#18 Sioux Falls 78 Wayne State 70
#18 Sioux Falls forced Wayne State into a season-high 28 turnovers, resulting in a commanding 38-8 advantage in points off turnovers, as the Cougars held off the Wildcats 78-70 Friday evening in a Northern Sun Conference South Division women's basketball game at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. USF is now 12-2 and 5-2 in league play while WSC drops to 9-4 and 4-3.
The visiting Cougars never trailed in the contest, but fought back several WSC rallies to record the road victory.
USF took an early 18-8 lead with 2:26 to play in the first quarter and led 21-15 after 10 minutes.
WSC was within four several times in the second quarter but the Cougars pushed the lead to 11 at 33-22 with 3:35 left before halftime. Sioux Falls maintained their double digit advantage and was in front 41-30 at intermission.
Sioux Falls made the opening basket of the second half for the biggest lead of the night at 43-30.
Wayne State closed within four late in the quarter at 51-47 following a
Halley Busse 3-pointer before the Cougars finished the third stanza with a 58-50 lead.
The 'Cats got as close as two in the final quarter at 59-57 following a
Josey Ryan three-point play with 6:55 to play.
Sioux Falls then scored the next eight points and increased the advantage back to 10 at 67-57.
WSC made one final rally at the Cougars, getting within four at 74-70 with 1:30 to play following a Busse three-point play but Sioux Falls made four free throws late to seal the 78-70 win.
Busse finished with a season-high 21 points to pace the Wildcats, including 9-9 from the charity stripe. Other Wildcats reaching double figures were
Brittany Bongartz with 18 points and
Erin Norling notched her third double-double of the year with 16 points and a career-best 14 rebounds.
Wayne State finished the night making 23 of 50 shots for 46 percent including 6 for 15 from the 3-point line. The 'Cats were 18-21 (85.7%) at the free throw line.
Kaely Hummel scored a game-high 22 points for Sioux Falls. Anna Goodhope contributed 18 points with Jessie Geer scoring 11 in the win.
The Cougars made 26 of 68 shots from the field and were 6 of 16 behind the arc. USF was 20-28 at the free throw line.
WSC won the rebounding battle 45-29 thanks to 14 boards from Norling and nine by Bongartz, but the Wildcats were plaqued with a season-high 28 turnovers to just seven by Sioux Falls, resulting in the 38-8 edge in points off turnovers for the Cougars.
Bongartz had six blocked shots in the game for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats will be at home again Saturday afternoon hosting Southwest Minnesota State in a 3:30 p.m. NSIC South Division contest in Rice Auditorium.
