Box Score
Records

Upper Iowa 2-3 (1-0 NSIC) || Winona State 4-0 (0-1 NSIC)

Recap

The Upper Iowa women's basketball team combined balanced scoring with pressure defense to defend Dorman Gym against the visiting Warriors of Winona State University. The Peacocks held their opponent under 60 points for the second time this season and saw four players reach double figures in the scoring column to post the 66-58 victory to open NSIC play.

Winona State took the floor with a perfect 4-0 record, but Upper Iowa, at 1-3, was ready after a tough non-conference schedule. The Peacock defense took control early and held the Warriors to just two points through the first seven minutes of the game. In fact, WSU's 2-1 lead was the only time in the game that the visitors led.

UIU led 11-2 with 12:58 showing on the clock. Winona State pulled within four, 13-9, but the home team used a quick 6-0 run to push out to their largest lead of the first half, 19-9. Over the final five minutes of the half, the Warriors were able to whittle away at the margin and head to the break down 24-18.

While neither team scorched the nets in the first twenty minutes, the Peacocks held Winona State to just 23.3% (7-30) shooting from the field and 16.7% (2-12) shooting from three.

Upper Iowa used the first eight minutes of the second half to double their lead, 42-30, thanks to eight points from Whitney Kieffer and four from Lauren Buck. All five starters scored at least two points of UIU's first 18 in the second stanza.

Winona State made a run at the Peacocks cutting the gap to five, 44-39, fueled by a 9-2 run which included scores by four Warrior, but the home team answered the bell and returned the margin back to double digits, 49-39, on a layup by Olivia Meier and a trifecta from Sam Thrapp.

One final push from the Warriors came in the final three and a half minutes. WSU trailed 54-45 with 3:21 to play, when a pair of Abby Busch free throws and a Tessa Wells' lay-in pulled the visitors within five.

The Peacocks calmly stepped to the free throw line over the final three and a half minutes though preserving their lead and the win thanks to 12-for-14 shooting at the charity stripe. Buck was the top recipient with six points at the stripe, while Thrapp netted five of the freebies.

The solid free throw shooting down the stretch allowed UIU to claim the NSIC season opener, 66-58.

UIU Standouts

Buck... 14 pts, 11 reb, 2 assists || Thrapp... 18 pts, 3 assists, 3 reb || Kieffer... 14 pts, 5 reb, 4 assists, 4 steals || Carly Pagel... 10 pts, 3 reb || Meier... 5 pts, 4 reb, 2 assists || Emily Gustafson... 3 pts, 7 reb, 2 blocks

Next Up

The Peacocks will head to Minnesota State University, Mankato and Concordia University, St. Paul next Friday and Saturday, Dec. 6-7. UIU will face the #17 Mavericks in Mankato, Minn. at 6 p.m. and the Golden Bears in St. Paul, Minn. at 4 p.m.