MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team (4-4, 1-3 NSIC) dropped a double overtime thriller to Winona State Warriors (5-3, 3-1 NSIC) Friday evening at Taylor Center.

In the opening moments of the game the Mavericks had several good looks at the basket with Taylor Drost draining a three-pointer early, but many of the good-looking shots weren't't finding the bottom of the net, allowing the Warriors to gain an early 9-5 edge. 
Minnesota State would respond though, making these shots down the stretch, ultimately taking a 17-15 lead at the end of the quarter on a Drost put-back. 

The teams played incredibly evenly to start the second quarter before the Mavericks capitalized on a three-pointer from Monica Muth and a floater from Rachel Shumski on a nice pass out from Brooke Tonsfeldt, giving Minnesota State a 28-21 lead. The Warriors responded with a 7-0 run to end the half and despite a possession where Tayla Stuttley managed to snag back-to-back offensive rebounds, the Mavericks couldn't't get one of their attempts to fall, leaving the game tied at 28 at the half. 

Drost led Minnesota State with eight points in the half and added three rebounds while Shumski added six points and five rebounds.  The Mavericks out-rebounded the Warriors in the half 25-20 and assisted on seven shots compared to six for Winona State. 

After a slow start to the second half, the Warriors proceeded on a 13-5 run to give themselves a 49-39 lead at the end of the quarter. 

In the fourth quarter, Winona State pushed their lead to 11 with five minutes remaining but the Mavericks roared back, making it a 56-51 game with 3:20 remaining when Drost hit Tonsfeldt on a backdoor cut.  The teams traded a pair of threes before Kirstin Klitzke was sent to the line with 2:34 to go, where she sank both.  On the next possession Tonsfeldt stripped the ball and found Klitzke on the right side of the basket where she drained a midrange jumper, bringing Minnesota State within 1 with 2:06 to go.
On the next possession Tonsfeldt drove to the rim, banging home a floater to give the Mavericks their first lead of the second half at 60-59.  The Warriors responded, by hitting a mid-range jumper to take a 61-60 lead with 9.8 to go in the game.  After advancing the ball with a timeout, Minnesota State put the ball into Tonsfeldt's hands and she delivered, nailing a three-point shot to take a 63-61 lead with 4.5 to go.  Winona State responded after advancing the ball finding an open player under the basket for a layup, tying the game at 63 with 1.2 to go.  Using their final timeout, the Mavericks advanced the ball once more and attempted to get the ball low to Shumski, but the shot came up short, sending the game to overtime. 

The first points in overtime came when Klitzke pushed through contact to make a layup.  Winona State responded by making a jumper to tie the game with two minutes to go in overtime and had a clean look at the end of OT but missed it sending the game to a second overtime period. 

Winona State scored first in the second overtime with a three-pointer and Kirstin Klitzke put the Mavericks on the board with a layup.  The Warriors were able to get a steal and drive the lane to take a three-point lead with 1:45 to go and a late foul put them on the line where they made a pair, taking a 72-67 lead.  It then became a game of free throws and the Warriors took advantage of almost all of their opportunities, ultimately winning the game 79-69.

Tonsfeldt tallied 18 rebounds and 11 points to record her first double-double of the season, and Shumski added 15 points and nine boards.  Minnesota State out-rebounded Winona State 57-54 and out-scored them in the paint 30-26 in the game.  

Tomorrow night the Mavericks will host NSIC opponent Upper Iowa at 6:00 p.m., at Taylor Center