WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State University women's basketball team returned home to McCown Gymnasium eager to play in friendly confines after competing as the visitor in eight of their last nine games in the 2021-22 campaign.
Matched up with the Wayne State Wildcats, the Warriors battled back from an early deficit in the first half to hold a slim one-point lead at the break and expanded that lead to eventually defeat WSC 74-69.
Taylor Hustad had her best opening 20 minutes of the season, scoring 14 first-half points and hauling in seven rebounds to lead a comeback effort, after WSU found themselves down as many as nine points in the first quarter of play. Helping Hustad was the inspired play of
Mattie Schimenz, who scored nine points in the first half and dealt out three assists before the break. Schimenz would finish with 19 points, six assists and five steals in an all-around effort for Winona State. Both
Emily Kieck and
Emma Fee hit double digits, with Kieck scoring 15 and Fee 10; both were perfect at the foul line with Kieck 4-for-4 and Fee 2-for-2.
Wayne State carved into the Warriors lead in the third quarter, narrowing it to just one point with a handful of seconds to go in the third, but Hustad hit a pair of free throws to reach the 20-point mark on the night and kill what could have been a Wayne State rally heading into the fourth quarter.
The final stanza was one to remember for Winona State, with Wayne State leveling the scoreline on three separate occasions in the last ten minutes. However, an
Emily Kieck layup with 50 seconds to go in the game gave Winona State a five-point cushion at 70-65, and more importantly, much needed momentum in the final moments of the contest.
A series of timeouts and untimely fouls saw Wayne State trim the lead to just three with a pair of Kylie Hammer free throws, but WSU dialed in their defense and free throws as well, with
Caitlin Riley and Kieck both hitting some clutch shots from the charity stripe to seal the win.
As a team, Winona State shot 52.9% from the floor and hit six triples from behind the arc. On the boards, the Warriors held a significant edge 32-26 and the team racked up ten total steals, with Schimenz leading the way with five.
WSU forced the Wildcats into 13 turnovers and held Wayne State to just 5-of-22 from 3-point territory. The Wildcats were led in scoring by Kylie Hammer with 31 points and five rebounds. Logan Hughes had four boards for the visitors, while Lauren Zacharias scored 14.
With the Warrior win, Winona State moves to 5-5 on the year and 2-4 in the NSIC. Wayne State falls to 6-4, 3-3 in NSIC play.
The Warriors will work to complete the NSIC sweep on Saturday evening, when they host Augustana University. Tipoff between the Vikings and Winona State is set for 5:30pm in McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court.
For the most up-to-date news in Warrior Athletics, please visit:
www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and
@WinonaStateATH.
About Winona State University Athletics:
The Winona State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, as an integral part of the educational mission of the institution, is committed to offering opportunities to experience academic and athletic excellence for our student-athletes through two simple words:
Graduate Champions.
Fourteen Warrior programs compete at the NCAA Division II level within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Winona State University competes as an affiliate member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in the sport of women's gymnastics
