Wayne State 80 Augustana 76

            Sophomore reserve guard Kylie Hammer sparked Wayne State College with a career-high 21 points off the bench on 7 of 13 shooting to lead the Wildcats in a 80-76 win over Augustana University in the Northern Sun Conference women's basketball opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The win for WSC, now 5-1 and 1-0 in the NSIC, snapped a four-game losing streak in the series to Augustana while the Vikings fall to 4-1 and 0-1 in league play.
            WSC opened with the first four points of the game, but Augustana controlled the rest of the opening stanza and held an 18-13 lead after 10 minutes of play.
            The Vikings held the lead for nearly the entire second quarter, but WSC stayed close and forged a 32-32 tie heading into halftime.
            The third quarter saw the two teams exchange the lead 17 times, but a scoring surge by Wayne State in the final 90 seconds of the quarter gave the Wildcats the lead for good.
            With Augustana leading 53-52, WSC used a 15-2 run in the final 1:40 of the third quarter and the Wildcats used a pair of 3-pointers from Kylie Hammer to end the quarter, including a 35 footer that banked in to close the quarter, giving Wayne State a 63-55 lead entering the fourth quarter.
            Wayne State held the lead the rest of the game, holding back several Augustana rallies in the fourth quarter for the win.
            A Vishe' Rabb layup for Augustana with 1:51 to play cut the Wayne State lead to 76-74.  But Wayne State sealed the win in the final 12 seconds with a pair of free throws from Halley Busse with 12.6 remaining and Hammer sinking two charity tosses with 8.0 seconds to play for the 80-76 victory.
            Hammer led five Wildcats in double figures with a career-high 21 points, going 7 of 13 from the field and 4 for 6 behind the arc.  Junior center Brittany Bongartz contributed a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Erin Norling and Busse each scored 12 points with Haley Vesey adding a season-best 11 off the bench.
            Wayne State finished the game making 25 of 59 shots for 42.4 percent, including 8-20 (40%) behind the arc.  The 'Cats were 22-29 at the charity stripe for 75.9 percent.
            Vishe' Rabb led Augustana in scoring with 17 points.  Abby Hora and Lauren Sees also reached double figures with 12 and 10 respectively.
            The Vikings were 32-74 from the field for 43.2 percent, but made just 6 of 27 shots from the 3-point line and 6-14 at the free throw stripe.
            WSC held a 44-38 advantage in rebounding over the Vikings thanks to 10 caroms by Bongartz and eight each from Josey Ryan and Hammer. 
            Hammer handed out five assists and also had a team-best three steals.
            The Wildcats will be at home next weekend for Northern Sun Conference games hosting Upper Iowa Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Winona State Saturday in a 3:30 p.m. contest.