The Peacock women's basketball team opened the road portion of the Northern Sun Conference schedule on Friday evening in the Rice Auditorium on the campus of Wayne State College. The Wildcats took a nine-point lead into the break before outscoring Upper Iowa 44-26 in the second half to claim an 86-59 conference victory. Wayne State improved to 6-1 (2-0 NSIC) with the win, while Upper Iowa dropped to 0-7 (0-2 NSIC).
The Peacocks shot 43.3 percent (13-30) from the field including 50.0 percent (5-10) behind the arc in the first half but were slowed to just 30.8 (8-26) and 25.0 (3-12) percent, respectively, in the second half. UIU converted 69.2 percent of its free throw attempts during the contest.
Defensively, Upper Iowa managed to hold Wayne State to just 26.3 percent (5-of-19) shooting beyond the arc, but the Wildcats converted 59.1 percent of their attempts inside the arc (26-44) as well as 82.6 percent (19-23) of their trips at the charity stripe to fuel the win.
TURNING POINT… A
Natalie Dinius triple had Upper Iowa within seven points, 46-39, with just over 17 minutes left in the game, but Wayne State was able to pull away for good with a 15-2 run over the next 6:47 to capture its first 20-point lead and cruise to a 86-59 home victory.
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME…
- Dinius and Bekka Pierson each scored 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field to lead the Peacocks, while Megan Peterson added 10
- Erica Armstrong led UIU's rebounding effort with seven boards followed by Dinius with six
STAT OF THE GAME...
- Wayne State dominated the paint with a 48-18 point advantage over Upper Iowa, while also scoring 15 second-chance points and 23 points off Peacock miscues
UP NEXT... Upper Iowa heads to Sioux Falls, S.D. to face the Augustana University Vikings on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
