Box Score Wayne State 89 Minnesota State 70

            Wayne State College senior guard posted career-highs of 23 points and 13 assists to lead the Wildcats in a 89-70 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win Saturday evening over Minnesota State at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Wildcats improved to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in the NSIC with the win while MSU drops to 1-5 and 0-2 in league play.
            The Wildcats never trailed in the contest, getting off to a hot start after struggling the night before against Concordia-St. Paul.  WSC took a 9-2 lead in the first two minutes of the contest thanks to a Haley Moore 3-pointer and jumper along with baskets from Murren and Maggie Schulte.
            With WSC leading 11-8, the Wildcats offense erupted with a 16-0 run over the next 4:57 giving WSC a commanding 27-8 lead before finishing the first quarter with a 32-14 advantage.
            Minnesota State chipped away at the Wildcat lead and got as close as eight at 36-28 with 5:09 to play in the first half.  WSC then held the Mavericks to just six more points to close out the half while pushing the lead back to 18 at halftime 52-34.
            Wayne State maintained their double digit lead in the third quarter, holding a 71-52 advantage after three quarters.
            The Wildcats pushed the lead to as many as 26 in the fourth quarter (84-58) before finishing with the 89-70 win.
            Wayne State was 31 of 64 from the field for 48.4 percent, but just 4 of 17 behind the 3-point line.  The Wildcats made 23 of 32 free throws for 71.9 percent.
            Murren's career-high night of 23 points and 13 assists paced Wayne State offensively.  The senior guard from Wahoo High was 7 of 12 from the field and 9 for 11 at the charity stripe.  Pender sophomore center Paige Ballinger also had a solid night offensively with a game-high 24 points, her third game this season over 20 points.  She was 8 for 14 from the field and 8 of 10 at the free throw line.  Sophomore forward Maggie Schulte also reached double digits with 12 points.
            Minnesota State was 27 of 56 shooting for 48.2 percent, going 4 of 12 behind the arc and 12 for 23 at the free throw line.  Claire Ziegler led the Mavericks in scoring with 14 points followed by Britney Scherber and McKenzie Hoelmenn with 12 apiece.
            Wayne State held a 38-33 advantage in rebounding over the Mavericks with Anna Martensen hauling in a game-high nine caroms for the Wildcats while Schulte grabbed seven. 
            The Wildcats forced MSU into 25 turnovers, four less than WSC.  Murren handed out 13 of Wayne State's 19 assists in the game while Martensen was credited with five of Wayne State's 14 steals.  Ballinger had two blocked shots.
            Wayne State held a 50-36 edge on points in the paint and a commanding 20-4 advantage on fast break points.
            Wayne State is on the road next weekend, visiting Minnesota Crookston Friday night at 6 p.m. and Bemidji State Saturday in a 4 p.m. contest.