Sam Thiel/Winonan
Tara Roelofs paced the Winona State University women’s basketball team with 17 points, but the Warriors faced a red-hot Wayne State squad, dropping the game 83-49 Feb. 21 in Winona.
Roelofs knocked down five shots from beyond the arc, tying her career best from earlier in the season against Augustana. The freshman now has a trio of games this season with at least four triples made.
Abby Busch chipped in nine points and grabbed five rebounds for Winona State while Kelsey Andrist posted eight points while dishing out four assists. Connor Nagle and Kate Hartman recorded six points apiece for the Warriors as well.
The No. 11 Wildcats were sharpshooters on the night, hitting 61.5 percent for the game and 65.4 percent from deep. Wayne State connected on 17 treys on the game, the most for a Winona State opponent this season.
Both squads shot the basketball well in the first half, with Wayne State hitting 59 percent and Winona State shooting 45 percent. Busch recorded all nine of her points in the opening half, but a run by the Wildcats resulted in a 39-27 lead at the half.
Wayne State increased its advantage in the second half, building it to as much as 37 late in the contest thanks to ten triples in the last 20 minutes.
“Wayne State is a strong defensive team and has good balance offensively,” coach Scott Ballard said. “We kept the game under control most of the first half but then had some unforced turnovers in the beginning of the second half, which led to some easy scoring opportunities that we could not overcome with a poor shooting night.”
Winona State senior Busch made her final game in McCown Gymnasium Saturday one to remember, posting the greatest offensive game in program history.
Busch broke the school record with a career-high 39 points, and the Warriors netted an 84-76 victory over Augustana in their last regular season game.
Busch shot almost perfect, going 14-of-16 from the field while knocking down 11 of her 12 attempts from the free throw line. Her 39 points breaks the previous record of 36 set by Pat Neder in 1989 against Bemidji State. Busch also snatched 11 rebounds, tallying her third double-double of the season and the seventh of her career.
Busch wasn’t the only Warrior on fire offensively. Roelofs added 17 while collecting three rebounds and dishing out three assists. Nagle netted 12 points to add to her 6 rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Kali Hackmann chipped in eight points as the Warriors hit 53.6 percent of its shots on the afternoon. Winona State’s 84 points are also the most it has recorded in a game this season.
The Warriors raced out to a 14-point advantage at the half, shooting 56.7 percent to go into the locker room with a 45-31 lead. A trio of Winona State players recorded double figures in scoring in the first half, led by Busch’s 14.
“Augustana is more of a transition team that gambles a lot on defense, and we were able to score a lot of points in the paint, thanks to Abby Busch, and compliment it with some timely scores from the perimeter,” Ballard said.
Winona State maintained its large advantage throughout the early parts of the second half, increasing its lead to 16 with a little over 14 minutes left in the game. The Vikings responded, knotting the game up at 59 with 10:43 to go thanks to a 16-0 run.
Despite Augustana tying the game, the Vikings weren’t able to take the lead, with Busch and the Warriors finishing enough plays down the stretch to post the victory.
“Our defensive effort and rebounding was much better against Augustana and allowed us to control tempo and stop big scoring runs,” Ballard said. “It may have been our most complete game of the year, and our seniors played extremely well.”
The Warriors out-rebounded the Vikings 42-23 while claiming a 12-9 lead in the offensive rebound department.
Winona State (10-16 overall, 6-16 NSIC) will start postseason play on Wednesday when it hits the road for the opening round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament.
“To win on the road we must be very solid with our defense and rebounding and continue to develop more balance and consistency on offense,” Ballard said.
