Northern State 64 Wayne State 53

            The Wayne State Wildcats women's basketball team fell 64-53 in NSIC action to Northern State Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The 'Cats fall to 7-6 overall and 4-5 in conference play while the Wolves improve to 7-7 overall and 4-5 in NSIC contests.
            The Wolves dominated the first quarter, jumping out to a five point advantage going into the first media timeout 10-5. Northern State ended the first period up 23-9.
            Wayne State flipped the script in the second, cutting the deficit to 10 into the second quarter media timeout 27-17. WSC came out of the timeout and used a layup from Maya Fitzpatrick and a 3-pointer from Logan Hughes to cut the Northern State lead to just five. The Wildcats outscored the Wolves 19-9 in the second quarter, trailing by only four heading into halftime with the score at 32-28 in favor Northern State.
            Kassidy Pingel used a pair of made free throws to cut Northern State's lead to just two before the Wolves answered with a couple buckets to push the lead back to seven, 37-30. Wayne State weathered the storm, and equaled the 13 points put up by Northern State in the period, heading into the final quarter trailing 45-41.
            The Wolves pushed the lead to double digits heading into a timeout with 8:11 remaining in the contest. Northern State held off the Wildcats the rest of the way as Wayne was not able to get closer than six points the rest of the contest. Northern State finished up by 11 when the final buzzer sounded, taking the contest by a 64-53 score.
            The Wolves shot 34.7 percent from the field (17-49) and 23 percent from downtown (3-13) while making 84.4 percent of their free throws (27-32). Wayne State shot 25 percent on the night (16-64) and 22.2 percent on 3's (6-27). The Wildcats shot 83.3 percent from the charity stripe going 15-18 on the night.
Wayne State had an advantage in points off turnovers (17-5) and an edge in fast break points 10-8. Northern State out-rebounded the Wildcats 48-30 and each team had nine assists. The 'Cats held onto the ball better than the Wolves, with Wayne State committing less turnovers 23-12.
            The 'Cats were led by Hughes who tied a career high with 20 points, making 4-8 3-pointers. Lauren Zacharias added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Pingel grabbed seven boards.
            Wayne State's scheduled game Saturday vs. MSU Moorhead at 5:30 p.m. has been canceled due to COVID protocols within the Dragon program.  The Wildcats' next scheduled game is on the road Friday, January 14th at the University of Mary at 7:30 p.m.