Wayne State shot a season-low 24.1 percent from the field and still had a chance to send the game into overtime in the final seconds before falling to the University of Mary 53-51 in a Northern Sun Conference women's basketball game held Saturday afternoon at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The host 'Cats drop to 8-7 and 5-6 in the league while the Marauders are 9-5 and 6-4 in NSIC games.
            After trailing 6-4 early, WSC scored seven straight points to grab an 11-6 lead at the 4:22 mark of the opening quarter.
            UMary then went on a 12-0 run over the next 4:20 to take an 18-11 lead until a Maya Fitzpatrick 3-pointer to end the first quarter cut the Marauder lead to 18-14.
            Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the second quarter as the Marauders held the lead the entire quarter.  UMary hit just 3 of 13 shots while WSC was just 3 for 12 as the Marauders ended the first half with a 30-25 lead.
            The University of Mary built a pair of 11-point leads in the third quarter until the Wildcats rallied late in the quarter to get back into the game.
            UMary took a 40-29 lead at the 4:42 mark of the third quarter, but Kylah vanDonkersgoed scored seven straight points to reduce the Marauder lead to 42-36 and a pair of Tate Norblade free throws to end the third quarter saw the Wildcats reduce the UMary advantage to 42-38.
            Wayne State took their first lead since early in the first quarter with 4:03 to play following a pair of Meg Rietz free throws.
            With the Marauders leading 50-48, vanDonkersgoed drained a 3-pointer putting the 'Cats back in front 51-50 with 1:05 remaining.
            UMary's Bergen Kinnebrew tied the score at 51-51 making one of two free throws with 47 seconds left.  Following a Wayne State miss, Kinnebrew made a layup from the left side with 9.4 seconds left to give the Marauders a 53-51 lead. 
            Wayne State had a chance to tie the game on the final possession but UMary created a steal and held on for the win.
            The top scorer for Wayne State was vanDonkersgoed with 17 points followed by Norblade with 14 and Maya Fitzpatrick 10.
            Wayne State made just 13 of 54 shots for 24.1 percent, including 6 of 17 from 3-point range.  The 'Cats were 19 of 24 at the free throw line.
            Kinnebrew was the lone player in double figures for the Marauders with 14 points.
            UMary shot 34.5 percent making 19 of 55 but made only 2 of 17 3-pointers.  The Marauders were 13 of 19 at the charity stripe.
            UMary won the rebounding battle over WSC 46-37 as Norblade and vanDonkersgoed each grabbed nine rebounds for the Wildcats.
            Norblade handed out a game-high six assists while Fitzpatrick had three steals. 
            The Wildcats will be at home again Friday evening hosting Minot State in a 7:30 p.m. contest.