BEMIDJI, Minn. -- The Bemidji State University women’s basketball team lost a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game to University of Minnesota Duluth Saturday at the BSU Gymnasium 69-56. The 56 points by BSU is its lowest output this season.

Forty-seven turnovers were committed between the two squads, 24 by the Bulldogs (13-5, 8-3 NSIC) and 23 by the Beavers (10-8, 4-7 NSIC). BSU shot 37.3 percent from the field. Freshman Katie Pettit (G, Howard Lake, Minn.) was the lone Beaver to see double-figures in the game, scoring 12 points. Junior center Colleen McKay (Barnum, Minn.) scored nine points and added nine rebounds, falling just short of back-to-back double-doubles. She had 10 points and 10 rebounds against University of Mary Jan. 16.

The game’s first 10 minutes was sloppy, but evenly sloppy, as the two teams were knotted 13-13. A 3-point shot by UMD at 7:58 started a 7-0 run for the road team, giving them a 20-13 lead. Two sophomore Samantha Baldwin (G, St. Thomas, N.D.) free throws cut the deficit to five, but the Bulldogs kept rolling, earning a lead as large as 11 before holding an eight point advantage at the half at 32-24. UMD’s Jheri Booker, who leads the NSIC in scoring at a 20.5 clip, had 17 points at the half.

Baldwin started the second half with a traditional 3-point play with a lay-up and free throw to get BSU within five. The Beavers then went on a slide, scoring just two points over the next 4:30, digging themselves into 17 point deficit at 29-46. The young BSU team didn’t fold to the Bulldogs and put together a 14-2 run to a score of 43-48 with eight minutes remaining in regulation. Pettit scored seven points in the run, converting on a lay-up, jumper and 3-point shot. Unfortunately for BSU, it couldn’t sustain the tempo and the Bulldogs went on a 8-0 run to retake a double-digit lead with 5:39 left. The deficit proved to be too big for BSU to come back from and the Beavers fell by 13.

Baldwin scored seven points and added seven rebounds. Pettit and Baldwin combined for only two of BSU’s 23 turnovers and had four of its nine assists. Booker finished with 23.

The Beavers hit the road Jan. 29-30 to battle Minnesota State University, Mankato and Southwest Minnesota State University. Both games are set for 6 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).

--bsu--