Freshman guard Lauren Zacharias scored a season-high 17 points to help offset 10 3-pointers from Mount Marty College as the Wildcats closed non-conference play with a 84-73 women’s basketball win over the Lancers Wednesday evening at Rice Auditorium.
The story of the first half was the hot shooting of Mount Marty. The Lancers scorched the nets for 11-of-16 shooting in the first quarter, including 6-of-8 behind the arc, and built a 30-16 lead over the Wildcats after 10 minutes of play.
Mount Marty continued their stellar shooting for most of the second quarter and held a 35-23 lead at the 5:20 mark when the Wildcats began their comeback, scoring the next 12 points and tied the score at 35-35 on a 3-pointer from Zacharias.
The Lancers took a 46-42 lead into the locker room, but the WIldcats opened the third quarter on a 13-0 run to take the lead for good. Still, the Wildcats had their hands full most of the night with the pesky Lancers.
Wayne State took their first double digit lead of the game at 59-49 following a Kylie Hammer free throw with 2:29 to play in the third quarter and finished the quarter leading 62-54.
Wayne State held a double digit lead for much of the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 17 points (82-65) before finishing with the 11-point win.
Erin Norling led four Wildcat players in double figures with 19 points and now has 983 points in her Wildcat career. Zacharias followed with a season-high 17 points, going 5-of-10 from the field and 3-for-6 behind the arc. Brittany Bongartz and Halley Busse also hit double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Wayne State held a 42-35 advantage in rebounding over the Lancers with Norling grabbing seven boards. She also had seven of Wayne State’s 22 assists in the win with Zacharias adding five.
The 8-3 Wildcats will close out the pre-Christmas schedule Saturday afternoon with a NSIC South Division contest at Augustana University starting at 3:30 p.m.
