BEMIDJI, Minn. (BSU Gymnasium) - The Bemidji State University women’s basketball team dropped its final game of the season Saturday, 89-58, to Wayne State College (Neb.) at the BSU Gymnasium. The Wildcats took a 22-point lead into the break thanks to a 22 to 15 advantage on the boards in the first half and never looked back.

Heidi Matzke (Sr., G, Red Lake Falls, Minn.) poured in 14 points three rebounds and five assists in her final game wearing the green and white while Sydney Epema (Fr., G, Crookston, Minn.) equaled Matzke with 14 points on 5-of-11 from the field and 4-of-9 from three point range. Also in their last home game of their career, Melissa Roberts (Sr., F, Staples, Minn.) and Kristina Salscheider (Sr., G, Cass Lake, Minn.) netted four points each. Samantha Baldwin (Fr., G, St. Thomas, N.D.) dished out a game and career-high six assists.

Wayne State was led by a trio of players in double figures with Clare Duwelius leading the way with 24 points on 9-of-19 from the floor and 6-of-12 from behind the arc. Mara Hjelle added 19 while Laquisha Cook chipped in 10 to round out the double-digit scoring for Wayne State. Jodie Boss grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and recorded a game-high six blocks while Alisha Brown had a team-high four assists.

The Wildcats led for all but 12 seconds hitting nearly 50-percnet of their field goal attempts (29-59), including 11 three pointers, en route to claiming their 12th NSIC win as they improve to 15-12 overall and 12-8 in the NSIC.

The Wildcats got out of the blocks quickly hitting two of their first three shots of the night, as both Hjelle and Cook made good on jumpers putting WSC up 4-3 just 1:48 into the game.

BSU’s Epema would cut the lead to four with 14:02 left in the half, but WSC would used a 13-1 run pushing its lead to 16 (26-10) with nine minutes left to play in the half.

Wayne State continued to push forward the remainder of the half. With 4:27 left in the first stanza the Wildcats had pushed its lead to 20 (40-20) and would take a 44-22 lead into the halftime break.

BSU came out of the break scoring five of the first seven points trimming the Wildcats lead to 19 (46-27) but that was as close as BSU would get as WSC’s Duwelius would net four of her six three pointers during a span of 3:27 mid-way way through the half giving the Wildcats a 33-point lead (71-38) with 11:47 left to play.

Wayne State pushed its lead to as large as 36 and would keep the Beavers at bay as the clock wound down claiming the conference victory, 89-58.

The Beavers finished the game shooting 33.8 percent from the field (22-65) and 31.6 percent from beyond the arc. The Wildcats were 29-of-59 (49.2) overall and finished the game 11-of-27 (.407) from outside the three-point arc.

Bemidji State falls to 12-22 all-time versus the Wildcats and finish the home portion of their season 2-9.

The Beavers wrapped up the 2008-09 campaign at 3-24 overall after posting a 1-19 mark in NSIC play.

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

--beavers--