All posts by Greg Off

Future Bright For Warriors After Shortened Season

The Winona State University women’s basketball team finished their 2020-21 campaign this weekend after a sweep of the Upper Iowa University Peacocks, a feat which head coach Scott Ballard described as difficult to accomplish during the shortened season.

“We had four separate quarantines during our season and it’s really hard to gain any momentum when you have interruptions all the time,” Ballard said, “practice is important to gain confidence in what you’re doing, when it gets taken away periodically, the confidence isn’t there.”

Ballard said winning both games of a weekend series against the same team is challenging because of the lack of opportunity to adjust due to the infrequency of practices.  “You can talk but there’s no repetitions,” Ballard said. He added there is also the extra layer of motivation for the team that loses the first game.

Despite the lack of a tournament seed due to the field being cut in half from years prior, the Warriors will have much to look forward to next season.

An extra year of eligibility for their four senior starters, each of whom have continued to develop in Ballard’s program, will provide the Warriors with a combination of experienced talent to match the youth of four incoming high school recruits.

Perhaps the most decorated member of the team, three-time NSIC second team All-Conference selection and former WSU and NSIC Freshman Female Athlete of the Year Allie Pickrain, has dealt with a knee injury the entire season resulting in her playing time decrease.  The injury will require surgery.  The sharp-shooting wing does not expect to miss any time next season.

Video: Allie Pickrain drains a wide-open three against Upper Iowa University.

While Pickrain has seen her minutes decrease, she has stayed a threat through efficiency, shooting 51.9 percent from beyond the arc.  Pickrain also achieved a career goal in reaching 1,000 points.

The team gathers to celebrate Allie Pickrain’s 1000 point. Photo: WSU Athletics

“At first I felt like I was doing something wrong,” Pickrain said, “but in reality, it’s because this season really, although it sucks to say, it didn’t mean that much because we’re coming back next year.”

The Warriors did not view this season as a waste of time.  They implemented a new defensive scheme, switching defensive matchups, a break from their traditional man-to-man defense which relied on fighting around screens to stay with their assignment.

The style of defense requires players to be versatile in defending across all five positions and has seen its popularity increase since the recent Golden State Warriors championship seasons.

On offense, the Warriors had to find a way to combat the triple teams sent against leading scorer and former NSIC first team All-Conference selection Taylor Hustad.

The Warriors also faced the backed-off approach teams took toward senior point guard Emily Kieck, who was coming off a season that saw her three-point shooting percentage fall almost 15 points from 32.2 percent to 17.8 percent.

Center Emma Fee, who has seen her role increase each year on the squad, made the most of this season benefitting from the new system and increased opportunities.

“Emma had to wait her turn and pay her dues behind some all-conference players,” Ballard said, “had to be patient and keep working hard, and she didn’t get bitter she got better and now she’s an all-conference caliber player.”

Fee has transitioned from a five minute-per-game player to starter averaging 10.8 points per game with a 30-point outing against Sioux Falls on January 17.

Video: Emma Fee sinks a shot to beat the buzzer and secure the win against Concordia St. Paul.

“Emma’s scary to go against, she’s a big body, she’s in your face, there’s not a whole lot you can do.” Pickrain said.

Next season the Warriors will look to get to the regional tournament for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, and the team hopes there will be fans in the stands to take the journey with them.

WAHS Providing Free Pet Supplies

With a return to work looming for many new pet owners, the Winona  Area Humane Society is doing everything they can to ensure newly adopted pets get to stay in their forever homes including support for pet owners such as free kennels, food, treats and other pet supplies.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began to shut down many facets of people’s everyday lives, people searched for something to fill their free time.  For some it was day trading, for others it was trying to bake the best loaf of sourdough, and for others it was adopting a pet.

Humane Society Facilities Manager Susie Marshall said, “We had up to twelve dogs at once when we typically have five.”

“They all come in from Arkansas or Texas since Winona doesn’t have a stray problem.”

Marshall said in her ten years of experience it was extremely rare to house more than five dogs.  The WAHS typically houses 50 cats at any given time, and saw that number drop as low as 19 during the peak of their pandemic adoption boom in summer of 2020.

“We previously were going to the Walmart distribution center in Tomah every quarter to six months to stock up on food for our animals, now we go every two months.” Marshall added.

The WAHS is offering free food, treats, leashes, cat litter and litter boxes to any owner who needs it and will give enough to stock for the entire winter, assuming they have the stock on hand.  They offer contact-free pickup and will load a cart of whatever amenities are needed and will try to keep the same brand across all items, just call in advance and leave a voicemail.

Supplies offered to pet owners by the WAHS.

Marshall predicts an influx of returned pets when normalcy returns.  “I see people return dogs even when they are home,” Marshall said.  “People aren’t as disciplined as they need to be kennel training, because ‘he looks so sad’ but then they come home to destroyed furniture.”

Some ways for owners to help the transitions for their pet is to not get to work super early, and conversely, coming straight home after, and if possible, during lunch.

Marshall said she swears by the phrase, “a tired dog is a good dog, a rested dog misbehaves” and walks her own dog for three miles every day regardless of the weather.

Winona State alumna Pam Leber, who now resides in Palatine, Illinois, with her husband, Mark, and daughter, Michala, adopted a dog during the pandemic after many phone calls, e-mails and google searches.

Michala, who recently graduated from DePaul University, was adamant having a dog would help with her anxiety, especially during quarantine.

“Michala had been asking since third grade, she did a presentation for us, but my husband didn’t want a dog because he’s allergic, so the dog needed to be hypoallergenic and it’s a lot of work and responsibility.” Pam Leber said. “But he really began to see being home during the pandemic how it affected her, and he started to get soft.”

It didn’t take much more convincing before the family drove to an Amish farm near LaPorte, Indiana, to look at a litter of five puppies, and after a short getting-to-know-you period with the dogs, one that had lurked in the back worked his way to Michala’s side, emblazoned with the name tag “Rebel.”

“Our last name spelled backwards; we took that as a sign” Pam Leber said.

Michala Leber with Bentley

With Michala still searching for post-graduation employment, the costs of supplies for newly renamed Bentley are split between her and her parents, who were fortunate enough to receive a hand-me-down cage and bed from a family friend.

A run to the pet store can sometimes cost more than $100. Pam Leber said she recognizes how hard the situation can become.

“We got a dog when I was 13 and we had to give it back because we were too scared at the time, now looking back, that would be heartbreaking,” Pam Leber said.  “You’ve given this dog a warm place and a loving home, do you want to give that up?  Do you have a friend or family member it can stay with?”

Susie Marshall is a former dog trainer and willing to answer all questions as well as share training tips via her email wahsfm@hbci.com.  The Winona Area Humane Society can be reached via voicemail at 507-452-3135.