Eagan girls basketball team wins its first trip to the state tournament

The long wait is over.

Eagan's girls basketball team is headed to the state tournament for the first time in program history, after beating Rosemount 63-52 to win the Class 4A, Section 3 championship Thursday at Rosemount High School.

Junior guard Drew Buslee scored 20 points to lead three Wildcats (19-10) in double figures. Senior forwards Madi McCullum and Jocelyn McClary each scored 14 points.

Freshman guard Riley Ang had a game-high 24 points for the Irish (21-8), who trailed 25-19 at halftime. Rosemount won both regular-season meeting by double figures.

Neither team was rated in Minnesota Basketball News' final regular-season rankings.

In other section finals:

Stillwater 60, East Ridge 55: Junior guard Amy Thompson scored 22 points, her second-highest output since the end of January, leading the No. 10 Ponies (24-5) past the No. 9 Raptors (23-5). Thompson averages 15.9 points per game.

DeLaSalle 67, Visitation 55: Aneisha Scott scored 26 points, her second-best total of the season, and the No. 6 Islanders (23-6) scored 41 second-half points to beat the Blazers (18-8). Scott had 18 points in the second half.

Sophomore guard Samantha Wills had a game-high 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Visitation.

Hill-Murray 53, Totino-Grace 44: Sophomore guard Elise Groppoli scored 25 points, leading the Pioneers (17-11) past the Eagles (8-21). Hill-Murray trailed by one point at halftime before limiting Totino-Grace to 14 points in the second half.

Class 3A, Section 6

Benilde-St. Margaret's 71, Holy Angels 47: Junior guard Olivia Olson took matters into her own hands, scoring 32 points as the No. 2 Red Knights (23-6) had no trouble with the No. 7 Stars (22-6).

Alexandria 69, Sauk Rapids-Rice 44: Sophomore forward Hadley Thul had 20 points, pacing four Alexandria players in double figures, as the No. 8 Cardinals (24-4) pulled away from the Storm (18-11) in the second half.