The Peacocks welcomed the Warriors of Winona State to Dorman Gym for their lone matchup of the week. Winona State owned the first half thanks to their effort on the offensive boards, and second opportunities, but Upper Iowa outplayed their guests in the second half to give themselves an opportunity for the win in the closing minutes. UIU shot 70% in the second half, but fell in the end by an 84-77 count.

 

The two teams played evenly through the first seven minutes of the game as a three-pointer by Heidi McKean tied the game at 9-9. Winona State pounded the ball inside and responded with an 11-0 run. Lana Otting ended the Peacock drought with a trifecta from the corner to cut the margin to eight, 20-12, with just over nine minutes to play. The teams exchanged back-to-back treys to keep the gap at eight. The offenses slowed over the final minutes as WSU closed out the half by outscoring UIU 11-7 over the final six and a half minutes.

 

The home team opened the second half on fire hitting 8 of their 10 field goal attempts including 6 of their 7 three-pointers. Three straight UIU long balls, two from Otting, cut the gap to two, 50-48, after the first seven minutes. After a quick five from the Warriors, a pair of Peacock layups by Otting and Chelsea Arndt pulled Upper Iowa within one. Winona State used a 14-5 run to push their lead back to double digits, 69-59, with just under six minutes to play.

 

Every time the Peacocks cut the lead to seven, the visitors seemed to have an answer to push the lead back to nine. In the final minute, the Peacocks pulled within six, 79-73, after back-to-back jumpers. After a Warrior free throw, Cassandra Deiters hit her seventh field goal of the night and closed the gap to five with 25.7 seconds on the clock. 

 

The Peacocks hit 21 of their 30 attempts in the second half and 8 of their 11 deep shots, but the major factor in the final score proved to be the advantage the Warriors held at the charity stripe. Winona State converted 21 of 28 from the line, while the home team hit two of their three attempts on the night.

 

Upper Iowa was led by Otting’s 18 points, but she was joined by four other Peacocks in double figures. The group included Deiters (14), Jen Herrick (11), McKean (10) and Jeri Jacobson (10). Jacobson had a game-high 8 rebounds, while Deiters pulled in 7. UIU also tallied 24 assists on the night including 7 by Herrick and McKean, 5 by Jacobson, and 4 by Otting.

 

The Peacocks (1-21, 1-17 NSIC) will head to northwest Minnesota next weekend for the team’s final road games of the season. UIU will face the Golden Eagles of Minnesota, Crookston on Friday and the Dragons of MSU Moorhead on Saturday.