The Northern Sun Conference announced its postseason award winners and Wayne State was well-represented among the conference’s best of the year.
In women’s basketball, senior Erin Norling was voted South Division Player of the Year and was named First Team All-NSIC for a third straight season while fellow senior Halley Busse was a repeat Second Team selection.
Norling, a 5-foot-11 senior forward, led the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding for a second straight season, ranking fourth in the NSIC with 16.3 points per game and eighth in the league at 6.8 rebounds a contest. She was named NSIC South Division Player of the Week three times this season and scored double figures in 12 of 16 games with six games of more than 20 points and three double-doubles.
Norling scored a season-best 28 points at Northern State in an 81-73 win and scored 25 points in a 74-60 win over Southwest Minnesota State on February 12. She closed her Wildcat career ranked fourth in scoring with 1,597 points and scored double figures in 84 career games. Norling earned All-NSIC honors every year at WSC, named to the All-Freshmen Team in 2018 followed by three straight First Team All-NSIC awards.
Last season, Norling became Wayne State’s first-ever Academic All-American in women’s basketball earning Second Team honors and was D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team.
Busse, a 5-foot-5 senior point guard, was a Second Team selection for a second straight year after averaging 14.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game this season for the Wildcats. Busse ranked 11th in the NSIC in scoring and was fourth in free throw percentage at 89.6 percent going 69-77 at the charity stripe.
This season, Busse scored double figures in 11 of 16 games and recorded four games of 20 or more points. She scored a season-high 28 points in a 74-60 win over Southwest Minnesota State on February 12 and produced 23 points in a 84-79 win at Upper Iowa on January 22. Busse closed her Wildcat career ranked sixth in assists with 339 and is 21st in all-time scoring with 1,168 points.
