Kottke Games Wildcats in Key Victory for St. Cloud State

Friday, February 14

Wayne, NE

7:30 P.M.

St. Cloud State

12-12,9-10NSIC

Wayne State

10-14,7-13NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Wayne St. (NE)

Photo by: Isaac Bentrott

2/15/2025 1:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Huskies win 55-52

Wayne, Neb.- St. Cloud State Women's Basketball (12-12-9-10 NSIC) picked up a key victory in the NSIC standings Friday evening as Rachel Kottke called game on Wayne State in a 55-52 victory. The game started slow offensively for the Huskies as their first field game came at the 5:03 mark of the first quarter from a Jada Eggebrecht three. That three tied the game at four. The rest of the first quarter remained a defensive battle as WSC led 10-8 after the first quarter following a buzzer beating layup. The second quarter saw the Huskies offense pick up as a three-pointer by Alana Zarneke capped off a 9-2 run. With a five-point deficit, the Wildcats turned the tables on SCSU with a 10-0 run as they now led by five points with 3:42 left in the half. Kylan Gerads stopped the bleeding with a jumper, but the Huskies would ultimately trail 24-21 at halftime. Out of the break, the Huskies opened with a 5-2 run to tie the game up at 26. Neither team led by more than one possession in the third quarter as St. Cloud State took a 39-38 lead into the fourth quarter. The competitive play continued late into the fourth quarter where the game would be tied at 45 with 4:26 left in the game. Back-to-back layups by Paige Lambe and Rachel Kottke gave the Huskies a four-point lead as the defensive stops started to flow. Two free throws by Zarneke pushed that lead up to six points with 2:43 left in the game. With the Huskies looking to seal the game, the defense for the Wildcats picked up as a 5-1 run set the score at 52-50 with 26 seconds left as WSC possessed the ball. Tate Norblade would attack the rim and spin her way to a layup which tied the game at 52. The Huskies called a timeout with now a chance to win the game. After the ball was advanced, Eggebrecht had the ball near halfcourt as time started to tik away. Moving to the wing, Zarneke would free up Kottke with an off ball screen as she flared to the top of the key. Receiving the ball, Lambe would go to screen Kottke with 7.1 seconds left. The Wildcats had a miscommunication where they did not properly switch on the screen. In the midst of confusion, Kottke took a one dribble step-back three that banged home as St. Cloud State now led 55-52 with 3.8 seconds remaining. The Wildcats called a timeout to then advance the ball. Now in need of a three, the Wildcats fired a contested three at the buzzer which did not go, leading to a 55-52 victory for the Huskies.

Top Huskies

Rachel Kottke led the Huskies with 17 points on an efficient 6/10 shooting. She also splashed three threes, grabbed three rebounds, and nabbed a steal. This was her second game scoring 17+ points and eighth game with 3+ threes.
Jada Eggebrecht totaled 11 points, five rebounds, and two steals. With her lone three-point make, Eggebrecht is now tied for eighth place all-time in three-pointers made with 127. She is tied with Emily VanGorden.
Alana Zarneke scored 10 points on an efficient 3/6 shooting. She also grabbed three rebounds.

Notables

St. Cloud State is now 12-14 all-time against Wayne State with a current six-game win streak.
The Huskies led the game in field goal percentage (39.6-38.3), three-point makes (5-0), rebounds (42-24), offensive rebounds (15-5), assists (10-8), second chance points (10-2), and bench points (24-12).
Reagan Briggs scored four points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds.
Halle Vande Hey scored two points and snatched a career-high eight rebounds.
Kristi Kottke totaled two points and rebounds along with four assists. This was her third game with 4+ assists.
Kylan Gerads tallied three points and four rebounds.
Paige Lambe scored four points and grabbed two rebounds.

Up Next
St. Cloud State will be back in action tomorrow as they play Augustana at 5:30. For all the latest on St. Cloud State Women's Basketball, stay tuned to scsuhuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.