BEMIDJI, Minn. -- The Bemidji State Universtiy women’s basketball team outscored Minnesota State-Moorhead by 16 points in the second half to win comfortably over the Dragons. Six BSU scorers reached double digits, with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds from sophomore Karlee Simonson (F, Rockford, Minn.).
The Beavers battled back from a slow start, finding themselves down 33-22 with five minutes to play in the first half. But, over the rest of the half and the first 10 minutes of the second half, outscored MSU-Moorhead 38-9 to put themselves well out in front.
An 11-0 run to end the first half was highlighted by back-to-back buckets by BSU’s all-time three-point shooting leader Maggie Gernbacher (Jr., G, Bloomington, Minn.). Gernbacher turned in a solid effort with 10 points and three rebounds.
“I thought we did a nice job of pushing the ball at the end of the first half,” said BSU head coach Mike Curfman of the run. “We hit a couple key baskets to give us some momentum heading into halftime.”
BSU kept the momentum rolling at the start of the second half with a 23-3 run over an eight-minute span. Offensive rebounding keyed the run as BSU converted buckets on four seperate occasions after missed shots. Simonson cleaned up during the run scoring 10 of her 11 points. Her effort was an all-around performance collecting the double-double along with five assists and three steals.
“Karlee Simonson worked real hard on both ends of the floor tonight and really stepped up her game,” commented Curfman after the game.
Curfman also liked what he saw during the stretch run in the second half as BSU protected the basketball, committing zero turnovers over the first 11 minutes of the second half.
“We took care of the basketball and gave ourselves a chance for some shots and that was a key, especially for the second half.”
The Bemidji State defense was a major part of the second half that broke the game open. They held the Dragons to just 9-of-33 (.273) shooting after the intermission. MSU-Moorhead shot just 36 percent for the game, while the Beavers shot a solid 45 percent.
Also in double figures for the Beavers were Amy Lawson (So., G, Spencer, Iowa) and Stephanie Peterson (So., C, Bismarck, N.D.) who led the team with 14 points apiece. Nancy McConkey (Jr., F, Superior, Wis.) posted 10 points in her first action since Feb. 2 when she went down with a sprained ankle. Katherine Bremmer (Jr., G, Granite Falls, Minn.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points off the bench.
Three Dragons posted 14 points each, including Allison Swenson, Katie Walden, and Lindsey Anderson, to lead MSUM.
The win brings BSU’s record to 12-13 overall and 5-7 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
The Beavers will play their final weekend of games next week as they host NSIC foes Winona State and Concordia-St. Paul in battles for tournament seeding. Tip-offs are slated for 6:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25.
