Wayne State built a 23-point halftime lead, then held off a Minnesota Duluth second half rally to come away with an 80-66 win in the quarterfinals of the Northern Sun Conference women’s basketball tournament Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The 23-6 Wildcats were in control early, leading to a dominant first quarter against the Bulldogs. Kacie O’Connor had the hot hand early for Wayne State, converting a 3-point play that put the Wildcats ahead 10-2 three minutes into the contest. O’Connor later added a 3-pointer that gave the Wildcats its first double digit lead of the game at 15-5 with 4:40 to play in the first quarter.
Paige Ballinger then carried the scoring load for Wayne State, scoring eight of the next 10 points for the Wildcats over a span of 2:13 that put the Wildcats up 27-9 before finishing the quarter with a 29-9 lead. Wayne State shot 73 percent (11-of-15) in the opening stanza and had a 20-2 advantage in points in the paint.
Duluth made a 3-pointer to open the second quarter (29-12), and that’s as close as the Bulldogs would get the rest of the first half. Wayne State took its biggest lead of the first half at 41-16 on a Maggie Schulte jumper at the 5:14 mark,r and took another 25-point lead at 48-23 following a Katie Hoskins 3-pointer with :54 left before halftime as Wayne State took a 49-26 lead into the locker room.
Wayne State went cold from the field in the third, allowing Minnesota Duluth to get back into the game. The Bulldogs outscored Wayne State 20-11 in the quarter as the Wildcats made just 3-of-12 shots in the third quarter, allowing Duluth to get within 60-46 entering the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs continued their momentum in the final period and got as close as six points at 70-64 on a Emma Boehm layup with 3:26 to play. Wayne State responded by scoring the next 10 points over a span of 2:30 to push the lead to 80-64 and end any chance of a comeback as the Wildcats ended the Bulldogs’ 14-14 season.
Ballinger led the Wildcats with 22 points, 18 coming in the first half. Schulte followed with 18 points, Anna Martensen added 13 and Hoskins scored 11 off the bench. Martensen led Wayne State in rebounds with eight and Ballinger and Schulte each grabbed seven.
The Wildcats will face Sioux Falls, who upset regular-season champion MSU Moorhead 54-45 in the first quarterfinal game, in a 12 p.m. matchup on Monday. The 2:30 p.m. semifinal will feature Winona State, who upset South Division champion Augustana 82-76, and Northern State, an 83-60 winner over Minnesota Crookston. Monday’s winners meet for the conference title at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
