Nov. 18, 2005
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Bemidji State University women's basketball
team got career-highs of 14 points and three blocks from sophomore
center Stephanie Peterson (Bismarck, N.D.)
but it was not enough as the University of Minnesota Duluth
defeated the Beavers, 72-52, in the first game of the 2005
Radisson/St. Paul Classic hosted by Concordia University-St.
Paul at the Gangelhoff Center.
Peterson's play was the story of the afternoon
for BSU. In addition to her career-highs in points scored
and blocks, she also grabbed 10 boards while leading BSU in
minutes played (34) and shooting 54 percent from the field
(7-13). Heidi Matzke (Fr., G, Red Lake Falls,
Minn.) added a career-best 10 points while fellow first-year
player Melissa Roberts (G, Staples, Minn.)
grabbed seven rebounds.
UMD was led by Justine Axtel who netted 20
points on 7-of-13 from the field including a 6-of-12 performance
from beyond the arc. All-American candidate Lindsey Dietz
added 18 points and 12 rebounds in just 24 minutes of play.
BSU got out of the gates quickly scoring
the first basket of the game and stretching its lead to seven
points (11-4) after just 4:27 had runoff the clock. But after
a UMD timeout, the Bulldogs responded by scoring the next
even points unanswered and would outscore the Beavers 25-4
during the next 11 minutes and 49 seconds to take the lead
and stretch their advantage to 14 points with 3:44 to play
in the half.
The BSU defense held UMD to just two points
for the remainder of the half and a Colleen Boell
(Fr., G, Burnsville, Minn.) three followed by back-to-back
layups from Karlee Simonson (So., F, Rockford,
Minn.) and Amy Lawson (So., G, Spencer, Iowa.)
closed the game to nine points (31-22) before time expired
on the half.
Dietz and Katie Winkelman each netted a pair
of baskets for the Bulldogs in the opening minutes of the
half to lead UMD on a 12-0, increasing their advantage over
the Beavers to 43-22 with 17:26 to play in the game.
BSU junior guard Maggie Gernbacher stopped
the UMD run with the first of three three-pointers on the
afternoon. The trey also kick-started BSU's best stretch of
basketball as the team scored 10 of the next 12 points to
reel the Bulldogs to within 12 points (44-32).
Minnesota Duluth bounced back with a 12-2
stretch to increase their lead to 22 (56-34) with 8:32 left
on the clock. The Bulldogs would go on to extend their lead
to 28 points less than four minutes later.
Although BSU collected nine of the final
10 points of the game, it was too little to late to make up
for the sustained Bulldog scoring runs early in the second
half.
The loss drops BSU to 0-2 on the season.
While UMD evens its record a 1-1. Both teams will be back
in action tomorrow. The Beavers are slated for a 1 p.m. tip-off
versus Upper Iowa University while UMD will battle Concordia-St.
Paul at 3 p.m. in Radisson/St. Paul Tournament play. All games
will be played at the Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia-St.
Paul.
