WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's basketball coach
Mandy Pearson was hoping her Cardinals would get their season off on the right foot Monday evening in their nonconference opener against Winona State.
And, despite the final score, that's exactly what the Cardinals did.
“Winona State's a very good team and they shot the ball extremely well,” said Pearson, whose team couldn't match the Warriors' high-octane offense in falling 84-47 at WSU's McCown Gym. “I thought we came and out did a good job for the first 10 minutes or so — we executed our offense, played well on defense — we just didn't do a very good job of defending the three, and (Winona State) took advantage of that.”
Just like they did in beating the University of Minnesota and South Dakota State — both NCAA Division I schools — in exhibition games earlier this season.
“(Winona State) shoots the three very well and is so strong defensively,” Pearson said. “They didn't give up more than 65 points in any of their three exhibition games — all against (NCAA) Division I schools — so I thought, offensively, we did a pretty good job.”
After surrendering the game's first five points, the Cardinals pulled even on field goals by
Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) and
Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.), and a free throw by Renee Pecerina (Winona, Minn.). The two teams traded three-point plays to once again tie it, 8-8.
The Warriors, however, were just getting warmed up, as WSU nailed three straight 3-pointers and never looked back, racing out to a 41-22 halftime advantage.
And the halftime break didn't help cool the Warriors off in the second half, shooting 53 percent from the field (16-for-30) in cruising to the nonconference win.
Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis.) finished with nine points to lead the way for the Cardinals, while Thone chipped in eight points in her collegiate debut.
Ana Wurtz scored a game-high 21 points to lead the way for the Warriors, while Marienna Dulas and Afton Glander also scored in double figures for WSU, netting 13 and 10 points, respectively.
“It was nice for us to finally get into a game situation — you can only practice and play against yourself for so long,” said Pearson, whose team is back in action Saturday and Sunday, taking part in the University of Chicago Tournament. “Winona State's a tough opponent to open up against, but I thought we played well, we executed out game plan and took many positives from the game.”
