A trip to the western portion of Nebraska for the Wayne State College women’s basketball team featured an in-state showdown.
From the Chicoine Events Center in Chadron, WSC visited Chadron State College on Saturday.
The Wildcats used a nine-point advantage in the third quarter to set the second half tone and held onto the 73-64 road victory. WSC is now 1-0 as the Eagles fell to 0-1.
Wayne State College began with a 15-9 first quarter before extending their lead at the half by one point with a 16-15 second quarter. WSC led 31-24 at the half.
The Wildcats then started to pull away with a 25-16 third despite Chadron State chipping away with a 24-17 fourth quarter. Final favored Wayne State College winning 73-64.
A trio of Wildcats were in double figures led by Tate Norblade (3-5 FG/1-1 3PT/7-8 FT) with 14 points, two rebounds, team-high five assists and a steal; Carsyn Boswell (3-5 FG/1-2 3PT/3-4 FT) followed 10 points and three rebounds as Kylah VanDonkersgoed (4-7 FG/1-3 3PT/1-2 FT) also scored 10 points, four rebounds and one assist.
Other scoring came from Maya Fitzpatrick (team-high five rebounds/one assist/team-high three blocks/one steal) with eight points; Delaney Clark (two rebounds/one assist/one steal) with seven points; Meg Reitz (four rebounds/two assists/one steal) with six points; Macy Birkholz (one rebound/four assists) and Rachel Dahlen (one rebound/one assist/one block) both with five points as well as Brooklyn Kruse (three rebounds/one block) and Abby Kopecky (one rebound) each with four points.
Wayne State College finished 26-65 (40%) from the field, 5-14 (35-.7%) from behind the arc and 16-24 (66.7%) from the foul line.
There were three ties.
Chadron State College outrebounded Wayne State College, 40-32 (11-14 offensive) leading to two second chance points compared to Wayne State College scoring 15 second chance points. WSC scored 19 points off of 27 Chadron State College turnovers while the Eagles scored 11 points off 12 Wildcat turnovers.
WSC won the battle in the paint (36-32) as Chadron State won the fast break points (9-5) and bench points (31-25).
