Wayne State 72 Southwest Minnesota State 67

            Wayne State used 50 percent shooting in the second half and outscored Southwest Minnesota State 44-34 in the second half to rally for a 72-67 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball victory over the Mustangs Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The win snapped a six-game losing skid for the Wildcats and marked the 20^th consecutive win over the Mustangs dating back to 2009.  WSC is now 14-13 on the season and 9-12 in the NSIC while SMSU drops to 12-14 and 9-12 in league play.
            The game was tightly contested, featuring 14 lead changes and seven ties, and marked just the second time this season (2-10) that WSC rallied from a halftime deficit to pick up a victory.
            The first quarter featured seven lead changes and three ties with the visiting Mustangs holding a 16-15 lead.
            With the exception of two early one point leads in the second stanza, SMSU controlled the second quarter and used a 12-3 run early in the quarter to take their biggest lead of the game at 28-20 at the 6:06 mark. 
            WSC scored seven of the next eight points to cut the deficit to two at 29-27, but SMSU closed the half with a 33-28 lead on the Wildcats.
            A 3-pointer to open the third quarter by SMSU gave the Mustangs another eight-point lead at 36-28, but Wayne State used an 11-2 run over the next 3:35 to take a 39-38 lead on a Kylie Hammer layup with 5:51 to play in the third quarter. 
            After SMSU pushed the lead back to six at 48-42, the 'Cats closed the third quarter with a surge and tied the score at 51-51 entering the fourth quarter.
            With the scored tied at 56-56 with 8:30 to play, WSC used a series of consecutive 3-pointers from Brittany Bongartz, Haley Vesey and Hammer to take a 65-58 advantage.
            The Wildcats took their biggest lead of the game at 67-58 with 3:09 to play, but the Mustangs made one last run at the Wildcats and got within three at 70-67 with 22 seconds to play.
            Sophomore guard Halley Busse sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left for the 72-67 win.
            Sophomore forward Erin Norling led five double digit scorers for the Wildcats with a 14-point, 10 rebound effort for her third double-double of the season.  Bongartz finished with 13 points while Busse, Vesey and Hammer each contributed 11 points in the win.
            Wayne State finished the game making 24 of 60 shots for 40 percent, but connected on 14 of 28 shots in the second half for 50 percent.  The 'Cats were 9 for 21 behind the arc and 15 of 20 at the charity stripe.
            Caleigh Rodning paced Southwest Minnesota State with 14 points.  Sadie Stelter scored 12 with Erin Baster and Abuk Akoi each scoring 11.
            The Mustangs were 24 of 70 shooting for 34.3 percent, including 12 of 39 from the 3-point line.  SMSU was 7-10 at the foul line.
            SMSU held a 44-41 edge in rebounding on WSC with Norling grabbing 10 boards for the 'Cats followed by Vesey and Bongartz with eight apiece.
            Maggie Lowe, Busse and Hammer were each credited with four assists while Lowe had three steals.  Norling accounted for three of Wayne State's five blocks.
            The Wildcats host Sioux Falls Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for Senior Day in the regular season finale at Rice Auditorium.