BEMIDJI, Minn. –-- The Bemidji State University women's basketball team fell to St. Cloud State University, 75-49, Monday as the Beavers lifted the lid on the 2004-05 season.

After trading the lead twice during the first 1:30 of play, SCSU took a 6-5 lead on a Shannon Francis lay-up and would not turn back. The Huskies stretched their lead to 20 points (25-5) during the next 7:34 as they rattled off 19 unanswered points spurred by a pair of three-pointers by Francis.

BSU senior co-captain Stacia Swanson (Sioux City, Iowa) ended the scoring drought for BSU draining a jumper at the 10:36 mark of the first half.

The Beavers would come to within 14 points in the half, but the Huskies continued to hit the boards, out rebounding BSU 22-14, and shoot a blistering 50 percent from the floor (16-32) and 44 percent from beyond the arc (11-25) holding tightly to a 17-point lead at the break.

Bemidji State came out in the second half and took advantage of a short cool shooting spell for SCSU hitting the glass for four rebounds in the first three minutes of the half and converting a SCSU turnover into a nine-point swing. BSU shrunk the Huskies' lead to 11 points with 15:40 to play in the game as freshman point guard Amy Lawson (Spencer, Iowa) kick-started the run penetration for a pair of lay-ups while sophomore Maggie Gernbacher (Superior, Wis.) collected a lay-up and a three-pointer to account for the BSU scoring in the run.

Bemidji State would stay as close as 11 points during the next four minutes but SCSU scored the next 11 points and 21 of the next 24 points to increase their lead to 30 points (75-45) with just over three minutes to play.

BSU scored the last four points of the game but it was too little too late as the Beavers dropped the opener 75-49.

BSU was led by a 10-point, six-rebound performance from Swanson on 5-for-9 from the field. McConkey and Lawson each added nine points while senior co-captain Allison Sanderberg (Duluth, Minn.) paced the team with four assists.

Shannon Francis led the Huskies with 14 points shooting 5-for-11 from the floor and 4-of-8 from three-point land. Erika Quigley added 13 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and blocked three BSU shots.

Bemidji State is now 0-1 on the season and will be back in action Thursday (Nov. 18) when the team plays host to Mayville State in a 6:00 p.m. tip-off at BSU's Memorial Hall.