Women's basketball: Winona State snaps Northern's 4-game winning streak

Northern State was unable to make it five-straight conference wins, falling to Winona State 65-55 on Saturday night.

It was a close game throughout the first half, and the Warriors took a four-point lead heading into the halftime break.

In the third quarter, the Wolves were able to tie things up, but Winona State would use an 8-0 run midway through the third quarter to run past the Wolves and they wouldn't look back from there.

Inside the Warriors dominated the Wolves, outscoring Northern 38-24.

"They kicked our butt in the paint and that hurts a little bit, we're normally an inside out (offense) and they did a really good job squeezing," NSU Head Coach Paula Krueger said.

"We've got to be able to score the ball inside and find some ways to do that. But on the other side of that, we got to have some people hit shots on the outside," Krueger added.

In the first half, the Wolves connected on five of their eight three-point attempts, but the second half was a different story. The Warriors held Northern one-for-eight from long range. That wasn't a byproduct of the Warriors changing their defensive plans, Krueger said.

"We just missed shots, if you want to know the truth. I don't think they changed anything (defensively) they squeezed from the corners like they had been. We just got to make some shots and I wouldn't trade our shooters that were shooting the ball, Lexi (Roe) is a good shooter, the ball just didn't go in the hoop," Krueger said.

The Wolves went three quarters without attempting a free-throw shot. In the fourth quarter, the Wolves converted on both of their attempts. They were held to just two free-throw attempts throughout the game,

"They played well, hats off to them, and we didn't play well enough to win ... When you only get to the free-throw line and shoot two free-throws for a whole game. I don't know if that's ever happened in my time where we've only shot two free throws. We've got to do a better job of getting to the free-throw line and tonight we just didn't get that done," Krueger said.

Winona State was led by Taylor Hustad with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists.

"(Hustad's) a hard guard, because she doesn't necessarily catch it in a dead low block, but then she pounds you so hard on the dribble and they were shooting so well from the outside, we just couldn't run in and I should've changed that sooner," Krueger said.

The Wolves were led by Haley Johnson, who had a career-night posting 17 points, six rebounds and two assists.

"I thought (Johnson) did everything she could do to will us to try and win the game and (Rianna Fillipi) had a good game, but we just got to find a way to get some buckets in the paint," Krueger said.

Fillipi had 14 points, two steals and two rebounds for the Wolves. Kailee Oliverson added nine points and seven rebounds.

Northern women down Upper Iowa

All five Northern State starters scored double-digits, downing Upper Iowa 71-62 to earn the first win of the I Hate Winter weekend.

In the first quarter, the game was tight throughout and Upper Iowa held a one-point lead going into the second quarter. The Wolves managed to reclaim the lead at 30-29 heading into halftime.

They didn't trail after that.

In the third quarter, the Wolves outscored Upper Iowa by nine points and wouldn't look back from there. In the third quarter, the Wolves shot 52.9% from the field and connected all two of their three-point attempts.

Northern State was led by Kailee Oliverson with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Lexi Roe also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Haley Johnson added 15 points with eight rebounds, while Rianna Fillipi had 11 points and six assists. Laurie Rogers added 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for the Wolves. Northern held a 13-plus rebounding advantage in the win.

Upper Iowa was led by Brooke Evenson with 22 points and connected on six of her 10 three-point attempts. She was the lone Peacock to score double-digits in the game. The win pushes the Northern to 10-7 and now own their second four-game winning streak this season.

Up next, Northern State will travel to Minnesota for a weekend road trip against Concordia-St. Paul on Jan. 28, then Minnesota State on Jan. 29.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Women's basketball: Winona State snaps Northern's 4-game winning streak