WINONA, Minn. – Senior Alexis Foley scored a game-high 19 points off the bench to help the No. 8 Winona State women's basketball team shake off a slow start to roll past Bemidji State 74-64 in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament Wednesday evening in McCown Gymnasium.

With the victory, the Warriors (28-2) advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament, where it will play Concordia-St. Paul Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Foley – a game-time decision after an injury in the regular season finale – was forced to come off the bench for the first time this season as the Warriors struggled to find any offense early with the eighth-seeded Beavers opening up a 10-1 lead on top seed WSU to start the game.

The Warriors would miss their first eight shots of the game but a Tara Roelofs 3-pointer cut it to 10-6 and Jenny Tuttle hit a triple as an 8-0 run put the Warriors down just 10-9 with under a minute to play in the first quarter. But the Beavers went on another run to take a 17-9 lead early in the second quarter and trailed 20-16 when Foley entered for the first time. Her presence on the floor would spark the Warriors to a 17-6 run to end the half as WSU took a 33-26 lead into the break as each team shot just 34 percent.

Bemidji State opened the third quarter like it opened the first, with a 9-0 run to pull even with the Warriors at 35-35, but a Kayla Timmerman jumper and a 3-point play from Foley followed by another jumper from Timmerman on a Foley assist helped WSU go back up five at 42-37. After a pair of BSU free throws, the Warriors went on the biggest run of the game – a 16-5 spurt that put the Warriors up by 14 points, 58-44 with a minute to play in the third as Connor Nagle capped off the run with a patented 3-pointer.

The pesky Beavers cut the lead back down to six by the 4:08 mark of the fourth quarter, but the Warriors had no problem closing out the 10-point victory as Foley had 14 of her 19 points in the second half.

Foley finished the game 5-of-11 from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 from 3-point range along with a game-high five assists in just 25 minutes.

Nagle earned her first career double-double, finishing with 11 points and a career-best 10 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Timmerman finished just shy of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting.