Wayne State could not overcome 37.7 percent shooting, the second-worst percentage of the season, as the Wildcats suffered a 67-63 Northern Sun Conference South Division men’s basketball setback at Winona State Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats had won the previous eight matchups against Winona State, but falls to 16-8 and 11-7 in the NSIC while the host Warriors are now 13-10 and 8-10 in NSIC play.
Despite the loss, Wayne State remains tied for first in the NSIC South Division as co-leader Sioux Falls also lost in NSIC play Saturday afternoon at Minnesota State.
Neither team held a lead of more than four points until the final five minutes of the first half as the two teams traded eight lead changes with three ties.
Winona State held a 24-23 lead with 6:56 to play in the first half, but WSC scored nine straight points to grab a 32-24 lead following an Elijah Watson jumper at the 2:35 mark. But the Warriors ended the half with five straight points and reduced the Wildcat lead to 32-29 at intermission.
The Wildcats held a five-point lead early in the second half at 41-36 thanks to a Jordan Janssen three-point play.
The host Warriors then went on a 14-1 scoring surge over the next 6:33 to take their biggest lead of the game at 50-42.
WSC came back with their own scoring run, producing 10 of the next 11 points, and the ‘Cats took their final lead of the game on a Nick Ferrarini jumper at 52-51 with 6:48 remaining.
Winona State pushed the lead back to six a 60-54, but a Ferrarini trey and basket by Janssen got the Wildcats within one at 60-59 at the 2:11 mar
The two teams traded baskets and following a Cody McCullough put back Winona State held a 62-61 lead with 23.8 seconds remaining.
WSC fouled Winona State’s Declan Dillon, who missed the front end of the 1 and 1, but the Warriors grabbed the offensive rebound and the ‘Cats had to foul again as Luke Martens made two free throws for a 64-61 lead.
A Justin Eagins layup with 7.8 to play made the score 64-63, but Martens again sank two free throws followed by 1 of 2 from James Kelley to seal the Winona State 67-63 win.
Wayne State shot just 37.7 percent from the floor on 23 of 61. The ‘Cats hit 9 of 24 from the 3-point line and made 8 of 14 free throws.
Nate Mohr had 17 points for Wayne State. Ferrarini and Janssen each had 14 with McCullough scoring 13.
Winona State connected on 23 of 49 shots for 46.9 percent, including 8 of 18 behind the arc. The Warriors were 13 for 18 at the line.
Connor Dillon scored a game-high 23 points for the Warriors to go with six assists. Martens accounted for 15, Connor Drew scored 11 and Kelley finished with 10.
Winona State held a 34-27 edge on the glass despite nine boards each from Janssen and McCullough. Janssen had a team-high four assists while Eagins finished with three steals.
The Wildcats return to Rice Auditorium for NSIC South Division games next weekend hosting Minnesota State Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Concordia-St. Paul Saturday in a 3:30 p.m. contest.
Wayne State outscored Winona State 22-9 in the fourth quarter, coming back from a 15-point deficit late third quarter, as the Wildcats downed the Warriors 60-56 Saturday evening in an NSIC South Division women’s basketball battle played at McCown Gymnasium in Winona, Minnesota. WSC is now 11-11 overall and 7-11 in NSIC games while Winona State falls to 10-14 and 4-14 in league play.
The first quarter saw WSC hold the lead or be tied with Winona State for all but 15 seconds as the Wildcats held a 16-12 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
Tied at 9-9 with 3:58 to go in the first quarter, WSC used a Maya Fitzpatrick 3-pointer, a pair of Logan Hughes free throws and a Lauren Zacharias basket to end the quarter to grab a four point lead.
Annie Guentzel opened the second quarter with a basket giving the ‘Cats an 18-12 advantage, but WSC went cold from the field the rest of the quarter and made just one more basket in the quarter.
Wayne State’s six point lead evaporated as Winona State scored seven straight for a 19-18 lead. A Kassidy Pingel 3-pointer with 5:27 left in the half cut the Warrior lead to 25-22.
But WSC never made a basket the remainder of the second quarter and Winona State closed with a 29-23 lead at halftime.
Winona State opened the third quarter with five straight points for a 34-23 lead. The Warriors held a pair of 15-point advantages in the quarter and was in front 47-32 when WSC ended the quarter with baskets from Guentzel and Kylah vanDonkersgoed along with a pair of free throws to make the score 47-38 heading into the fourth quarter.
Wayne State opened the fourth quarter making 6 of 9 to open the quarter and the Wildcats rallied to tie the score at the midway point of the quarter.
Back-to-back baskets from Guentzel followed by a pair of 3’s from Lauren Zacharias and a layup by Abby Kopecky got WSC within two at 52-50.
A layup from vanDonkersgoed at the 5:12 mark tied the score at 52-52.
WSC got a free throw from Guentzel followed by a pair of technical free throws from Zacharias to give WSC a 55-54 lead with 3:58 to play.
After Winona State regained the lead at 56-55 with 2:32 remaining, Fitzpatrick gave WSC the lead for good with a layup on the next possession for a 57-56 advantage.
Zacharias made two free throws with 32 seconds left and vanDonkersgoed went 1 of 2 with seven seconds to play to cap the 60-56 comeback win.
Wayne State shot 36.8 percent from the field making 21 of 57 shots, but hit 7 of 12 (58%) in the final quarter. The ‘Cats were 6 for 21 behind the arc and 12 for 16 at the charity stripe.
Zacharias ended with 17 points for the Wildcats. vanDonkersgoed matched a season-high scoring 11 with nine coming in the second half.
Winona State was led by Lauren Fech’s 27 points. The Warriors were 18 of 48 shooting for 37.5 percent, going 9 of 25 from the 3-point line and 11 for 14 at the line.
Winona State held a slight 30-28 edge in rebounds with Zacharias hauling in five boards. She also had three assists.
WSC will play at home next weekend, hosting #17 Minnesota State Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Concordia-St. Paul Saturday in a 5:30 p.m. matchup in Rice Auditorium.
