#24 Wayne State 82 St. Cloud State 63

            Wayne State College used a 20-0 run late in the game, holding St. Cloud State without a basket for 6:42, as the 24^th-ranked Wildcats pulled away for an 82-63 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win over the Huskies Saturday evening at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud, Minnesota.  WSC moves to 15-3 on the season and 8-3 in the NSIC while dropping the host Huskies to 10-6 and 6-6 in league play.
            WSC started strong, taking a 19-11 lead on a Jordan Spencer layup with 14:17 to play in the first half.  SCSU then went on a 7-2 run and pulled within five at 21-18. 
            With WSC leading 28-23 at the midway point of the first half, the 'Cats used 3-pointers from Katie Hoskins, Alex Nelson and Kacie O'Connor to grab a 37-23 lead with 8:10 to play before halftime.
            But WSC made just one more basket to finish the half, allowing St. Cloud State to pull within 39-34 at halftime.
            The game stayed close early in the second half and the host Huskies actually took the lead on the Wildcats twice.  An Andrea Thomas 3-pointer gave SCSU a 49-48 lead and the Huskies took their final lead at 55-54 on a Carley Jeffery 3-pointer with 10:02 to play in the game.
            WSC then held the Huskies without a basket for the next 6:42 while going on a 20-0 run to take control of the game.
            Senior guard Ashton Yossi hit a 3-pointer followed by a layup for the first five points of the run.  After two Jordan Spencer free throws, freshman forward Maggie Schulte then scored eight straight points to highlight the scoring run.
            The 20-0 run covered 5:55 and gave WSC a commanding 74-55 lead.  St. Cloud State's Lexy Petermann made two free throws at the 4:07 mark to end the Husky scoring drought, but SCSU could never recover as WSC finished with the 82-63 win.
            Senior forward Jordan Spencer led the Wildcats in scoring with a season-high 24 points, going 8 for 12 from the field and a perfect 8 of 8 at the foul line.  Senior Millie Niggeling added 15 points followed by Ashton Yossi and Maggie Schulte with 13 and 11 points respectively.
            WSC shot a season-high 62.5 percent from the field, making 28 of 45 shots.  The 'Cats were 10 of 18 from the 3-point line and 16 for 17 at the charity stripe.
            Carley Jeffery led St. Cloud State in scoring with 18 points on 6 of 11 shooting from 3-point range.  Lexy Petermann and Karissa LeCaptain each added 10 points.
            SCSU made 24 of 70 shots from the field for 34.3 percent, going 10 for 28 from the 3-point line and 5 of 6 at the charity stripe.
            WSC won the rebounding battle 38-26 thanks to eight rebounds each from Spencer and Niggeling while Petermann grabbed six boards to lead SCSU. 
            The Wildcats won despite a season-high 23 turnovers compared to just 11 by the Huskies.  Yossi and Spencer were each credited with four assists while Niggeling had three of the team's seven steals.
            Wayne State will be at home next weekend, hosting Upper Iowa Friday at 6 p.m. and Winona State Saturday in a 4 p.m. contest at Rice Auditorium.