SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Winona State University had the NSIC's top-seeded team on the ropes, leading by 11 points in the fourth quarter, before MSU Moorhead stormed back for a 72-67 victory in the conference tournament quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon in the Sanford Pentagon.
The Dragons, who went 3-for-12 from downtown in the first half, drilled five three-pointers over the final five minutes of play to complete the comeback win.
Sophomore Taylor Hustad produced the first double-double of her career off the Warrior bench with 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Senior Rachel Novotny tied for the team lead with 12 points in her final collegiate game.
A jumper by Novotny staked WSU to its biggest lead of the day with 6:23 remaining in the fourth quarter, 58-47. It was at the five-minute mark where the Dragons began to shoot the lights out, and a quick five-point spurt, capped on a three-pointer by Brooklyn Liegel, made it a 58-52 contest. Novotny stopped the bleeding momentarily with the Warriors' first bucket in over two minutes, but MSU Moorhead was just beginning to heat up.
The Dragons answered with an eight-pointer run over the next 90 seconds to knot the score at 60-apiece. A layup by Emily Kieck gave the Warriors a brief 62-60 edge at the 1:38 mark before Liegel got free for another three-pointer to swing the lead back in favor of Moorhead. A pair of free throws by Kieck gave Winona State its final advantage, 64-63, with 1:01 left to play until Kiley Borowicz nailed a triple on the Dragons' ensuing possession to give Moorhead the lead for good.
Liegel and Borowicz scored 15 of the Dragons' final 23 points over the last five minutes of play as MSU Moorhead outscored WSU in the fourth quarter, 27-14. The loss was reminiscent of the team's regular season matchup that saw the Dragons come from behind in Winona with a 20-6 scoring advantage in the final frame.
Novotny and fellow senior Kayla Schaefer combined for 14 of the Warriors' 19 first quarter points as the veteran duo went 7-for-8 from the field. Novotny's mid-range jumper at the buzzer gave Winona State a 19-17 edge heading to the second period.
The Warriors shot 60 percent from the field in the opening quarter and carried a 36-31 lead into halftime after shooting 55 percent over the first two frames. WSU went just 2-for-8 from downtown in the first half of action with Julia Silloway accounting for both buckets from beyond the arc.
After being out-rebounded 17-12 in the first half, including seven offensive boards by the Dragons, Hustad made her presence felt in the post throughout the second half. Hustad scored six points and pulled down five boards in the third quarter alone. The Warriors began to cool off offensively in the period, shooting just 29 percent, but maintained a 53-45 lead heading to the fourth on one of Schaefer's patented turnaround jumpers.
Along with Moorhead's hot-shooting late in the fourth, the Dragons pestered the Warriors into four turnovers that were turned into seven points offensively. WSU also had a tough time stopping Moorhead in transition as the Dragons cashed in eight points on the fastbreak.
The two teams were ultimately even on the glass with 34 rebounds apiece at the final whistle, but the Dragons' lone offensive board in the fourth quarter came on a missed free throw with 18 seconds left to play that allowed Moorhead to extend its three-point lead at the time to victory.
Winona State's season comes to an end with a record of 15-13 while MSU Moorhead advances to the NSIC Semifinals with a record of 25-5.
