Wayne State 84 Minnesota State 79

            The Wayne State College women's basketball team overcame 29 turnovers to defeat Minnesota State Saturday evening 84-79 in NSIC South Division basketball played at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minnesota.  WSC is now 2-3 and 1-2 in the NSIC South Division while MSU sports identical overall and divisional records.
            WSC started slow, trailing 6-0 in the opening 90 seconds of the game.  After scoring the next eight points to take their first lead at 8-6, the 'Cats pushed the lead to four at 13-9 on a Halley Busse 3-pointer before closing the opening stanza with a 19-17 lead.
            The Wildcats led the entire second quarter, taking their biggest lead of the first half at nine points (33-24) on a Brittany Bongartz basket with 4:33 to play before halftime. 
            Wayne State still led by seven (37-30) with 1:46 remaining in the half, but the host Mavericks closed the half with six straight points to trim the Wildcat lead to one at 37-36.
            The third quarter saw Minnesota State surge to a five point lead just past the midway point of the quarter at 52-47, but junior reserve guard Kylie Hammer scored four straight points along with baskets by Bongartz and Josey Ryan to end the third quarter giving WSC a 60-58 lead.  WSC ended the quarter making 9 of 12 shots from the field.
            The Wildcats continued their torrid shooting in the fourth quarter (9-11 from the field) and built a double-digit lead, but had to hold off a late Minnesota State rally for the 84-79 victory.
            A 3-pointer from Autumn Mlinar followed by a layup from Hammer gave WSC their biggest lead of the night at 73-60 with 6:21 to play.
            WSC also held a 13-point lead at 77-64 with 4:40 to play following a Halley Busse layup that gave the senior guard her 1,000^th point of her career.
            Minnesota State stormed back with the next 10 points in just 2:36 and cut the Wildcat lead to 77-74 with 2:04 remaining.
            Hammer then responded with a three-point play followed by two free throws to put the 'Cats ahead 82-76 with Busse sinking a pair of free throws with 1:00 remaining to help WSC hang on for the 84-79 win.
            Norling scored 21 points to lead Wayne State with Hammer close behind at 20, 17 coming in the second half.  Autumn Mlinar added 14 points while Busse closed the night with nine, giving her 1,002 points for her career and the 22^nd player in school history to reach the milestone.
            Wayne State shot a sizzling 60 percent for the game, making 33 of 55 shots.  WSC was 7-22 behind the arc and 11-16 at the free throw line.
            Rachel Shumski paced Minnesota State with 24 points.  Kristi Fett added 12 with Tayla Stuttley scoring 10.
            Minnesota State was 30 of 80 from the field for 37.5 percent and just 3-24 from the 3-point line.  The Mavericks were 16-21 at the foul stripe.
            WSC won the rebounding battle 42-36 thanks to nine boards from Mlinar and seven by Bongartz. 
            Wayne State had 29 turnovers in the game, resulting in a 27-15 edge in points off turnovers for MSU.
            Norling and Busse were each credited with six assists. 
            WSC will play Minnesota State again Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Mankato, Minnesota.