The Wayne State College men’s and women’s basketball team split a pair of road games, with both teams falling to the St. Cloud State Huskies on Friday, Jan. 19, and beating the Bemidji State Beavers on Saturday, Jan. 20.
WSC’s women’s squad came up short against the Huskies, 58-52, but were able to rebound and beat Bemidji State, 58-51. The win ends a six-game losing streak for the Wildcats and pushes their overall record to 5-11 and 2-11 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. The Wildcats currently sit 13th in the conference standings.
The women met up with the Huskies from St. Cloud State this past Friday. The first half was a tale of two quarters. The first quarter saw the Huskies shoot 64.3% while WSC shot only 14.3%, leading to a 21-4 Husky lead after one period of play. The Wildcats returned the favor in the second quarter, outscoring SCSU 17-4, cutting the lead to four at the break. The scoreboard reads 25-21 Huskies at halftime.
The Wildcats closed that four-point gap in the third quarter despite another good shooting performance from the Huskies and thanks to drawing a total of 13 free throw attempts, making ten of them. At the end of three, the scoreboard was level at 38-38.
The fourth quarter was a tight-knit affair down to the wire, as through the first 8:32, no team was able to take a two-possession lead. The Wildcats held a three-point lead, 50-47, at the 4:57 mark courtesy of a Maya Fitzpatrick layup with an and-one free throw. The Huskies quickly reclaimed the lead off a three-pointer from Morgan Draheim to put the score at 52-50, and the lead remained in the Huskies’ favor the rest of the way, as clutch free throw shooting down the stretch sealed the 58-52 St. Cloud State win.
Junior forward Maya Fitzpatrick led the way for the Wildcats with 11 points and a staggering seven steals. Graduate senior Britney Ho had 10 points in only 18 minutes of action. Two WSC players finished with eight in freshman forward Brooklyn Kruse and junior guard Carsyn Boswell.
The Wildcats made the trek from St. Cloud, Minn. to Bemidji, Minn. to take on the Bemidji State Beavers. The first half saw the Beavers and Wildcats keep a close battle with the Beavers, but BSU kept the Wildcats at arm’s length, outscoring them 14-10 in the first quarter and 15-12 in the second, taking a 29-22 lead into the break. The Beavers shot 48.1% while the Wildcats shot only 33.3%.
The second half saw the Wildcats get the upper hand, outscoring the Beavers 16-14 in the third quarter to cut the lead to five, 43-38. The fourth quarter was purely dominated by WSC, as the Wildcats shot 66.7% from the field including 8-11 from the charity stripe to bury the Beavers 58-51.
Three Wildcats hit double-digits. Ho led the way with 16, Kruse had 14 and Fitzpatrick finished with 13.
The Wildcat men fell 79-61 against the Huskies while dominating the Beavers, 82-55, over the weekend, moving their overall record to 12-8 and 5-8 in NSIC play. The Wildcats currently sit in 11th in the conference standings.
Friday saw the team up to St. Cloud, Minn. where the host St. Cloud State Huskies welcomed the Wildcats to Halenbeck Hall. The first half featured a back-and-forth battle, leading to a one-point lead for the Wildcats as the teams head back to the locker rooms. The Wildcats shot an even 50% from the floor in the first half while holding the Huskies to only 34.4% from the field.
The Wildcats continued their good shooting day in the second half, as they shot 46.7% from the floor. However, the script completely flipped for Wayne State defensively. The Huskies caught fire in the second half. St. Cloud State shot 18-25, equivalent to 72%, including 6-9 from three-point range as the Huskies outpace the Wildcats 52-33 in the second half to take home the 79-61 win.
The Wildcats were led by redshirt-sophomore guard Alec Millender and junior forward Trey Deveaux, who each had 21 points while shooting 9-14 from the floor. Deveaux also led the way in rebounding, grabbing seven boards.
Saturday saw the Wildcats matchup up with the Bemidji State Beavers, and the Wildcats picked up right where they left off in the St. Cloud State matchup. The Wildcats kept the hot shooting alive, with a 51.5% clip in the first half including 40% from three, leading WSC to a 43-36 halftime lead.
WSC recognized what happened in the game against St. Cloud State and ramped up the defensive intensity. They held the Beavers to only 25% shooting in the second half while holding one of the best centers in the NSIC in John Sutherland to only nine points and five rebounds. The offensive firepower also helped to propel WSC to the victory, 82-55.
The Wildcats saw five different players enter double figures. Deveaux led the way in scoring yet again with 18 points, followed by Millender with 14, junior guard Jay Saunders with 11, sophomore guard David Harmon and junior forward Elijah Watson each had 10.
The Wildcat men and women are back in action this Saturday, Jan. 27 against the Minot State Beavers. Tip off for the women’s match is 12:30 p.m. and the men are set to tip at 2:30 p.m.
“It’s going to be a great matchup and a great contrast of styles,” Saunders said. “They have a lot of talent, and we have a lot of talent. It’s going to be a good one.”
