#9 Wayne State 70 Chadron State 57

            Senior All-American forward Ashley Arlen tied a career-high with 33 points and also hauled in 13 rebounds to lead #9 Wayne State College in a 70-57 non-conference women’s basketball win Saturday afternoon at Chadron State College.  The win moves WSC to 4-0 on the season while the host Eagles drop to 0-3.

            The Wildcats got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 13-3 lead following an Arlen three pointer with 15:49 to play in the first half.  WSC increased the advantage to 12 points at 18-6 on an Ashton Yossi basket with 12:22 remaining in the half.  However, the host Eagles cut into the Wildcat lead and got as close as five points at 24-19 following a Kaitlin Petri three pointer with 3:31 left in the half before WSC finished the first half with a 34-27 lead.

            Arlen and Wayne State came out strong to start the second half to put Chadron State away early as the senior forward from Cascade, Iowa scored the first nine points of the second half and gave WSC a 43-30 lead following a jumper with 17:17 to play in the game.  Chadron State got as close as nine points numerous times with the final one coming at 56-47 with 6:50 remaining.  The ‘Cats then went on a 14-3 run over the next 3:34 to take their biggest lead of the night at 70-50 with 3:16 to play before settling for the 70-57 win.

            Ashley Arlen paced Wayne State with her 33 point, 13-rebound effort to match her career-high that occurred on January 3, 2010 at Bemidji State.  She was 13 of 18 from the field and 4 of 7 at the free throw line in the win.  Senior reserve guard Alisha Brown also reached double figures with 10 points off the bench for the Wildcats who shot 55.1 percent from the field as a team, making 27 of 49 shots.  The ‘Cats were 7 of 14 behind the three point line and 9 of 17 at the free throw stripe.

            For Chadron State, senior Kaitlin Petri was the lone double digit scorer with 20 points.  The Eagles made 20 of 63 shots for 31.7 percent, connecting on 8 for 25 behind the three point line and 9 of 19 at the free throw stripe.  Chadron State held a 42-35 advantage in rebounding over the Wildcats thanks to eight boards from Sadie Waugh while Arlen led all rebounders with 13 for Wayne State. 

            Wayne State returns home for a non-conference game against Newman University of Kansas Tuesday evening with tip off slated for 6:00 p.m. at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.