Sam Thiel/Winonan

The Winona State University women’s basketball team had another impressive defensive performance to gain a 71-69 victory in overtime Friday against Saint Cloud State University.

The Warriors limited the Huskies to 9.5 percent (2-of-22) from beyond the arc as well as forcing 12 Saint Cloud State turnovers. Winona State also recorded seven steals in the game with Becca Friestleben, Marieanna Dulas and Katie Wolff each getting two.

A basket by Saint Cloud State’s Amanda Wagner tied the score at 62 with under two minutes to go to send the game to an extra period.

“Well first off this was a huge weekend for us. Saint Cloud is first in the other division and Duluth is right up there with them,” Dulas said. “We knew we needed to win both this weekend to try and pull away from Wayne to give us some breathing room in fourth place. If we stay in fourth place the next two weeks we then get a home game on that Wednesday of playoffs. And we are a much better team at home than on the road. This weekend we needed to prove to ourselves that we could play on the road too.”

Winona State started out strong early in overtime, racing out to a five-point lead, 69-64, after a 3-pointer and basket by Katie Wolff on consecutive possessions. The Huskies came within two points after a three-pointer by Wagner, but Abby Busch answered back with a basket with 27 seconds left on the clock to put the Warrior lead at four and preserve the victory.

Busch paved the way for the Warriors with 16 points while also recording six rebounds. Wolff chipped in 15 points, including four 3-pointers, while also dishing out a team-high four assists. Friestleben put in 12 points while Michelle Tobin contributed nine points and 11 rebounds to the Warriors’ effort.

Saturday, the Warriors burst out of the starting gates to begin the second half, going on a 22-4 run ending in a 78-64 victory over the University of Minnesota Duluth. Within the first eight minutes, the Warriors turned their deficit into a 16-point advantage.

Five different Winona State players reached double digits as the team was balanced at all positions to get the victory. The Warriors shot an outstanding 55 percent in the second half, increasing their lead to as many as 19 points.

Becca Friestleben led the way for Winona State scoring 24 points, with four shots from beyond the 3-point line. The senior has scored at least 20 points this season eight times and has connected on at least four 3-pointers in a contest 13 times.

Katie Wolff chipped in 15 points, hitting a trio of 3-pointers as well. The Warriors knocked down nine 3-pointers as a team on the game.

Michelle Tobin added 13 points and nine rebounds while Abby Busch scored 13 points and recorded seven rebounds. Marieanna Dulas was the final Warrior to reach double digit scoring, posting 11 points and eight rebounds.

The Warriors were very consistent on the offensive end, tallying assists on 18 of their 26 made shots from the field. Kelsey Andrist had a career high of six assists while Dulas had four.

Winona State also handled the basketball very well on the offensive end, only turning the ball over seven times.

“Offensively we did a great job taking care of the basketball both nights against two very good pressure defensive teams and only committed a total of 19 turnovers,” said coach Scott Ballard. “We also did a good job of attacking the lane both nights with our post play and perimeter drive opportunities which opened up some good looks from the 3-point circle and we got some extra possessions with good activity on the offensive boards.”

Becca Friestleben carried WSU in the opening period, recording 15 points while knocking down three 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Abby Busch added nine points in the first half as the Warriors ended the half down by two, 32-30, before taking control of the game.

With the victory, the Warriors improved to 18-7 overall and 12-6 in NSIC play. The team also increased its win streak to four games in a row. Winona State University returns to McCown Gymnasium next weekend when it plays host to Concordia-Saint Paul and Minnesota State.

Contact Sam at [email protected].