Wayne State’s long road trip to North Dakota ended on a good note Saturday, as the Wildcats claimed wins over Minot State in men’s and women’s basketball action.
In the women’s game, Paige Ballinger made the most of the eight minutes she played, scoring a game-high 17 points to help the Wildcats blow out the Beavers, 75-45.
Wayne State trailed 6-3 early in the game, but Anna Martensen scored five points and had three steals to spark a 13-0 Wildcat run and they never trailed after that, building a 31-18 halftime advantage.
Ballinger scored eight of her 17 points in the third quarter and Maggie Schulte added six of her 11 points in the period. Seven different Wildcats scored in the final period as Wayne State improved to 7-3 overall and 2-3 in NSIC play.
Amada Brainerd had a season-high six rebounds to lead the Wilddcats, Schulte had five assists and Ballinger and Taylor Reiner each had two blocked shots.
In men’s action, the Wildcats came back from a 17-point halftime deficit to steal an 85-80 win from Minot State to improve to 3-7 overall and 2-3 in NSIC action.
The Beavers scored the first 12 points of the game and led by as many as 19 before settling on a 48-31 halftime advantage before the Wildcats turned things around in the second half.
Wayne State got the lead into single digits midway through the second half, and eventually took their first lead with 5:07 to go on a 3-pointer by former Wayne High standout Ben Hoskins. Brian Goodwin followed with a 3-pointer to make it a four-point Wildcat advantage and Wayne State never trailed from there.
Six Wildcats were in double figures, led by Vance Janssen’s 16 points. Austin Esters came off the bench to score 13 points, Hoskins and Kendall Jacks each had 12 and Goodwin and Matt Thomas both had 10.
Tony Bonner led Wayne State with five rebounds, Janssen had three steals and Jacks dished out four assists in the win.
Wayne State is back home next Saturday for a matchup with NSIC travel partner Augustana at Rice Auditorium. The women’s game is at 4 p.m., with the men’s game to follow at 6 p.m.
