Wayne State 83 Bemidji State 59
The Wayne State College women’s basketball team won their 12th straight game defeating Bemidji State 83-59 Saturday afternoon at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, America. The victory also marks the second time in school history that Wayne State has gone undefeated at Rice Auditorium going 14-0 in Wayne, America this season. The win makes the Wildcats 23-4 overall and 16-4 in the NSIC and the loss drops the Beavers to 12-15 overall and 6-14 in the NSIC.
Wayne State jumped out to an early lead in the opening minutes despite only shooting 30 percent from the field in the ten minutes of the first stanza. WSC dominated the paint in the first half scoring 19 points in the lane. The Wildcats also capitalized on turnovers in the opening stanza scoring 15 points off of Beaver turnovers as WSC took a 38-22 lead into the locker room.
In the second half Wayne State continued to add to their lead as the Wildcats earned their largest lead of 33 halfway through the second half. The Wildcat’s bench provided most of the damage in the half as they poured in 27 points in the stanza. Wayne State was red hot from the field in the half shooting 50 percent going 15 of 30. WSC was also hot from the free throw line going 9 of 12 for 75 percent as the Wildcats downed the Beavers 83-59.
The Wildcats once again gave their opponent headaches defensively as Wayne State held the Beavers to only 17.3 percent (3 of 17) from the three point line. WSC also forced 21 Bemidji State turnovers turning those turnovers into 23 points on the afternoon.
WSC shot 45.2 percent (28 of 62) from the field on the night. Wayne state also shot 40 percent (10 of 25) from the three point line and shot 81 percent (17 of 21) from the free throw line.
Bemidji State shot 36.6 percent (26 of 71) from the field and shot 80 percent (4 of 5) from the free throw line. The Beavers managed to out rebound WSC on the afternoon grabbing 45 boards compared to Wayne State’s 37.
Wayne State was led by Ashley Arlen who had 21 points on the night. Arlen also added seven rebounds on the night. Alyssa Fischbach, Julie Ann Wagner, Alisha Brown and Marcy Amundson all added nine points on the afternoon. The nine points was a career high for Amundson who also grabbed a team high eight rebounds. Senior Kati Jo Christensen added six points on the afternoon to go along with three assists as Christensen played her final regular season home game at Rice Auditorium.
Bemidji State was led by Jessie Althoff who had a game high 25 points. Althoff scored 12 straight points in the second half for the Beavers. Althoff also added four rebounds and a assist. Heather Sampson had 14 points on the afternoon and also grabbed seven boards. Emily Kaus grabbed a team high eight rebounds to go along with six points.
Wayne State will host a first round game in the 2010 NSIC/Sanford Health Women’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. against MSU Moorhead.