#9 Wayne State 75 St. Cloud State 67

            Junior guard Ashton Yossi scored a game-high 21 points and Wayne State held off a late St. Cloud State rally as the #9 Wildcats posted a 75-67 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win Friday evening over the Huskies at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud, Minnesota.  WSC is now 20-2 overall and maintains first place in the NSIC with a 13-2 league mark.  The 20^th win marks the 10^th season of 20 or more wins for Wayne State women's basketball, including four of the last five seasons under head coach Chris Kielsmeier.
            St. Cloud State held the lead for a good share of the first half that featured six ties and six lead changes.  After the Huskies took an early 9-5 lead, Wayne State scored 10 of the next 12 points and took their biggest lead of the first half at 15-11 following a Jordan Spencer jumper with 13:52 to play in the first half.
            The Huskies mounted a rally and built a five point lead at 24-19 on a pair of Chelsea Nooker free throws with 6:23 before halftime.  SCSU still held a four point lead at 33-29 with 1:41 to go in the half, but Yossi drained a pair of 3-pointers to close the half giving WSC a 35-33 lead at intermission.
            St. Cloud State regained the lead early in the second half, but the Wildcats put together a 14-2 run that gave WSC the lead for good.  With SCSU leading 42-39, WSC used the 14-2 run to take a 53-44 lead following an Addy Roller trey with 12:34 remaining.
            Wayne State built their biggest lead of the game, 60-50, with 8:04 to play.  But St. Cloud State made one more push at the Wildcats and got as close as three at 65-62 following a Lexy Petermann free throw with 3:10 left.
            The next possession saw Yossi sink a key 3-pointer to put the 'Cats back up six at 68-62 and WSC then held back the Huskies by making seven of eight free throws in the final minute to clinch the 75-67 win.
            Wayne State had five players in double figures led by Yossi's 21 points.  Ellen Hansen followed with 13 points and 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season while junior forward Jordan Spencer also scored 13.  Sophomore guard Addy Roller chipped in 12 points while Millie Niggeling added 11 off the bench.
            The Wildcats made 22 of 51 shots from the field for 43.1 percent, going 7 of 19 from 3-point range.  WSC shot 80 percent from the free throw line making 24 of 30 attempts.
            St. Cloud State was led by Rachael Moen, Chelsea Nooker and Lexy Petermann with 11 points apiece followed by Sam Price with 10.  The Huskies connected on 23 of 57 shots for 40.4 percent including 6 for 17 beyond the arc.  SCSU was 15 for 16 at the charity stripe.
            The rebounding battle was won by St. Cloud State 39-30 as Jessica Benson hauled in 10 rebounds for the Huskies while Hansen's 11 rebounds paced the Wildcats on the glass.  It was Hansen's eighth game this season with 10 or more rebounds.
            St. Cloud State had 22 turnovers in the game to 18 on Wayne State.  Roller led the Wildcats with six assists while Yossi was credited with four steals.  Hansen had two of Wayne State's five blocks in the contest.  
            The Wildcats will conclude their NSIC road trip Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest at Minnesota Duluth.