Wayne, Neb. – The Minnesota State University women’s basketball team once again found themselves in a hole going into intermission, this time they could not overcome the 35-27 deficit as it fell to No. 19 Wayne State, 78-56, to fall to 9-2 on the season and 5-2 on the circuit.

The Mavericks missed their first four shots of the game as they found themselves in an 8-0 hole early before sophomore Jamie Bresnahan connected on Minnesota State’s first basket of the game, four minutes into the contest.

Minnesota State converted on 10-27 (37%) of its shots from the floor, 3-7 (43%) from behind the arc, and 4-8 (50%) from the charity-stripe in the opening stanza, while the Wildcats connected on 13-31 (42%) from the floor, 5-10 (50%) from behind the arc and a perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line.

Junior forward Ali Wilkinson paced the Mavericks in the first half as she netted eight points and hauled in five rebounds, Bresnahan finished the opening stanza with four points and five boards.

The Mavericks would cut the Wildcat lead to three with 15:50 remaining in regulation before Wayne State opened up a 10 point lead with 11 minutes left to play.  MSU found itself down 20 with 3:30 left in regulation, that proved to be the difference as the Mavericks couldn’t overcome the deficit.

Wayne State’s offense proved to be too much for the Mavericks as the Wildcats converted on 24-47 (51.1%) from the field, 8-14 (57%) from behind the arc and 22-26 from the charity stripe, the Mavericks were only able to convert on 21-62 (34%) from the floor, 5-20 (25%) from downtown, and 9-14 (64%) from the free throw line.

Minnesota State was led by Wilkinson who finished the contest with 19 points and six rebounds, sophomore guard Ashley Olson was the only other Maverick to reach double figures, finishing the game with 11 points.

The Mavericks will return to action as they host Northern State Friday, Jan. 11 in the Taylor Center, tip-off is slated for 6:00 p.m.

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