After a tough two-week losing streak on the road the past two weekends, the Women’s Basketball team returned to McCown Gymnasium to face Northern State University who the Warriors beat 65-55 in the 2022 season.

In the past two weeks, Winona State has lost to St. Cloud State University, University of Minnesota – Duluth, Minot State University and University of Mary. These past two weeks have put their record at 9-11 with four weeks left in the 2023 season and has them sitting 13 in the conference.

In the starting lineup for the game was Ava Sergio, Lauren Fech, Caitlin Riley, Alex Dornfeld and Emma Carpenter.

“I think my teammates do a great job of finding me and then our coaches do a good job of setting us up and putting us in the best positions.” Fech said about what a winning game looks like.

Riley, a fourth-year guard, was named an NSIC player to watch as she sits at 11^th in Winona State records with 120 three pointers and 9^th in three-point attempts at 382. However, with 45 made so far this season and 103 attempted, she now sets at eighth for those made and was bumped up to eighth in those attempted.

“The point guard just getting me the ball in the right spots.” Riley said about how her teammates have impacted her success.

Riley began the game with a three, continuing her career streak in a game that started strong from the beginning with a score of 18-17 at the end of the first quarter.

The Wolves slowed down in the second quarter with only one three-pointer versus three in the first quarter, with a halftime score of 35-26 to give the Warriors a lead for the second half.

In the last quarter, the game sped up again with a back-and-forth effort in between the Warriors and Wolves as Northern State began to catch up, keeping the score within ten points.

The end game score was 73 -66 to break the losing streak for the Warriors, with an excellent effort from Riley, Dornfeld, and Fech.

Fech led the scoring effort for the Warriors with a total of 19 points throughout the game, including going eight-for-eight in the last minute to set the team ahead just a little more.

She also knew what she wanted and went for it with an aggressive playing style in the fourth quarter, including latching onto the ball to prevent a turnover.

“At the end there I wanted the ball and you just gotta knock them down.” Fech said about her dominant plays in the last part of the game. “That’s what good players are going to do and when you need to win, it’s just what you do.”

On Saturday the Warriors will face Minnesota State University Moorhead who the home team has won against in every game since 2020, most recently being last season with a score of 75-66. The Dragons currently have a record of 9-9, placing them above Winona State in the current standings.

“They’re a really aggressive team,” Riley said, “So just coming out ready, right from the jump like we did today. We have really good post play, so our posts got to be really good.”

Tune in to the game on NSIC network or on KQAL 89.5 for updates on Saturday’s game.