The Bemidji State women’s basketball team lost twice this weekend, at St Cloud State on Friday, Minnesota Duluth Saturday.

Friday Night

The Bemidji State University women’s basketball team suffered its first loss in 2012-13 Friday in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match up at St. Cloud State University. The loss brings the Beavers record to 5-1 overall (1-1 NSIC) while the Huskies record remains unbeaten at 6-0 overall (2-0 NSIC). The Beavers were lead by Kate Warmack (Jr., C, East Grand Forks, Minn.), who totaled 10 points on the night while pulling in seven rebounds.

Bemidji State shot 41 percent from the field on 18-of-44 shooting and knocked down four from beyond the arc on 33 percent shooting. Turnovers plagued the Beavers tallying 27 on the night, opposed to the Huskies’ 16. The Beavers could only pick up 13 points from the charity line in 22 attempts for a 59 free throw percentage. St. Cloud State shot 49 percent on 27-of-55 from the field and picked up seven 3-pointers in the game. The Beavers scored first, but never led the game after that and just couldn’t match the opposition’s offensive attack or defensive energy.

The Huskies came out strong in the first half jumping to an early 11-3 lead within the first five minutes of the game. The Beavers managed to close the gap during the next 10 minutes and came within one after junior Jessie Althoff (F, Becker, Minn.) made a jumper to make it 14-15. One point is the closest the Beavers would come during the first half as SCSU found the range from long distance and outscored Bemidji State 13-4 in the following two minutes and held a 10 point lead after head coach Mike Curfman called a timeout. The rest of the half didn’t change for the Beavers and SCSU closed out the half on a 14-5 run and entered the locker room with a 42-26 lead.

The Beavers shot 50 percent as a team on 10-of-20 shooting, but couldn’t keep up to the Huskies attack that shot 56 percent on 15-of-27 from the field, five of which coming from long distance. Warmack led the Beavers with eight points and picked up two rebounds during the half while guard Lanae Rash (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.) added six points and a steal. The Huskies had two double-digit scorers in the first half, sophomore Jessica Benson lead all scorers with 11 points while junior Sam Price tallied 10.

The second half looked to remain in pace with the first after SCSU opened up the first five minutes on a 15-6 run and took a 57-32 lead. The large lead proved too much for BSU as they were never able to match the Huskies strong offensive attack and found themselves on the losing end for the first time of the season. The Huskies lead hit a high point of 30 after two free throws by Reyan Robinson with under a minute left but a pair of free throws from freshman Rachel Valley (F, Albertville, Minn.) ended the game with a final score of 81-53.

Bemidji State saw a sub par performance from its scorers who only managed one double-digit scorer in Warmack. Iowa State transfer Melissa Youngblut (So., G/F, Davenport, Iowa) added seven points for the Beavers and picked up three rebounds and a steal for her efforts on the night.

Saturday Night

The Bemidji State University women’s basketball team found themselves on the losing end for the second straight day after losing 65-50 to the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match Saturday. The loss now brings the Beavers record to 5-2 overall (1-2 NSIC) while the Bulldogs improve to 5-2 overall (2-1 NSIC). The Beavers were led by Lanae Rash (Jr., G, Milwaukee, Wis.) and Kate Warmack (Jr., C, East Grand Forks, N.D.) who each had 14 points on the night. Rash also picked up five steals while Warmack added seven rebounds to round out their nights statistically.

As a team, the Beavers outshot the Bulldogs 40.4 percent (21-of-52) to 36.8 percent (21-of-57), but weren’t able to knock down any from behind the arc. Turnovers again plagued the Beavers offensive having committed 20 in the game allowing UMD to gain 26 points off of the giveaways. The Beavers gave UMD too many second chance opportunities allowing them to grab 16 offensive rebounds and 10 second chance points.

The Beavers started the game looking to increase the energy and firepower that was lacking the night before when they faced St. Cloud State and came out of the tip-off with high defensive energy. After the first five minutes the Beavers looked to be locked in a battle with Minnesota Duluth with the score tied at 10-10. That’s when the BSU’s offensive struggles began and went the next 10 minutes unable to score a point. The Bulldogs took advantage of the Beavers troubles and scored 15 unanswered points. Bemidji State finally found the bottom of the net again at the four minute mark after a jumper by senior Shannon Thompson (G, Rosemount, Minn.). Both teams traded baskets until the horn marked the end of the first half and the Bulldogs held a comfortable 32-19 lead.

BSU shot 33 percent from the field on 8-of-24 shooting and could only pick up three points from the free throw line in six chances. The Bemidji State scorers struggled in the first half and could only produce a high scorer with four points in Warmack and junior Jessie Althoff (F, Becker, Minn.). For the Bulldogs Katrina Newman picked up 12 of her 21 total points in the first half and added two assists.

The second half continued on the same pace the first ended with each team trading baskets until midway through the half when the Bulldogs stretched the lead to its highest point at 22 from a 3-pointer by Megan Lueck. However the Beavers were able gain a few baskets on their opponent and managed to reduce the lead to 15 after going on a 12-5 run in four minutes. Time would cut the Beavers chances at a comeback short and BSU fell to the Bulldogs 65-50.

The Beavers scorers finally found their rhythm in the second half with the teams leading scorers in Rash and Warmack scoring the majority of their points in the half. The next leading scorer for BSU was senior Emily Kaus (C, Eagan, Minn.) who scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds in 12 minutes.

Bemidji State closes out its December play at home against NSIC opponents University of Mary Dec. 14 and Minot State University Dec. 15 at the BSU Gymnasium.