WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Wayne State wins 89-68 as Bemidji State drops second-straight to ranked team
BEMIDJI – The Bemidji State women took their second straight shot at a nationally ranked opponent Saturday, and the result was anything but satisfying. Wayne State came in ranked 22nd in the polls and left with a convincing 89-68 victory.
From the onset BSU proved to be very generous hosts. On their first 5 possessions the Lady Beavers scored twice, and gave the ball to the Wildcats three times. It signaled a trend the Beavers would carry through the opening half.
Wayne State was able to forge a 23-12 lead after ten minutes of play, with 10 of those points coming off of 11 Beaver turnovers. The rest of the half found little relief.
Wayne used an active and athletic matchup zone to consistently stifle BSU. By the break the home team trailed 46-24 while committing a whopping 18 turnovers.
The Beavers were able to steady the ship after the break, finally finding a way to get the ball to Kate Warmack inside. Warmack powered her way to 17 second half points. The Wildcats however, were not going to let this one get interesting.
They never allowed the cushion shrink below 20, and cruised to the finish.
Warmack led BSU with 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds, racking up another double double. Morgan Lee chipped in 11, and Emily Kaus ten.
The Wildcats were led by the talented one-two punch of Ashton Yossi and Jordan Spencer, who scored 26 and 25 respectively.
With the loss BSU falls below .500 at 6-7 overall and 2-7 in NSIC play. The Wildcats improved to 10-3 and 6-3.
BSU returns to the court Tuesday, making the drive up the road Crookston for a rare midweek match up.
Wayne St. (89): Hansen 2, 5-7, 10; Spencer 8, 9-13, 25; Lehmann 1, 3-3, 5; Yossi 11, 0-0, 26; Roller 1, 0-0, 3; Powell 0, 4-4, 4; Vandersloot 1, 1-2, 4; Olson 2, 2-2, 8; Gerdes 0, 4-4, 4. Totals; 26-54, 28-35, 89
BSU (68): Althoff 4, 1-2, 9; Warmack 9, 5-6, 23; Kaus 5, 0-1, 10; Lee 5, 0-0, 11; McKee 1, 0-0, 2; Wessling 0, 2-2, 2; Rash 1, 0-0, 2; Youngblut 2, 0-0, 5; Reichert 0, 4-6, 4; Valley 0, 0-0, 0. Totals: 27, 12-18, 68
3-point FG: Wayne St. 9-22; BSU 2-17
Halftime: Wayne St. 46, BSU 24
