Huskies hustle Wildcats to advance to NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinal

Wednesday, February 26

St. Cloud, Minn.

6 p.m.

St. Cloud State

20-7,16-6NSIC

Wayne State College

16-13,11-11NSIC

Wayne St. (NE)

St. Cloud St.

Madelin Dammann scored 20 points in the Huskies playoff win over Wayne State.

Photo by: Kelsey Whaley

Huskies hustle Wildcats to advance to NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinal

2/26/2020 8:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – When the going got tough, the St. Cloud State University women's basketball team got tougher.

On the eve of their worst weekend of the regular season, Wednesday night was do or die time for the Huskies, as they hosted Wayne State College in the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC)/Sanford Health Tournament in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The winner would advance to the quarterfinal round, while the loser would have to pack their bags and head home, their 2019-20 season officially ended before the second season really began.

Fortunately, St. Cloud State will be packing its bags for an entirely different reason. The Huskies downed the Wildcats 75-62 Wednesday evening, avenging an early season loss and advancing to the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinals for the second consecutive season.

If the first half was any indicator, the rematch between St. Cloud State and Wayne State was going to be a juggernaut of a basketball game, as the two teams spent the majority of the first 20 minutes battling for ultimate supremacy. After trading the lead back and forth for the majority of the first quarter, the Huskies found their rhythm offensively, as they closed the quarter with an 8-0 scoring run to take a 26-18 lead over the Wildcats. Brehna Evans (De Pere, Wis. / West De Pere) and Madelin Dammann (Waconia, Minn. / Waconia) made back-to-back-to-back threes in the final two minutes of the first quarter, swinging the momentum entirely in St. Cloud State's direction.

Wayne State was not about to go away without a fight, as the Wildcats outscored the Huskies 15-10 in the second quarter to cut the lead to 36-33 at the half. Still, the lead could have been even slimmer, as Erin Norling hit an off-balance jump shot with one minute remaining to cut St. Cloud State's lead to 34-33. Evans gave the Huskies offense a much needed boost, as she scored a layup with 20 seconds left to give St. Cloud State a full possession lead entering the locker room at half.

Evans' layup seemed to spark something in the Huskies, as they opened the third quarter with a 12-0 scoring run to go up 48-33 with 7:54 remaining on the clock. From that point on, the Wildcats didn't really have a shot at catching St. Cloud State, even though they managed to whittle the lead to 57-49 entering the fourth and final quarter of play. In the end, Wayne State just didn't have enough to catch the Huskies, as the home team hustled their way to a 75-62 victory.

St. Cloud State saw four different Huskies score in double-digits Wednesday night, all of whom were starters. Dammann led the way in the final true home game of her career, tallying 20 points for St. Cloud State on 7-15 shooting, including a 4-8 mark from three-point land. The senior also tallied five rebounds, three assists and a team-leading five steals, making her final performance in Halenbeck one to remember.

Joining Dammann in the double-digits column were Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / Eau Claire North), Tori Wortz (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) and Evans, as they all scored 10+ points for the Huskies Wednesday evening. Evans tallied 18 points on 6-11 shooting and added a team-leading six rebounds and five assists in the process. Wortz tallied 15 points in the win, while Kilboten managed 13 and two blocks in the "W".

The Huskies defense also starred in the Wednesday night victory, as the team held Wayne State to just .383 shooting from the floor including a .333 mark from beyond the arc. Additionally, St. Cloud State forced 22 Wildcat turnovers and only allowed two student-athletes to score in double-digits during the game.

With the win, the Huskies overall record improves to 20-9, marking their first 20+ win season since 2008-09. St. Cloud State also advanced to the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinal round for the second consecutive season. The Huskies next opponent will be none other than Augustana University, whom they will face at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 1 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.