Winona State 61 Wayne State 56

            Wayne State could not come back from a 29-10 second quarter deficit as Winona State held off a Wildcat rally in the second half for a 61-56 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball victory at McCown Gymnasium in Winona, Minnesota Saturday afternoon.  Winona State is now 4-3 and 2-1 in the NSIC while WSC drops to 5-3 and 1-2 in league play.
            The only lead of the game for the Wildcats came on the first points of the contest, a Brittany Bongartz layup 14 seconds into the contest.
            WSC then went cold from the floor the rest of the quarter, making just 2 of 16 shots as the Warriors built a 15-8 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play.
            The host Warriors scored the first six points of the second quarter and took a 21-8 lead and later led 29-10 at the 4:47 mark.  But WSC closed the half strong with a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to 29-22 at intermission.
            After trailing by 8-10 points most of the third quarter, the Wildcats rallied late making 5 of 7 shots to end the quarter and got as close as three at 46-43 on a Andrea Larson 3-pointer with 30 seconds to play third quarter.
            Winona State pushed the lead back to seven several times in the fourth quarter with WSC getting within four at 50-46 on a Larson trey and again at 52-48 with 5:01 to play on a Kylie Hammer layup.
            The Warriors answered again and led by seven as late as 44 seconds left in the game at 58-51. 
            WSC made the game interesting as Erin Norling had an offensive rebounds and putback followed by another from Hammer that culminated with a three-point play with 16 seconds left to get WSC as close as three at 59-56.
            But the Wildcats had to foul and Winona State sealed the win with two free throws for a 61-56 victory.
            WSC matched their season low in field goal percentage, making 20 of 61 shots for 32.8 percent.  The 'Cats were 5 of 26 (19.2%) from the 3-point line and just 11 for 19 (57.9%) at the charity stripe.
            Hammer led Wayne State in scoring with 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting.  She also tied a team-high with seven rebounds.  Erin Norling (12) and Brittany Bongartz (11) also reached double digits for the Wildcats.
            Winona State made 23 of 57 shots for 40.4 percent and was 3 for 19 behind the arc along with 12 of 15 at the free throw line.
            Rachel Novotny led Winona State with 21 points on 9 of 10 shooting to go with 11 rebounds.  Allie Pickrain also hit double figures with 10 points.
            WSC held a 43-35 edge in rebounding thanks to 18 offensive boards.  Hammer and Haley Vesey each grabbed seven boards for the Wildcats.  Maggie Lowe had four assists for WSC while Larson and Vesey each had two steals.            
            Wayne State will be at home next weekend, hosting Bemidji State Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. and Minnesota Crookston Sunday afternoon in a 12:30 p.m. contest in Rice Auditorium.