#15 Wayne State 72 Sioux Falls 51

            Wayne State College built a 34-15 halftime lead, forcing 15 Sioux Falls turnovers and holding the Cougars to just 17 percent shooting, as the 15^th-ranked Wildcats rolled to an impressive 72-51 win over the University of Sioux Falls Saturday evening in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball played at the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  With the win, WSC is now 11-3 overall and 5-3 in the NSIC while handing NSIC South Division leading Sioux Falls just its second loss of the season as the Cougars are now 10-2 and 6-2 in league play.
            After the host Cougars opened the scoring, WSC reeled off 11 straight points and held Sioux Falls without a basket for 6:59 to build a 13-4 lead with 14:39 to play in the half.
            WSC used a Paige Ballinger basket at the 7:03 mark to take a 20-10 lead, then junior guard Sadie Murren buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give the 'Cats a sizeable 26-10 advantage.
            The 'Cats held Sioux Falls without a basket for a stretch of 5:38 and built a 29-10 lead before finishing the first half with an impressive 35-14 lead.
            Wayne State's defense forced Sioux Falls into 15 first half turnovers while limiting the Cougars to just 5 of 28 shooting for just 17.9 percent.
            After Sioux Falls made a 3-pointer to open the second half and pull within 35-17, WSC never let the Cougars get closer than 19 points the rest of the game as the Wildcats used five players in double figures to finish off Sioux Falls for the 72-51 victory.
            All five starters reached double figures for Wayne State with senior forward Jordan Spencer topping all scorers with 16 points.  Junior point guard Sadie Murren had her best game of the season as a Wildcat, recording 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting, including 3 for 3 from behind the arc, to go with four assists and four rebounds.
            Senior guard Ashton Yossi chipped in 13 points while senior forward Millie Niggeling and freshman forward Maggie Schulte each had 11 points for the Wildcats.
            Wayne State shot an even 50 percent for the game making 29 of 58 shots.  The 'Cats were 6 of 12 from 3-point range and 8 for 12 at the charity stripe.
            Taylor Varsho paced Sioux Falls with 15 points followed by Paige Mriden and Teagan Molden with 12 and 10 respectively.
            The Cougars were just 19 of 61 shooting for 31 percent, going 9 of 23 from the 3-point line and just 4 for 12 at the free throw line.
            Sioux Falls held a slight 37-35 edge in rebounding over WSC as Sam Knecht hauled in 13 rebounds for the Cougars while Spencer grabbed eight boards for the Wildcats.
            USF had 22 turnovers in the game to 18 on Wayne State.  Murren had four of Wayne State's 15 assists while Yossi had three assists and three steals.
            Wayne State returns to Rice Auditorium next weekend for NSIC home games against Minnesota State Friday evening at 6 p.m. and Concordia-St. Paul Saturday at 4 p.m.