Junior guard Ashton Yossi recorded her 1,000^th career point and poured in a career-high 27 points while junior forward Jordan Spencer added 25 as the #11 Wayne State College women's basketball team topped #22 Pittsburg State 83-77 Friday afternoon in the NCAA Central Region opening round game played at Rhodes Field House in Searcy, Arkansas.  The fourth-seeded Wildcats improve to 28-4 on the season and advance to Saturday's 5 p.m. regional semi-final against #1 seed and 7^th-ranked Emporia State (29-3), who blasted Southwestern Oklahoma 97-65.
            The Wildcats rode the outside shooting of junior guard Ashton Yossi at the start of the game to build an early lead.  With the lone tie of the first half at 7-7, Yossi hit a three, followed by a Jordan Spencer layup and then three straight baskets by Yossi, including a pair of treys, giving WSC a 20-7 lead with 13:13 to go in the first half.
            WSC took a 27-10 lead on an Ellen Hansen 3-pointer at the 10:27 mark and still led by 17 (33-16) with 6:54 left in the half before Pittsburg State made a run at the Wildcats.  PSU went on a 10-2 run and got within nine at 35-26 with 4:57 remaining, but the Wildcats closed the first half strong and took a 46-30 lead at intermission thanks to 53 percent shooting in the first half that included 6 of 9 from the 3-point line.
            The Wildcats continued to shoot the ball well to start the second half, but Pittsburg State came out on fire to start the second half and made 10 of their first 14 shots from the field to trim a 17-point Wildcat lead at 59-42 and turned it into their only lead of the game at 65-64 following a Lizzy Jeronimus layup with 7:39 to play.
            Wayne State responded and regained the lead for good at 69-66 on a Yossi 3-pointer with 6:44 to play.  The 'Cats pushed the lead back to six several times before Pittsburg State made another run at WSC and got within two at 76-74 on a Antqunita Reed jumper with 1:24 remaining.
            The Wildcats then used stellar free throw shooting down the stretch with Jordan Spencer making two followed by an Ellen Hansen layup on a backdoor pass from Yossi to give WSC an 80-75 lead.
            Sophomore Addy Roller sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 18 seconds remaining to make the final score 83-77.
            "I'm super proud of our players and their effort today," remarked WSC head coach Chris Kielsmeier in the post-game press conference.  "Pitt State made their run at us but our kids responded.  To win the way we did you have to give our players a lot of credit, they made great plays when they needed to."
            "When they (Pitt State) were making their run, I told them to relax, get a stop and make a play.  They believed they were going to win and it's a special day for our program."
            Yossi led Wayne State in scoring with her career-high 27 points.  Her fourth point of the game gave the junior guard from Dallas Center, Iowa 1,000 points for her career.  Yossi was 10 of 15 from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point range. 
            Jordan Spencer added 25 points, going 9 for 14 from the floor and 7 of 9 at the foul stripe.  Senior forward Ellen Hansen also reached double figures with 15 points.
            Wayne State shot 27 of 49 from the field for 55.1 percent, going 8 of 16 from the 3-point line and 21 for 27 (77.8%) at the charity stripe.
            Antqunita Reed led Pittsburg State with 24 points off the bench on 11 of 19 shooting.  Lizzy Jeronimus followed with 21 while Cathy Brugman (12) and Alex Muff (10) also reached double figures for the Gorillas.
            Pittsburg State was 30 of 64 from the field for 46.9 percent, making 5 of 17 behind the arc and 12 for 20 at the free throw stripe.
            The Gorillas held a sizeable 41-24 edge in rebounding over WSC, including 19 offensive rebounds.  Ellen Hansen and Millie Niggeling hauled in six rebounds each for the Wildcats.  Addy Roller had eight assists in the game.
            Pittsburg State had 18 turnovers in the game to 13 by the Wildcats.  Jordan Spencer tied a career-high with three blocked shots.