SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Wayne State women’s basketball team dropped their Northern Sun Conference opener Monday with a 79-73 loss to Augustana University at the Sioux Falls Arena.
The first quarter was a shootout between the two clubs with Augustana building a 25-21 lead. The Vikings led the entire quarter, building a 25-17 lead until Wayne State got baskets from Taylor Reiner and Maggie Schulte to end the quarter trailing 25-21.
Wayne State continued to trail the first part of the second quarter until Schulte drained a 3-pointer at the 4:56 mark capping an 8-0 run to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 32-29. The Vikings responded with the next six points for a 35-32 lead, but Wayne State used a pair of Schulte baskets and another from Anna Martensen to regain the lead at 38-35 heading into halftime.
Augustana came out on fire to open the second half, scoring the first nine points in just two minutes to take a 44-38 lead. The Vikings pushed the lead to eight at 57-49 with just under two minutes to play until Martensen drained a 3-pointer to end the third quarter, cutting the Augustana lead to 57-52.
Wayne State opened the fourth quarter with a Haley Moore trey and a Paige Ballinger basket to even the score at 57-57 with 9:06 to play, but they could never regain the lead.
Kacie O’Connor’s 3-pointer tied the score at 64-64 with 4:47 to play, and Wayne State trailed 65-64 at the 4:04 mark following a Martensen layup, but the Vikings put the game out of reach with the next seven points for a 72-64 lead with 1:27 to play and the Vikings canned 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to hold off the Wildcats.
Ballinger led Wayne State in scoring with 22 points on 10 of 19 shooting from the field. Anna Martensen added 17 points on 7 of 14 shooting while Maggie Schulte also reached double digits with 15 points.
Wayne State held a slight 39-38 edge in rebounding on Augustana with Martensen grabbing nine boards to lead the Wildcats. Ballinger had three of Wayne State’s six blocked shots while Haley Moore handed out a career-high nine assists with Martensen adding a career-high seven.
The Wildcats (3-1, 0-1 NSIC) will be on the road over Thanksgiving weekend, playing in the Radison Hotel MSP North Classic in St. Paul, Minn. Wayne State plays the University of Jamestown Friday at 2 p.m. and Concordia-Portland (Ore.) on Saturday at 12 p.m. Both games will be at Concordia-St. Paul University’s Gangelhoff Arena.
