Sam Thiel/Winonan

The Winona State University women’s basketball team found themselves in a battle on the defensive end with No. 23 Northern State, who defeated the Warriors 58-44 Friday in Aberdeen, S.D.

Both squads were unsuccessful to shoot more than 35 percent from the field on the game. Winona State limited Northern State to 33.3 percent (22-of-66) from the floor while the Warriors shot just 27.9 percent (17-of-61).

Tara Roelofs led the way on the offensive end for the Warriors, posting a career-high 16 points. The freshman hit four of her five shots from beyond the arc, also a career-high. Caitie Zepczyk chipped in nine points, while Abby Busch added seven while also snatching five rebounds.

Kate Hartman grabbed a team-high ten boards, marking her second career game with double-digit rebounds.
Northern State took a 26-16 advantage at the half and increased its lead to 18 after using a 10-2 run to start the second half. Winona State used a run of their own as they cut the deficit to seven after a Roelofs triple with 12 minutes to go.

The Wolves made another run in the half, this one good for nine as they built a 48-32 advantage, as NSU would keep a double-digit lead the rest of the game.

“We have not been a very offensive scoring team all season, and now when teams defensively gang up on two of our scorers we become more predictable and easier to defend, and it is challenging to counter that,” coach Scott Ballard said. “We spend a lot of energy on the defensive end, and it begins to affect our late game shooting percentages. If we could get to the free throw line more and grab more offensive rebounds it would help us out some at the offensive end of the floor.”

It didn’t take long for Tara Roelofs to break her career-high in scoring, posting a career-best 23 points in Winona State’s 79-62 loss to MSU Moorhead Saturday in Moorhead, Minn.

Roelofs was able to hit 9 of her 14 shots on the day, with three of those shots from beyond the arc. She also added three rebounds to the Warrior effort.

The Warriors also forced a total of 22 turnovers throughout the weekend on the defensive end.

“No matter what defense we are in, we focus on talking and just always staying aggressive, so that it helps us force turnovers,” Roelofs said. “We need to keep talking and being aggressive because that will energize our defense and overflow into our offense.”

Abby Busch added 14 points to give WSU its second player in double figures on the offensive end. The senior now has 975 points throughout her Winona State career and is coming up on becoming the 16th player in Winona State’s 1000-point club.

Caitie Zepczyk chipped in seven points off the bench for the Warriors, while Kate Hartman and Kali Hackmann each added six.

Both squads shot the basketball well on the game, with Winona State hitting 40.4 percent (23-of-57) of their shots, while MSU Moorhead hit 50 percent of their shots (24-of-48).

The contest was close until early in the second half, with Busch knotting the game up at 37 after converting the old-fashioned 3-point play. The Dragons had a one-point advantage, 42-41, with 15:30 left before going on a 10-1 run to increase its lead. Three minutes later, the Dragons had a lead good enough to hold for the win.

“I believe that our mentality right now is that we just have to come together and find a way to finish,” freshman Emily Wirth said. “No matter what the circumstances are, we have to work hard every day and continue to get better. Through this we’re learning a lot about ourselves and how important it is to have coaches and teammates who believe in you.”

Winona State University (8-12 overall, 4-12 NSIC) will wind up its four game road trip next weekend with games against Augustana and Wayne State.