The Wayne State women’s basketball team dropped a pair of tough NSIC matchups at home over the weekend.
On Friday, Concordia-St. Paul rallied and scored late to come away with an 81-80 win over the Wildcats at Rice Auditorium.
Erin Norling scored 11 of Wayne State’s 16 first quarter points as the Wildcat started the game shooting 50 percent from the field and held a 16-15 lead after 10 minutes of play.
Concordia-St. Paul had the hot hand in the second quarter, making 9-of-15 shots from the floor and outscoring Wayne State 20-15 in the quarter to take a 35-31 lead at intermission.
Both teams blistered the nets in the second half as Wayne State outscored the Golden Bears 30-29 to make it 64-61 going to the fourth quarter.
Concordia-St. Paul pushed the lead to nine points in the fourth quarter at 72-63 when the Wildcats made a comeback. Brittany Bongartz and Halley Busse hit baskets to get Wayne State within one at 76-75, and later in the period Busse hit a trey and Norling added a basket to give Wayne State an 80-78 advantage with :40 to play.
The Golden Bears hit a free throw with :27 to go, then got a steal and layup by Danielle Schaub to take the lead. Wayne State had a chance to win it, but a shot by Norling missed and Concordia-St. Paul escaped with the win.
Norling led Wayne State in scoring with 22 points followed by Busse with 20. Bongartz recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds while Autumn Mlinar finished with a career-high 12 points.
Bongartz had 11 rebounds, Norling had seven rebounds and three blocks and Busse dished out a career-high tying nine assists.
In action Saturday, visiting Minnesota State hit 12 3-pointers and built an 18-point halftime lead on their way to a 93-80 win.
A high scoring first quarter saw Minnesota State hold a 27-23 lead over the Wildcats, with Norling scoring 14 points in the opening stanz.
Minnesota State continued their torrid offensive pace in the second quarter, going 10-of-19 from the field and 6-of-9 behind the arc to build a 55-37 lead at intermission. Norling scored eight more points in the quarter and finished the first half with 22 points.
Wayne State was able to cut the lead to 10 at 74-64 going to the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get the deficit down to single digits as the Mavericks came away with the win.
Norling was Wayne State’s leading scorer with 26 points. Busse and Kylie Hammer each reached double figures with 13 points. Bongartz had 10 rebounds, Busse had five assists and Norling, Bongartz and Awoi Akoi each had two blocks.
Wayne State (16-10, 11-9 NSIC) will close out the regular season on the road next weekend, visiting Southwest Minnesota State Friday at 5:30 p.m. and 12th-ranked Sioux Falls Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
