WSU WOMEN: Ready for the NSIC
By Holly Larson of the Winona Daily News

The Winona State University women’s basketball team ended its nonconference season with a 77-63 win over Edgewood College on Monday.

But coach Scott Ballard sees some work ahead for his team.
“We have been inconsistent,” Ballard said. “Which is typical early in the season.

“We’re pretty young this year. We have to blend in four new girls, which takes time.”

The Warriors won their first two nonconference games and lost their second two.

“We need to step up on rebounding and defense,” Ballard said. “We had major foul trouble and that hurt us last year as well.”

Winona State had 15 fouls while Edgewood had seven.

“We didn’t play to our highest level,” said Anna Wurtz.

Wurtz led the Warriors with five 3-pointers and 15 points. Leslie Ross also had 15 on 7 of 9 shooting.

“We need to play bigger, faster and stronger,” Wurtz said. “We’ve been very inconsistent and making too many mental errors.”

The Warriors first conference game is against NSIC favorite Northern State.

“We played them and lost three times last year, but we learned a lot and got better each game,” Ballard said.

The Warriors were 0-8 in their first conference games last year, but Ballard sees this year shaping out differently.

“We have better balance offensively, better leadership and strong returners this year,” Ballard said. “If we can win one or both games this weekend, it will give us a lot of confidence for the season.”

Wurtz is ready to start her first conference season and has faith in her team.

“If we play to the level that I know we can, we will have no problem competing this year,” Wurtz said.

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