WINONA, Minn. – Winona State University scored the first 14 points of Friday night's game against Minnesota Duluth en route to a 71-52 victory over the Bulldogs in McCown Gymnasium. The Warriors improve to 9-1 at home with the convincing victory.

Winona State led wire-to-wire after charging out of the gates to a 14-0 lead over the Bulldogs. UMD went 0-for-12 from the field over the first nine minutes of the game during the scoreless drought.

The Bulldogs cut their deficit to 27-22 at the 3:15 mark of the first quarter, but the Warriors answered with a 10-2 run to take a 13-point lead into halftime. Corey Jeffs scored the first four points of the run, highlighted by a shifty move and a dunk, while Caleb Wagner and Dalante Peyton each knocked down three-pointers prior to the break.

Peyton scored eight points off the Warrior bench, and chipped in three steals and a pair of rebounds. True freshman Devin Whitelow paced Winona's reserves, and led all players with 16 points. Whitelow scored 14 of those points in the second half of play.

Winona led by double digits for the entirety of the second half. Peyton gave the Warriors a 26-point advantage, their biggest lead of the night, on after a steal and fastbreak dunk.

Wagner scored 15 points for WSU and matched his season high with seven rebounds. Tommy Gathje added 10 points.

Kevion Taylor came up just shy of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. The freshman forward, along with Connor Flack, limited UMD's biggest scoring threat to just four points in the game. Brandon Myer entered play ranked sixth in the NSIC in scoring (19.9), and was held to just 2-of-13 shooting.

WSU (11-6, 6-5 NSIC) has won three straight heading into the weekend finale, and seven of its last nine overall.

The Warriors conclude their current homestand on Saturday evening against St. Cloud State. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. in Winona.