Senior All-American forward Ashley Arlen scored all 19 of her points in the second half as #3 Wayne State College rallied late for a 59-56 win over #23 Augustana College in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball played Saturday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne The win was the 42  straight at home for the Wildcats and clinched a share of the 2011-12 Northern Sun Conference regular season title as WSC improved to 24-2 overall and 18-2 in the NSIC while Augustana is now 19-5 and 16-4 in league play.

The Wildcats trailed a majority of the first half as Augustana jumped out to an early 10-2 lead forcing WSC head coach Chris Kielsmeier to take a timeout with 14:59 to play in the first half. WSC responded out of the timeout as senior guard Clare Duwelius converted a three pointer and jumper to get the ‘Cats within three at 10-7. The Cats took their first lead at 16-14 with 7:29 to go in the half when Alisha Brown drained a three pointer to highlight seven straight points scored by the senior guard

After WSC took a four point lead at 18-14, Augustana closed the first half strong and took a 25-24 lead at halftime while holding Wayne State’s Ashley Arlen without a point in the first half. The Wildcats were held to just 28 percent shooting in the first half on 9 of 32 shooting while Augustana was 8 of 25 for 32 percent but made 4 of 7 three pointers

The Wildcats used a 7-0 run early in the second half to build a four point lead at 31-27 with 18:01 to play following an Arlen three pointer Later in the half with WSC leading 36-34, Augustana reeled off nine straight points and took a 43-36 lead on an Emily Schulte three pointer with 11:43 to play in the game. Arlen then scored the next 10 Wildcat points and gave WSC a 46-45 lead on a lay in with 7:14 to play

But Augustana responded again and tied the score at 49-49 with 5:13 to play on a pair of Schulte free throws Following the game’s sixth tie at 51-51 with 1:41 remaining, WSC took the lead for good when Clare Duwelius canned a three pointer with 1:15 left. Augustana’s Alex Feeney answered with a jumper to cut the WSC lead to 54-53, but Eva Benson converted a put back off an Arlen miss on the next WSC possession to put the ‘Cats up 56-53. Augustana's Emily Schulte missed a three pointer and Wayne State’s Ellen Hansen was fouled on the rebound, making both free throws with 11 seconds remaining to put the ‘Cats up five at 58-53. Shaunteva Ashley made a three pointer for Augustana with three seconds left to make the score 58-56 On the ensuing inbounds pass, Hansen was fouled with 1.1 seconds remaining and made one of two free throws to make the final score 59-56

Arlen scored all 19 of her points in the second half and added 11 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season to lead the Wildcats while senior guard Alisha Brown added 14 points.WSC was 21 of 54 in the game for 38.9 percent, including 12 of 22 (54.5%) in the second half. The Cats were 6 of 16 from the three point line and 11 of 14 at the charity stripe

Augustana's top scorer was Alex Feeney with 20 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Emily Schulte added 14 points for the Vikings who made 20 of 56 shots for 35.7 percent. Augustana was 8 of 18 behind the three point line and 8 of 11 from the free throw stripe The Vikings held a 38-35 edge in rebounding over WSC with Feeney hauling in 11 for Augustana while Arlen’s 11 caroms led the Wildcats with Ellen Hansen adding nine rebounds

The Wildcats will close out the regular season on the road next weekend, visiting Minnesota, Crookston Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. followed by a 4:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon contest at MSU Moorhead.