Two big road games last weekend proved to challenge the Winona State University women’s basketball team in more ways than one.
The Warriors faced off against the No. 8-ranked team in the North Central Region, Wayne State (Neb.), on Friday and Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday.
On Friday, the Warriors faced some tough problems shooting the basketball, as they were only able to shoot 33 percent from the field.
That wasn’t the only problem.
WSU was without backup center Bonnie Bjorke, who is one of the Warriors’ best defensive players.
WSU, despite shooting only 29 percent in the first half, was able to keep the game close by going 11-for-11 from the free-throw line.
However, crucial mistakes late turned a five-point WSU lead into a four-point deficit going into halftime.
“Defensively, we took away their 3-point shooting, but we didn’t take away their drives,” WSU coach Scott Ballard said. “It was how I felt like in the last few minutes of the first half — we went from five up to four down.”
WSU managed to shoot slightly better in the second half but the defense wasn’t able to slow down the Wildcats’ 48 percent shooting, and Wayne went on to win 68-62, ending the Warriors’ three-game winning streak.
The Wildcats were able to draw an amazing six three-point plays in the game.
Leading the Warriors in scoring was Jenny Steffen with 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting and 3-of-9 from 3-point range.
The Warriors faced similar problems in the next game at SMSU.
WSU shot only 26 percent from the field in the first half, but because of its tough defense, kept the Mustangs to 24 percent shooting.
The Warriors had an 18-15 lead going into halftime.
In the second half, WSU ran into some trouble, as SMSU was able to get a three-point lead on the Warriors with just over three minutes remaining in the game.
“For as poorly as we played in the first 37 minutes of the game, we did some really good things in the last three minutes,” Ballard said.
That should be a sign for how the last three minutes went for WSU.
The Warriors managed to outscore the Mustangs by 13 points in the final three minutes to win 50-40.
“It was imperative that we won on Saturday after losing on Friday,” Ballard said. “We took care of the basketball and we had 15 offensive rebounds in the game.”
Amanda Reimer had a big game for the Warriors, scoring 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and adding nine rebounds and four steals.
WSU (18-7, 8-6) is currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with MSU-Moorhead and Bemidji State.
WSU is close to being ranked in the North Central Regional rankings but need to pick up some big wins in the next few weeks to break into the rankings.
The Warriors have a chance, as they take on No. 7-ranked Concordia-St. Paul on Friday and then take on MSU-Moorhead on Saturday.
If the Warriors can pick up two wins over the weekend, they have a better chance of hosting a first-round game in the NSIC tournament.