Wayne State 78 MSU Moorhead 73

            Wayne State exploded to a 28-point lead early in the second quarter, then held off a furious MSU Moorhead rally in the second half where the Dragons actually led 64-62 before the Wildcats came back to post a thrilling 78-73 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win Friday night at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Wildcats move to 12-5 and 7-4 in the NSIC while MSU Moorhead drops to 13-5 and 8-3 in league games.
            The Wildcats came out on fire, building a 31-10 lead in the first quarter thanks to 6-11 shooting from behind the arc in the opening 10 minutes.  Halley Busse and Erin Norling hit double figures in the opening quarter with 12 and 10 points respectively.
            WSC continued their torrid shooting the second quarter and once held a 41-13 lead at the 7:06 mark of the second quarter before closing the first half with a 46-26 lead at intermission. 
            The 'Cats closed the opening half shooting 17-33 (51.5%) and 9 of 16 (56.3%) from the 3-point line.
            But the warm shooting for the Wildcats went away in the second half and the visiting Dragons stormed back.
            MSU Moorhead outscored WSC 27-11 in the third quarter and the Wildcats made just 4 of 19 shots (21%) from the field as the Dragons trailed by just four at 57-53 entering the final quarter.
            The Dragons tied the score at 57-57 and took their first and only lead of the game at 64-62 with 5:44 to play.
            WSC gained the lead back on a Kylie Hammer 3-pointer and went up three on an Erin Norling basket at 67-64. 
            MSU Moorhead closed within one at 71-70 with 2:23 remaining, but WSC got a basket from Brittany Bongartz with 1:06 to play to go up 73-70 and the 'Cats made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 27 seconds to seal the 78-73 win.
            Norling led Wayne State with her fourth double-double of the year – 20 points and 10 rebounds – followed by Busse with 19.  Hammer also reached double digits for the 'Cats with 12.
            WSC ended the game making 27-64 shots for 42.2 percent, going 10 for 22 behind the arc and 14 for 18 at the charity stripe.
            Peyton Boom scored a game-high 22 points for MSU Moorhead.  Megan Hintz chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Dragons.
            MSU Moorhead shot 26-70 for 37.1 percent, including 8 for 28 from the 3-point line.  MSUM was 13-19 at the line.
            The Dragons won the rebounding battle 48-37 with Norling grabbing 10 boards for WSC.  Busse was credited with four assists and had four steals. 
            WSC will be at home again Saturday afternoon hosting Northern State in a 3:30 p.m. contest in Rice Auditorium.