#18 Wayne State 63 Colorado Mines 60
The Wayne State College women's basketball team, ranked 18th in the USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll, fought off a late Colorado School of Mines rally to defeat the Orediggers 63-60 at the Colorado Christian Tip Off Tournament Saturday afternoon in Lakewood, Colorado. The Wildcats move to 2-1 on the season with the win while Colorado Mines is now 1-1.
The Wildcats jumped out early on Colorado Mines, taking an 8-0 lead with 4:20 into the game. WSC increased that lead to 11, their biggest of the game, at 16-5 following two Eva Benson free throws with 7:28 to play in the first half. WSC held an 18-8 lead with 6:26 to play in the first half following an Ashley Arlen layup, but the Orediggers scored the next nine points to trim the WSC lead to one at 18-17 with 2:48 to go in the half. CSM used a layup by Tory Langas with 1:07 to play in the half to take their first lead of the game at 21-20, but Wayne State's Alyssa Fischbach hit a jumper with just three seconds to play in the half to give the Wildcats a 22-21 lead at intermission.
The second half was nearly a carbon copy of the first half as WSC extended their lead, then held off a late Oredigger rally for the win. A Clare Duwelius three pointer gave WSC a 40-31 lead with 13:17 to play in the game. However, Colorado Mines came back and scored eight of the next nine points and pulled within three at 41-38 on a Katie Carty layup with 9:28 to play. The Wildcats came storming back, going on a 10-3 run and had another double digit lead of 10 at 51-41 with 8:23 remaining.
Colorado Mines responded with a scoring spurt of their own, 10-1, and pulled within one at 52-51 on a Courtney Gallo three pointer with 6:51 to play. The game would remain close the rest of the way. Wayne State's Mara Hjelle made a jumper with 2:36 left gave the Wildcats a 59-55 lead, but the Orediggers used jumpers by Allie Grazulis and Stephanie Fogle to knot the score at 59-59 with 46 seconds to play.
Wayne State's Alisha Brown made a jumper in the paint with 31 seconds to play, putting the 'Cats in front by two at 61-59. Brecca Gaffney of Colorado Mines made one of two free throws with six seconds left to cut the WSC lead to 61-60, then Wayne State's Alyssa Fischbach was fouled and sealed the win on two charity tosses with five seconds to play making the final score 63-60.
Alyssa Fischbach and Ashley Arlen paced Wayne State in scoring with 13 points apiece. Arlen grabbed a team-high seven boards followed by Fischbach with six. WSC shot 38.9 percent from the field, making 21 of 54 shots. The 'Cats were 5 of 14 from the three point line and 16 of 19 at the free throw line.
For Colorado School of Mines, Brecca Gafney scored 11 points with Angie Charchalis and Katie Carty adding 10 each. The Orediggers made 23 of 50 shots from the field for 46 percent, hitting on 5 of 13 three pointers and 9 of 14 charity tosses. CSM held a slight 31-30 edge in rebounding over WSC, but the Orediggers had 23 turnovers to 16 on Wayne State.
Wayne State will be in action again on Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. as the Wildcat wrap up non-conference play visiting Newman University in Wichita, Kansas.
