Wildcats fall in season final to Mustangs
Wayne State's season comes to an end following the 58-46 defeat
Southwest Minnesota State defeated Wayne State 58-46 Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball in the season finale for the Wildcats played at Rice Auditorium. WSC ends the season at 10-18 and 5-17 in the NSIC while the Mustangs take records of 16-11 overall and 14-8 in the NSIC into next week's NSIC women's basketball tournament.
Both teams started out the game with strong shooting. The 'Cats held the lead for the first four minutes of the contest and was in front 9-6 following a driving layup by senior Lily Fitzgerald with 6:23 to play in the opening quarter.
SMSU scored the next nine points and took the lead for good at 15-9 as the Mustangs closed the opening quarter with a 23-17 lead. WSC made 6 of 11 shots and hit all three 3-pointers for 54.5 percent while SMSU started the game making 10 of 16 shots for 62 percent.
The Wildcats got as close as three early in the second quarter at 26-23, but the Mustangs answered the WSC start and took a 35-25 lead before finishing the first half with a 37-27 lead at intermission.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the third quarter scoring just nine points apiece. SMSU was 3-19 from the field while WSC hit just 4 of 14 shots. The Mustangs scored the first five points of the quarter to take a 15-point lead, but the 'Cats got within eight at 44-36 on a Kelsey Willems basket with 3:20 to play in the quarter as SMSU closed the quarter with a 46-36 lead.
Wayne State could not cut the deficit under double figures in the fourth quarter as the 'Cats hit 5 of 13 shots in the final quarter as Kylah vanDonkersgoed scored six of Wayne State's 10 points in the quarter as SMSU finished with a 58-46 win.
The top scorer for Wayne State was vanDonkersgoed with 13 points followed by Rachel Dahlen with eight.
WSC shot 18 of 52 from the field for 34.6 percent. The 'Cats were 4 of 17 from the 3-point line and 6-7 at the charity stripe.
Southwest Minnesota State had four players in double figures led by Audrey Swanson with 12 points followed by Nicole Maenke and Brynn Busse with 11 each and Klyan Gerads added 10.
The Mustangs shot 34.4 percent from the field making 21 of 61 shots, including 9 for 26 behind the arc. SMSU was 7-12 at the stripe.
SMSU held a 44-30 edge in rebounding as Dahlen grabbed six boards for the 'Cats. She also had five blocked shots and three assists while freshman Cassie Allen had a season-high five assists.
The game marks the final contest for six Wayne State seniors – Rachel Dahlen, Katelyn Diegnau, Lily Fitzgerald, Meg Rietz, Tenleigh Smith, Kylah vanDonkersgoed.