Mayville, N.D. [box score] - The Bemidji State University women’s basketball team picked up a victory Wednesday as they defeated the Comets of Mayville State 90-83 at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse in Mayville, N.D.

The Beavers played solid all around and were helped by Karlee Simonson’s (Sr., F, Rockford, Minn.) first double-double of the season as she netted 14 points and grabed 10 rebounds. The double-double is the seventh of Simonson’s career. Bemidji State also recieved a strong performance from freshman Colleen McKay (Fr., F/C, Barnum, Minn.) who earned a career high 20 points on shooting 5-of-8 from the field and making 10-of-12 from the charity stripe.

Senior center Stephanie Peterson (Sr., C, Bismarck, N.D.) scored 12 in the contest to put her in sole possesion of 10th place on BSU’s all-time scoring list as she passed Jenny Loeck’s 1993-97 total of 1,012. Peterson now has 1,016 in her career and is 77 points shy of moving into ninth place.

The Beavers had five players hit double figures in points with Simonson, McKay, and Peterson’s perfomances as well as seeing Hallie Hoganson (Fr., G, Detroit Lakes, Minn.) earning 10 points and Heidi Matzke (Jr., G, Red Lake Falls, Minn.) contributing with 15.


Mayville State was led by the trio of Cassie Leraas, Laura BigCrow and Danielle Guilbert who all reached double-figures. Leraas netted a game-high 29 points on 11-20 shooting and 7-of-14 from three point arc. BigCrow added 20 points and a team-high eight rebounds while Guilbert netted 13 points for the Comets.

Bemidji State went into the half with a 14 point lead, outscoring the Comets 50-36 by shooting .528 (19-36) from the field compared to Mayville’s .394 (13-33). The second half saw the Comets battling back by outscoring the Beavers 47-40 on improved shooting as they went 15-28 (.536), but were only able to cut the Beavers lead in half down to seven by the final buzzer.

The win for the Beaver’s is their second on the road this season in seven attempts. The only other road victory for the Beaver’s was back on November 25th at Wisconsin-Stout.

With the non-conference victory the Beaver’s record moves to 6-6 (2-2; NSIC) and is the second straight victory over the Comets. The win moves the all-time series record to 23-5 in favor of the Beavers.

Bemidji State will return to action on January 5th when they host the University of Minnesota, Crookston Golden Eagles in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with the opening tip off slated for 6:00 p.m.

Bemidji State University, located in Bemidji, Minn., is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).