Wayne State 74 Upper Iowa 72

            Wayne State senior guard Kylie Hammer scored a game-high 26 points, including her 1,000th career point, to lead the Wildcats in a 74-72 Northern Sun Conference women's basketball win over Upper Iowa at Rice Auditorium in Wayne Friday evening.  The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Wildcats, now 8-11 overall and 5-10 in the NSIC South Division, while Upper Iowa drops to 5-13 and 2-13 in league play.
            The Wildcats trailed a majority of the first quarter as the visiting Peacocks built a 12-6 lead midway through the opening quarter and finished with a 16-13 lead on the Wildcats.
            WSC stormed back in the second quarter, outscoring UIU 22-12, to take a 35-28 lead at intermission.  The 'Cats hit 5 of 9 from 3-point range in the quarter as Hammer and junior guard Lauren Zacharias each connected on a pair of long range shots along with Kassidy Pingel.
            A fast paced third quarter saw the 'Cats hold a double digit advantage for much of the quarter as WSC built a pair of 13-point leads with the final one coming at 52-39 following a pair of Zacharias free throws at the 5:13 mark.
            The Peacocks got within seven a couple of times but WSC closed the quarter with a 61-52 lead.
            After WSC pushed the lead back to double digits early in the fourth quarter, 70-58, Upper Iowa rallied thanks to strong shooting going 8 of 15 for the quarter and 3 of 4 behind the arc to close the deficit.
            WSC held a 72-61 lead with 3:51 remaining, but the Peacocks scored the next eight points and got within three at 72-69 following a Lydia Haack 3-pointer with 1:31 to go.
            Two Pingel free throws gave WSC a 74-69 lead with 1:11 to play.  A three-point play by Haack with 49 seconds to play cut the Wildcat advantage to 74-72. 
            WSC had a pair of turnovers in the final 30 seconds giving UIU a chance to tie or win the game, but the Peacocks could not convert on two shots in the final 12 seconds and the Wildcats held on for the 74-72 win.
            Hammer's game-high 26 points led Wayne State in scoring.  She scored her 1,000th-career point on a layup with 4:32 to play becoming the 23rd player in school history to reach the scoring milestone.  The Wayne native finished 7 of 14 from the field, going 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and 7 for 8 at the charity stripe.
            Lauren Zacharias followed with 15 points while Pingel and Logan Hughes also hit double digits with 14 and 12 respectively.
            WSC made 24 of 56 shots for 42.9 percent.  The 'Cats were 10 for 23 (43.5%) from behind the 3-point line and 16 of 22 for 72.7 percent at the charity stripe.
            Lydia Haack led Upper Iowa in scoring with 19 points followed by Mia Huberty with 13.  Jessica Musgrave, Katie Tornstrom and Savannah Domeyer each chipped in 10 points.
            Upper Iowa shot 40.9 percent from the field making 27 of 66 shots.  The Peacocks were 7 of 22 from 3-point range and 11 of 13 at the foul line.
            Both teams had 37 rebounds in the game.  Zacharias grabbed eight boards for the 'Cats followed by Hughes with seven. 
            Hammer, Zacharias and Abby Kopecky each had three assists while Maya Fitzpatrick blocked two shots.
            The Wildcats will be at home again Saturday hosting Winona State at 3:30 p.m. in an NSIC South Division game at Rice Auditorium.