Minnesota Crookston made 17 of 20 free throws and out-rebounded Wayne State 50-32 to defeat the Wildcats 63-57 Friday evening in a Northern Sun Conference women's basketball game played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC drops to 4-7 and 1-7 in the league while UMC improves to 8-5 and 5-2 in NSIC games.
            The first quarter saw both teams lead for just over four minutes each as Minnesota Crookston ended with a 15-13 lead.  UMC opened with a 4-0 lead, WSC rallied for an 11-8 advantage following a Carsyn Boswell jumper with the Golden Eagles closing the first stanza with a 15-13 lead.
            Neither team held a lead of more than three points in the second quarter.  Wayne State's final lead of the night came at 20-19 on a Brooklyn Kruse basket with 5:53 left before halftime.  UMC held a three-point lead late in the quarter, a Jordon Heckert 3-pointer tied the score at 24-24 before the Golden Eagles ended the half with a 26-24 advantage.
            The game remained close in the third quarter as Minnesota Crookston held several leads of four points.  A Maya Fitzpatrick trey knotted the game at 38-38 with 3:10 to go in the quarter as UMC closed with a 45-43 lead.
            Minnesota Crookston built a pair of six point leads in the fourth quarter.  WSC reduced the Golden Eagle advantage to two points at 56-54 on an Abby Kopecky basket with 5:59 remaining.
            The following 5:14 saw neither team score until Wildcat forward Britney Ho made one of two free throws with 45 seconds left to make the score 56-55.  Minnesota Crookston got a 3-pointer on their next possession to go up four, 59-55. 
A basket by Boswell cut the Golden Eagle lead to 59-57 with 15 seconds left, but the Golden Eagles got a pair of free throws four seconds later to go ahead 61-57 and two more free throws with two seconds left to make the final score 63-57.
            Boswell had 14 points to lead Wayne State with Maya Fitzpatrick adding 11.
            Wayne State made 24 of 64 shots for 37.5 percent.  The 'Cats were 5 of 17 behind the arc and just 4 of 10 free throw shooting.
            Emma Miller scored a game-high 18 points for Minnesota Crookston.  Nicole Hernandez and Hope Dudycha each added 12 points for the Golden Eagles.
            Minnesota Crookston shot 35.7 percent from the field on 20 of 56.  The Golden Eagles were 6 for 22 from the 3-point line and 17 of 20 at the charity stripe.
            UMC held a sizeable 50-32 edge in rebounding over the Wildcats.  Kopecky and Tate Norblade each had four rebounds for the 'Cats.  Fitzpatrick had four steals, three assists and two blocked shots. 
            The Wildcats will be at home again Saturday evening hosting MSU Moorhead at 5:30 p.m.