Sioux Falls raced out to a 24-8 first quarter lead and never trailed in defeating Wayne State 64-51 in Northern Sun Conference South Division women's basketball played Wednesday evening at the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  The host Cougars are now 12-15 and 9-12 in the league while WSC drops to 10-17 and 5-16 in NSIC plays.
            The Cougars grabbed an early 12-2 lead in the opening quarter and finished with a 24-8 first quarter advantage thanks to 50 percent shooting (8-16) including four 3-pointers to start the game.
            WSC trailed by as many as 18 points (35-17) with 2:15 to go before halftime, but WSC used baskets from Kelsey Willems and Tenleigh Smith to cut the deficit to 14 at 35-21 before ending the first half trailing 37-21.
            The second half saw the Wildcats outscore the Cougars in both quarters, but WSC could not cut the deficit under double figures.
            USF was in front 40-23 at the 8:44 mark when WSC scored six straight points on a pair of Rachel Dahlen baskets and another by Kylah vanDonkersgoed to make the score 40-29. 
            WSC ended the quarter with a 14-13 scoring advantage but still trail 50-35 heading into the fourth quarter.  Dahlen had six points and four rebounds to go with three blocks in the quarter to lead the 'Cats.
            Smith opened the fourth quarter for the 'Cats with a 3-pointer to get WSC within 12 at 52-40 but that's the closest Wayne State would get the rest of the game as Sioux Falls closed the contest with a 64-51 win.
            Dahlen was one of three Wildcats to score 10 points in the contest.  She also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go with five blocked shots.  Kelsey Willems and Smith also hit double figures with 10 points each.
            Wayne State made 18 of 54 shots in the contest for 33.3 percent, going 4-24 behind the arc and 11-12 at the charity stripe.
            For Sioux Falls, Krista Langager and Alexis Rose each accounted for 20 points. 
            The Cougars shot 41 percent from the field making 23 of 56 shots.  USF was 9-23 behind the arc and 9-11 at the free throw line.
            Sioux Falls held a 39-30 advantage in rebounding over the Wildcats.  vanDonkersgoed had a team-high three assists while Dahlen had three steals.
            Wayne State closes the NSIC regular season at home Saturday afternoon in Rice Auditorium hosting Southwest Minnesota State on Senior Day with tip off set for 1 p.m.