A rematch from December 19 was in store for the Wayne State College men’s and women’s basketball teams.
From Rice Auditorium, WSC entertained Sioux Falls on Thursday.
Earlier this season, the Wildcat women won 72-70 followed by the WSC men winning 66-61 at Sioux Falls on December 19.
This time around the Wayne State College men opened the night with a 78-68 loss while the Wildcat women dropped a 54-39 decision to the visiting Cougars.
In the men’s game, Sioux Falls built at-most a 13-point lead with 1:27 remaining in the first half and went into the half leading 37-29. USF won the second half, 41-39. Final favored Sioux Falls winning 78-68 to snap a two-game losing streak now at 12-9 (8-7 NSIC) while WSC saw their five-game winning streak snapped falling to 13-8 (7-8 NSIC).
Wayne State College leaders were fifth-year senior Jay Saunders (6-10 FG/1-1 3 PT/2-3 FT) with 15 points, two rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block; fifth-year senior Sean Stokes (6-11 FG/1-4 3PT/2-3 FT) also scored 15 points with three rebounds, three assists and one steal; fifth-year senior Cody McCullough (4-12 FG/0-1 3PT/4-5 FT) followed with 12 points, eight rebounds, four steals and a career-high six blocks (98 in career) as sophomore JJ Ferrin (3-11 FG/2-8 3PT/3-3 FT) added 11 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Other scoring came from sophomore Matt Noll (eight rebounds/one assist/one steal) with seven points, junior transfer Kai Smith (two rebounds/two assists) tallied six points as fifth-year senior Noah Eriksen (one rebound/one steal) scored two points.
The Wildcats shot 26-63 (41.3%) from the field, 4-18 (22.2%) from behind the arc and 12-17 (70.6%) at the foul line. the fourth.
Sioux Falls was led in scoring by Creighton Morisch who recorded a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, Noah Puetz added 20 points as Kyler Ingwerson tallied 10 points.
The Cougars finished 31-59 (52.5%) from the floor, 6-18 (33.3%) from the three-point line and 10-12 (83.3%) from the charity stripe.
Sioux Falls outrebounded Wayne State College, 41 to 29 as both teams had nine offensive boards which led to seven second chance points for USF compared to nine second chance points for WSC. WSC scored 14 points off of 15 Sioux Falls turnovers while the Cougars scored 17 points off of nine Wildcat turnovers.
Sioux Falls won the battle in the paint (48-36) and bench scoring (13-8) as WSC won the fast break scoring (23-17).
During the women’s outing, Sioux Falls held a 12-8 first quarter lead and extended their lead with a 14-11 second quarter to go up 26-19 at the break. Both teams scored 11 points in the third as the Cougars won the fourth, 17-9. Final favored Sioux Falls winning 54-39 securing their third straight victory improving to 13-9 (9-6 NSIC) as the Wildcats dropped their third straight falling to 9-10 (6-9 NSIC).
Wayne State College leaders were senior Maya Fitzpatrick (2-12 FG/1-7 3PT/6-8 FT) with 11 points, five rebounds, one assist and four steals as senior Delaney Clark (2-6 FG/2-6 3PT/2-2 FT) followed with eight points, five rebounds, one assist and a block.
Other scoring came from junior Kylah VanDonkersgoed (four rebounds/two assists/one steal) with seven points, junior Meg Rietz (eight rebounds/two assists/one steal) tallied five points as four-point scoring came from senior Tate Norblade (nine rebounds) and sophomore Brooklyn Kruse (two rebounds).
The Wildcats shot 10-49 (20.4%) from the field, 3-24 (12.5%) from behind the arc and 16-24 (66.7%) at the foul line. WSC didn’t make a shot from the field since the 8:21 mark of the third quarter and went 0-12 FG/0-8 3PT in the fourth.
Sioux Falls was led in scoring by Kami Wadsworth with 17 points as Aby Phipps followed with 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Cougars finished 16-50 (32%) from the floor, 4-16 (25%) from the three-point line and 18-22 (81.8%) from the charity stripe.
Sioux Falls outrebounded Wayne State College, 39 to 36 including 8-10 offensively which led to 15 second chance points compared to nine for the Wildcats. WSC scored eight points off of 13 Sioux Falls turnovers while the Cougars scored five points off of 15 Wildcat turnovers.
Sioux Falls won the battle in the paint (22-12) as WSC won bench scoring (12-11) and both teams had two fast break points.
