St. Paul, Minn. - Fueled by an amazing fourth quarter rally, the Winona State University women's basketball team defeated Concordia-St. Paul, 68-67 on Saturday, with senior
Emma Fee providing the last-second heroics.
Fee's basket at the buzzer - off an assist from
Emily Kieck - capped off a 28-8 final stanza for Winona State, and provided WSU with a split in the weekend series. Concordia - St. Paul led by as many as 20 points and never trailed in the game until the final forty seconds. Fee finished with 13 points to lead WSU and was the top rebounder for the Warriors on the day, grabbing six boards. The Burnsville, Minn. product was 7-of-10 from the foul line and 3-of-6 from the floor; she also collected two assists.
Head coach
Scott Ballard said, "It was a great team win and another unbelievable comeback. We took care of the ball in the second half and had great energy on defense, forcing CSP into 26 turnovers."
Emily Kieck also went 3-of-6 for the Warriors and dished out four assists, none more important than her helper to Fee on the final play of the game. Kieck collected six trips to the foul line, converting five times en route to 11 points. Warrior teammate
Caitlin Riley also reached double digits, scoring 10 points, while
Taylor Hustad had nine. Hustad hit a free throw with 00:37 to go in the game, giving the Warriors a one-point lead at 66-65. CSP's Sarah Kuma connected on a jumper in their final possession to put the Golden Bears back up by one, 67-66, but Fee, Kieck and company had the answer on the final play of the contest.
Winona State was 8-of-17 from behind the arc in the game, including hitting three triples in the fourth quarter, while CSP was 0-for-6 on 3-pointers in the same period. In a tale of two halves, WSU scored just 22 points before the break, but formulated 46 after halftime, taking advantage of a cold-shooting Concordia-St. Paul team as the game wound down. WSU also worked to get to foul line, getting 28 trips to charity stripe. Fee was particularly effective earning fouls in the paint, with four of her 10 free throws occurring in the final quarter of play.
Ballard noted, "We attacked the lane much smarter in the second half and got to the free throw line well as team."
With the win, the Warriors go 1-1 on the weekend and improve to 3-7 overall and 3-6 in the NSIC South. Winona State will wrap up the 2020-21 season on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19-20, when they travel to Upper Iowa University for a pair of contests. Tipoff times in Fayette are 6pm and 2pm, respectively.
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.
Media Contact: Pete Watkins, Director of Athletic Communications | Ph: 507.457.5577 | Email: pwatkins@winona.edu
