The Wayne State women’s basketball team got back to .500 in Northern Sun Conference play while the Wildcat men ran into a hot-shooting opponent as the two teams hosted Augustana in action Saturday at Rice Auditorium.
In women’s action, Wayne State improved to 8-3 overall and 3-3 in NSIC play as Kacie O’Connor scored a career-high 24 points to help the Wildcats to a 75-66 win over the Vikings, avenging a loss from earlier this year and handing Augustana its first loss in conference play.
Wayne State led 11-4 early in the game before Augustana pulled to within five at 19-14 after one period. O’Connor got the Wildcats rolling in the second period with back-to-back 3-pointers and finished the half with a three-point play to make it 32-28 at intermission.
Augustana rallied and took a 49-47 lead late in the third quarter, but O’Connor hit two free throws and a 3-pointer to give Wayne State a 52-51 lead going to the final period. Anna Martensen hit four straight free throws to give Wayne State the lead for good at 66-63 with 4:08 to go, and jumpers by Paige Ballinger and Haley Moore made it a seven-point game and Augustana never got closer than five the rest of the way.
O’Connor hit three 3-pointers on the night and was 11-of-12 from the free throw line, part of a season-best 25-of-29 team effort at the charity stripe. Maggie Schulte added 17 points and Martensen put in 11. Martensen and Ballinger both had eight rebounds. Moore had five assists and Ballinger had five blocks.
In the men’s game, the defending national champions caught fire on the road as Augustana hit 18-of-29 from 3-point range and shot 62.7 percent for the game to cruise to a 93-60 win over the Wildcats.
The Wildcats erased an early 10-point deficit with an 11-0 run, taking a 15-14 lead on a jumper by Austin Esters midway through the first half. It was 23-23 with 6:10 to go in the opening half when Augustana went on a 15-4 run to build a 15-point lead, eventually taking a 42-31 lead into the half.
Jordan Cornelius opened the second half with a 3-pointer to get the deficit down to eight points, but four straight threes by Augustana helped them build a 22-point advantage and they never looked back, continuing their hot shooting to post the one-sided win.
Cornelius led the Wildcats (3-8, 2-4 NSIC) with 18 points, with Esters adding 14 and Kendall Jacks putting in 10. Cornelius led Wayne State with eight rebounds and four steals, and Jacks had five assists.
The Wayne State men host William Jewell in a non-conference game Monday at 7 p.m. The Wildcat women are off until Friday, Dec. 30, when they host Sioux Falls in a 6 p.m. NSIC matchup.
