#1 Wayne State 50 #10 Metro State 36
#1 Wayne State College held #10 Metro State College to just 25 percent field goal shooting as the Wildcats earned their first-ever trip to the Elite Eight with a 50-36 win over the Roadrunners Monday evening in the Central Regional Women’s Basketball Tournament final played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, Nebraska before a packed crowd of 1,386 fans. It was the 46th straight win at home for the Wildcats, who take a 32-2 record to the Elite Eight, while Metro State ends the year at 27-4. The Wildcats will now advance to the NCAA DII Elite 8 in San Antonio, Texas where they will take on Bentley (29-3) in the National Quarterfinal on March 20th at 11:00 am (CDT).
After Metro State scored the first basket of the game, WSC reeled off 14 straight points over the next five minutes to grab a 14-2 lead at the 13:45 mark of the first half. The Roadrunners slowly chipped away at the lead and got as close as two points late in the first half at 17-15 before WSC took a 20-15 lead at intermission.
Metro State pulled within three at 28-25 with 11:57 to play, then Wayne State went on a 15-0 run over the 6:34 to take a commanding 43-25 lead and put the game out of reach.
Senior Ashley Arlen led Wayne State in scoring with 12 points followed by Clare Duwelius with 11 and Ellen Hansen added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Wayne State finished the game making 20 of 57 shots from the field for 35.1 percent while hitting 8 of 19 shots from the three point line and 2 of 4 free throws.
For Metro State, Jenessa Burke poured in 10 points. The Roadrunners made just 14 of 55 shots from the field for 25.5 percent and were 3 of 16 from the three point line and 5 of 8 at the charity stripe.
Metro State held a slight 41-38 advantage in rebounding over Wayne State thanks to 10 rebounds by Jasmine Cervantes while Ellen Hansen hauled in 10 rebounds for the Wildcats.
Wayne State’s Ashley Arlen was named the Most Valuable Player of the Central Region Tournament. Other players named to the All-Tournament Team were Ali Schwartzwald of Wayne State, Jasmine Cervantes and Caley Dow of Metro State and Molly Hayes of Augustana College.
Wayne State now advances to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in San Antonio, Texas where the Wildcats will face East Region champion Bentley (Mass.), who defeated Holy Family (Pa.) Monday evening 84-73. The Falcons are ranked fifth in the latest USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll and will take a 30-3 record heading into an Elite Eight matchup on Tuesday, March 20th at 11:00 am (CDT).