Winona State 83 Wayne State 75

            Winona State used nearly 55 percent shooting (34-62) and outscored Wayne State 23-13 in the third quarter to snap a 33-33 halftime tie as the Warriors defeated the Wildcats 83-75 in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball played Friday evening at McCown Gymnasium in Winona, Minnesota.  Winona State improves to 10-3 and 6-3 in the NSIC South with the win while WSC drops to 10-5 and 5-4 in the league.
            Wayne State never led in the contest, falling behind 12-7 at the midway point of the first quarter.  After trailing 18-9 at the 2:26 mark, WSC closed the quarter with a pair of Erin Norling free throws, a Norling basket and a layup from freshman reserve Kassidy Pingel to cut the Winona State advantage to 18-15 after one quarter. 
            The Wildcats trailed twice in the second quarter by six points and trailed by five at 33-28 with 1:54 to play in the half.  A Josey Ryan 3-pointer and jumper by Kylie Hammer tied the score at 33-33 heading into halftime.
            The third quarter remained close until a late scoring surge by Winona State gave the Warriors a 56-46 lead.
            WSC was down 45-42 with 3:56 to play in the quarter, but the host Warriors used a 3-pointer from Caitlin Riley at the end of the third quarter to take a 56-46 lead entering the fourth quarter.
            Winona State took their biggest lead of the game at 62-48 with 9:10 to play, but the Wildcats made a charge at the Warriors and got as close as three at 70-67 with 3:09 to play following a layup from Norling. 
            The host Warriors then put the game out of reach scoring the next seven points to push the lead back to 10 at 77-67 and Winona State held off the Wildcats for the 83-75 win. 
            The 83 points scored by Winona State tied for the most points allowed by the Wildcats this season.
            Norling led WSC with 21 points, her eighth game of 20 or more points this season.  Brittany Bongartz and Halley Busse each added 15 points with Josey Ryan scoring 10.
            Wayne State made 29 of 70 shots in the game for 41.4 percent, including 7 for 21 from 3-point range.  The 'Cats were 10-12 at the charity stripe.
            Taylor Hustad accounted for 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Winona State.  Emma Fee chipped in 12 points with Taylor Klug adding 11.  Emily Kieck added a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists.
            Winona State finished the game making 34 of 62 shots for 54.8 percent.  The Warriors made 7 of 19 from the 3-point line and 8 for 11 at the foul line.
            The Warriors held a slight 36-34 edge in rebounding over the Wildcats despite nine boards from Norling.
            Norling also led the Wildcats in assists with five while Josey Ryan had two steals.
            Wayne State will be in action again Saturday afternoon visiting Upper Iowa for a 3:30 p.m. contest.