Wayne State 81 Minnesota State 69

            Wayne State College used four players in double figures as the Wildcats recorded an 81-69 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball victory at Minnesota State Friday evening played at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minnesota.  WSC is now 7-3 and 1-1 in league play while MSU drops to 1-5 and 0-1 in the NSIC.
            The Wildcats got off to a quick start, taking a 9-0 lead in the first 2:45 of the contest that eventually led to a 20-4 first quarter advantage with 3:43 to go.  WSC finished the first stanza making 9 of 13 shots and built a 25-11 lead.
            But WSC went cold from the field allowing the host Mavericks to get back into the game as MSU used a 15-2 run to get within six at 27-21.
            Leading 29-23, WSC scored 10 of the next 12 points to push the lead to 39-25 before ending the first half with a 41-27 advantage.
            Minnesota State opened the second half scoring the first eight points to get within six at 41-35.  The Mavericks got as close at five at 46-41, but WSC used key 3-pointers from Kacie O'Connor and Maggie Lowe to push the lead back to seven at the end of the third quarter 56-49.
            The Mavericks opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to pull within five at 57-52, but WSC never let MSU get closer and pushed the lead back to double figures with nearly five minutes left in the game and the Wildcats ended with a 81-69 win.
            O'Connor and Maggie Schulte paced Wayne State in scoring with 14 points apiece followed by freshman guard Halley Busse with 13 and freshman forward Erin Norling 11.
            Wayne State made 26 of 53 shots from the field for 49.1 percent including 5 of 15 behind the arc.  The Wildcats were 24 for 28 (85.7%) at the charity stripe.
            Logan Anderson led Minnesota State with 19 points.  Claire Ziegler accounted for 16 points and 11 rebounds while Claire Jordan also hit double figures with 14.
            The Mavericks shot 38.7 percent from the field on 24 of 62 and were 6 for 14 from 3-point range and 15 of 25 at the free throw line.
            MSU held a 38-35 edge in rebounding over WSC thanks to 17 offensive rebounds.  Schulte led WSC on the boards with eight.
            Minnesota State had 20 turnovers to 19 on WSC.  Maggie Lowe had three of Wayne State's nine assists while O'Connor was credited with two steals.  Paige Ballinger accounted for three blocked shots with Brittany Bongartz adding two.
            The Wildcats will be in action again Saturday afternoon visiting Concordia-St. Paul in an NSIC contest starting at 4 p.m.