The Wayne State women’s basketball team swept NSIC North Division opponents MSU-Moorhead and Northern State this past weekend in Wayne. They are now 13-5 overall and 8-4 in conference play.

“The two wins this weekend were huge for us and were a real team effort,” senior center Taylor Wangerin said. “It has been a very long time since we have swept these two teams, and we really played well all weekend in front of a home crowd. Both teams we played this weekend are very good, and we showed how well we can compete against tough conference opponents.”

In the first game of the weekend, the Wildcats held off a MSU rally late in the second half after creating a 28-point lead over the Dragons in the first half. Juniors Halley Busse and Erin Norling hit double figures early in the contest with 12 and 10 points in the first quarter. WSC closed out the first half with a 46-26 lead.

Norling led the Wildcats to victory over MSU with 20 points and 10 rebounds, making it her fourth double-double of the season. Busse finished with 19 points, while sophomore Kylie Hammer added 12 points from off the bench.

Wayne State shot 42.2 percent from the field in the game while also shooting 10-22 from 3- point range and 14-18 from the free-throw line. WSC lost the rebounding battle 48-37.

In the second game, WSC held off Northern State with a 79-67 win Saturday afternoon. Busse was credited with a season-high of 25 points for the night to help WSC power over Northern.

“Going into this weekend, we knew we had two really big games ahead of us and we knew it was going to be a challenge,” Norling said. “We also knew it was a great opportunity for us to get a sweep.”

Norling added 18 points in the contest, making it her 36th consecutive game of double-figure scoring as a Wildcat. Junior center Brittany Bongartz added 10 points and nine rebounds.

WSC won the rebounding battle 45-36 with Norling and freshman Josey Ryan, grabbing eight rebounds apiece. Norling and Hammer were both credited with four assists in the contest.

Wayne State shot 43.6 percent from the field and was credited with season-high 47.1 shooting percentage from behind the arc. WSC also shot 88.5 percent from the charity stripe on 23 of 26 shooting.

“Ultimately we focused on ourselves and stuck to our game plan,” Norling said. “We came out with energy both nights knowing we had the talent to beat both teams, and that’s exactly what we did.”

Wayne State will be on the road this weekend for NSIC South Division games at Minnesota State on Jan. 24 and Concordia-St. Paul on Jan. 25.