Box Score WAYNE, Neb. – The Minnesota State Mavericks would get its first taste of defeat Friday night, falling to the fourth-ranked Wayne State Wildcats, 78-60.
 
Both teams battled back-and-forth early as MSU trailed 13-12 before senior guard Jennie Noreen picked off a Wildcat pass and proceeded to connect on a three-pointer giving the Mavericks a two-point lead. 
 
The teams would trade points for the next four minutes playing to a tie at 22.  From this point, however, WSC went on a 14-0 run over a 4:43 span taking 36-22 lead.  Freshman guard Aubrey Davis broke the Mavericks scoring draught with one of her two first-half three pointers as she finished the first half with six points.
 
The Wildcats would go into halftime with a 44-33 lead after shooting 70.8 percent on 17-of-24 from the field.  MSU connected on 36.7 percent of their shots including 5-of-11 from three-point range while they connected on 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
 
Junior forward Ali Wilkinson paced the Mavericks with ten points and four rebounds the in the first half.
 
Despite a valiant effort from MSU, the Wildcats wouldn’t budge in the second half as they maintained their lead outscoring MSU, 34-27.
 
MSU would come within six points at the 15:35 mark, but a 20-6 run by the Wildcats over the next ten minutes ended any chance of a comeback.
 
The Mavericks were led offensively by Wilkinson who finished with 19 points on 6-of-14 from the field.  She also finished the night with nine rebounds, one shy of her fourth double-double of the season.
 
Also scoring in double figures for MSU was senior forward Laura Weber who added ten points on 4-of-9 shooting.
 
Five Wildcats finished with double-digits as Clare Duwelius paced Wayne State with 14 points including 3-of-6 from long range.  Two-time NSIC Player of the Week Ashley Arlen finished the night with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
 
Wayne State continued its impressive shooting percentage into the second half connecting on 9-of-21 as they finished the game shooting 57.8 percent from the floor compared to 33.3 percent by the Mavericks.  WSC also finished with three more rebounds (35-32), five more assists (14-9) while committing two more turnovers (21-19) improving to 7-0 overall and 1-0 in the NSIC.
 
Minnesota State (4-1 overall, 0-1 NSIC) returns to action tomorrow when it travels to Sioux Falls, S.D., to face Augustana.  Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.