#14 Wayne State 75 University of Mary 67

            Wayne State College held back a pair of Mary rallies in the second half as the #14 Wildcats recorded a 75-67 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win Saturday evening over the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota.  With the win, the Wildcats avenge a loss at home to the Marauders last season and maintain a hold of first place in the NSIC with a 7-1 league mark, improving to 14-1 overall, while Mary falls to 5-6 overall and 3-5 in conference play.
            The Wildcats struggled early, missing seven of their first eight shots, to fall behind the Marauders 12-7.  WSC then scored eight straight points and took the lead for good at 15-12 on a Millie Niggeling 3-pointer with 12:01 to go in the first half.
            Moments later, backup sophomore guard Whitney Olson scored six straight points to push the Wildcat lead to 23-16 at the 9:35 mark.  After Mary pulled within three at 25-22, WSC reeled off nine straight points and took a 34-22 lead with 2:32 left before halftime.  Freshman reserve guard Michaela Barry scored the Wildcats' final six points of the first half to give WSC a 38-28 lead at intermission.
            The second half saw Wayne State withstand a pair of Marauder rallies as the Wildcats held on for the win.
            With WSC leading 46-36, Mary went on a 13-4 run over a span of 4:55 and got as close as one point at 50-49 with 11:30 to play following a 3-pointer from Ashlee Harper. 
            Niggeling then hit back-to-back 3's followed by an Addy Roller jumper to put WSC back up by seven points at 58-51 with 9:02 to play.  Another Mary scoring run followed as the Marauders got within two at 59-57 on a Linda Murray layup with 5:49 remaining. 
            WSC answered the run again as Shantel Lehmann hit a baseline jumper followed by three free throws from Ashton Yossi and a 3-pointer from Yossi to give the 'Cats a 67-59 lead. 
            Mary got within three again at 68-65 with 1:55 to play, but WSC got a backdoor lay-in from Ellen Hansen and then sealed the win late with two free throws each by Yossi and Addy Roller as the Wildcats went on to the 75-67 win.
            Junior guard Ashton Yossi paced Wayne State in scoring with 19 points, including a perfect 9 for 9 at the charity stripe.  Junior forward Jordan Spencer contributed 14 points with Millie Niggeling adding 10 points in the win.  Freshman backup guard Michaela Barry added eight points on 4 of 5 shooting.
            Wayne State shot 23 of 54 from the field for 42.6 percent.  The 'Cats were 6 for 14 behind the 3-point line and 23 for 32 (71.9%) at the free throw stripe.
            Mary's leading scorer was forward Linda Murray with 24 points on 12 of 21 shooting.  Other Marauder players reaching double figures were Ashlee Harper (11) and Brittney Dietz (10).
            Mary shot 40 percent from the field making 30 of 75 shots.  The Marauders were just 1 of 14 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the foul line.
            Wayne State was out-rebounded for just the third time this season as Mary held a commanding 54-28 edge on the boards that included 20 offensive rebounds.  Murray grabbed 11 rebounds and Hannah Larson added 10 for Mary while Wayne State's top rebounder was Shantel Lehmann with seven.
            WSC had just 10 turnovers in the game while Mary finished with 16.  Ellen Hansen and Addy Roller each had three assists for the 'Cats.  Lehmann had two of Wayne State's four blocks while Yossi had a team-high three steals.
                The Wildcats will return home next weekend for Northern Sun Conference games Friday evening at 6 p.m. against Minnesota Crookston and Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. against Bemidji State.