Wayne State rallied from a 12-point fourth quarter deficit, only to watch visiting Minnesota Crookston regain the lead in the end, as the Golden Eagles held back the Wildcats 74-72 in a Northern Sun Conference women's basketball game played Saturday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  UMC improves to 9-11 and 8-6 in the NSIC North while WSC is 10-8 and 6-8 in the NSIC South Division.
            Both teams started slow as neither squad shot the ball well with WSC ending the opening quarter with a 13-7 lead.  The 'Cats hit just 5 of 18 shots (27.8%) while UMC was just 3 for 16 (18%).
            After Kassidy Pingel opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer for a 16-7 WSC lead, Minnesota Crookston rattled off 10 straight points for a 17-16 lead.
            The two teams traded five leads with four ties the rest of the second quarter as the Golden Eagles held a 30-28 lead at halftime.
            The Golden Eagles used strong shooting in the third quarter to build an 11-point lead at 44-33 with 4:27 to play in the quarter.  WSC used consecutive baskets from Brigid Boyle and an Abby Kopecky layup to cut the lead to five at 44-39.  But UMC scored eight straight to counter the rally and pushed the lead back to 13 (52-39) before closing the third quarter with a 52-45 lead over the Wildcats.
            Minnesota Crookston maintained a double-digit advantage for the first part of the fourth quarter until WSC made another run at the Golden Eagles.
            UMC led 60-49 with 5:40 to play, but the Wildcats chipped away at the deficit and used a full court press to create some easy baskets as WSC rallied.
            A Lauren Zacharias 3-pointer with 1:52 to play gave the 'Cats a 68-66 lead.  The two teams traded free throws and a pair of made free throws from Zacharias had WSC leading 70-68 with 1:34 left.
            UMC then drained a 3-pointer to regain the lead at 71-70 and made 3 of 4 free throws for a 74-70 advantage with 17 seconds remaining.
            A Kassidy Pingel basket off a Zacharias missed trey with one second left made the final score 74-72.
            Zacharias ended the game with 20 points for Wayne State, 18 coming in the second half.  Pingel ended with 15 while Maya Fitzpatrick scored 12.
            WSC made 28 of 74 shots for 37.8 percent.  The 'Cats were 9 for 28 behind the arc and 7 of 9 at the line.
            Freshman guard Emma Miller scored 22 points to lead Minnesota Crookston.  Bren Fox followed with a double-double, 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Erika Lane added 15 for the Golden Eagles.
            UMC shot 44 percent for the game making 22 of 50 shots.  The Golden Eagles were 9 for 20 from 3-point range and 21 of 26 at the charity stripe.
            Minnesota Crookston held a 41-34 edge in rebounding thanks to 12 boards from Fox while Zacharias and Logan Hughes each had five rebounds for WSC.
            Wayne State hits the road next weekend for NSIC cross division games Friday at #13 Minnesota Duluth at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at St. Cloud State for a 5:30 p.m. contest.