WINONA, Minn. – Juniors Connor Nagle and Alexis Foley each scored a team-high 18 points to lead the Winona State women's basketball team to a 70-58 win Saturday in front of a season-high 1,273 spectators in McCown Gym.
Nagle was a very efficient 6-of-8 from the field while hitting four of her five 3-point attempts in the game. Foley, meanwhile, was 7-of-13 from the field with a game-high five assists.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead on a pair of 3-pointers before Hannah McGlone got the Warriors on the board with a jumper. The Warriors took their first lead of the game at the 14:31 mark on an Alexis Foley 3-pointer to move ahead 12-10, she then hit a pair of free throws followed by a Connor Nagle 3-pointer to cap a 10-0 Warrior run to take a 17-10 lead.
UMC countered with an 8-0 run of their own capped off by an Alexa Thielman triple to close to take back an 18-17 lead with 8:05 to play in the half. Kali Hackmann hit a 3-pointer of her own, as did Emily Passisnt and Nagle to help build an eight point 30-22 lead with just over a minute to play. The Golden Eagles cut it back to a three point lead but Tara Roelofs hit a jumper to beat the buzzer to head into halftime up 32-27.
The Warriors shot 46.2 percent in the first half while UMC shot 40.7 percent. Foley and Kayla Timmerman each had seven first half points while UMC's Thielman led all scorers with 13.
Foley scored to start the second half and after Nagle caught fire with a layup, a pair of free throws, a 3-pointer and a jumper, the Warriors had built an eight point lead by the 12:50 mark 43-35. McGlone then hit a pair of free throws to give WSU its first double digit lead of the game. After Thielman hit a jumper to briefly get it back to eight, Foley countered with a jumper of her own and WSU would never let the lead slip to single digits the rest of the way.
With 5:24 left in the game, Nagle hit another 3-point shot as the Warriors stretched their lead to 17 at 64-47, a mark they would reach again on a Foley jumper with 2:44 to play to give WSU a 70-53 lead before cruising to the 70-58 final score.
Senior Caitie Zepczyk had a strong defensive performance, grabbing a career high 11 rebounds in just 15 minutes of action. Forward Hannah McGlone was the third Warriors to reach double figures in the scoring column, finishing with 10 along with six rebounds.
As a team the Warriors shot a solid 53 percent (27-of-51) while holding the Golden Eagles to 42 percent (22-of-53). The Warriors connected on eight of their 15 3-point attempts, a mark UMC matched but while taking 10 more attempts. WSU also held advantages on rebounding (33-24), bench points (22-5) and blocks (2-0).
Winona State (15-5, 11-5 NSIC) now embarks on a four-game road swing spanning the next two weekends, beginning Friday when it takes on St. Cloud State followed by a Saturday matchup at Minnesota Duluth.
