By Chuck Anderson, sports writer

In a very close and intense game the Albert Lea girls&8217; basketball team defeated Winona 55-45 and advanced to the semifinals of section play.

&8220;Winona came to play,&8221; said Albert Lea coach Karol Hansen.&8221;They didn&8217;t want their season to end today.&8221;

The win was even more impressive given the fact that it was the third time the Tigers beat the Winhawks this season.

Winona jumped out to 5-0 lead before Liz Thompson hit a field goal. The Tigers tied the score at 8-8 at the 12 minute mark. The first half ended with Albert Lea ahead 28-26.

In the second half, with the score wasted at 37-37 with about seven minutes left, but Albert Lea took the lead by scoring eight straight points.

The run gave Albert Lea enough separation to hold the lead the rest of the way.

&8220;Winona&8217;s

pressure defense caused us to force a lot of our shots.&8221; said Hansen. &8220;I was proud of the fact the girls hung in in there and did not get frustrated.&8221;

Liz Thompson led the scoring for Albert Lea with 13 points. Niki Hendrickson had 10 points, Hali Hendrickson eight, Whitney Wilson and Ali Demmer each had seven, Cara Thorn had five, Abbey Arends chipped in four and Leah Walters added one.

Hali Hendrickson grabbed seven rebounds and Thorn and Arends added five each to pace the team.

The second seeded Tigers face No. 3 seed Northfield at the Mayo Civic Center Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The Tigers beat the Raiders 45-41 in their only meeting this season.