The Wayne State men’s and women’s basketball teams both fell to Minnesota State in action Saturday at Rice Auditorium.
Wayne State’s women rallied from a 17-point deficit with 9:27 remaining to tie the score with 22 seconds to play, but Minnesota State’s Taylor Drost ruined the comeback by sinking a jumper with 1.8 seconds remaining to give the visiting Mavericks an 80-78 victory.
The Mavericks limited the Wildcat offense early on, taking a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game. Down by as much as 16-3, the Wildcat offense slowly chipped away at the early deficit. A 5-0 run by Maggie Lowe helped Wayne State close the distance entering the second with a 12-3 run to end the quarter.
Minnesota State held steady in the second, able to fend off any Wayne State run with buckets of their own. The Mavericks held at least a four-point advantage the whole quarter, building their lead as much as nine as they went into the locker room with a 37-29 lead.
Minnesota State seemingly looked to be heading comfortable win as the Wildcats couldn’t get a shot to fall and the Mavericks ended the third with a 15 point advantage.
Down by 11 with just over four minutes to play, the Wildcats (12-7, 7-6 NSIC) put on an extra gear to get back into the game. Six straight points, including four from Erin Norling, more than halved the deficit into a two-possession game.
Wayne State went on another 6-0 run after a Taylor Drost basket to cut the lead to 74-73. After two Monica Muth free throws to put the Mavericks up 78-75 with 30 seconds left, Wayne State drove down the other side. Kylie Hammer’s pass fell into the hands of Lowe, who tickled the twine from distance to tie the ballgame up at 78-78.
With no timeouts for either team, the Mavericks were forced to hurry up their shot. With the ball in the hands of their scoring leader Drost, she forced up an off-balance shot that sliced through the net with 1.8 on the clock, spoiling a valiant effort from the Wildcats and silencing Rice Auditorium.
Brittany Bongartz led the Wildcats with a career-high 23 points while Erin Norling recorded a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. Lowe finished the afternoon with 13 points.
In the men’s game, Minnesota State opened the game with a 33-12 lead in the opening 11 minutes and remained the lone unbeaten road team in NSIC play (6-0) as the Mavericks disposed of Wayne State College 90-79.
The Mavericks got off to a hot start offensively and never turned back. Tied 8-8, Minnesota State went on a 25-4 run to create a gap between the two teams. The Wildcats cut the lead to as little as 10, but were unable to keep the streaking Mavs off the board.
Minnesota State increased their lead to 20 going into the first media timeout of the second half. The Mavs only had four missed shots in the opening four minutes and offensive rebounds on half of those possessions.
Wayne State (14-5, 9-4 NSIC) got as close as 10 late in the first half at 40-30 before the Mavericks closed the half with the final four points for a 44-30 lead.
Minnesota State pushed the lead back to 21 several times in the second half with the final one coming at 73-52 with 7:38 remaining. The Wildcats trimmed the deficit to single digits in the final two minutes, getting as close as seven at 86-79, but could get no closer
Kendall Jacks and Trevin Joseph each scored 17 points to lead Wayne State. Jordan Janssen produced his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds while Vance Janssen added 14 points.
Jordan Janssen corralled a game-high 13 boards for Wayne State. Luke TerHark and Vance Janssen each had three assists while Jordan Janssen had three steals.
Wayne State will be in action again Sunday afternoon, facing Concordia-St. Paul at Rice Auditorium. The women’s game is at 1:30 p.m., with the men to follow at 3:30 p.m.
