Women’s Basketball closes out regular season Feb. 19-20 at Minnesota Crookston
Bemidji State University women’s basketball travels to face the University of Minnesota Crookston for its final weekend of the regular season Feb. 19-20 in Crookston, Minn. The Beavers and Golden Eagles begin the weekend at 5:30 p.m. Friday followed by the regular season finale at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Lysaker Gymnasium.
Bemidji State leads the all-time series against Minnesota Crookston, 24-22. The Beavers swept the Golden Eagles during the 2019-20 season series, winning both games by 22 points. In six career games against UMC, senior guard Brooklyn Bachmann has averaged 14.8 points per game.
The series first began Jan. 6, 1996, a 101-56 win by BSU in Bemidji, Minn. That game stands as the most points scored by BSU in the series and the largest margin of victory in the series.
Bemidji State’s first losing streak of the season was extended following a weekend sweep at No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth. The Beavers opened the series with a 68-58 loss Friday night followed by a 73-62 loss Saturday.
In Friday’s game, The Beavers and Bulldogs both shot 40.0 percent from the floor while BSU converted three more 3-pointers than UMD. Bemidji State had fewer offensive opportunities, though, as Minnesota Duluth won the rebound margin, 37-31, and forced 14 BSU turnovers. On Saturday, Bemidji State finished 33.3 percent shooting from the floor compared to 49.1 percent for Minnesota Duluth.
The Beavers were able to win the rebound margin, 38-33, but were outscored in the paint, 40-30. BSU overcame a 12-point deficit to tie the game at 50-50 with 3:33 to play in the third quarter. The Bulldogs closed the third quarter on a 7-0 run and forced the Beavers to miss their first seven field goal attempts to start the fourth.
Sophomore center Rachael Heittola led BSU with 13.5 points per game and added 7.0 rebounds per contest. She recorded 12 points in Friday’s loss followed by 15 points on Saturday, and finished the weekend 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Heittola ranks fourth in the NSIC in field goal percentage (.481), 8th in rebounds per game (6.8), 18th in blocks per game (0.8) and 19th in points per game (13.1).
Bachmann scored 10.5 points per game and recorded 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. She totaled at least four assists in both games and now has at least four in five of the last seven games. Bachmann ranks 6th in the NSIC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8), 6th in assists per game (3.8), 15th in rebounds per game (6.2) and 21st in points per game (12.8).
Junior guard Trinity Myer averaged 9.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game over the weekend, including eight rebounds in each game.
Minnesota Crookston enters the weekend 3-11 overall and 3-9 in conference play. UMC is also facing a four-game losing streak and most recently fell to St. Cloud State University, 59-49 on Feb. 12 and 72-55 on Feb. 13 in St. Cloud, Minn.