Dec. 22, 2005
BEMIDJI, Minn. -- The Bemidji State University women’s basketball lit up the BSU gymnasium scoreboard today over NAIA power Morningside College. Karlee Simonson (So., F, Rockford, Minn.) put up the best game of her two-year career with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way to a 90-79 victory.
The Beaver defense turned up the pressure after halftime and held the NAIA’s fourth-ranked team to just 23 percent shooting in the second half. The Mustangs had shot 46 percent in the first half taking a 48-47 lead into the break.
Morningside came out firing on all cylinders sinking eight of their first 13 three pointers on the way to a 36-26 lead with 7:02 seconds remaining in the half. Two timely threes by Simonson and an 11-4 run in the last 3:38 of the half closed the Mustang lead to just one. Second chance buckets by Nancy McConkey (Jr., F, Superior, Wis.) and Heidi Matzke (Fr, G, Red Lake Falls, Minn.) helped the Beavers take the momentum into halftime.
“At halftime we talked about the pace of the game we wanted,” said BSU head coach Mike Curfman, “We felt that if we pushed the pace we could get them in the end. We played much better in the second half.”
BSU came out with some firepower in the second half and pushed its own lead to 71-60 on heels of a 24-5 run in the middle of the frame. The run was highlighted by BSU career three-point leader Maggie Gernbacher (Jr., G, Bloomington, Minn.) who knocked down threes before and after a Simonson fastbreak layup.
“Simonson gave us a great lift today,” said Curfman., “It was great to see Karlee and Bridget (Smith) really respond today off the bench.”
The Beavers held the lead for much of the second half controlling the boards and executing fastbreak opportunities to push the lead as high as 13 points. BSU collected 48 rebounds to just 40 for Morningside, along with outscoring them 14-2 on the fastbreak.
The Mustangs trimmed the BSU lead to 83-77 with 1:39 seconds to play, but BSU held its ground as Amy Lawson (So., G, Spencer, Iowa) made 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to end the game with an 11-point victory.
Simonson finished the day shooting 7-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-2 from behind the arc on her way to her first double-double of the season. Also scoring in double digits for BSU was Gernbacher with 14 points and Nicole Friend (Jr., G, International Falls, Minn.) with 11. The Beavers also had three double digit rebounders as McConkey and Stephanie Peterson (So, C, Bismarck, N.D.) each pulled down 11 and Simonson wiped the glass for 10 rebounds. Lawson led the Beavers with 11 assists and five steals to go along with seven points.
Jill Pudenz led the way for Morningside posting 17 points. Vanessa Hasley added 16 and Jennifer Francescon found the bucket for 13 points.
The win brings the overall record for BSU to an even 5-5, while dropping Morningside to 11-3 on the season.
The Beavers will be back in action after the holiday for the last two games of the current seven-game homestand. On Dec. 29 they will play host to the St. Cloud State Huskies at 6:00 p.m. Two days later BSU will take on Carleton College, with tip-off slated for 1:00 p.m. Last season, the Beavers dropped both matchups with St. Cloud. The meeting with Carleton will be just the second ever between the two schools. The first was a 57-52 Carleton victory on Dec. 13, 2003.
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