Sam Thiel/Winonan

It took 12 games, but the Winona State University women’s basketball team got a tally in the win column, defeating St. Cloud State 69-59 Feb. 14 in Winona.

The Warriors were stifling on defense, especially during a 15-0 second half run, and hit some clutch shots to record the victory, their first since defeating Bemidji State on Jan. 3.

Connor Nagle led all scorers with 23 points, knocking down five shots from beyond the arc while also collecting four rebounds and four assists.

Abby Busch also reached the 20-point mark in the game, her ninth 20-point effort of the season, netting 22 while grabbing a game-high eight rebounds.

Kelsey Andrist gave the Warriors their third player in double figures, posting ten points while recording four rebounds and four assists.

A late string of 3-pointers gave Winona State a 37-32 advantage at the break. The Warriors nailed four triples in the last five minutes of the half, with Nagle hitting all four shots for Winona State. The sophomore ended the half with 16 points while Andrist recorded nine to pace the Warriors.

Winona State turned a three-point advantage into a 16-point lead with seven minutes left in the game, using a 15-0 run thanks to a trio of 3-pointers and strong defense. Busch and Emily Passint knocked down consecutive treys to increase the Warriors lead to 51-42.

Busch built the Warrior lead to double digits, hitting a jumper as the shot clock expired and added another jumper on the next possession to give the Warriors a 55-42 advantage. A Kate Hartman 3-pointer increased the lead to 58-42, their biggest of the game.

The Huskies wouldn’t go down quietly though, cutting the deficit to within five, 59-54, with 4:12 left in the game.

Winona State answered quickly, with Nagle finding the bottom of the net with a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to put the Warriors back up eight.

Winona State was solid defensively, especially in the second half, limiting the Huskies to just 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from the field, including 7.1 percent (1-of-14) from behind the 3-point line.

The Warrior offense shot the ball well throughout the game, hitting 48.1 percent as well as 39.1 percent from deep. Nagle hit five of Winona State’s nine triples while Busch, Passint and Kali Hackmann also connected from downtown.

“We played with a lot of energy which made our man defense and rebounding efforts effective by neutralizing their three-point shooting,” coach Scott Ballard said. “We also shot the ball well in late-clock situations and took care of the basketball, which allowed us to control tempo and prevent them from getting into transition opportunities.”

Abby Busch paced the Winona State University women’s basketball team with 16 points, but the Warriors found themselves matched against a fast-paced Minnesota Duluth team, falling 67-52 Saturday in Winona.

Busch hit six shots from the field on the day and now has recorded double figures in 20 of Winona State’s 24 games this year. The Warrior senior is now also 15th in Winona State history in scoring, totaling 1,047 points in her career. Busch also led the Warriors in the rebounding department, grabbing six on the afternoon.

Kate Hartman also posted double figures in scoring for the Warriors, netting four of her six field goal attempts to record ten points. Hartman also nailed a pair of triples for Winona State.

Emily Passint added seven points while Connor Nagle led the way defensively with four steals.

The Bulldogs took control of the scoreboard early, taking a 21-4 run in the opening part of the first half.

Minnesota Duluth took a 28-point advantage into the locker room, with the Warriors hitting just 20.8 percent of their shots in the first half.

The Warriors’ defense picked up in the second half, limiting the Bulldogs to 26.7 percent from the floor in the half.

The Warriors shot the basketball well during the last 20 minutes, hitting 57.1 percent (16-of-28) of its shots while also knocking down five shots from beyond the arc.

“Duluth’s ball pressure and physical play caused us to play timid offensively and shoot the ball poorly the first half,” Ballard said. “We didn’t match their energy and toughness with our main defense and rebounding efforts. Our defensive intensity improved the second half and we attacked better offensively but the deficit was too much to overcome.”

Winona State (9-15 overall, 5-15 NSIC) will wrap up the regular season next weekend with home games against Wayne State and Augustana.