Friday Night

The Bemidji State University women’s basketball team knocked down a season-high 12 3-pointers, six of which came off the hands of senior guard Shannon Thompson (Rosemount, Minn.), to lift it to an 81-70 victory at Minot State University Friday in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game in Minot, N.D. Thompson posted a season-high 24 points on 7-of-12 (58.3%) shooting from the field and 6-of-10 (60%) from beyond the arc.

Thompson’s six 3-pointers was a career-high, as she went 4-for-4 from the line and added five rebounds to improve Bemidji State’s record to 10-13 overall and 6-13 in league play. Her 24 points fell just one point shy of her career-high. Junior Jessie Althoff (F, Becker, Minn.) went 6-for-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from the line for 15 points and added a team-high seven rebounds. Junior Morgan Lee (G, Hayward, Wis.) posted 14 points, while sophomore guard Allison McKee (New Brighton, Minn.) recorded a career-high 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from long range.

The BSU Beavers shot 57 percent from the field in the first half and went 6-for-11 (54.5%) from 3-point range. BSU then matched its 3-point output with six more 3-pointers in the second half and overall, shot 48 percent from the field. With the win, Bemidji State swept the season series with Minot State in MISU’s first season in the league. The victory also moved BSU to 3-8 on the road in 2012-13.

Three minutes into the contest the teams were tied 6-6 on a Lee layup. MISU then posted a 6-3 run for a 12-9 lead with 15:08 remaining in the half. Thompson knocked down a jumper 28 seconds later and started a 6-1 run to open a 15-13 lead with 13:17 left.

With 9:17 remaining, BSU started knocking down shots from beyond the arc, as Thompson hit her first of three 3-pointers in the half. A minute later Warmack converted a layup to give the road team its largest lead of the game at 28-22. Thompson drained two 3-pointers within a minute and Althoff hit on a jumper on consecutive possessions and Bemidji State grabbed a 39-30 lead with 4:45 remaining.

With 3:55 showing on the clock, McKee knocked down a shot from 3-point range and gave BSU the 42-32 lead and its sixth 3-pointer of the frame. Unfortunately that would be the last bucket scored by the road team, as Minot State posted a 7-0 run to close the half. Bemidji State was fortunate to take a 42-39 advantage into the locker room.

Thompson posted 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field (3-for-4 from long range) and a team-high four rebounds. Lee had nine points, while Althoff contributed seven points and three rebounds.

It took 2:17 for BSU to score its first bucket of the second half, as Lee converted from the charity stripe. The free throws started a 12-2 run that included an uncanny three straight 3-pointers on consecutive possessions from Thompson, as she single handily guided BSU to the 54-43 lead with 15:34 left in regulation.

Minot State responded with an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to five with 13:32 showing on the game clock. Three more 3-pointers, to make 12 in the game for BSU, within a minute and a half boosted the road team’s lead to 69-57 with 10 showing on the clock. Two of those daggers from downtown came off the hand of McKee, as she went over her career-high.

Minot State didn’t give up on its home court and posted a 10-2 run to get within four at 71-67 with 5:51 left. A pair of Thompson free throws and two Althoff free throws handed Bemidji State a 76-67 lead with 3:40 remaining. MISU got within six at 76-70 with 1:56 left, but the road team fended off any Minot State comeback and Bemidji State won by the 11-point margin.

The Beavers play University of Mary Saturday at 4 p.m. in Bismarck, N.D.

Saturday Night

Sophomore Melissa Youngblut (G/F, Davenport, Iowa) knocked down a buzzer-beater from 3-point range to lift the Bemidji State University women’s basketball team to a 76-73 victory at University of Mary Saturday in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game in Bismarck, N.D. The win made two in a row for the Beavers on the road and improved BSU to 11-13 overall and 7-13 in league play.

Senior guard Shannon Thompson (Rosemount, Minn.) hit a career-high six 3-ppinters Friday night and followed that with a 5-for-7 performance from downtown Saturday for 17 points. She also added seven assists – including the helper on the game-winner – and three rebounds. Junior Kate Warmack (C, East Grand Forks, Minn.) recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Emily Kaus (C, Eagan, Minn.) contributed her second-career double-double with 13 points – 10 in the second half – on 6-fo-9 shooting and 10 rebounds off the bench. Junior forward Jessie Althoff (Becker, Minn.) added 13 points and six rebounds in the win. Youngblut posted nine points, four rebounds and three assists in the game.

The Beavers outrebounded the Marauders 44-38 and forced 15 U-Mary turnovers. BSU shot 53.3 percent from the field in the second half and 40.9 percent overall, while U-Mary shot 39.9 percent in the second half and 40.7 percent overall. The Beavers posted 21 assists, a team-high in league games this season. Friday and Saturday’s wins mark the first conference weekend sweep for BSU this season and its first back-to-back wins on the road to improve to 4-8 away from BSU Gymnasium.

An and-one layup and free throw from Warmack gave the Beavers an 8-7 lead with 14:42 left in the opening half. Three more points over the next minute of play from the Beavers handed it a four-point advantage at 11-7. U-Mary responded with a 5-0 run that regained the lead for the home team at 12-11.

BSU went back on the offensive and posted a 3-0 run to own the 14-12 lead at the media timeout with 9:49 showing on the game clock. The Marauders came out of the break and posted a 7-0 run and took the largest lead by either team at five, 19-14 with 8:08 left.

Warmack ended the run with two free throws, but U-Mary added to its lead with a 9-0 stretch that handed the home team a 28-16 lead with 5:23 remaining in the frame. The Beavers bounced back with an 8-0 run, thanks to two 3-pointers by Thompson. The run got BSU within four at 28-24 with 4:02 showing on the clock.

The Marauders responded with a 3-pointer, but an old-fashioned 3-point play from Kaus, another Thompson bucket from downtown and a layup from freshman guard Emily Reichert (Rogers, Minn.) later, the Beavers were leading 32-31 with just under three minutes left. After nearly a two minute drought, U-Mary converted a pair of free throws for a 33-32 lead, but BSU didn’t back down and closed the last 1:17 on a 5-2 run to take the 37-35 lead into the locker room.

BSU turned over the Marauders 11 times in the first half. The Beavers shot just 30.6 percent form the field, while U-Mary shot 41.9 percent, but five 3-pointers and 10 free throws helped BSU to the lead.

Althoff scored the first bucket of the second half to take a four-point lead, but the teams were tied 43-43 with just over 17 minutes to play before the U-Mary 3-ball came alive and jump started a 9-2 run to take the 52-45 lead with 15:17 remaining.

BSU responded with a jumper from each of Warmack, Kaus and sophomore guard Allison McKee (New Brighton, Minn.) to get within one at 52-51 and force a U-Mary timeout with 13:24 showing on the game clock. The Beavers came out of the timeout and got a bucket from Kaus to regain a lead at 53-52.

The Beavers owned a 56-55 lead with 10:09 left and after more than two minutes with no scoring from either team, Thompson knocked down a 3-pointer to give BSU the 59-55 lead with under eight to go. Two free throws from Thompson guided the Beavers to a six-point lead at 63-57 with 6:47 remaining.

The teams then traded buckets to a one-point BSU lead at 69-66 with 4:53 left. Kaus came up big and converted on layup to get the Beavers the three-point lead, then another Kaus layup put the Beavers up 71-67, but U-Mary came back to get within one at 71-70. A jumper, this time from Althoff, kept he Beaver lead at three with 2:20 left.

The Bemidji State lead was 73-71 with 19 seconds left and the Marauders had the ball. With eight ticks left, Shaunna Knife knocked down a jumper in the paint to knot the contest 73-73. That set-up the Youngblut dagger from downtown and the Beaver victory.

The Beavers are back at home Feb. 22-23 to close the 2012-13 regular season. BSU hosts University of Minnesota Duluth Friday at 6 p.m. and St. Cloud State University Saturday at 4 p.m.