A second straight road doubleheader closed out the first weekend back to the season for Wayne State College basketball.
From Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the Wildcats visited St. Cloud State University on Saturday.
The Wayne State College women couldn’t get the shot off in time falling in regulation, 68-65 while the WSC men went to overtime and suffered a 71-63 loss against the Huskies.
In the women’s game, Wayne State College held a 14-10 first quarter lead before St. Cloud State answered with a 16-10 second quarter to go up 26-24 at half. The host Huskies took control in the third quarter, 28-13 but WSC followed with a 28-14 fourth. Final favored St. Cloud State winning 68-65 to improve to 8-5 (5-3 NSIC) as WSC had a three-game winning streak snapped falling to 7-6 (4-5 NSIC).
Wayne State College leaders were senior Maya Fitzpatrick (8-15 FG/0-2 3PT/4-5 FT) who fouled out with 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks; senior Delaney Clark (5-8 FG/3-5 3PT) followed with 13 points and two rebounds as fellow senior Tate Norblade (3-7 FG/4-4 FT) tallied 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Four-point scoring came from junior Meg Rietz (three rebounds/three assists/one steal), senior Abby Kopecky (two rebounds/three assists/three steals), sophomore Brooklyn Kruse (one rebound/one block) and junior Rachel Dahlen (two assists/two blocks) as three-point scoring cam from senior Carsyn Boswell (three rebounds/two assists) and junior Kylah VanDonkersgoed (one rebound/one assist).
The Wildcats finished 24-56 (42.9%) from the field, 4-8 (50%) from behind the arc and 13-15 (86.7%) at the foul line.
St. Cloud State was led in scoring by Paige Lambe and Kristi Kottke both with 12 points, Alana Zarneke added 11 points as Kylan Gerads recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Huskies shot 25-62 (40.3%) from the floor, 5-11 (45.5%) from the three-point line and 13-24 (54.2%) behind the charity stripe.
St. Cloud State outrebounded Wayne State College, 48-28 including 19 to 4 offensive which led to 15 second chance points compared to four second chance points for the Wildcats. WSC scored 12 points off of 16 Husky turnovers while St. Cloud State scored 15 points off of 11 Wildcat turnovers.
Wayne State College won the battle in the paint (36-30) and fast break scoring (7-4) while SCSU won bench scoring (32-25).
During the men’s outing, the Wildcats held a 28-21 first half lead until St. Cloud State used a 32-25 second half advantage to tie the game at 53-53 at the end of regulation. In overtime, the host Huskies outscored WSC, 18-10 to win the game 71-63 improving to 9-7 (5-3 NSIC) as the Wildcats fell to 8-7 (2-7 NSIC).
Down 52-51, fifth-year senior Jay Saunders scored a basket in the lane with about 12 seconds left in the game which was then followed by SCSU going 1-2 from the foul line. Saunders then missed the game-winning three at the buzzer off the rim.
Wayne State College leaders were Saunders (7-11 FG/1-2 3PT/2-2 FT) with 17 points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals; freshman Matt Noll (8-11 FG) added 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks as fifth-year senior Cody McCullough (2-7 FG/0-1 3PT/5-6 FT) followed with nine points, 12 rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
Other scoring came from fifth-year senior Noah Erickson (one rebound/one steal/one block) with eight points, sophomore JJ Ferrin (one steal) tallied six points, junior transfer Kai Smith tacked on three points as two-point scoring came from fifth-year senior Sean Stokes (four rebounds/one assist/two steals) and freshman Nassir Binion (one rebound).
The Wildcats finished 24-55 (43.6%) from the field, 6-18 (33.3%) from behind the arc and 9-10 (90%) at the foul line.
St. Cloud State was led in scoring by Nate Dahl with 18 points, Kynan Philippe followed with 15 points, Luke Winkel added 14 points as Wyatt Hawks tallied 13 points.
The Huskies shot 22-57 (38.6%) from the floor, 8-26 (30.8%) from the three-point line and 19-30 (63.3%) behind the charity stripe.
St. Cloud State outrebounded Wayne State College, 39-32 including 16 to 7 offensive which led to 12 second chance points compared to four second chance points for the Wildcats. WSC scored 17 points off of 16 Husky turnovers while St. Cloud State scored 19 points off of 21 Wildcat turnovers.
Wayne State College won the battle in the paint (26-24) as St. Cloud State won both fast break scoring (8-5) and bench scoring (21-14).
The Wayne State College women and men will play at Rice Auditorium on Friday, Jan. 10 hosting Northern State at 5:30/7:30 p.m. and welcoming University of Mary on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 3:30/5:30 p.m.
