BOX SCORE

WINONA, Minn. – Winona State rallied from a seven-point half time deficit and held off a late push from Southwest Minnesota State to hand the Mustangs a 64-62 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference loss Friday night in Winona.

WSU improves to 9-5 (4-3 NSIC), while SMSU, which drops its second straight game, falls to 9-4 (3-3 NSIC).

SMSU had a chance to tie the game in its final possession, but Heather Smith's final shot with one second left was off the mark.

Abby Kenealy led SMSU 14 points. Megan Stadler, who handed out a game-high six assists, also finished in double figures with 11 points, while Tori Fink and Smith each had 10.

The Mustangs looked sharp to open the game, taking as large as an eight-point lead at 14-6 with 12 minutes and 45 seconds left in the first half when Miley Hunziker's layup completed an eight-point run that broke her squad away from a 6-6 tie.

WSU made quick work of closing the gap, orchestrating a 6-0 run of its own to get within two points four minutes later. Returning their lead to six points twice, the Mustangs settled on a seven-point advantage heading into the break. Two baskets in the half's final 13 seconds were responsible for that lead.

SMSU failed to get to the charity stripe in the first half and drew just four WSU fouls.

The Warriors immediately went to work in the second half, tying the contest at 34-34 when Natalie Gigler finished off a three-point play three minutes in.

Despite the one-point difference, SMSU managed to keep WSU from cutting into its lead for the next 11 minutes before Claire Steffen drilled a three-pointer deep from the left side to put the Warriors up 52-51. Steffen extended the WSU lead to four when she connected on another three pointer a minute and a half later.

SMSU went six minutes without a field goal, finally connecting when Fink hit a three-pointer with 3:35 left in the contest to bring her squad within three-points. Stadler trimmed it to two with a free throw.

The Warriors returned their lead to five with three free throws, but Stadler hit a big three-pointer with just under two minutes left to get the Mustangs again within two.

WSU fought its way back to a four-point lead twice in the game's final 24 seconds—the first off a Gigler bucket and the second off a pair of Anna Wurtz free throws.

Trailing by four with 16 seconds left, Stadler drove the lane with hopes of cutting the deficit to two. Her attempt was no good, but Kenealy was there to snag the offensive board, sink her ensuing shot draw a foul. At the line to shoot one, she hit the front of the iron and was able to muscle down her own her own rebound into a jump ball with the possession arrow in SMSU's favor.

With the ball under their own hoop and four seconds left, the Mustangs struggled to inbound the ball before Taylor Voss found Smith on the left baseline for the game's final shot. Her turnaround jumper was off the mark just before time expired.

Both teams shot well from the floor in the tight contest. SMSU countered a 48.9 percent performance from WSU with a 45.6 percent outing of its own.

The loss marks the first time this season SMSU has shot 40 percent from the field and not been victorious.

SMSU continues conference play tomorrow at Upper Iowa at 6 p.m.