ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Winona State women's basketball team gave No. 7 Northern State a battle in Wachs Arena, but the Warriors fell just short of an upset bid in a 50-48 loss on Friday night.
 
The Warriors got a strong effort out of sophomore guard Kali Hackmann, who scored a career-high 16 points off the bench for WSU, knocking down four three-pointers at critical stretches during the game.
 
Winona State got off to a tough start in the first half, as Northern State pulled out to an early 12-4 lead in the first 7:25 of the game.
 
However, the Warriors rallied behind an 8-0 run that tied the score at 12-12 at the 10:38 mark that included a pair of three-pointers from Connor Nagle and Tara Roelofs.
 
WSU answered the Wolves bucket-for-bucket for the rest of the half, and came up with a huge three by Hackmann at the 2:35 mark to tie the score at 25-25. Neither team would be able to score for the rest of the half as both teams went into the locker room tied.
 
The Warriors struggled in the first half in the turnover department. Winona State committed 10 turnovers in the half, but managed outshoot the Wolves 40 percent to 34 percent in the first half, including 5-for-8 from the three-point arc.
 
Winona State had some strong guard play in the first half as Nagle and Hackmann each scored eight and Roelofs added seven.
 
The Warriors' early struggles continued in the second half. Northern State started off the half on an 8-0 run to give the Wolves a 33-25 lead. During that stretch, WSU missed four three-pointers in a row after only missing three in the entire first half.
 
The Wolves were able to stretch their lead to as much as 11 on a pair of Rachel Krogman free throws to give NSU a 44-33 lead with 10:58 to go.
 
WSU was able to answer with an 8-0 run of its own on a pair of buckets by Caitie Zepczyk, a free throw by Nagle and a three-pointer by Hackmann to cut the Wolves lead to 44-41 with 6:05 to go in the game.
 
After the Wolves stretched the lead again to 48-41, WSU had an answer of their own on a Roelofs jumper and another Hackmann three-pointer to make it 48-46 with 2:43 left.
 
Northern State buried another jumper with 1:45 to make it 50-46, but the Warriors were able to answer on a Nagle layup with 48 seconds left to make it 50-48.
 
The Warriors gave themselves a chance on the defensive end, as Kayla Timmerman was able to tie up the Wolves on a loose ball to give Winona State the ball on the alternating possession with 17 seconds to go. However, the Warriors were not able to get a shot up against a stingy Wolves defense that forced a loose ball with three seconds to go and were able to get the ball back on a tie-up as time expired.
 
After having a strong performance in the first half from behind the arc, the Warriors struggled in the second half, only knocking down 2-of-12 as Hackmann was the only Warrior able to knock down the three-ball in the final 20 minutes.
 
Joining Hackmann in double-figures were Nagle and Roelofs, each scoring 11 points. Zepczyk led the Warriors on the boards with eight.
 
Winona State (9-2, 5-2 NSIC) will try to manage a road split this weekend, as they will take on MSU Moorhead on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Alex Nemzek Hall in Moorhead.