Box Score Wayne State 67 Minnesota Crookston 60

            Wayne State College needed a season-high 16 points from senior guard Kacie O'Connor to fend off Minnesota Crookston 67-60 in a Northern Sun Conference women's basketball game played Saturday evening at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston, Minnesota.  It was the 20^th win of the season for the Wildcats, now 20-6 overall and 14-4 in the NSIC, while UMC falls to 6-16 and 6-12 in league games.  WSC has now won at least 20 games in seven of the 10 seasons with Chris Kielsmeier as head coach and it's the 13^th time in school history the Wildcats have won 20 games in a season.
            The Wildcats trailed just once in the ball game – 5-4 following a UMC 3-pointer by Caitlin Michaelis with 7:39 to play in the first quarter.  WSC used 8 of 16 shooting in the opening stanza to take a 20-13 lead on the Golden Eagles.
            UMC cut the Wildcat lead to two in the second quarter, but WSC pushed the lead back to seven at 27-20 following an O'Connor jumper with 2:42 to play in the quarter.  The Golden Eagles outscored WSC 10-7 in the second quarter as Wayne State held a 27-23 lead at intermission.
            Wayne State's biggest lead in the third quarter was eight at 31-23 following a Halley Busse 3-pointer at the 8:15 mark.  After UMC cut the lead to two at 36-34, the 'Cats used baskets by Paige Ballinger, Maggie Lowe and Andrea Larson to increase the lead to eight again at 42-34 before ending the quarter with a 42-37 advantage.
            UMC got as close as four early in the fourth quarter at 47-43, but the 'Cats answered the rally and took their first double digit lead of the night at 59-49 with an O'Connor 3-pointer at the 3:23 mark.  WSC made 8 of 12 shots in the fourth quarter and sealed the win with 6 of 8 free throws to finish with the 67-60 win.
            O'Connor led WSC in scoring with a season-high 16 points to go with a career-high four steals.  Freshman forward Erin Norling and junior reserve forward Andrea Larson each added 10 points in the win.
            Wayne State was 23 of 53 shooting for 43.4 percent, including 7 of 13 behind the arc.  The 'Cats were 14 for 20 (70%) at the charity stripe.
            Emily Gruber paced Minnesota Crookston with a game-high 21 points while Isieoma Odor added 19.
            UMC made 22 of 70 shots from the field for 31.4 percent, going 7 of 28 from the 3-point line and 9 for 11 at the free throw stripe.
            The Golden Eagles won the rebounding battle over WSC 45-33 that included 17 offensive rebounds.  Ballinger grabbed six boards for WSC with Norling adding five. 
            Maggie Schulte was credited with five of Wayne State's 13 assists while Ballinger had two of the teams' four blocked shots.
            Wayne State will be at home next weekend, hosting Southwest Minnesota State Friday night at 6 p.m. and Sioux Falls Saturday in a 4 p.m. contest.