WINONA, Minn. – A career-best 27 points by junior Allie Pickrain helped lift Winona State University to a 76-67 victory over Bemidji State on Saturday evening inside McCown Gymnasium as the Warriors orchestrated their first weekend sweep since December 6-7.
Pickrain averaged 24 points over the weekend after scoring a season-high 21 against Minnesota Crookston on Friday, and topped that effort with a 9-15 shooting performance Saturday, including five three-pointers for the second straight contest.
Winona State improves to 12-4 (8-4 NSIC) with the triumph while Bemidji State falls to 7-9 (4-8 NSIC). The Warriors currently sit in second in the NSIC South with five weeks to play and will clash with the top seed, Sioux Falls, next Saturday.
The win over Bemidji State was anything but easy for the home team as the Warriors owned a 17-point halftime advantage, only to see the Beavers surge in front midway through the fourth quarter.
Taylor Hustad came alive in the final frame, scoring 11 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter, including seven of Winona State's final nine points.
Bemidji State took its first lead since the game's opening minutes with 6:35 remaining in the fourth, only to see Pickrain slash through the lane on the Warriors' next possession to put the home team back in front for good before Hustad went to work over the final minutes of action.
The first quarter was the Allie Pickrain show, as she scored 11 of her 27 points in the frame on 3-5 shooting from behind the arc. The Warrior defense was suffocating on the other end of the court, holding the Beavers to a 25 percent clip over the first 10 minutes of play.
The Warriors offense then exploded in the second quarter, outscoring BSU, 28-16, while shooting 62.5 percent to claim a commanding 43-26 lead at halftime. WSU started to pull away on back-to-back jumpers by Abby Callahan and Emily Kieck midway through the quarter and went into the locker room on a fadeaway jumper by Caitlin Riley.
The Beavers began their charge in the third quarter, outscoring the Warriors by 10 and holding Winona State to just 33 percent shooting in the frame. A fastbreak three-pointer by Sydney Lodermeier gave the Warriors a 17-point lead three minutes into the quarter, before an 8-0 run by Bemidji State cut the lead to single digits for the first time since the 5:51 mark of the second quarter.
Kieck had another great contest dishing the ball as she finished with a game-high eight assists. Over the course of the weekend, the junior recorded 17 assists while committing zero turnovers.
Fastbreak points were a big key to the Warrior win as the home team owned a 13-2 advantage in that category, including a pair of timely buckets in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors will resume NSIC South competition next weekend as they travel to Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls.
