A series of five games in 10 days continued for the Wayne State College men’s and women’s basketball teams with week night competition.
From Rice Auditorium, WSC welcomed from Southwest Minnesota State on Tuesday.
The Wayne State College men picked up a 69-67 victory over SMSU while the Wildcat women suffered a 78-65 loss to #17 Southwest Minnesota State. *rankings changed on Tuesday with SMSU men falling out of top 25 and women move up to #17.
In the men’s game, Wayne State College led 39-28 at half and built at-most a 16-point lead early in the second half. SMSU won the second half scoring, 39-30. Final favored Wayne State College winning 69-67 snapping a two-game losing streak improving to 15-10 (9-10 NSIC) as the Mustangs dropped their third straight 18-7 (13-6 NSIC).
Wayne State College was led in scoring by fifth-year senior Cody McCullough (6-9 FG/5-7 FT) recording his fifth double-double (15th in career) with 17 points and 11 rebounds to go along with four assists, three steals and one block; fifth-year senior Sean Stokes (3-9 FG/3-7 3PT/2-2 FT) followed with 11 points, one rebound, one assist and three steals as freshman Matt Noll (3-8 FG/0-2 3PT/4-4 FT) added 10 points, three rebounds and one block.
Other scoring came from sophomore JJ Ferrin (one rebound/three assists/one steal) with eight points, fifth-year senior Jay Saunders (two rebounds/three assists/one block) tallied seven points, senior Ryan Blum (two rebounds/one assist) tacked on five points, four-point scoring came from junior transfer Kai Smith (five rebounds/three assists/two steals/two blocks) as sophomore Landon Classen (two rebounds/one assist) closed with three points.
WSC shot 24-55 (43.6%) from the field, 8-27 (29.6%) from behind the arc and 13-19 (68.4%) at the foul line.
Southwest Minnesota State leaders were Steven Kramer with 21 points, Jakob Braaten added 13 points as Dunwa Omot followed with 12 points.
SMSU finished 20-55 (36.4%) from the floor, 7-20 (35%) from the three-point line and 20-27 (74.1%) from the charity stripe.
SMSU outrebounded WSC, 38 to 34 including 14 – 10 offensively which led to 16 second chance points compared to nine second chance points for the ‘Cats. WSC scored 14 points off of 15 Mustang turnovers while SMSU scored 11 points off of 13 Wildcat turnovers.
Wayne State College won the battle in the paint (30-22), fast break scoring (12-8) and bench scoring (16-10).
During the women’s outing, SMSU built a 24-12 first quarter lead as both teams scored 19 points in the second quarter where Southwest Minnesota State led 43-31 at half. The Mustangs extended the lead thanks to a 20-17 third as WSC won the fourth, 17-15. Final favored #17 Southwest Minnesota State winning 78-65 to win their 15th straight improve to 23-2 (17-2 NSIC) as the Wildcats dropped their third straight falling to 10-13 (7-12 NSIC).
Wayne State College was led in scoring by sophomore Brooklyn Kruse (5-7 FG/2-3 3PT/3-4 FT) with a season-high 15 points and one assist; junior Kylah VanDonkersgoed (3-13 FG/1-5 3PT/7-8) followed with 14 points, six rebounds and two assists; senior Maya Fitzpatrick (5-22 FG/0-2 3PT/3-5 FT) added 13 points, six rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block as senior Tate Norblade (3-8 FG/4-4 FT) tallied 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks.
Other scoring came from senior Delaney Clark (six rebounds/one assist/one block) with nine points as two-point scoring came from junior Meg Rietz (11 rebounds/two assists/two blocks) and freshman Addy Johnson (one rebound).
WSC shot 20-66 (30.3%) from the field, 4-17 (23.5%) from behind the arc and 21-25 (84%) at the foul line.
Southwest Minnesota State leaders were Bri Stoltzman with 33 points, Audrey Swanson added 16 points as Peyton Blandin followed with 10 points. Natalie Nielsen collected 17 rebounds (seven offensive).
SMSU finished 27-68 (39.7%) from the floor, 5-17 (29.4%) from the three-point line and 19-21 (90.5%) from the charity stripe.
SMSU outrebounded WSC, 47 to 43 including 14 – 15 offensively which led to 12 second chance points compared to 17 second chance points for the ‘Cats. WSC scored five points off of eight Mustang turnovers while SMSU scored nine points off of nine Wildcat turnovers.
SMSU won the battle in the paint (38-26) and fast break scoring (27-4) as WSC won the bench scoring (26-5).
The Wayne State College men and women are back on the home court to close out their regular season home schedule among their three remaining games.
WSC will host St. Cloud State on Friday, Feb. 14 at 5:30/7:30 p.m. followed by senior night on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 3:30/5:30 p.m. against Bemidji State. The final regular season game will be at Minot State on Feb. 22.
