Wayne State used a balanced scoring attack with 11 players scoring while holding Augustana to just 32 percent shooting as the Wildcats won their first Northern Sun Conference women's basketball game of the season Wednesday evening with a 60-51 win over Augustana at Rice Auditorium. The 'Cats are now 4-5 and 1-5 while Augustana falls to 1-7 and 1-5 in league play.
The Wildcats held the lead for just two seconds in a tightly contested first quarter as Augustana held an 8-4 lead, but WSC battled back and took their only lead of the opening quarter on a 3-pointer from
Kylah vanDonkersgoed to end the quarter for a 16-15 WSC lead.
WSC scored the first seven points of the second quarter on baskets by
Rachel Dahlen and
Abby Kopecky followed by a 3-pointer from
Tate Norblade to go in front 23-15. After Augustana got as close as four at 25-21, the Wildcats closed the first half strong used a
Jordon Heckert 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give the 'Cats a 37-25 lead at intermission.
Wayne State maintained a double-digit advantage in the third quarter, taking their biggest lead of the game at 48-29 on a Heckert 3-pointer with 4:48 to play in the quarter before ending the quarter with a 50-37 lead.
The Wildcats continued to hold a double figure lead in the fourth quarter and was in front 59-44 with just under one minute to play, ending the game with a 60-51 win.
Heckert recorded 13 points to lead Wayne State in scoring followed by
Britney Ho with 12.
WSC made 23 of 46 shots from the field for 50 percent. The 'Cats were 5 for 12 behind the arc and 9 of 13 at the free throw line.
Jennifer Aadland scored a game-high 18 points for Augustana with Lauren Sees adding 14.
Augustana shot 32.8 percent from the field on 19 of 58, hitting just 3 for 18 from the 3-point line. The Vikings were 10 of 16 at the free throw line.
Wayne State held a 34-29 advantage in rebounding thanks to six rebounds by Dahlen. The Wildcat bench held a 32-4 advantage in scoring over Augustana, but the Vikings had a 24-12 edge in points off turnovers forcing 26 turnovers on the Wildcats.
Maya Fitzpatrick and
Brooklyn Kruse each had two blocked shots for the Wildcats.
The next game for Wayne State is Tuesday, December 19
th when the Wildcats visit Sioux Falls at 7:30 p.m. to close out the pre-holiday schedule.