Sam Thiel/Winonan

The Winona State University women’s basketball team gave its absolute best effort on Friday to comeback but fell short, losing to the University of Sioux Falls 53-49.

WSU fell behind by as much as 14 points in the first half and trailed by eight with eight minutes to play before mounting their comeback, taking a one-point advantage on a couple of Becca Friestleben free throws with 49 seconds to play.

University of Sioux Falls’ Chrissy Strassburg got a layup to go and drew the foul with just 29 seconds to play and converted the three-point play to put the Cougars back in front, 51-49.

The Warriors had a final opportunity to tie the game but turned the ball over, preserving the victory for USF.

Friestleben and Michelle Tobin led the way for Winona State, recording 14 points each while Abby Busch added nine. Tobin also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while Kate Hartman chipped in six points and six boards off the bench for the Warriors.

Friestleben knocked down four 3-pointers on the game–all in the first half–increasing her total to 76 this season. Seventy six is the second most 3-pointers of any player in Winona State history, just behind Ana Wurtz who connected on 92 three pointers during the 2008-09 season.

Although Friestleben dialed in four first half threes the Warriors were still down by seven, 29-22, at halftime.

Friestleben made a pair of threes early in the half but then Winona State couldn’t seem to find the bottom of the basket, falling behind by 14. She led the charge late in the period, hitting a three with just nine seconds left to bring the Warriors to a seven-point deficit.

As for the statistics, both squads struggled to shoot the basketball, with the Warriors shooting 32.7 percent and the Cougars hitting 33.3 percent of their shots.

USF is now the fourth opponent in a row that has been limited to under 35 percent shooting and the 11th team this season that hasn’t reached a shooting percentage above 35 percent against the Warrior defense.

Friestleben paved the way for the Warriors with 23 points; however it wasn’t enough as Winona State dropped the second consecutive game, this time a 66-64 loss Saturday in Marshall.

The Warrior defense, usually spectacular, allowed the Mustangs to shoot 49 percent from the field, as well as 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from beyond the arc.

“Our problem this past weekend was not our offense, it was our defense,” said Scott Ballard. “We created very few turnovers and allowed our opponents to shoot higher percentages from the field than we normally do. On Friday, we allowed too many good 3-point looks and on Saturday we allowed too many dribble drives and post up opportunities, which led to easy scores, off rebounds or foul trouble. Our defense did not stop our opponents and create many transition opportunities for us.”

Friestleben used five 3-pointers to reach her 23 points. She also recorded four rebounds, three steals and a couple assists. Katie Wolff dialed in three three-pointers as well, chipping in 15 points to the Winona State effort.

“We did have 20 turnovers for the weekend; however, that was over two games, so 10 turnovers per game is actually pretty good,” senior Katie Wolff said. “The problem was that our turnovers came at the worst possible times. We had a chance to win both games but had miscommunication and turned the ball over. It’s unfortunate but hopefully we learn from it and get better as a team.”

Kelsey Andrist added nine points while Abby Busch put in five and snatched a team-high eight boards.

After going into the half tied at 32, the Mustangs galloped out to a nine-point lead with 10:32 to play.

Southwest Minnesota State University would add on to its lead, taking a ten-point advantage with a little over five minutes to go, but the Warriors never gave up. A three from Wolff with 3:17 left cut the Warrior deficit to four and, after baskets on either end, Friestleben knocked down another 3-pointer to bring Winona State to within three, 62-59, with 1:08 left in the game.

After a couple of free throws by the Mustangs, Friestleben got the Warriors to a two point deficit, 64-62, by connecting on her fifth 3-pointer of the game with 16 seconds to go. The Warriors wouldn’t get any closer as the squad fell to 14-7 overall on the season and 8-6 in conference play.

Winona State University will return to the court next weekend when it faces Northern State and Minnesota State University Moorhead in McCown Gymnasium.

Contact Sam at [email protected].