Upper Iowa and Winona State battled point for point in the first half, but the Warriors outscored their guests 46-24 in the second half on the way to a 74-48 victory. The Peacocks dropped the Northern Sun Conference opener to fall to 3-5 overall and 0-1 in the conference, while Winona State improved to 3-2 and 1-0 in the NSIC.
Natalie Dinius fueled the Peacocks in the opening quarter with three triples, but Upper Iowa only netted a pair of lay-ups by
Bekka Pierson and
Haley Martin. UIU scored 11 in the first six minutes, but the Warrior defense held the Peacocks off the scoreboard for four minutes until Martin put in her short bucket with 16 seconds to play.
Winona State took their 18-13 lead into the second quarter, but Upper Iowa's defense turned up and forced four turnovers in the early going to cut the margin to just one point, 24-23, with four minutes to play. Both teams struggled to score over the final minutes with the Warriors claiming a 28-24 lead at the break.
The Warriors came out of the break on fire and converted 61% of their field goals in the third quarter including four three-pointers. Winona State forced the Peacocks into six turnovers in the quarter and three made field goals.
Savannah Domeyer scored a pair of buckets to lead UIU in the frame. Winona State added another six points to their lead in the fourth quarter to open the conference slate with a 26-point win.
Winona State won the rebounding battle 38-20 including a 16-4 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Warrirors also forced 23 turnovers highlighted by 9 steals. WSU was led by three players in double-digits for points including Rachel Novotny with 15, Allie Pickrain with 13 and Kayla Schaefer with 10.
Dinius scored 9 points thanks to her first three makes in the opening quarter. Pierson added 7 points, Domeyer added 6 and Martin scored 5 and pulled down 5 rebounds.
Casey Miles and Marina Peinado each handed out 3 assists.
The Peacocks will return to Dorman Gymnasium next weekend with games against Wayne State College and Augustana University on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7-8.
