MINOT, N.D. – A strong offensive first half, and a gritty defensive effort down the stretch propelled Winona State University to a 66-60 road win in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament on the Wednesday night.
The Warriors saw their 10-point lead evaporate in the fourth quarter, only to make a pair of pivotal defensive stops in the final two minutes of play to thwart the Beavers' comeback bid.
Kayla Schaefer's three-pointer early in the fourth quarter staked Winona to a 55-45 lead on the Beavers' home court, but Minot answered with a frantic 13-3 run over a three-minute span to knot the score at 58-all. The Beavers continued their torrid run when a Warrior turnover followed and even took a 60-58 lead with 3:31 remaining in the contest.
Despite being held to just three points while committing four turnovers after Schaefer's made bucket at the 9:13 mark of the frame, the Warriors maintained their poise. Schaefer again came up with a big shot, this time with 2:02 left on the clock to once again tie the game at 60-60. Hannah McGlone and Rachel Novotny each recorded pivotal blocked shots over the final 90 seconds of play, and Schaefer once more knocked down a bucket when it mattered most to take back to lead for Winona at 62-60 with 45 ticks remaining in the game.
WSU ensured itself a victorious 10-hour bus ride home by sealing the game at the free throw line.
Freshman Allie Pickrain led the Warriors with a strong first half performance scoring 16 of her 17 total points in the first two frames.
The Warriors jumped out to a 7-6 lead through the first few minutes of the contest before the scoring cooled down for a bit. When it picked back up, Novotny began to take charge with a layup to spark a 14-5 run to close out the quarter.
Pickrain opened the scoring for the Warriors in the second quarter with her third three-pointer of the night immediately followed by a Novotny layup that gave Winona its largest lead of the game (13). Minot State would chip away and cut the Warrior lead to four, but two buckets at the end of the half sent the Warriors into the locker room with a 40-31 advantage.
Winona State improves to 15-12 with the victory while ending Minot State's season at 14-13.
Novotny pitched in 16 points and four rebound for WSU. McGlone recorded eight points and tallied nine rebounds which puts her just three boards shy of tying Lisa Parsons' all-time record (928).
The Warriors will travel to Sioux Falls this Sunday to take on Northern State in the quarterfinals of the postseason tournament. Tipoff is slated for 12 p.m.
