#9 Wayne State 81 Minnesota Duluth 69

            Wayne State College shot a season-high 62.5 percent (25 of 40) from the field, including a season-best 12 for 18 from 3-point range, to help offset 21 turnovers as the #9 Wildcats defeated Minnesota Duluth 81-69 Saturday evening in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball played at Romano Gymnasium in Duluth, Minnesota.  The Wildcats move to 21-2 overall and remain in first place in the NSIC with a 14-2 league mark while the host Bulldogs drop to 10-10 on the season and 7-9 in the NSIC.
            With the exception of one possession early in the first half, Wayne State led the entire game.  The 'Cats took an early 9-3 advantage, but Minnesota Duluth responded with an 8-2 run to force the game's lone tie at 11-11 with 12:55 to go before halftime.
            Wayne State used three straight 3-pointers from Addy Roller, Kara Powell and Michaela Barry and a Shantel Lehmann layup to build a 22-14 lead at the 9:19 mark.  UMD cut the WSC lead to one at 28-27 with 5:09 left in the first half, but the Wildcats closed the half with a 16-4 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Powell, Roller and Ashton Yossi, to take a 44-31 lead at halftime.
            The Wildcats finished the first half making 14 of 21 shots from the field (66.7%) and was a sizzling 9 of 10 from the 3-point line.         
            Wayne State needed their hot shooting to continue in the second half as the Wildcats withstood a pair of Bulldog rallies before finally holding off UMD for the win.
            Minnesota Duluth got within three early in the second half at 48-45 following a Danielle Flood jumper with 14:48 remaining.  WSC responded and built the lead back to nine points at 61-52 on a Whitney Olson trey with 9:44 left.
            But the Bulldogs had one more rally at the Wildcats and pulled within one at 61-60 on another Flood basket with 7:48 to go.  Wayne State got 3-pointers from Millie Niggeling and Yossi and a free throw by Jordan Spencer to extend the lead back to eight at 68-60.  After UMD's Danielle Flood made two free throws to make the score 68-62, Wayne State put the game out of reach by scoring the next nine points to give WSC a 77-62 lead with 2:39 left before finishing with the 81-69 win.
            Junior forward Jordan Spencer led a balanced scoring effort for Wayne State with 16 points.  Sophomore guard Addy Roller never missed a shot in scoring 12 points to go with a career-high 11 assists for a double-double.  She was 2 for 2 from the field, both 3-point shots, and a perfect 6 of 6 at the foul line.  Ashton Yossi and Kara Powell each added 11 points with Powell's production a season-high off the bench.
            Wayne State finished the game making 25 of 40 shots for 62.5 percent and was an impressive 12 of 18 beyond the arc for 66.7 percent.  The 'Cats also shot well from the foul line, canning 19 of 25 free throws.
            Minnesota Duluth's top scorer was Katrina Newman with 23 points followed by Danielle Flood with 18.  The Bulldogs were 24 for 76 from the field for 31.6 percent, going 9 of 31 from the 3-point line and 12 for 15 at the charity stripe.
            The rebounding battle was won by Minnesota Duluth 38-33 with the Bulldogs grabbing an astounding 22 offensive caroms.  Katrina Newman led UMD on the boards with eight while Jordan Spencer led WSC with eight rebounds followed by Ellen Hansen with seven. 
            Wayne State was guilty of 21 turnovers compared to just 11 by the Bulldogs.  The Wildcats did have 21 assists in the game with Roller's career-high 11 assists leading the way. 
                Wayne State will be at home next weekend to start a four-game home stand, hosting Upper Iowa Friday evening at 6 p.m. and Winona State Saturday beginning at 4 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.