WAYNE, Neb. – Winona State women's basketball beat the Wayne State College Wildcats on the road to finish out their 2025 calendar season.
The Warriors beat the Wayne State Wildcats to finish a road week and to finish their 2025 calendar season, holding WSC to only forty points in the win, moving them to 9-4 overall and 6-1 in the NSIC.
How it Happened:
In the first quarter, after scoring the first bucket of the game, Winona State would fall to an early deficit with Wayne State scoring on their first five possessions making the score 10-6 in favor of the Wildcats. Not long after, Winona State's would pull off some aggressive offensive series, scoring 11 points in the final five minutes of the quarter and would going into the second with a small 17-15 points lead.
A low scoring second quarter was started by WSC at the 7:21 mark to tie the game at 17-17. Both teams struggled offensively, with half of WSU's eight points coming from the free throw line and the Wildcats only scored two field goals in the entire quarter. With 2:09 to play, Wayne State would cut the lead down to two, but Winona would answer with a couple of tough shots of their own making the score going into halftime, 25-19 in favor of the Warriors.
The start of the second half could not have been better for the Warriors, scoring on their second and third possessions and limiting the Wildcats to one three pointer to begin. The score at the halfway point was 33-24 favoring the Warriors. Both offenses would continue to struggle but would be backed up by each other's defenses, and the score would be 35-28 going into the final quarter of play.
Just like the third quarter for the Warriors, the fourth quarter started perfectly for the Wildcats. With superb defense and adequate offensive play, Wayne State would score on three straight possessions narrowing the score down to 37-35 at the 5:21 mark, giving WSC a new breath of momentum. Once it came down to the wire, Wayne State was forced to foul the Warriors and they did not disappoint. Winona State would score seven straight free throws and give them the 49-40 win.
Statistical Comparison:
- Winona State shot 34.0% from the field (16-47) and held Wayne State to 27.1% (16-59) shooting.
- The Warriors only cashed in 1 three-pointer and went stellar 16-18 from the charity stripe.
- WSU controlled the glass, out rebounding AU 42-34 as they have done all season long.
- Vivica Bretton led all scorers with 18 points while Hailey Markworth and Megan Schuman had 17 and 10 points, respectively.
- Markworth finished with a double double after also gathering 11 rebounds, 10 of which were on the defensive side.
- Rachel Dahlen led the Wildcats with 14 points.
Winona State will start the 2026 calendar year on Saturday, January 3rd at 3:00pm against Concordia-St. Paul at their home court, McCown Gymnasium.
