#10 Minnesota Duluth outscored Wayne State 25-9 in the second quarter to take control of the contest as the host Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats 74-54 Friday evening in a Northern Sun Conference women’s basketball game played in Duluth, Minnesota. UMD stays unbeaten in the NSIC at 15-0 and 18-2 overall while WSC falls to 10-9 and 6-9 in NSIC games.
The first quarter was close between the two clubs, featuring six ties and four lead changes. Wayne State’s biggest lead was three several times with the final one coming at 13-10 following a Logan Hughes trey with 4:47 to play in the first quarter.
A Kassidy Pingel 3-pointer tied the score at 16-16 but the host Bulldogs closed the first quarter with a 20-18 lead despite 50 percent shooting (7-14) from Wayne State in the first quarter.
Host Minnesota Duluth used 71 percent shooting (10-14) as the Bulldogs outscored WSC 25-9 in the second quarter to take control of the game with a 45-27 lead at intermission.
WSC was within four of the Bulldogs at 26-22 early in the second stanza, but UMD took their first double digit lead at 35-25 and held the ‘Cats scoreless for just over 4:30 at the end of the second quarter as the Bulldogs built a 45-27 advantage at the break.
The ‘Cats stayed within reach of UMD for most of the third quarter and was down 11 at 53-42 following a Maya Fitzpatrick 3-pointer with 2:14 left in the quarter, but the Bulldogs closed the quarter strong with a 10-3 run and pushed the lead back to 18 at 63-45 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter saw Minnesota Duluth score nine of the first 10 points as the Bulldogs extended the lead over 20 points and held WSC to just 1 of 10 shooting in the final quarter to finish with a 74-54 win.
Senior guard Lauren Zacharias was the lone Wildcat in double figures with 12 points.
Wayne State made 17 of 50 shots in the game for 34 percent, going 8 for 16 from the 3-point line and 12 of 22 at the charity stripe.
Brooke Olson had a game-high 22 points for Minnesota Duluth followed by Taya Hakamaki with 18 and Taytum Rhoades with 12.
UMD shot 48 percent making 30 of 62 shots. The Bulldogs were 8 for 25 behind the arc and 6 of 9 at the foul line.
Minnesota Duluth won the rebounding battle over WSC 41-28. Logan Hughes and Meg Reitz each had four rebounds for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats will play again Saturday at St. Cloud State with tip off set for 5:30 p.m.
