Southwest Minnesota State 85 Wayne State 49
Wayne State shot just 28.6 percent from the field and had 20 turnovers in a 85-49 home loss to Southwest Minnesota State Saturday in NSIC South Division women's basketball at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. WSC falls to 6-8 and 5-7 in the division while the Mustangs are 8-4 and 6-4.
The Wildcats never led in the contest. SMSU came out strong and shot 50 percent from the field (8-16) while the Wildcats suffered a major blow midway through the first quarter when senior point guard
Halley Busse left the game with an injury and WSC trailed 23-11 after the opening 10 minutes.
WSC struggled from the field in the second quarter, connecting on just 2 of 17 shots as the Mustangs outscored WSC 22-9 to take a commanding 45-20 lead at intermission.
The visiting Mustangs held a 22-15 scoring advantage in the third quarter and led 67-35 after three quarters and reserves played most of the fourth quarter to close out the 85-49 contest.
Junior guard
Kylie Hammer had 17 points for the Wildcats followed by
Josey Ryan with 16. Seniors
Erin Norling and Busse, who combined for 53 points Friday evening in a 74-60 win over the Mustangs, did not score a point on Saturday as Norling went 0 for 10 from the field while Busse played just 5:41 before leaving with an injury.
WSC made 18 of 63 shots from the field for 28.6 percent, going just 4 of 23 from the 3-point line while making 9 of 12 free throws.
Sadie Stelter had 18 points for SMSU while Madison Gehloff (14) and Meleah Reinhart (13) also hit double digits.
SMSU was 28 for 61 from the field for 45.9 percent, including 12 of 28 behind the arc. The Mustangs also hit 17 of 18 at the free throw line.
WSC held a slim 40-39 edge in rebounding over SMSU with Hammer grabbing nine boards for the 'Cats.
Sophomore
Lauren Zacharias had seven assists and three steals for WSC.
The Wildcats will be at home again next weekend to close out the regular season hosting Augustana Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday in a 2:30 p.m. contest.
