Beavers drop Thursday road game at (RV) Minnesota Duluth

Sophomore center Rachael Heittola recorded her sixth double-double of the season as Bemidji State University women’s basketball fell to (RV) the University of Minnesota Duluth, 76-54, on Thursday night in Duluth, Minn. The Beavers fall to 13-11 overall and 11-9 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference as the Bulldogs improve to 20-4 and 18-2 in the NSIC.

Senior guard Brooklyn Bachmann led all Beavers with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field with four steals and three rebounds. Heittola finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for her 12th career double-double.

Senior guard Sydney Zerr opened the game with the first of her two 3-pointers for a quick, 3-0, lead for the Beavers. UMD answered with a 19-2 run, limiting BSU to 1-of-10 shooting from the field with three turnovers until 2:29 left in the first quarter. The Bulldogs made 10-of-17 shots from the field over the first quarter before Zerr closed the first quarter with a layup and a 25-13 deficit.

Bachmann brought BSU back within 10 points, 25-15, with the first basket of the second quarter. BSU followed to shoot 1-of-12 from the floor over the final 8:48 of the half as UMD took a 40-21 lead into halftime. The Beavers outscored the Bulldogs in the third quarter, 18-15, but UMD shot 60 percent from the floor over the fourth quarter.

Bemidji State returns home to close the regular season with senior day at 2 p.m. Saturday against No. 16 St. Cloud State University.