Sioux Falls 79 Wayne State 67

            The Wayne State Wildcats fell Saturday afternoon to the University of Sioux Falls 79-67 in NSIC women's basketball action played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The Wildcats end their season with a 9-15 record and were 6-14 in the NSIC. The Cougars move to 16-11 overall and 11-9 in conference play.
            Wayne State started the game strong, going shot for shot with the Cougars. Neither team was able to gain a lead of more than one possession heading into the first media timeout Wayne State. The Wildcats made a three pointer from junior guard Lauren Zacharias with 2:41 to go in the game to take the largest lead of the quarter for either team at 18-14.
            Zacharias made another basket to push the lead to six with 2:07 to go in the first before ending the quarter leading 20-18.
            Zacharias led WSC in offense with eight points in the first quarter.
            The Cougars made a 3-pointer 14 seconds into the third quarter to take the lead at 21-20. Sioux Falls did not allow Wayne State to lead the rest of the second quarter before leading 33-27 at halftime.
            The Cougars came out in the third quarter and led by as many as 18 before the second media timeout of the quarter, and at with 4:43 to go in the third had a 50-34 lead.
            The Cougars ended the quarter up by 22, 65-43. Zacharias had eight points in the third quarter to lead WSC offensively.
            Sioux Falls kept the lead at about the 20 point mark until the final two minutes. WSC used a scoring flurry to end the game with the Cougars on top 79-67.
            WSC made 38.3 percent (23-60) of their field goals and shot 30.3 percent (10-33) on 3-pointers while USF was 47.6 percent (30-63) and 44.4 (8-18) on threes. The 'Cats made 11-21 free throws (52.4 percent) while the Cougars were 11-16 from the free throw line (68.8 percent).
            Sioux Falls had three more rebounds than Wayne State (40-37) while the 'Cats had an edge in assists (15-13). The Cougars had more steals (12-6) and had a 18-12 advantage in points off turnovers. Wayne State had more second chance points (13-7) and fast break points (11-7).
            Zacharias led the 'Cats with 16 points. Senior Kylie Hammer had 14 points for Wayne State in her last game as a Wildcat.
            Junior Logan Hughes and Hammer had six rebounds each to lead Wayne State while Zacharias had seven assists.