Wayne State’s basketball teams made it a clean sweep for the day on Saturday as both teams took care of Minnesota Crookston in action at Rice Auditorium.
In women’s play, Wayne State outscored the Golden Eagles 36-24 in the paint and came away with a 67-60 win to improve to 17-6 overall and 12-6 in the NSIC.
Wayne State never trailed in the game, but couldn’t seem to shake the Golden Eagles as they made several rallies to keep things close.
Wayne State built a 17-9 lead after one period, but went cold from the field and that helped Crookston pull to within a point at 28-27 at the half.
Maggie Schulte got the Wildcats going in the second half, scoring seven straight points to help Wayne State to a 37-29 lead. Crookston got as close as one before Wayne State rallied to build the lead back up to seven at 45-38 going to the fourth.
Paige Ballinger’s layup to open the final period gave Wayne State its biggest lead at 47-38, but Crookston got as close as two points with 2:50 to go before Ballinger and Schulte hit baskets to help put the Golden Eagles away.
Schulte score 17 points, Ballinger added 16 and Anna Martensen put in 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Wayne State in the win. Haley Moore had five assists and Ballinger had five blocked shots.
In men’s action, four Wildcats finished in double figures and Wayne State hit 52 percent from the field to post a 79-72 win over the Golden Eagles to improve to 8-16 overall and 6-12 in the conference.
Wayne State got out to a 16-4 lead early in the game, but Crookston got three straight 3-pointers from Connor Gamble to take a 24-22 lead with 6:11 to go in the first half. The lead bounced back and forth from there before Wayne State took a 33-31 halftime advantage.
Wayne State came out strong in the second half, going on a 16-2 run in the first 6 1/2 minutes to build a 49-33 lead. Crookston got as close as six, but Wayne State got the lead back up to double digits and costed to the seven-point win.
Kendall Jacks hit double figures for the 16th straight game, finishing with a team-high 19 points. Austin Esters added 16 points, and Vance Janssen and Matt Thomas each had 15 points. Jordan Cornelius and Jacks shared rebounding honors with seven apiece.
Wayne State is back on the road next weekend, visiting Southwest Minnesota State on Friday and University of Sioux Falls on Saturday.
