Bemidji State 60 Wayne State 51

            Bemidji State outscored Wayne State 24-9 in the fourth quarter to rally for a 60-51 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball victory over the Wildcats Saturday afternoon in Bemidji, Minnesota.  The host Beavers improve to 11-8 and 9-6 in the NSIC North while the Wildcats suffer their seventh straight loss falling to 7-11 and 4-10 in the NSIC South Division.
            The first half was controlled by scoring runs from both teams.  WSC opened with a 5-1 lead, followed by seven straight points by Bemidji State for an 8-5 Beaver advantage.
            WSC scored five straight to take a 10-8 lead while BSU scored the final four points of the opening quarter for a 12-10 lead.
            BSU scored the first four points of the second quarter to take a 16-10 cushion.  WSC followed with seven straight points for a 17-16 lead.
            With the score tied at 19-19 with 3:34 to go in the half, the Wildcats scored the final seven points of the half on a Logan Hughes put-back, Abby Kopecky jumper and 3-pointer by Kylie Hammer to grab a 26-19 lead at intermission.
            Wayne State opened the second half with a basket by Hammer to take their biggest lead of the game at 28-19.  Bemidji State got as close as four several times but WSC came back and used a pair of free throws from Hammer to match their biggest lead of the game at 42-33 at the 2:21 mark of the third quarter.
            Bemidji State ended the third quarter with a 3-pointer to cut the Wildcat lead to 42-36 entering the fourth quarter.
            The fourth quarter saw WSC go cold from the field while having eight turnovers as the host Beavers rallied with a 24-9 scoring advantage to rally for the 60-51 win.
            A layup by Bemidji State's Trinity Yoder at the 5:55 mark gave the Beavers a 45-44 lead, their first lead since 18-17 with 4:41 to play second quarter.
            The Wildcat struggles in the fourth quarter resulted in 13 fouls called on WSC, resulting in Bemidji State going 16-19 from the line in the final 10 minutes while WSC was just 3 of 12 shooting from the field and 2-2 at the line.
            Hammer was the lone Wildcat player in double figures with 23 points. 
            WSC shot just 32 percent from the field making 17 of 53 shots.  The 'Cats were 4-16 from the 3-point line and 13 of 19 at the charity stripe.
            Yoder was the lone double digit scorer for Bemidji State with 25 points.
            Bemidji State made 15 of 43 shots for 34.9 percent and connected on just 4 of 18 3-pointers.  The Beavers won the game at the free throw line making 26 of 33 shots.
            WSC held a 39-32 edge in rebounding over BSU thanks to seven boards from Logan Hughes and five by Abby Kopecky.
            Wayne State had 19 turnovers to 14 on Bemidji State, resulting in a 14-3 advantage for the Beavers in points off turnovers. 
The Wildcats return home next weekend for NSIC South Division games hosting Upper Iowa Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Winona State Saturday in a 3:30 p.m. contest.