St. Cloud State shot 69.5 percent in the second half to surge past Wayne State 78-55 in Northern Sun Conference South Division women's basketball Saturday afternoon in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The host Huskies are now 4-6 and 1-4 in the NSIC while WSC slips to 6-5 and 1-4 in league play.
The Wildcats never led in the contest, trailing 8-0 in the first 90 seconds of the contest. WSC trailed 15-5 with 4:43 to go in the quarter and was still trailing 19-10 when a
Cassie Allen 3-pointer and driving layup by
Meg Rietz reduced the deficit to four at the end of the opening quarter 19-15.
WSC was within two at 22-20 early in the second quarter following a
Rachel Dahlen layup with 8:32 to go in the half. But the Huskies pushed the lead back to 11 at 34-23 with 2:38 to play before halftime.
Wayne State scored the last six points of the second quarter and cut the Husky lead to 34-29 at intermission thanks to a 3-pointer from
Tenleigh Smith and a pair of Rietz free throws.
WSC opened the third quarter with a basket by Rietz to make the score 34-31. But that's as close as the 'Cats would be the rest of the night.
St. Cloud State used 8 of 12 shooting in the third quarter, outscoring WSC 22-14, to take a 56-43 lead.
The Huskies shot even better in the fourth quarter, denying the Wildcats of any comeback chance, making 8 of 11 shots for 72 percent, and St. Cloud State extended the lead and finished with a 78-55 victory.
Wayne State's top scorer was Rietz with 10 points followed by
Kelsey Willems with seven.
WSC was 18 of 57 from the field for 31.6 percent, going 5 for 26 from the 3-point line and 14 of 19 at the charity stripe.
For St. Cloud State, Alana Zarneke scored 15 points followed by Kristi Kottke with 14 and Paige Lambe 10.
SCSU made 29 of 56 shots for 51.8 percent, hitting 9 of 15 3-pointers and 11 for 14 at the free throw line.
The Huskies won the rebounding battle 39-30 with
Kylah vanDonkersgoed leading WSC on the glass with six.
Emma Frost had a team-high three assists with Dahlen notching two steals.
Wayne State continues their NSIC South Division road trip Saturday with a game at St. Cloud State starting at 4 p.m.