Senior forward Logan Hughes poured in a game-high 22 points on 9 of 13 shooting and 4 for 5 from 3-point range to lead Wayne State in a 62-53 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball victory at Concordia-St. Paul Friday evening at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.  The Wildcats move to 7-1 and 3-1 in the NSIC South Division while dropping the host Golden Bears to 5-3 and 2-2 in league play.
            The Wildcats never trailed in the contest.  WSC opened the game 5 of 9 from the field, including 3 for 5 behind the arc, to take a 13-5 lead at the under five media timeout in the first quarter. 
            Concordia-St. Paul slowly cut into the lead and Wayne State held a 17-13 lead after one quarter.
            Wayne State scored the first seven points of the second quarter and took their biggest lead of the half at 24-13 on a Logan Hughes 3-pointer at the 7:15 mark of the second quarter.
            The 'Cats still held a double-digit lead at 28-17 following an Abby Kopecky layup with 3:45 left before halftime, but Wayne State never scored the rest of the half and CSP reduced the Wildcat lead to 28-25 at intermission.
            A strong start to the third quarter for Wayne State pushed their advantage back to double digits as the 'Cats scored the first 10 points of the quarter to go in front 38-25.  Consecutive baskets by Lauren Zacharias followed by a three-point play from freshman Rachel Dahlen and a 3-pointer by Hughes fueled the 10 point surge to open the quarter.
            Later in the quarter, Hughes scored seven straight points for the 'Cats giving WSC a 47-33 lead at the 3:15 mark of the quarter before finishing with a 47-38 lead entering the fourth quarter.
            Concordia-St. Paul made one last run at the 'Cats to start the final quarter, trimming the WSC lead to five at 49-44 with 6:51 remaining.  But the 'Cats got a 3-pointer from Kassidy Pingel followed by a jumper and 3-pointer from Hughes to increase the lead to 12 again at 57-45 and the 'Cats closed with the 62-53 win.
            Hughes was the lone Wildcat player in double figures with 22 points, 17 coming in the second half.  She made 9 of 13 shots and 4 of 5 behind the arc.  Pingel finished with nine points.
            Wayne State shot 40 percent from the field making 26 of 65 shots, going 8 for 18 from the 3-point line.  The 'Cats were 2 of 8 at the foul stripe.
            Ally Gietzel was the only Concordia-St. Paul player in double digits with 16.  CSP shot just 33 percent from the field on 17 of 51.  The Golden Bears were just 2 for 15 from 3-point range and 17 of 26 at the foul line.
            Concordia-St. Paul held a commanding 49-30 advantage in rebounding.  Lauren Zacharias grabbed six boards for the Wildcats.
            Wayne State held a 21-4 edge in points off turnovers as the Wildcats forced 24 turnovers on the Golden Bears to just 12 by WSC.  10 of 11 Wildcats that saw action scored in the contest. 
            Pingel, Zacharias and Annie Guentzel each handed out four assists while Abby Kopecky had two of Wayne State's seven blocks.
            The Wildcats conclude their NSIC road trip Saturday with a game at #6 Minnesota State at 5 p.m.