Minnesota State 80 Wayne State 78
Wayne State rallied from a 17-point deficit with 9:27 remaining to tie the score with 22 seconds to play, but Minnesota State's Taylor Drost ruined the comeback by sinking a jumper with 1.8 seconds remaining to give the visiting Minnesota State Mavericks an 80-78 victory over Wayne State Saturday afternoon at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. WSC drops to 12-7 and 7-6 in league play while MSU improves to 7-10 and 4-9 in league games with the win.
The Mavericks limited the Wildcat offense early on, helping them create a 10-0 lead within the first three minutes of the game. Down by as much as 16-3, the Wildcat offense slowly chipped away at the early deficit. A 5-0 run by
Maggie Lowe helped Wayne State close the distance entering the second with a 12-3 run to end the quarter,
Minnesota State held steady in the second, able to fend off any Wayne State run with buckets of their own. The Mavericks held at least a four-point advantage the whole quarter, building their lead as much as nine as they went into the locker room with a 37-29 lead.
Wayne State shot 10-29 from the field, but were able to hold Minnesota State to just 38.9% (14-36) shooting. MSU held a 26-19 advantage on the boards in the first 20 minutes. Sophomore
Brittany Bongartz led the team with six points in the first half with eight different scorers getting on the board for the 'Cats.
Minnesota State seemingly looked to be heading comfortable win as the Wildcats couldn't get a shot to fall and the Mavericks ended the third with a 15 point advantage.
Down by 11 with just over four minutes to play, the Wildcats put on an extra gear to get back into the game. Six straight points, including four from
Erin Norling, more than halved the deficit into a two-possession game.
Wayne State went on another 6-0 run after a Taylor Drost basket to cut the lead to 74-73. After two Monica Muth free throws to put the Mavericks up 78-75 with 30 seconds left, Wayne State drove down the other side.
Kylie Hammer's pass fell into the hands of Lowe, who tickled the twine from distance to tie the ballgame up at 78 apiece. With no timeouts for either team, the Mavericks were forced to hurry up their shot. With the ball in the hands of their scoring leader Drost, she forced up an off balanced shot that sliced through the net with 1.8 on the clock, spoiling a valiant effort from the Wildcats and silencing Rice Auditorium.
Wayne State shot 24-62 from the field (38.7%) and 7 of 27 from the 3-point line.
Brittany Bongartz led the Wildcats with a career-high 23 points while
Erin Norling recorded a 16 point, 10 rebound double-double. Lowe finished the afternoon with 13 points.
Minnesota State scored on 26-70 attempts, good for 37.1%. The Mavericks outrebounded the Wildcats by a 55-38 margin. Drost finished the afternoon with 22 points and 10 rebounds while Rachel Shumski finished a point short of a double-double of her own (nine points, 10 rebounds). Muth added 16 points in the winning effort.
The Wildcats will be at home again Sunday afternoon hosting Concordia-St. Paul in a 1:30 p.m. contest at Rice Auditorium.