The Wayne State men handled Winona State on the road Friday night, while the Wildcat women came up short at home in their matchup with the Warriors.
In the men’s game, Wayne State had three players score double figures, highlighted by junior forward Jordan Janssen’s fourth straight double-double as the Wildcats edged Winona State 58-57.
The host Warriors jumped out to an early 16-7 lead at the 13:48 mark for their biggest lead of the contest before Wayne State reeled off 14 straight points over the ensuing 4:35 and took a 21-16 lead on a Henry Penner 3-pointer with 9:13 to play in the half.
With WSC still leading 25-20 at the 7:32 mark, Winona State scored five straight points to forge a 25-25 tie and the first half ended with the two teams knotted at 29-29.
Neither team held a lead of more than four points in a tightly contested second half. Winona State’s biggest lead in the second half was three points several times while WSC held a pair of four-point advantages in the final four minutes of the contest.
WSC held several leads early in the second half but the host Warriors had the lead for most of the second half until the four minutes of the contest.
The ‘Cats held a 37-34 lead with just over 16 minutes remaining, but that lead was short lived and turned into a 40-37 advantage for Winona State following a pair of Kevion Taylor free throws with 12:52 to play.
The teams exchanged five ties over the next six minutes with Winona State taking a three-point lead at 51-48 on a Andrea Lo Biondo 3-pointer.
WSC used a Nate Mohr 3-pointer, Henry Penner layup and a 3-pointer from Justin Eagins to take the lead for good at 56-52 with 3:33 to go.
The Warriors used a pair of free throws from Taylor to cut the WSC lead to 56-54 at the 2:59 mark.
Wayne State’s final points came with 1:03 to play on a pull up jumper from Nate Mohr, giving the ‘Cats a 58-54 lead.
Devin Whitelow made one of two free throws for Winona State to trim the WSC lead to 58-55 and a Whitelow basket with two seconds left made the score 58-57.
Eagins was fouled and missed the front end of a 1 and 1 with one second to play and the Wildcats hung on for the 58-57 win.
Janssen led Wayne State with his fourth straight double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Mohr and Penner each added 10 points.
Winona State out-rebounded Wayne State 34-28 despite 10 boards by Janssen. Mohr handed out five assists for WSC while Janssen and Ben Dentlinger each had two steals.
In women’s action, visiting Winona State used nearly 52 percent shooting and a balanced scoring attack with five players in double figures to defeat Wayne State College 75-70.
Wayne State started strong, taking a 13-5 lead less than three minutes into the game following a Josey Ryan layup.
Winona State rallied and took a 20-17 lead before the two teams closed the first quarter in a 22-22 tie as both teams shot 50 percent or better in the opening quarter. Winona State was 9-15 (60%) and WSC 9-18 (50%).
The second quarter remained close as the visiting Warriors built a pair of five point leads with WSC battling back each time to even the score.
WSC was down 32-27 at the 5:48 mark of the second quarter, but a basket by Autumn Mlinar and a three-point play from Erin Norling evened the score at 32-32.
The ‘Cats held a 37-35 lead following a Josey Ryan 3-pointer at the 3:40 mark of the second quarter, but Winona State shut down WSC for the remainder of the quarter and built a 40-37 lead at intermission.
Ryan’s basket would be the final lead of the night for Wayne State.
WSC was within three at 43-40 following a Norling three-point play with 7:26 to go in the quarter.
Winona State scored the next four points and had an eight point lead at 58-50 entering the fourth period.
After Winona State took a 62-52 lead early in the fourth, WSC used back-to-back 3-pointers from senior guard Halley Busse to get as close as four at 62-58.
The Warriors built the lead back to 10 at 70-60 and still held a 10 point cushion at 74-64 with 33 seconds left.
WSC got 3-pointers from Busse and Kylie Hammer to make it a 74-70 game with nine seconds left and Winona State used an Emma Fee free throw late to make the final score 75-70.
Norling and Halley Busse each scored 21 points to lead Wayne State in scoring. Josey Ryan (12) and Kylie Hammer (10) also hit double digits for the ‘Cats.
WSC shot 39.7 percent from the field making 27 of 68 shots. The ‘Cats connected on 7 of 26 3-pointers and were 9 for 12 at the free throw line.
Winona State won the rebounding battle 39-32 with Hustad hauling in 10 boards for the Warriors while Norling grabbed nine rebounds. Norling had three assists and four steals for WSC.
Th two schools play one another again on Saturday.
