Box Score Wayne State 88 Southwest Minnesota State 59

            Junior guard Haley Moore paced five Wayne State players in double figures by recording career-highs of 19 points and five 3-pointers to lead the Wayne State College women's basketball team in an 88-59 Northern Sun Conference victory over Southwest Minnesota State Saturday night at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The host Wildcats improve to 6-6 overall (6-1 at home) and 3-4 in the NSIC while SMSU falls to 3-10 and 1-6 in league play.
            The game was close early as the two teams traded the lead four times to go with two ties.  Trailing 8-6 at the 6:17 mark of the first quarter, WSC used back-to-back treys by Maggie Schulte and Haley Moore to grab a 12-8 advantage. 
            After SMSU pulled within one at 14-13, the Wildcats built a seven point lead at 20-13 and finished the first quarter with a 22-15 lead.
            SMSU got as close as three in the second quarter at 24-21 with 6:50 to play before halftime, but WSC went on a 14-4 run and took a 38-25 lead (biggest WSC lead of the first half) on a Kacie O'Connor 3-pointer with 34 seconds to play before finishing the half with a 38-27 lead. 
            Wayne State opened the second half on fire, making their first seven shots from the field, fueling a 17-3 run in the first 4:30 of the third quarter that put the Wildcats in front 55-30 with 5:37 to play in the third quarter.  Junior guard Haley Moore sparked the quick start by making a trio of 3-pointers to open the half and finished the quarter going 4 of 5 behind the arc.
            The Wildcats maintained more than a 20-point lead for a majority of the second half as Wayne State went on to the 88-57 league victory.
            Moore led five Wildcat players in double figures with her 19 points, going 7 for 11 from the field including 5 of 8 behind the arc.  Sophomore forward Maggie Schulte contributed 16 points with sophomore Kacie O'Connor and sophomore Paige Ballinger each adding 10 points.  Senior guard Sadie Murren finished with a double-double, notching 10 points and 11 assists for her second double-double of the year.
            Wayne State finished the game shooting 32 of 63 from the field for 50.8 percent, just the second time this season the Wildcats shot over 50 percent in a game.  The 'Cats were 9 of 21 from 3-point range (42.9%) and 15 for 20 at the free throw line.
            Lauren Hedlund paced Southwest Minnesota State with 22 points followed by Hope Bonlander (15) and Annessa Rosch (10).  The Mustangs made 24 of 66 shots for 36.4 percent, going just 2 of 15 behind the 3-point line and 9 for 16 from the charity stripe.
            Wayne State held a 42-36 advantage in rebounding over the Mustangs with Anna Martensen leading WSC on the glass with seven.  Hedlund led all rebounders for SMSU with nine caroms.
            Both teams scored 32 points in the paint while SMSU had one more turnover than WSC, 18-17.    
            The Wildcats will be in action again on Sunday afternoon hosting Sioux Falls in a 1 p.m. contest at Rice Auditorium.