The Winona State University women’s basketball team faced a rather tough season, coming up short. They finished their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) run at 9-13 (10-18 overall). In the qualifiers table, they were knocked out in the first game against Minnesota State Moorhead by 70-62 points.
At the end of the season, they placed ninth among 15 schools. In the last season, they were 14th among the 16 schools, revealing an obvious development of skills.
“Our expectation was more from them,” Fayyaz, a Warrior fan who frequents games, said.
The Warriors began their season with six consecutive losses. Among these six games, the last was their first in the NSIC. This incident always left a question: was it a good motivator for the rest of the season?
Winona State also struggled with consistency. They faced an unfortunate streak of back-to-back losses, with occasional wins sprinkled in the mix, but never breached more than two at a time.
Despite these losses, the team still has some exceptional talent that were showcased in every game they played. Alex Dornfeld scored 242 points and with her overall performance, she earned the NSIC honors.
The Warriors also said a bittersweet goodbye to five of their fourth-year players as the season came to an end. Emma Carpenter, Ava Sergio, Kaitlyn Schrimpf, Vanessa Alexander, and Dornfeld were forces to be reckoned with on the team and will certainly be missed as they continue on in their future endeavors.
Among these downfalls, the Warriors have earned some big wins as well. They snagged a win against Southwest Minnesota State University with a 15-point lead which gave them a big confidence boost in the beginning. Their defeat of Wayne State College and Augustana University were also impressive.
Observing their last game of the season against Minnesota State Moorhead, they experienced a rough start. They missed the opportunity to make a 3-point shot two separate time but began to pick up points as time went on. At the end of the first quarter, they had an 11-point lead.
Unfortunately, at the end of the second quarter, they lost their momentum which they could not recover, allowing their opponent to extend their lead until it was unreachable, resulting in a well-fought loss.
In many of their games, this occurrence seems to be the recurring theme. The Warriors would launch themselves quickly into the lead until the second and third quarters where they would lose their scoring rhythm and fall behind in points.
This team scored an impressive 1257 points in the NSIC this season but allowed 1349 points from their opponents. The statistics also reveal that they blocked 32 times whereas their opponents blocked 73 times. These large number differences speak for themselves, indicating that while the team is working hard, there is work to be done, as is common for all sports.
Still, there are always chances to recover and every season is new, beginning from zero. It is probable that Winona State will make their comeback in the next, but the question remains, do they have these plans in mind?
