Victoria Larson / Winonan

With two games left in the regular season, the No. 8 Winona State University women’s basketball team looked to clinch the top seed in the NSIC tournament with a pair of victories last weekend against Wayne State College and Augustana University. The Warriors won both matchups, defeating Wayne State 73-55 and Augustana 69-59.

Winona State started the game against Wayne State with a quick 7-0 run and had a double-digit lead with just over six minutes to play in the first quarter. The Wildcats answered with a 13-6 run, giving the Warriors a slim 20-17 lead.

After a back-and-forth second quarter, the Warriors went into halftime with a 36-29 lead.

Winona State opened up the second half when senior point guard Connor Nagle hit a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 41-29 lead and later connected on another triple to make it 55-33, with 2:23 remaining in the third quarter to cruise to a 73-55 victory.

Nagle finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Sophomore forward Hannah McGlone and junior center Kayla Timmerman both finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Alexis Foley had five points, three rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.

The Warriors wrapped up the regular season with a matchup against Augustana on Saturday and came away with a 69-59 win.

After a tight beginning of the first quarter, the Warriors went on a 16-2 run on the strength of two 3-pointers from junior guard Tara Roelofs, ending with a 23-15 lead.

The Vikings cut the deficit to seven a few times in the second quarter, but Winona State continued to maintain its lead to gain a 38-25 advantage at halftime.

In the third, Roelofs hit another three, along with senior guard Emily Passint to give the Warriors a 44-25 lead early in the quarter. Augustana cut the deficit to seven again, but the Warriors iced the game with their free-throw shooting.

Roelofs finished with 21 points, connecting on four 3-pointers while collecting four rebounds and two assists.

Roelofs said she is able to keep a shooters mindset, no matter the score.

“Not thinking about the shot or getting shots for myself,” Roelofs said. “When I focus on my teammates and what is best for the team, it helps me to not put pressure on myself and think I have to win the game on my own.”

Nagle had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Timmerman added 14 points of her own to go along with seven rebounds and four blocks.

Junior Emily Wirth noted the importance of these two road wins.

“This was huge for us,” Wirth said. “Playoffs are intense so if we can go into them coming off of two tough road wins against two good teams that will give us the confidence we need.”

Roelofs said although these victories did not impact the Warriors for the conference tournament, it could help the Warriors down the road.

“Wayne and Augie are good teams with winning records so getting wins against them will hopefully help us move up in the regional rankings,” Roelofs said. “Plus being in those hostile environments is helping to prepare us for the playoffs.”

Winona State (27-2, 19-2 NSIC) earned the program’s first NSIC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the South Division. They will host Bemidji State University in the first round of the tournament Wednesday at 6 p.m.