SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana women's basketball dropped a conference contest against Winona State on Friday night, falling 65-45 inside the Sanford Pentagon.
 
The Vikings drop to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in NSIC play while the Warriors improve to 5-3 with a 1-1 conference showing.
 
Payton Hardy led in scoring with her 14 points off of 6-of-10 shooting from the field while Brinlee McRae added in eight points. Hardy tied with McRae and Grant to lead the team with four rebounds apiece while Hannah Burg led with three assists.
 
AU forced 18 Warrior turnovers while cleaning up the glass with 12 offensive rebounds, ending with 29 total, and scoring 26 points off the bench.
 
Winona State started hot and jumped out to an early 8-2 lead until Hardy responded from the three-point line and McRae hit two free throws to make it 10-7 at the 5:58 mark. Neither team scored again for nearly a minute and a half but the Warriors would soon push the lead back to seven. McRae's jumper with 31 seconds left in the quarter would make it 14-9 at the break.
 
WSU hit a three-pointer to start the second quarter and continued to push on the gas. After falling behind by 11 points, Isabella Sanneh knocked down a triple, but the Warriors again responded and pushed the lead up to 13 with 4:33 remaining in the half. The Vikings would end the half with six straight points and headed to the locker room down 29-22.
 
Hardy scored the first five points for the Vikings to open the third quarter, but not before the Warriors went on a 7-2 run. The lead soon jumped to 15 and Hardy, McRae CJ Adamson teamed up to chip away at the difference, but the visitors pressed on, dropping 20 total points in the quarter to force a score of 49-34.
 
The lead was soon at 20 but Kelsey Willems knocked down a triple and Uzor Uchidiuno and Kaz Parks hit layups to create seven straight points for the home team. Augustana continued to fight defensively, forcing five turnovers in the battle, but couldn't respond to the Warriors' scoring and eventually fell, 65-45.
 
The Vikings will return to action at the Sanford Pentagon tomorrow afternoon with a 3:30 p.m. tip scheduled against the #16 Mavericks of Minnesota State.