Nebraska-Kearney grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and held a 15-6 edge in second chance points as the Lopers held off Wayne State 83-79 Saturday evening in the finale of the 2019 UNK Crossover Tournament.
The Wildcats led much of the first quarter, building a pair of seven point leads (11-4 and 13-6) before finishing the first quarter with a 16-12 lead.
UNK scored the first 10 points of the second quarter to take the lead for good. The Lopers ended with a 15-3 run and held a 27-19 lead at the 6:06 mark of the second quarter. Wayne State got as close as two (36-34) right before halftime and trailed 38-34 at intermission.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats got within one at 41-40 with 8:38 to play in the quarter following an Erin Norling jumper, but UNK pushed the lead back to eight at 57-49 and closed the quarter with a 63-59 lead.
Early in the fourth quarter, Wayne State trailed by three at 66-63 following a Josey Ryan 3-pointer, but the Lopers countered by scoring the next seven points to take the first double-digit lead of the night at 73-63 with 6:19 to play.
A Halley Busse 3-pointer with 1:14 to play pulled Wayne State within three at 80-77 and the Lopers made 3 of 4 free throws late to hang on for the win.
Brittany Bongartz led four Wildcat players in double figures with 19 points. Norling had 18 followed by Busse with 17 and Kylie Hammer scored 11.
UNK outrebounded Wayne State 45-37, thanks to 16 offensive rebounds. Norling and Josey Ryan each had seven boards for the Wildcats. Busse had four assists and two steals while Bongartz was credited with four blocked shots.
Wayne State (1-1) will play their home opener Wednesday evening against Peru State in a 5:30 p.m. contest at Rice Auditorium.
