Wayne State 85 Bemidji State 71

            Wayne State outscored Bemidji State 26-11 in the fourth quarter to break away from a tightly contested game as the Wildcats topped the Beavers 85-71 in a Northern Sun Conference women's basketball game played Saturday afternoon at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC is now 6-3 and 2-2 in NSIC games while BSU falls to 2-6 and 0-4 in league play.
            The Wildcat trailed a majority of the first half until a scoring surge midway through the second quarter put WSC ahead.
            Bemidji State built a 16-8 lead at the 2:02 mark of the first quarter, but WSC closed the quarter scoring nine of the final 11 points to cut the Beaver lead to 18-17 after one quarter.
            The Beavers pushed the lead back to five at 25-20 at the 6:53 mark of the second quarter, but WSC went on an 11-0 run over the next 4:30 to take a 31-25 advantage.  The 'Cats took a seven point lead at 37-30 on an Andrea Larson 3-point play before finishing the half with a 37-32 lead at intermission.
            WSC held the lead for the first part of the third quarter, only to find the visiting Beavers come back late to take a 60-59 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
            The 'Cats held a 46-41 lead with 6:18 to play third quarter following a Bongartz three-point play.  But BSU regained the lead at 50-48 on a Sdyney Zerr 3-pointer and pushed the lead to as many as five at 56-51 before ending the quarter with a 60-59 advantage.
            WSC then took control of the game scoring the first 12 points of the fourth quarter, building a 71-60 lead.  The Wildcats sealed the win making 13 of 19 free throws in the fourth quarter as WSC came away with the 85-71 win.
            Sophomore point guard Halley Busse scored a season-high 19 points to lead four Wildcat double digit scorers for Wayne State.  She also handed out a game-high seven assists.  Sophomore Erin Norling followed with 18 points with Andrea Larson (15) and Brittany Bongartz (13) also reaching double figures.
            Wayne State shot 23 of 58 from the field for 39.7 percent, including a season-best 10 for 21 from the 3-point line.  The 'Cats also made 29 of 42 free throws. 
            Taylor Bray poured in a game-high 24 points to pace Bemidji State while Trinity Myer also reached double figures with 11 points.
            BSU shot 38.2 percent from the field, making 21 of 55 shots.  The Beavers were 5 for 20 behind the arc and 24 of 27 (88.9%) at the free throw line.
            Both teams had 39 rebounds in the game.  Wayne State's top rebounder was Larson with nine followed by Bongartz with seven.  Busse had seven of Wayne State's 17 assists while Busse, Larson and Haley Vesey each were credited with three steals. 
            WSC will play again Sunday afternoon hosting Minnesota Crookston in an NSIC contest starting at 12:30 p.m.