BOX SCORE

MARSHALL, Minn. – Wayne State had four players score in double figures en route to topping Southwest Minnesota State 62-55 Wednesday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball in Marshall.

WSC, ranked third in the Central Region, improves to 22-4 (15-4 NSIC), while SMSU drops to 15-11 (9-10 NSIC).

The loss comes in SMSU's final home game of the 2009-10 season.

The Mustangs are now tied for eighth in the conference standings with Minnesota State, Mankato. The top eight teams make the NSIC tournament. A win on Saturday against Northern State would likely secure a spot in the postseason for SMSU.

Ashley Arlen finished with a game-high 17 points for the Wildcats. Mara Hjelle registered a double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Kati Jo Christensen and Alyssa Fischback rounded out the quartet of double-figure scorers for WSC, netting 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Tori Fink paced the Mustangs with 16 points; she hit three 3-pointers in the loss. Abby Kenealy and Taylor Voss each had 10 points for SMSU.

The Wildcats built themselves a seven-point lead within the first seven minutes of the contest, taking a 13-6 advantage when Hjelle scored two of her eight first-half points with 13:39 left before the break.

It was a pair of free throws from Stadler with just more than seven minutes left that finished a game-tying effort to knot the contest at 19 apiece. A 3-pointer from Fink two minutes later neutralized a Wildcat basket and gave the Mustangs their first lead of the half at 22-21 with 5:10 left before halftime.

But a five-minute drought from SMSU in the half's final five minutes allowed WSC to take a four-point lead to the locker room.

WSC quickly opened up a double-figure lead in the second half, moving ahead 37-26 after Hjelle drained a pair of free throws two minutes in.

SMSU made a charge in the ensuing three minutes, cutting the deficit to two points at the 15-minute mark, but a 13-2 run from the Wildcats returned their advantage to 11 points at 48-37 with 10:55 left in the contest.

The Mustangs proceeded to orchestrate a run of their own—this one a 13-4 surge—that again brought SMSU to within two. The run was capped by a Fink 3-pointer with just less than seven minutes remaining to make it a 52-50 difference.

SMSU got as close as it would get with 2:14 left after a Voss 3-pointer made it a 56-55 game. WSC, however, went on to score the game's final six points and seal the win.

The Wildcats controlled the glass throughout, outrebounding the Mustangs 35-27. WSC turned its nine offensive rebounds into 14 points.

WSC made 27 trips to the charity stripe, including 19 in the second half, while SMSU had just seven attempts from the lin.

SMSU and NSU will square off on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Aberdeen, S.D.