PITTSBURG, Kan. – The seventh-ranked Winona State women's basketball team found itself down 13 points at halftime but held Fort Hays State to just 14 second half points to rally for a 60-55 win in the first round of the NCAA Central Region Tournament Friday afternoon at John Lance Arena in Pittsburg, Kansas.

The win is WSU's second NCAA Tournament victory in program history and first since 2009. The Warriors advance to the NCAA Central Region Tournament semifinals on Saturday at 5 p.m. against top seed Emporia State, which beat No. 8 Northern State 74-68 in the second game Friday.

Tara Roelofs led the Warriors with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting and was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range. Connor Nagle added 15 points thanks in large part to a 7-of-8 mark from the charity stripe and a pair of 3-pointers. Nagle also grabbed five rebounds and picked up three steals. The duo combined for 39 of WSU's 60 points in the game.

The Tigers shot 51.6 percent in the first and hit 5-of-13 3-point attempts in the first half to build a 41-28 lead over the Warriors, which shot just 37.9 percent despite hitting 4-of-9 3-pointers.

But the second half was a much different story as WSU's defense dominated, allowing FHSU to make just five baskets (5-of-33) in the second half and a dismal 1-of-20 from 3-point range to allow the Warriors to storm back.

Roelofs – who had 13 of her 24 points in the second half – hit a 3-pointer to open the second half and Alexis Foley converted a 3-point play shortly after to bring the deficit back to 10 on each occasions. A nice play from Jenny Weiland got the lead back to single digits midway through the third before back-to-back 3-pointers from Roelofs made it a one-score game and an 11-0 run to bring the score to 44-42.

The Warriors momentarily appeared as though it would have a chance to tie the game on a four-point play by Connor Nagle, but Nagle instead was whistled for an offensive foul, and a basket on the other end gave the Tigers a 48-42 lead and some momentum going into the final period.

The fourth quarter didn't start well for the Warriors either, as a jumper and a 3-pointer – Fort Hays State's only one of the half – from Chelsea Mason stretched the Tigers' lead back to double digits at 53-42 with eight minutes left.

Winona State shut the door from that point forward, holding the Tigers to without a point for nearly the entire rest of the game and countering Fort Hays State's run with a 17-0 run of their own. A Roelofs basket and six free throws from Connor Nagle had the Warriors within striking distance at 53-50 with 3:38 to play and a minute later, after a basket from Hannah McGlone and another from Roelofs, WSU had its first lead since the end of the first quarter.

Nagle made a pretty move to the basket to continue the big run, then hit one of two free throws to up WSU's new lead to 57-53 with 28 seconds left and hung on for the wild 60-55 win.

The game started out much the way it ended, as the Warriors back-to-back 3-pointers from Nagle and Emily Passint put WSU on top 10-4, but things went south for WSU for the remainder of the first half. The Warriors held a narrow 16-14 lead at the end of the first quarter but a 21-3 run by the Tigers allowed them to build a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter and led by 13 at the break.

Winona State finished the game shooting 37 percent, while the Tigers made just 32.8 percent of their shots.