Minnesota State 90 Wayne State 82

            Sophomore point guard Halley Busse scorched the nets for a career-high 29 points that included 8 of 11 shooting from the 3-point line, but it was not enough as the Wayne State College women's basketball team dropped a 90-82 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball contest at Minnesota State Saturday evening in Mankato, Minnesota at Taylor Center.  Host MSU is now 12-12 overall and 9-11 in the NSIC while WSC slips to 13-13 and 8-12 in league games.
            The Wildcats never led in the contest and were down double digits less than seven minutes into the contest, trailing 20-10 with 3:14 left in the first quarter before ending the quarter down 23-14.
            An Andrea Larson 3-pointer to open the second quarter got WSC as close as six at 23-17, but the host Mavericks went on a 13-2 run and took a 36-19 lead before finishing the first half with a 44-29 lead at the break.
            WSC used the 3-pointer to stay within range during the second half.  In the third quarter, 3-pointers from Halley Busse and Maggie Lowe got WSC within 10 at 54-44 with 4:42 left in the quarter, but Minnesota State responded and pushed the lead back to 16 (64-48) at the end of the third quarter.
            Busse's hot shooting in the fourth quarter helped WSC make a late run at the Mavericks.
            MSU held a 71-51 lead at the 8:30 mark.  But a Brittney Bongartz layup followed by consecutive 3-pointers from Busse got the 'Cats within 12 at 71-59 and later in the quarter a Busse three-point play pulled the Wildcats within eight at 78-70 with 3:01 to play.  That's as close as the Wildcats would get as WSC outscored MSU in the fourth quarter 34-26 to make the final score 90-82.           
            Busse ended the game with a career-high 29 points, 21 coming in the second half on 7 of 8 shooting and 6 for 7 from the 3-point line.  She was 10 of 13 from the field and 8 for 11 behind the 3-point line.  The 8 3-pointers are tied for the second most in a single game by a Wildcat player, joining Dodie Martin in 2002 and Mary Schnitzler in 1992 as other Wildcat players to achieve the feat.
            Senior guard Maggie Lowe also had a career night from the 3-point line, going 5 of 7 behind the arc (career-high) while scoring a career-best 17 points.  Sophomore Erin Norling also scored 17 points for the Wildcats.
            Wayne State ended the game making 30 of 64 shots for 46.9 percent, the second-best shooting night of the season for the Wildcats.  WSC was 17 of 35 from the 3-point line and just 5 for 7 at the foul line.
            Tayla Stuttley led Minnesota State in scoring with 16 points followed by Taylor Drost with 15 and Ashley Reed 14.
            Minnesota State was 35 of 76 shooting for 46.1 percent, including 9 of 25 from the 3-point line.  The Mavericks were 11 for 15 at the charity stripe.
            WSC held a slim 41-38 advantage in rebounding on the Mavericks with Busse and Haley Vesey each grabbing seven boards. 
            The Wildcats were charged with 20 turnovers in the game to just 11 on MSU, resulting in a 25-7 advantage in points off turnovers for the Mavericks.
            Norling had five assists with Lowe and Busse each recording four while Busse and Bongartz each had two steals.
            The Wildcats will close out the regular season next weekend at home, hosting Southwest Minnesota State Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Sioux Falls Saturday in a 3:30 p.m. contest in Rice Auditorium.