WAYNE, Neb. – The Winona State University women's basketball team took on Wayne State College on Saturday, Dec. 17, looking to build momentum following a 76-61 win over Sioux Falls one week ago at home in which the Warriors shot nearly 50% from the floor.
WSU and WSC have had a tightly contested series of late, with each team winning 10 of the last 20 meetings, dating back to January 20, 2012. On Saturday in Nebraska, Winona State was unable to make good on game 21, losing to Wayne State, 77 – 68.
The opening twenty minutes of action was emblematic of the narrow margin between the two programs recently, with a back-and-forth affair between the Warriors and Wildcats from the start. WSU and Wayne State were tied 32-32 at halftime with neither team owning more than a three-point advantage over the other throughout the first two quarters of play.
Coming out of the locker room after halftime, WSU was slow to warm up, going almost five minutes into the second half before a
Mattie Schimenz layup broke the Warrior scoring drought. After Schmimez scored, WSU battled back to tie the game 45-45 by the end of the third period.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, the fourth and final frame found the home side with the hot hand, as WSC pulled away from Winona State, outscoring WSU 32-23 in a fast-paced fourth quarter. The Wildcat onslaught proved decisive, with Wayne State earning the nine-point win over Winona State.
Alex Dornfeld finished the night with 17 total points earned on a 6-of-9 shooting effort from the floor.
Caitlin Riley added 14 points to the WSU scoreline and Dornfeld hauled in seven rebounds to pace WSU on the boards. Coming off the bench,
Kaitlyn Schrimpf added eight points to the Winona State final tally, including a perfect 2-of-2 from 3-point territory.
As a team, Winona State was 24-of-51 (47.1%) from the floor and 10-of-21 (47.6%) from behind the arc. WSU hit 10-of-18 (55.6%) free throws and hauled in 30 rebounds as a team, while the Wildcats had 32 total boards, including nine on the offensive glass.
Wayne State improves to 8-2 overall on the season and now sits with a 4-2 NSIC mark.
With the setback, Winona State falls to 8-4 overall and 2-4 in the NSIC. The Warriors will conclude their NSIC road trip weekend at Augustana University tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 18. The Warriors and Vikings will tip off at 1:30 pm in the Sanford Pentagon.
