Wayne State 86 Upper Iowa 59

            Freshman forward Josey Ryan scored a season-best 21 points and Wayne State outscored Upper Iowa 44-26 in the second half to pull away for a 86-59 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball victory Friday night at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Wildcats move to 6-1 and 2-0 in the NSIC with the win while the visiting Peacocks drop to 0-7 and 0-2 in the league.
            Wayne State never trailed in the contest although the Peacocks kept the game close much of the first half.
            The 'Cats took a 15-4 lead at the 5:32 mark of the first quarter following an Erin Norling basket and WSC finished the opening stanza with a 24-16 advantage.
            Upper Iowa got as close as five at 28-23, but the 'Cats stormed back and pushed the lead back to 12 at 42-30 before finishing the half with a 42-33 lead.
            The third quarter saw UIU stay close early as the Peacocks trailed 46-39 with 7:07 to play in the quarter.
            Wayne State put the game out of reach with a 15-2 run and held a 61-44 lead after three quarters.
            The 'Cats closed the contest outscoring Upper Iowa 25-15 in the fourth quarter for a final score of 86-59.
            Ryan led all scorers with her career-best 21 points on 10 of 13 shooting from the field.  Other Wildcats reaching double figures were Halley Busse with 14, Erin Norling 12 and Brittany Bongartz 11.
            Wayne State finished the game making 31-63 shots for 49.2 percent, going 5 for 19 from the 3-point line and 19-23 (82.6%) at the free throw line.
            For Upper Iowa, Bekka Pierson scored 11 points with Megan Peterson adding 10.
            The Peacocks were 21-56 from the floor for 37.5 percent, 8-22 behind the arc (36.4%) and 9 for 13 at the free throw line.
            Wayne State held a 40-31 edge in rebounding over Upper Iowa thanks to seven boards from Norling.  Busse had six of Wayne State's 24 assists on the night to go with a team-high three steals.
            WSC had just 12 turnovers in the game compared to 20 for Upper Iowa and the Wildcats held a commanding 48-18 edge on points in the paint.
            The Wildcats will be at home again Saturday afternoon hosting Winona State at 3:30 p.m.