The Wayne State College women’s basketball team went 2-0 over the weekend with wins against Mankato and Concordia St. Paul.

“This past week in practice, we really just focused on us,” said Kacie O’Connor, senior guard. “It was crucial for us to go on the road and get two big wins in Minnesota.”

WSC beat Mankato Friday with a score of 81-69. The Wildcats started strong, leading 20-4 at the 3:43 mark in the first quarter. WSC struggled in the second quarter, allowing Mankato to go on a 15-2 run to cut the lead to six at 27-21.

Wayne pushed its lead again ending the half with a 41-27 advantage.

Mankato responded again with a run to open the third quarter scoring the first eight points to bring the score back to six again at 41-35. Wayne ended the quarter with a seven-point lead at 56-49.

Mankato pulled within five after an opening-quarter three-pointer but that was as close as the Bears were going to get as Wayne pushed the lead back into double digits, ending the game with an 81-69 win.

WSC was 26 of 53 from the field and 5 of 15 from downtown. Maggie Schulte led the Wildcats with 14 points, while Logan Anderson led the Mankato scoring attack with 19 points.

Wayne also defeated Concordia-St. Paul a day later with a final score of 79-62.

“A big part about us winning the games this week was our defense,” said Maggie Lowe, junior guard. “As long as we keep working on defense and competing in practices every day, we will keep improving.”

WSC went on a 12-0 run early in the game and led at the end of the first quarter 18-12.

Wayne led by as much as nine early in the second quarter but the Golden Bears rallied back and eventually tied the game at 29-29. The half ended in a tie at 34-34.

The third quarter was a battle as the lead changed six times.

Concordia had a 40-39 lead but that was the beginning of an 11-1 run by the Wildcats, who led 51-41 at the 2:20 mark in the third. WSC ended the quarter with a 57-46 lead. The Golden Bears hit three straight threes to cut the lead to seven at 67-60 in the fourth quarter but could only score one basket the rest of the game.

The game ended in a 79-62 win for WSC putting the ’Cats at 8-3 overall, and 2-1 in the NSIC.

Paige Ballinger led the Wildcat scoring effort with 27 points in only 24 minutes. Ballinger also became the all-time blocks leader in WSC women’s basketball history. Anna Schmitt led the Golden Bears with 24 points.

WSC will play at home this weekend, hosting Minot and Mary University on Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.