BEMIDJI -- BSU women’s basketball coach Chelsea DeVille is 1-for-1, grabbing her first win Saturday night in a 110-44 win over Crown College on Saturday at the BSU Gymnasium.
Sophomore center Sierra Senske picked up right where she left off last year, leading BSU with 21 points and four rebounds in just 18 minutes on the floor.
The Beavers (1-0) scored the first 20 points of the game before Crown’s Kayla Carter put the Storm on the board six minutes and 19 seconds into the game.
Bemidji State gave significant playing time to the entire roster. The Beavers had nine scorers at the end of the first quarter, contributing to a comfortable 29-8 lead.
DeVille said she was impressed with Allison Cordes coming off the bench.
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“That’s our backup point guard,” she said. “I just think she’s solid. And that probably sounds like a bland word to use for someone, but in my book, solid kids play because I can trust them.”
The trend continued throughout the second quarter, giving BSU a 48-14 lead going into the second half.
But DeVille wasn’t satisfied with the Beavers’ style of play; she admitted it’s tough to stay focused with such a big gap in the score.
“The first half altogether I just thought we did our own thing, kind of one-on-one basketball, because maybe we were a little better in most of the positions,” she said. “...We talked in the locker room, and I just wanted them to play motion basketball and use side-top-side, get the defense moving a little bit and then have high-percentage shots.”
The Beavers’ offense exploded with 38 points in the third quarter before adding 24 in the fourth.
Tatum Sheley and Sarah Durand each had 10 second-half points.
DeVille said she was more pleased with the second half offensively, but the team still has work to do on defense.
“I just think we kind of lull ourselves to sleep defensively,” she said. “We’ll guard-on-ball great for three possessions at the start of the game. Then there’s no ball pressure at all. We still need to get much better defensively.”
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Five Beavers reached double digits in scoring, including Senske (21), Hanna Zerr (16), Sheley (15), Durand (12) and Aimee Pelzer (11).
BSU is back in action at 6 p.m. Tuesday as they host Mayville State for another nonconference matchup.
“They play quick, run-and-gun basketball, so it will be way different,” DeVille said. “They’re a nice talented team, (head coach Dennis Hutter) does a nice job with his kids, so it should be fun.”
Bemidji State 110, Crown College 44
CC 06 05 12 18 -- 44
BSU 29 19 38 24 -- 110
Bemidji State (1-0) -- Senske 8-12 5-6 21; Hanna Zerr 4-6 7-8 16; Sheley 5-10 4-4 15; Durand 4-7 4-4 12; Pelzer 4-6 2-2 11; Cordes 3-3 2-2 9; Rappe 3-7 0-0 6; Miller 2-5 1-2 5; Haley Zerr 2-4 0-0 4; Larson 1-2 2-2 4; Knuti 2-4 0-0 4; Ridlon 1-1 1-2 3.
Crown College (0-1) -- Carter 4-9 0-1 9; Begay 3-6 2-4 8; Breakfield 2-8 3-4 7; Klaustermeier 2-6 1-2 6; Besa 2-4 0-0 5; Malone 2-4 0-2 4; Mauer 1-9 1-2 3; Hinkle 1-2 0-0 2.
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