Wayne State 80 Minnesota Duluth 66
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            Wayne State College built a 23-point halftime lead, then held off a Minnesota Duluth second half rally that saw the Bulldogs get within six with 3:30 remaining, before the Wildcats finished with an 80-66 win in the quarterfinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  WSC is now 23-6 on the season and advances to Monday's 12 p.m. semi-final against Sioux Falls (54-45 winner over #1 seed MSU Moorhead) while Minnesota Duluth ends the year at 14-14.
            The Wildcats were in control early, leading to a dominant first quarter against the Bulldogs.  Junior guard Kacie O'Connor had the hot hand early for WSC, converting a 3-point play that put the 'Cats ahead 10-2 three minutes into the contest.  O'Connor later added a 3-pointer that gave WSC its first double digit lead of the game at 15-5 with 4:40 to play in the first quarter.
            Junior center Paige Ballinger then carried the scoring load for WSC, scoring eight of the next 10 points for the Wildcats over a span of 2:13 that put the 'Cats in front 27-9 before finishing the quarter with a 29-9 lead.  WSC ended the first quarter making 11 of 15 shots (73%) while holding a commanding 20-2 advantage on points in the paint.
             UMD made a 3-pointer to open the second quarter (29-12) and that's as close as the Bulldogs would get to the Wildcats the rest of the first half.  WSC took its biggest lead of the first half at 25 (41-16) on a Maggie Schulte jumper at the 5:14 mark of the second quarter and took another 25-point lead at 48-23 following a Katie Hoskins 3-pointer with 54 seconds left before halftime as WSC finished the first half with a sizeable 49-26 lead.
            Wayne State went cold from the field in the third quarter, allowing Minnesota Duluth to get back into the game.  The Bulldogs outscored WSC 20-11 in the quarter as the Wildcats made just 3 of 12 shots in the third quarter allowing UMD to get within 60-46 entering the fourth quarter.
            The Bulldogs continued their momentum in the fourth quarter and got as close as six points at 70-64 on a Emma Boehm layup with 3:26 to play.  WSC then scored the next 10 points over a span of 2:30 to push the lead to 80-64 and any chance of a Bulldog comeback as the Wildcats finished with the 80-66 victory.
            Wayne State finished the game making 27 of 56 shots from the field for 48.2 percent.  After going 18 of 30 in the first half (60%), the 'Cats were just 9-26 (34.6%) in the second half.  The 'Cats were 4 of 11 from the 3-point line and 22 for 26 (84.6%) at the charity stripe.
            Paige Ballinger led WSC in scoring with 22 points, 18 coming in the first half.  Junior forward Maggie Schulte followed with 18 points (14 in the second half).  Also reaching double figures for WSC were Anna Martensen with 13 points and senior Katie Hoskins 11 off the bench.
            Minnesota Duluth made 24 of 60 shots in the contest for 40 percent, going 8 of 17 behind the arc and 10 for 13 at the foul line.
            Emma Boehm led UMD with 20 points off the bench followed by Taylor Meyer with 15. 
            WSC won the rebounding battle 38-29 thanks to eight caroms by Martensen and seven each from Ballinger and Schulte while Meyer had eight boards for the Bulldogs.
            The Wildcats held a commanding 46-22 edge on points in the paint, but UMD's bench produced 37 points to just 13 for the Wildcats.  Both teams had nine turnovers.