Alisia Peterson’s near double-double on Saturday lifted the ‘Cats over Southwest Minnesota State as the WSC women’s basketball team went 1-1 on their weekend road trip.

 
“[Peterson] played really hard,” head coach Chris Kielsmeier said. “She had a lot of rebounds that she was able to get, and then those went back up and through the hoop. She was able to operate really deep in the paint, right around the basket. When she catches the ball that deep, she is really good. She just stepped up. She had a huge game when we really needed her to.”

 
WSC beat SMSU in Marshall, Minn., 61-51 on Saturday behind Peterson’s career high 21 points and team leading nine rebounds.

 
The first quarter was tight with the Wildcats taking a 18-14 lead after the first quarter of play.

 
In the second quarter, WSC’s lead got as big as nine with two and a half minutes left in the second quarter, after a Maggie Schulte jumper made the score 32-27.

 
After an early 12-1 run in the third quarter, the Wildcats took their biggest lead of the game at 46-30 with just over six minutes into the third quarter.

 
With nine minutes remaining, SMSU went on a run to pull within six at 56-50. Anna Martensen got a three-point play the old fashion way on the next possession to give the ‘Cats a nine point lead. The Wildcats won the game 61-51.

 
On Friday, the Wildcats shot just 24 percent from the field as they fell 84-46 to 25th-ranked Sioux Falls. This shooting performance, 12 for 51 from the field, was the lowest from WSC this season.

 
“We just weren’t ready to play,” Kielsmeier said. “We didn’t play hard enough, we didn’t execute well enough, it was just a bad night for our program.”

 
At the end of the first quarter, the game was knotted up at 14 apiece. During the second-quarter, WSC made only one basket. At the conclusion of the first half, the Wildcats trailed 36-20.

 
In the third quarter, the Cougars outscored the Wildcats 31-11 to gain a commanding 67-31 lead. Sioux Falls coasted to an 84-46 win over WSC.

 
Wayne State will conclude its regular season this weekend with two games at home. On Friday the Wildcats will host Winona State, and on Saturday Upper Iowa.

 
“We will prepare just like we always do,” Kielsmeier said. “We prepare hard and do the things throughout the course of the week we need to do, and hopefully we will be successful this weekend.”

 
The Wildcats are now 15-10 overall and 12-8 in the NSIC.

 
The Wildcats will be without starting center Paige Ballinger due to a broken ankle. She broke her ankle in the game against MSU Moorhead.

 
“We have already overcome it a little bit. We have played three games now without her,” Kielsmeier said. “There is no way you can completely overcome losing a significant player, but injuries are part of it. You have to be able to overcome it as a program. The focus is to try and get better with the players that can play this weekend.”

 
Ballinger was the leading scorer for the Wildcats, averaging 15 points a game.

 
Wayne State 14 6 11 15 46
Sioux Falls 14 22 31 17 84
WSC: Murren 2-6 2-4 8-8 14, Schulte 2-9 0-3 2-2 6, Lowe 1-3 0-1 4-6 6, Bretoi 2-5 2-5 0-0 6, Peterson 2-6 0-0 0-2 4, O’Connor 1-6 0-3 2-2 4, Larson 1-6 0-2 0-2 2, Reiner 1-6 0-0 0-0 2, Martensen 0-2 0-0 1-2 1, Davis 0-0 0-0 1-2 1.
SFU: Knecht 7-11 0-0 6-6 20, Varcho 7-15 4-10 0-0 18, Klostergaard 5-8 0-0 4-4 14, Paden 5-5 0-0 0-0 10, Lee 3-7 3-7 0-0 9, Molden 2-7 2-4 0-0 6, Malloy 1-3 1-3 0-0 3, Duffy 1-2 0-0 0-0 2, Becker 1-1 0-0 0-0 2,
Wayne State 18 14 19 10 61
SMSU 14 13 10 14 51
WSC: Peterson 10-13 0-0 1-2 21, Schulte 5-14 0-2 4-4 14, Murren 3-10 2-5 2-4 10, Martensen 4-13 0-1 2-3 10, Moore 1-9 1-4 0-0 3, O’Connor 0-1 0-1 2-2 2, Reiner 0-2 0-0 1-2 1
SMSU: Hedlund 9-21 0-1 5-7 23, Bonlander 9-19 0-0 1-2 19, Silva 2-3 0-0 0-0 4, Snaza 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, Connell 1-5 0-3 0-0 2, Holicky 0-1 0-0 1-2 1