Junior guard Annie Guentzel scored a career-high 18 points while senior guard Lauren Zacharias added 18 points to lead Wayne State College in a 77-68 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball victory over Winona State Saturday afternoon at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Wildcats improve to 8-2 and 4-2 in the league while Winona State drops to 8-4 and 2-4 in league games.
            Winona State took an early 8-2 lead, but WSC scored nine straight points and gained an 11-8 advantage following a Zachrias layup.  Guentzel closed the quarter with consecutive 3-pointers giving the 'Cats a 17-15 lead after one quarter.
            A see-saw second quarter saw both teams hold five point leads until the half ended in a 32-32 tie.
            WSC made the opening basket of the quarter for a 20-15 lead, but Winona State followed with a 13-3 run and took a 28-23 lead with 4:51 to play.  The 'Cats came back using a Zacharias trey and three points from senior forward Kassidy Pingel to tie the game heading into halftime.
            The Wildcats built an eight-point lead entering the late stages of the third quarter, only to find Winona State come back again to even the score heading into the fourth quarter.  A pair of Kylah vanDonkersgoed free throws put the 'Cats in front 44-36 with 3:15 left in the quarter, but the Warriors stormed back ended the third quarter with a 45-45 tie.
            The two teams traded the lead several times early in the fourth quarter, but WSC got a Zacharias 3-pointer and a basket from Guentzel to take the lead for good at 56-52.
            Winona State closed to within one at 60-59 with 3:37 to play, but a basket from Logan Hughes and back-to-back treys from Guentzel gave the 'Cats at 68-62 lead and WSC closed the game making 10 of 16 shots in the fourth quarter to knock off the Warriors 77-68.
            Wayne State finished the game making 27 of 55 shots for 49 percent.  The 'Cats were 11 of 23 behind the arc and 12 for 16 at the foul line.
            Guentzel's career-high 18 points led WSC as the junior guard made 6 of 9 shots, 4 for 5 behind the arc, along with a pair of free throws.  Zacharias also scored 18 points while vanDonkersgoed and Pingel each had 10.
            Winona State was 24 of 51 shooting for 47 percent, going 10 of 21 from 3-point range and 10 of 18 at the line.
            Alex Dornfeld scored 17 points for Winona State followed by Caitlin Riley with 14 and Lauren Fech 10.
            Wayne State held a slim 32-30 edge in rebounding over the Warriors thanks to five rebounds each from Zacharias and Maya Fitzpatrick. 
            Zacharias was credited with six assists and three steals for the 'Cats.
            The Wildcats will be at home again Sunday afternoon hosting Upper Iowa at 1:30 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.