NSIC home opening action took over Friday night for the Wayne State College Wildcats welcoming in the DII national champs from last season.
From Rice Auditorium, WSC hosted Minnesota State-Mankato.
The Wildcat women suffered an 85-68 loss against the 16th ranked Mavericks while the WSC men lost 64-61.
In the women’s game, Minnesota State-Mankato held a one-point advantage in the first quarter at 16-15 before both teams scored 18 points in the second. At the break, Minnesota State-Mankato led 34-33. WSC then won the third, 24-22 before the Mavericks closed the game with a 29-11 fourth. Final favored Minnesota State-Mankato winning 85-68 to improve to 6-2 (2-0 NSIC) while WSC fell to 3-3 (0-2 NSIC).
There were a combined 50 fouls called in the game (21 on WSC) and a total of 61 foul shot attempts.
Wayne State College was led by senior Delaney Clark (6-10 FG/3-7 3PT) with 15 points, five rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block; senior Tate Norblade (4-9 FG/0-2 3PT/3-4 FT) followed with 11 points, two rebounds, two assists and four steals as sophomore Brooklyn Kruse (4-7 FG/2-4 FT) added 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
Other scoring came from senior Maya Fitzpatrick (four rebounds/two assists/three steals) with nine points, junior Kylah Vandonkersgoed (four rebounds/three assists/one steal/one block) and senior Carsyn Boswell (two rebounds/one assist) both had eight points as senior Abby Kopecky (four rebounds) fouled out with seven points. Junior Meg Reitz also recorded four blocks, three assists, four rebounds and a steal.
The Wildcats shot 23-55 (41.8%) from the field, 5-16 (31.3%) from the three-point line and 17-26 (65.4%) at the foul line.
Minnesota State-Mankato leaders were Destinee Bursch with 19 points, Natalie Bremer (fouled out) and Lucy Leininger both scored 14 points as Mackenzie Schweim added 12 points.
The Mavericks finished 30-71 (42.3%) from the floor, 4-12 (33.3%) behind the arc and 21-35 (60%) from the charity stripe.
Minnesota State-Mankato outrebounded WSC, 44-36 including 19 to nine offensive which led to 15 second chance points compared to seven for the Wildcats. Wayne State College scored 14 points off of 23 Maverick turnovers while Minnesota State-Mankato scored 32 points off of 34 Wildcat turnovers.
Minnesota State-Mankato won the battle in the paint (46-24) and fast break scoring (24-11) as Wayne State College won bench scoring (32-26).
During the men’s game, Minnesota State-Mankato led 30-23 at the break as Wayne State College battled in the second half with a 38-34 advantage. Final favored the visiting Mavericks winning 64-61 to improve to 5-4 (1-0 NSIC) and win their fourth straight while WSC fell to 6-2 (0-2 NSIC).
Fifth-year senior Cody McCullough (5-11 FG/10-11 FT) recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds to go along with two assists and two blocks as fellow fifth-year senior Sean Stokes (7-11 FG/0-2 3PT) posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 steals along with two rebounds and two assists. Freshman Matt Noll (3-9 FG/0-1 3PT/4-4 FT) tallied 10 points, two rebounds and an assist.
Other scoring came from sophomore JJ Ferrin (one rebound/three assists/two steals) with six points, fifth-year senior Jay Saunders (eight rebounds/four assists/one steal/one block) added four points, junior Ryan Blum (three rebounds/one block) scored three points as two-point scoring came from junior transfer Kai Smith (two rebounds) and sophomore Landon Classen.
The Wildcats shot 22-60 (36.7%) from the field, 3-19 (15.8%) from the three-point line and 14-15 (93.3%) at the foul line.
Minnesota State-Mankato leaders were Harrison Braudis with 18 points, Kyreese Willingham added 14 points as Justin Eagins finished with 12 points.
The Mavericks finished 27-53 (50.9%) from the floor, 5-13 (38.5%) behind the arc and 5-12 (41.7%) from the charity stripe.
Minnesota State-Mankato outrebounded Wayne State College, 35-31 including seven to eight offensive which led to eight second chance points compared to zero for WSC. Wayne State College scored 14 points off of 16 Maverick turnovers while Minnesota State-Mankato scored 13 points off of nine Wildcat turnovers.
Minnesota State-Mankato won the battle in the paint (40-34) and bench scoring (10-7) while Wayne State College won fast break scoring (15-11).
