from 3-point range and 23 of 28 at the free throw line.
            For Augustana College, Katie Meister had a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds followed by Alex Kneeland with 13 pionts.
            The Vikings were 26 for 64 shooting for 40.6 percent, making 5 of 17 3-pointers and 8 for 13 at the free throw stripe.
            Wayne State won the rebounding battle over the Vikings 41-36 thanks to Spencer's 11 caroms while Kara Powell contributed seven rebounds in the win.  WSC had one less turnover than Augustana, 17-16, while sophomore guard Addy Roller handed out four assists for the Wildcats. 
            The Wildcats will play three games over Thanksgiving weekend at the North Star Invitational in Fairbanks, Alaska with the first game on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 28, against Lees-McRae of North Carolina at 5 p.m. Central Time.