It was another weekend of losses for Winona State University women’s basketball.

After coming up short in both of their games last weekend, the team experienced similar problems this weekend on the road against Wayne State University and Augustana University, as they lost both games.

Heading in to the road trip, first-year Allie Pickrain, remained focused on the task ahead, rather than dwelling in the past.

“It’s not the end of the season yet, so we still have a month or so to work on our game,” Pickrain said. “As long as we limit our turnovers and shoot better than we did this past weekend, other games should be a lot better for us.”

However, she did admit there were some things the team needs to work on, such as drawing fouls when they have the ball.

“I think we need to work on getting to the free-throw line more in a game,” Pickrain said. “Most of our scorers rely on their midrange or 3-pointers, but we need to start getting to the rim and getting other team’s posts in some foul trouble.”

The weekend started with a loss at Wayne State, where the final score told you all you needed to know. The Wildcats put up 74 points to the Warriors 37.

The home team took the lead in the first quarter, entering halftime with a 15-point lead, holding Winona to just 16 points in the second half.

With their shooting percentage finishing at 25 percent and only two trips to the free-throw line, the Warriors struggled to get anything going throughout the contest. The scoring issues stemmed to bench, where they only scored four points, whereas Wayne State’s bench was able to put up 33.

Saturday provided the opportunity for a fresh start for the team, as they hung tough with an 11th ranked Augustana. Throughout the first two quarters, Winona kept the game close, only trailing by four as they entered halftime. However, after 19-5 run by the Vikings in the third quarter, the Warriors fell into a hole they were unable to climb out of.

Despite the loss, the game against Augustana did provide encouraging signs for the team moving forward. After all, Augustana has only lost once this year. Winona’s bench put up 20 points, and the team not only got to the free-throw line but took advantage of their time there as they shot 15 for 20.

Junior guard Kayla Schaefer, who had eight points, two assists and a steal during Friday’s game, described the outing as a learning experience for the team.

“We are at the tough part of our schedule and playing good teams at the top of our league. We knew this was going to be a tough weekend coming into it,” Schaefer said. “We are a young team and some of our weaknesses were exposed. We are learning every day and every game.”

The game also featured an impressive performance by first-year Emily Kieck, who ended the outing with 10 points, two assists and two steals. Effectively ending a five-game stretch of two or less points for her.

“We had a lot of ups and downs this weekend. Friday was not our best game and we know that. We didn’t shoot the ball well against the zone, and we didn’t exactly play as a team,” Kieck said. “But Saturday, I thought we all played our hearts out and played for each other. We came back within four in the second quarter from a 19-point deficit. That’s pretty unreal and I was really proud of the team for doing that.”