BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Bemidji State University Women's Basketball team fell to Northern State University 62-54 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Friday night at the BSU Gymnasium. The Wolves put together a nine-point run in the final minutes to pull ahead with the victory over the Beavers.
Trinity Yoder recorded another strong game with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Bemidji State falls to 7-16 on the season and 4-15 in the NSIC, while Northern State improves to 14-11 overall and 9-10 in the conference. The Beavers held the lead for 23:17 minutes but were held without a basket for six minutes in the final quarter giving NSU time to regain the lead. Bemidji State has now lost the last three meetings with Northern State.
Northern State started the game with back-to-back buckets to get on the board early. Yoder drew her first foul of the night four minutes in to go to the line knocking down both free throws to start the scoring for BSU. The Beavers struggled from the field in the first quarter going 2-for-11 (18.2%), but a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line to keep close with the Wolves. To end the quarter NSU went on a six-point run to take the 16-8 advantage.
The eight-point lead did not last long with BSU scoring the first three baskets of the quarter to cut the lead to two.
Alyssa Hill,
Sam Pogatchnik and Yoder all contributed to the 6-0 run. Northern State and Bemidji State began to trade baskets until
Isabel Majewski knocked down a three-pointer to give BSU its first lead of the game at 21-20 approaching the half. In the final two minutes, the lead bounced back and forth five times with the Beavers ending the half up 26-24 with
Rachel Koenig converting a three-point play.
The Beavers shooting percentage drastically improved in the second quarter making 8-for-18 (44.4%) from the field but went just 1-for-6 (16.6) from three and remained perfect at the line making their only attempt. Yoder led the team in the first half with six points along with seven rebounds, while Kailee Oliverson recorded the same stats for Northern State at the break.
Hill made a triple in the first two minutes of the third quarter to extend the BSU to its largest of five, which followed a Pogatchnik layup. Bemidji State could not get separation from Northern State as it remained a one possession game throughout the quarter. Oliverson converted on a deep two to give NSU the lead back and Rianna Fillipi added to the lead with a fastbreak layup. The Beavers strung together a six-point run, four coming from Yoder, to retake the lead at 41-40 heading into the final quarter. Yoder recorded eight points and three rebounds in the third quarter to record her third double-double of the season.
BSU held to the lead for the first five minutes with NSU tying the game four times before taking the lead coming out of the media time out at 53-51 with 3:50 to play. After being tied at 51, the wolves went on a nine-point run to go up seven in the final two minutes. The Beavers were held to 51 points for six minutes before Hill made a free throw at just over a minute to play. Northern State had the lead out to as high as 10 before Yoder closed the game with a layup to tie for the game-high in points, as the Wolves took the 62-54 victory.
Yoder was the sole student-athlete to reach double figures with 21 points, 15 coming in the second half. She went 7-for-18 (38.9%) from the field and 7-for-10 from the free throw line drawing eight fouls. Hill finished with eight points and Koenig was right behind her with seven. Pogatchnik led in the assist category dishing out four.
The teams tied in rebounds both with 38. Yoder grabbed 10 in the first three quarters to earn her second double-double in as many games, while Oliverson for NSU snagged 16 rebounds to go along with 21 points to also record a double-double. Pogatchnik recorded seven rebounds to finish second for BSU. Koenig and Yoder both recorded a block to keep the block in every game alive, while Laurie Roger swatted three Beavers' shots to move her to 59 on the season.
The Beavers continue their homestand tomorrow (Saturday) as they celebrate Senior Day by hosting Minnesota State University, Moorhead at 5:30 p.m. MSU Moorhead is coming off a victory over University of Minnesota, Crookston 75-65. Bemidji State will honor their five seniors in
Tori Bott,
Rumer Flatness,
Shea Oman,
Maddie Schires and
Trinity Yoder before the game.
For more information on the Bemidji State women's basketball program, follow the Beavers on Twitter (@BSUBeavers), like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers) or sign up for the TXTUpdates from BSUBeavers.com text-messaging system through the "Multimedia" pull down menu on the main page of BSUBeavers.com.
Located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, Bemidji State University sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men's hockey membership in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and women's hockey membership in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
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