The Wayne State women broke a six-game losing streak and the men maintained a share of the top spot in the NSIC South as both Wildcat basketball teams beat Southwest Minnesota State on Friday at Rice Auditorium.
In the women’s game, Wayne State used 50 percent shooting in the second half and outscored Southwest Minnesota State 44-34 in the second half to rally for a 72-67 win.
The game was tightly contested, featuring 14 lead changes and seven ties, and marked just the second time this season that Wayne State rallied from a halftime deficit to pick up a victory.
The first quarter featured seven lead changes and three ties with the visiting Mustangs holding a 16-15 lead. With the exception of two early one point leads in the second stanza, Southwest controlled the second quarter and used a 12-3 run early in the quarter to take their biggest lead of the game at 28-20 at the 6:06 mark.
Wayne State (14-13, 9-12 NSIC) scored seven of the next eight points to cut the deficit to two at 29-27, but the Mustangs closed the half with a 33-28 lead on the Wildcats.
A 3-pointer to open the third quarter by Southwest gave the Mustangs another eight-point lead at 36-28, but Wayne State used an 11-2 run over the next 3:35 to take a 39-38 lead on a Kylie Hammer layup with 5:51 to play in the third quarter.
After the Mustangs pushed the lead back to six at 48-42, the Wildcats closed the third quarter with a surge and tied the score at 51-51 entering the fourth quarter.
With the scored tied at 56-56 with 8:30 to play, Wayne State used a series of consecutive 3-pointers from Brittany Bongartz, Haley Vesey and Hammer to take a 65-58 advantage.
The Wildcats took their biggest lead of the game at 67-58 with 3:09 to play, but the Mustangs made one last run at the Wildcats and got within three before Halley Busse sealed the win with a pair of free throws.
Erin Norling led five double digit scorers for the Wildcats with a 14-point, 10-rebound effort for her third double-double of the season. Bongartz finished with 13 points while Busse, Vesey and Hammer each contributed 11 points in the win.
Vesey and Bongartz each had eight rebounds. Maggie Lowe, Busse and Hammer were each credited with four assists while Lowe had three steals. Norling accounted for three of Wayne State’s five blocks.
In the men’s game, Jordan Janssen’s recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 18 points and a career-high 17 rebounds to lead Wayne State in a hard fought 86-77 win over Southwest Minnesota State that kept them in a first-place tie with Minnesota State for the top spot in the NSIC South Division. Minnesota State came from behind to beat Upper Iowa, 72-70.
Southwest Minnesota State led a majority of the first half, taking a 10-5 lead in the first 4:30 before Wayne State rallied with a 9-0 run for a short-lived 14-10 advantage at the 11:14 mark.
The Mustangs stormed back for a 24-19 lead and took their biggest lead of the night at 31-25 on a Taylor Schaefer jumper with 2:20 to play in the half.
Wayne State (19-7, 14-7 NSIC) then closed the half with the final nine points and used a Trevin Joseph jumper with six seconds left in the half to take a 34-31 lead at intermission.
The Wildcats never relinquished the lead in the second half, but held off numerous charges by the Mustangs. They took their biggest lead of the night at 57-47 with 12:02 to play following a Vance Janssen layup, but Southwest scored eight straight and cut the lead to two at 57-55 and later got within one at 71-70 with 5:29 remaining following a Kenny Byers layup.
With Wayne State leading 76-74 with 2:02 to play, the Wildcats used a Kendall Jacks layup, a three-point play by Trevin Joseph and a pair of Jordan Janssen free throws to build a nine-point lead and held on to that advantage for the win.
Four Wildcats hit double figures, led by Jordan Janssen’s 18 points and career-high 17 boards for his eighth double-double of the season. Jacks finished with 17 points and needs just two points to surpass Brad Joens (1,556 points from 1997-2001) for fifth place in all-time scoring at Wayne State. Freshman Nick Ferrarini added 16 points with Joseph scoring 12.
Joseph, Nate Mohr and Vance Janssen each had three assists while Jordan Janssen had four steals.
Wayne State will host the University of Sioux Falls Saturday with games at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. on Senior Day to close out the regular season at Rice Auditorium.
