#19 Wayne State 76 Sioux Falls 74 OT

            #19 Wayne State College outlasted the University of Sioux Falls 76-74 in overtime Friday evening in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. It was the 13^th straight win for the Wildcats, now 22-3 on the season and 16-3 in the NSIC while Sioux Falls is now 15-8 and 11-8 in the league.
            The Wildcats took an early 7-0 lead on the Cougars and still held a 13-6 lead at the 8:49 mark when USF started to warm up from the floor.
            With WSC taking a 20-14 lead following a Sadie Murren layup with 6:45 to play in the half, the Cougars scored eight straight points to take their first lead at 22-20 with 3:41 to go in the half. 
            The two teams exchanged five ties and seven lead changes the rest of the half with Taylor Varsho of Sioux Falls hitting a trey just before the halftime buzzer giving the Cougars a 31-29 lead at intermission.
            The second half and overtime turned into an instant classic as the two teams exchanged 10 ties and 13 lead changes in the second half and overtime with neither team leading by more than five points.
            WSC trailed 61-60 with 3:57 left in regulation following a Jaicee Ulmer 3-pointer from Sioux Falls.  The Wildcats then used a pair of Jordan Spencer free throws and Millie Niggeling 3-pointer to take their biggest lead of the second half at four, 65-61 with 2:51 remaining.
            USF scored the next four points and tied the game at 65 on an Ulmer jumper with 26 seconds to play.  WSC tried to set up for the game winning shot, but Spencer turned the ball over with three seconds left and the game went into overtime.
            With the exception of one tie, WSC held the lead for the entire overtime period.  The 'Cats took a 69-66 lead on an Ashton Yossi jumper with 2:11 to go in the extra session.  But USF fought back and knotted the score at 69 on a layup by Sam Knecht with 1:10 left in overtime.
            Freshman center Paige Ballinger sank a pair of free throws after getting fouled on an offensive rebound for a 71-69 lead with 46.7 seconds to play, a lead WSC would never relinquish.
            The 'Cats built a pair of four point leads in the overtime with the final one coming at 75-71 following two Ashton Yossi free throws with 18 seconds in overtime.
            USF's Taylor Varsho was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three free throws to pull the Cougars within one at 75-74 with 12.4 to play. Yossi was grabbed on the inbounds pass and made one of two free throws for a 76-74 lead.
            Sioux Falls attempted a 3-point shot, but Ulmer's attempt from the right wing was forced and missed wide left with the rebound going out of bounds.  WSC then made a successful inbounds pass and ran out the final seconds to survive with the win.
            Senior Millie Niggeling scored 21 points to lead Wayne State, one shy of her season and career-high.  Ashton Yossi added 17 points while Jordan Spencer contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.
            Wayne State shot just 34.4 percent from the field on 22 of 64.  The 'Cats were 7 of 21 behind the 3-point line and 25 for 37 at the free throw line.
            Taylor Varsho scored a game-high 22 points to lead Sioux Falls followed by Sam Knecht with 14 and Jaicee Ulmer 10.  The Cougars made 24 of 65 shots for 36.9 percent, going 7 of 32 behind the arc and 19 of 29 at the charity stripe.
            Sioux Falls held a 54-45 advantage in rebounding on the Wildcats thanks to 11 boards from Alison Klostergaard and Teagan Molden.  Spencer hauled in 11 boards for WSC followed by Maggie Schulte, Niggeling and Paige Ballinger with six each.
            USF had 22 turnovers in the game compared to 15 on the Wildcats.  Yossi had five assists and four steals for WSC.
            The Wildcats will play their final regular season home game at Rice Auditorium Saturday afternoon, hosting Southwest Minnesota State in a 4 p.m. contest.