Concordia-St. Paul 81 Wayne State 80

            After rallying from a nine-point deficit with under six minutes to play to take a one point lead, Concordia-St. Paul used a late steal and basket to hand Wayne State College a heartbreaking 81-80 loss in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball played Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC drops to 16-9 and 11-8 in the league while Concordia-St. Paul improves to 13-12 and 10-9 in the NSIC South Division.
            Wayne State junior forward Erin Norling scored 11 of Wayne State's 16 first quarter points as the Wildcat started the game shooting 50 percent from the field (6-12) and held a 16-15 lead after 10 minutes of play.
            Concordia-St. Paul had the hot shooting hand in the second quarter, making 9 of 15 shots for 60 percent, and the Golden Bears outscored WSC 20-15 in the quarter to take a 35-31 lead at intermission.
            Both teams blistered the nets in the third quarter as the Wildcats scored 30 points on 10-13 shooting (76.9%) while CSP produced 29 points on 9-15 shooting (60%) giving the Golden Bears a 64-61 lead entering the fourth quarter.
            Concordia-St. Paul pushed the lead to nine points in the fourth quarter (72-63) when the Wildcats made a comeback.
            WSC was still down 76-71 with 2:56 to play, but got baskets from Brittany Bongartz and Halley Busse to cut the lead to one at 76-75.  After CSP got a basket with 1:37 to play to go in front 78-75, WSC used a Busse 3-pointer and a basket by Norling with 40 seconds to play giving the Wildcats an 80-78 lead.
            CSP made one of two free throws with 27 seconds to play cutting the Wildcat advantage to 80-79, but the Golden Bears got a steal and layup by Danielle Schaub to take a 81-80 led with 10 seconds left.
            WSC had one last chance to win the game and a shot by Norling left of the basket bounced off the back of the rim as Concordia-St. Paul held on for the 81-80 win.
            Norling led Wayne State in scoring with 22 points followed by Busse with 20.  Bongartz recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds while Autumn Mlinar finished with a career-high 12 points on 4 of 4 shooting from the 3-point line.
            WSC finished the game making 29 of 59 shots for 49.2 percent, going 10 for 17 from the 3-point line.  WSC was 12-17 at the free throw stripe.
            Sidney Wentland and Riley Wheatcraft each scored 20 points for Concordia-St. Paul while Schaub finished with 12 points.
            CSP was 28 of 61 from the field (45.9%), including 8 of 20 from the 3-point line.  The Golden Bears were 17-20 from the charity stripe.
            WSC won the rebounding battle over CSP 36-29 thanks to 11 caroms from Bongartz and seven by Norling.
            Busse tied her career-high with nine assists while Norling finished with three blocks.
            The Wildcats will be at home again Saturday hosting Minnesota State on Senior Day at 3:30 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.