Winona State University women’s basketball continued their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) games this past weekend. Their opponents made their way to the home of the Warriors, starting the weekend with Minnesota State University Moorhead on Jan. 26 followed by St. Cloud State University on Jan. 27.
Only a few seconds into the game, third-year Olivia Gamoke managed to sink a three-pointer that was quickly followed up with a layup for an early lead against Minnesota State Moorhead. Gamoke showed nothing but focus throughout the game, and her team backed her up with matching energy. With a lead of five points in the first few minutes, Winona State maintained its efforts and ended the first quarter ahead by four points (14-10).
Swiftly catching up by the end of the second quarter, the Dragons managed to take back the game, jumping into the lead by seven points and heading into the locker room at halftime with the score at 31-24.
The third quarter began with a couple of quick points from Warriors Emma Carpenter and Alex Dornfeld. Still, the Dragons were quick to follow up with a couple of good shots throughout leaving Winona State to fall behind once again.
The fourth quarter brought great defense from the Warriors, however, as Minnesota State Moorhead continued to hit their shots, it made it difficult for them to keep up. With a few minutes left of the game, Winona State players Lindsey Hahn and Gamoke managed to sneak some 3-pointers in, but their opponents kept up and managed to walk away with a 75-62 victory.
After Friday’s game, Gamoke and Dornfeld commended their team for keeping up their energy throughout the game against Moorhead.
“It was a good feeling to get out of an energy lull,” Dornfeld said. “We’ve been focusing on energy, and I think even though we didn’t come up with a win tonight, that showed us what we can do tomorrow,” Gamoke .
After suffering two losses the previous weekend, Winona State showed spirit and determination. Although they had a loss, the team felt glad to have their energy back. Both Gamoke and Dornfeld hope that the loss of the game won’t take the energy away from the team.
To continue the NSIC weekend, Winona State moved on to face the Huskies. From the tip-off, the Warriors started strong with a couple of layups from Dornfeld and Hailey Markworth which was soon followed by a 3-point shot from Gamoke. St. Cloud State managed to stay right behind throughout the first quarter. Hailey Markworth would hit one final shot to end the first quarter with a lead of just two points.
The second quarter was a continuous back-and-forth of baskets and defensive efforts from the two teams who were both extremely determined and brought forth a competitive spirit that played out on the court. Going into halftime, the Huskies held just a 1-point advantage. The crowd cheered loudly, anticipating a comeback from the Warriors in the second half.
Diving into the third quarter, both teams put in efforts to raise the numbers on the scoreboard. Eventually, the Warrior’s offense fell behind, allowing the Huskies to take the lead and end the third quarter with a 7-point lead.
The Huskies managed to secure their position ahead throughout the fourth quarter which made it difficult for the Warriors to catch up. Last-minute efforts were brought by Kaitlyn Schrimpf who hit a 3-pointer right off the bench, but the Huskies closed out the night with a win at 55-41.
Despite the setback, the Warriors still have a chance to regain focus and work on their offense for their upcoming away game against Concordia University, St. Paul on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
