Box Score Wayne State 75 Augustana 66

            Junior guard Kacie O'Connor scored a career-high 24 points to lead Wayne State College in a 75-66 victory over Augustana University Saturday evening in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Wildcats move to 8-3 overall and 3-3 in the NSIC while handing Augustana their first league loss of the season as the Vikings drop to 10-3 and 5-1 in league play.
            WSC jumped out of the gate taking an 11-4 lead in the first five minutes of the contest.  After pushing the lead to 10 at 18-8 with 1:26 to go in the quarter, Augustana closed the gap and trailed 19-14 after 10 minutes of play.
            The Wildcats used back-to-back 3-pointers from O'Connor to start the second quarter to take a 25-14 lead, but the Vikings slowly chipped away and got within one 29-28 before WSC got a three-point play from O'Connor to end the half giving the Wildcats a 32-28 lead at intermission.
            WSC pushed the lead to nine again early in the third quarter (37-28), but the Vikings charged back and took their first lead of the game at 49-47 on a pair of Naomi Rust free throws with 1:25 to play in the quarter. 
            The 'Cats used a pair of O'Connor free throws and a 3-pointer from O'Connor to end the quarter giving WSC a 52-51 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
            The two teams traded four lead changes and four ties early in the quarter until WSC pulled away in the final five minutes for the victory.
            Augustana took their final lead of the night at 63-62 on a Logan O'Farrell free throw with 4:32 remaining.
            WSC used four straight free throws from Anna Martensen to take the lead for good at 66-63 with 4:08 to play.  The 'Cats used jumpers from Paige Ballinger and Haley Moore to take a 70-63 lead and Augustana never got closer than five the rest of the night as the Wildcats finished with the 75-66 win.
            Wayne State shot just 34.4 percent for the game making 21 of 61 including 8 for 29 behind the arc.  The Wildcats tied a season-high making 25 of 29 free throws (86.2%) in the win.
            O'Connor's career-high 24 points led WSC in scoring.  She was 5 of 11 from the field, 3 of 6 behind the arc and 11 for 12 from the charity stripe.  Maggie Schulte (17) and Martensen (11) also reached double digits for the 'Cats.
            Augustana ended the game making 24 of 67 shots for 35.8 percent that included 5 of 22 from the 3-point line.  The Vikings were 13 for 19 at the foul line.
            Naomi Rust had 17 points with Logan O'Farrell adding 15 for the Vikings.
            Augustana held a slim 43-42 edge in rebounding over the Wildcats with Logan O'Farrell grabbing eight boards for the Vikings while Schulte hauled in nine boards with Martensen and Paige Ballinger each adding eight for the Wildcats.
            Both teams had 16 turnovers in the contest.  Moore had five of Wayne State's 10 assists while Ballinger and O'Connor each had two steals.  Ballinger had four of Wayne State's five blocks.
            The Wildcats resume play following the holiday break on Friday, December 30 hosting Sioux Falls in a 6 p.m. contest in Rice Auditorium.