St. Cloud State 78 Wayne State 67

            St. Cloud State opened the third quarter with a 21-6 run to take control of the game as the visiting Huskies topped Wayne State College 78-67 in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball played Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  It was the first win for SCSU in the last 13 meetings over WSC dating back to the 2008-09 season.  WSC falls to 13-10 and 8-9 in the NSIC while SCSU improves to 13-8 and 10-7 in league games.
            The visiting Huskies held the lead the entire first quarter, building a 12-6 lead before the Wildcats reduced the deficit to 18-17 at the end of the quarter on a Brittany Bongartz layup.
            WSC took their first lead of the contest at 19-18 early in the second quarter on a Erin Norling basket.
            The two teams traded six lead changes with Wayne State's final lead coming at 26-25 on a Halley Busse layup with 3:46 to play in the half.  SCSU then built at 34-29 lead and ended the half with a 34-32 advantage.
            The Huskies took control of the game in the third quarter, opening with a 21-6 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 55-38 with 2:03 to play third quarter.
            St. Cloud State maintained a double digit lead most of the fourth quarter until WSC made one final push.
            With SCSU leading 69-54 at the 5:05 mark, WSC got as close as seven at 72-65 and again at 74-67 following an Andrea Larson layup before the Huskies made four free throws in the final 24 seconds for the final margin.
            Sophomore center Brittany Bongartz led WSC with 21 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.  Erin Norling also reached double digits with 17 points.
            Wayne State ended the game making 25 of 62 shots for 40.3 percent, but was just 5 for 28 behind the arc.  The Wildcats made 12 of 13 free throws.
            For St. Cloud State, Tori Wortz had 19 points to lead five players in double digits.  Mallie Doucette scored 17 points off the bench for the Huskies with Madelin Dammann adding 14. 
            SCSU made 29 of 74 shots for 39.2 percent and connected on 11 of 27 from the 3-point line.  The Huskies made 9 of 13 at the foul line.
            St. Cloud State won the rebounding battle over WSC 46-38.  Bongartz led WSC with 11 caroms followed by Andrea Larson with seven.
            Wayne State held a commanding 40-16 edge on points in the paint, but St. Cloud State's bench outscored Wayne State 30-6 in the contest.
            Kylie Hammer and Norling each had three assists for Wayne State while Halley Busse and Bongartz each recorded two steals.
            The Wildcats will be at home again Saturday afternoon hosting Minnesota Duluth at 3:30 p.m.