MOORHEAD, Minn. – MSU Moorhead women's basketball would claim their first NSIC Tournament win since 2019 in a 72-67 conquest of Winona State inside Nemzek Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.
In the game,
Karla Nelson coached in her now-NSIC record 41st conference tournament game, surpassing Northern State's Curt Fredrickson.
The Warriors would begin a cold shooting first frame leading 7-6 behind five quick points from guard Emma Carpenter.
Natalie Jens scored the first four points for the Dragons, who began the game shooting three of eight from the floor. Winona State would explode out of the media timeout in the quarter, outscoring the Dragons 14-4 to close the first period. The Warriors led 21-10 behind three long range makes. MSUM would miss all seven three-point attempts in the frame and would finish the quarter shooting 29.4 percent overall.
MSUM would calm down a bit after trailing by as many as 13 points in the first quarter. The Dragons would put together a 19-4 run to begin the second period to regain the lead 29-27 midway through the quarter. Jens scored in succession to kick off the burst as
Terryn Johnson would add another. Heater
Tori Ratz and Olvia Skibiel would nail three-pointers from there to continue the onslaught.
Ashley Gustavson would score five points after that followed by another low post score from Johnson, to give MSUM the lead. Down the stretch in the half, MSUM and Winona State would cool off a bit with the Dragons leading 33-31 at the break. The Dragons connected on 55.6 percent of their shots in the second quarter including three made three-pointers. On the other hand, Winona State would cool off, missing all four of their long range attempts in the period.
The Warriors would regain the lead 36-35 early in the third period before the Dragons stretch out a 6-0 run behind Johnson, Jens and
Ashley Fritz. Both teams would go scoreless for nearly three minutes midway through the frame before Jens broke the draught with a lay-in. Through three quarters, MSUM would lead by nine points, 49-40. Jens led the way with 16 points while Johnson added 10 points. The Dragons continued to utilize defense to hold the advantage, holding Winona State to a 25 percent clip in the third quarter.
MSUM would begin the fourth quarter outscoring Winona State 9-4 to build their largest lead of the game (58-44). Skibiel caught fire in the frame, draining a trio of triples in that stretch, helping the Dragons keep the advantage, 61-50. In her last four games, the graduate student has made 58.8 percent of her long range shots. Sibiel finished the game with 12 points. Gustavson would nail another three for the Dragons to keep the lead at 14 points.
Credit goes to the Warriors, who did not give in despite the double-digit deficit with under three minutes left. Winona State would go on an 11-1 run late in the contest to pull back within four points (65-61) with under a minute remaining. The visitors would find success with a fullcourt press which forced several Dragon turnovers. On the offensive end, Winona State would drain three long range shots to trim the deficit.
Gustavson would hit three free throws with under 30 seconds remaining to keep MSUM in front, 68-61. However, Winona State would hit their third and fourth threes of the frame to trail by one possession (70-67) with seven seconds left. Gustavson would put the game on ice on the ensuing possession, hitting a pair of free throws to put MSUM in front by five with two seconds left. Ultimately, MSUM would hold on despite a great late effort from the Warriors, 72-67. Gustavson scored a career high 18 points for the Dragons.
With her 21 points this evening,
Natalie Jens has scored 1,000 career points on the dot.
Top Dragons
Steve d'Eustachio's Stat of the Game
The Dragons are now 5-1 against Winona St. in the NSIC tournament. The five wins against the Warriors are the most wins against another school in the 25-year history of the league tournament.
Up Next
The Dragons (13-15) will head to Sioux Falls, S.D., to take on top-seeded Minnesota State on Saturday, March 2 at 4:30 p.m. inside the Sanford Pentagon.
