Winona State Men and Women Come up Empty in the Conference Tournament

(KWMN)-

The Winona State Men’s and Women’s basketball teams had their first-round matchups of the NSIC tournament last night. The outcomes were far from ideal as both the Men and Women couldn’t escape the first round and saw their seasons come to an end.

For the Women, the loss comes up north at Bemidji State where they kept it close for most of the game but could never take the lead as they fell short 63-51. Senior Forward Taylor Hustad eclipsed 1,000 career points En route to a 20-point output, but it wasn’t enough. Hustad added on 13 boards as she closed the season with a double-double. Emma Fee added 10 points and seven boards while Emily Kiek struggled to find the bucket, shooting 0-7 but tacking on eight assists in the losing effort. For those three players, Hustad, Fee and Kiek, last night marks the last time they’ll suit up as a Warrior as they conclude their fifth and final season at Winona State.

With losing three seniors-all of which starters-The Warrior women will be forced to look at a potential rebuilding year as they try to find the talent to replace two, thousand-point scorers (Hustad, Kiek) and three team captains. There is plenty of talent already on the roster for the Warrior women but will have to look at the transfer portal if they want to speed up the rebuilding process. Players like Caitlin Riley, Mattie Schimenz and Ava Sergio will be thrusted into very important roles next season while the Warriors will welcome back Lauren Fech for her sixth collegiate season (Medical redshirt this year due to wrist injury). Although not the ending the Warrior Women hoped for, there is much to be optimistic for in the future.

The Men earned a spot to host the first-round playoff matchup against the U of Mary Marauders. Coming into this game, the Warrior Men were 2-0 against the Marauders on the season and 3-0 vs. the Marauders in past conference tournaments. Not only that, but they held an 11-1 record at home in the first round of the conference tournament. Yet even with those statistics backing the Warriors, the Warrior Men came up short last night, losing to the Marauders, 82-70. The outside shot that the Warriors have come to live and die by, wasn’t there last night, shooting 8-27 from deep, they felt the negative side effects of the three-ball. Alec Rosner finished with 19 points and three rebounds while lone senior Devin Whitelow finished with 14 points and three assists.

The Warrior Men will only be losing the talented guard Devin Whitelow, while returning top producing players in Alec Rosner and Luke Martens. Although a big loss in Devin Whitelow, with the rest of the NSIC anticipating a monster loss in senior players, based on minutes played, the Warriors will be the one of the most experienced teams in next year’s season. Head Coach Todd Eisner often uses the transfer portal in the offseason to gain experienced talent to help his squad as we saw with the acquisition of Owen King and Alou Dillon (Dillon however quit the team early in the season). A disappointing end to a shaky season for the Warrior Men, but with Alec Rosner and Luke Martens moving into their senior season, they’ll be on the prowl for postseason success come next march.