The Bemidji State University women’s basketball team opened the 2013-14 season with an exhibition contest at NCAA Division I South Dakota State University Sunday. The Beavers fell 100-57 and were led by 14 points each from seniors Morgan Lee (G, Hayward, Wis.) and Kate Warmack (C, East Grand Forks, Minn.).
It took more than two minutes before the Beavers found their first bucket of the game, as freshman Allison Cordes (G, Roseville, Minn.) knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 12-3. Senior forward Jessie Althoff (Becker, Minn.) scored on the next BSU possession and the SDSU lead was seven at 12-5.
The Jackrabbits, who posted a 28-5 overall record and made an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2012-13, then rattled off a 6-0 run to open the 18-5 advantage. The home team’s lead went to 24-9 with 13:52 remaining in the first half on a SDSU 3-pointer. The Jackrabbits moved the advantage to 20 points with 8:15 left in the opening half, en route to the 51-25 halftime lead.
Althoff has six points and two rebounds at the break, while junior Allison McKee (G, New Brighton, Minn.) owned five points and four rebounds.
The Beavers came out of the locker room and played with their Division I opponent for the first 13 minutes of the second half, losing in that time span by the score of 28-25. Three players scored BSU’s 25 points during the run. Lee scored 10 of her 14 points, while Warmack recorded eight consecutive points and freshman guard Hanna Zerr (Shakopee, Minn.) posted seven all seven of her points.
BSU was unable to keep up the pace for the final eight minutes and only scored seven points for the remainder of the game to suffer the exhibition loss.
BSU shot 31.7 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from 3-point land. SDSU was 50.7 percent from the field. The Beavers were outscored 60-14 in the paint and allowed 19 points off their 15 turnovers. Zerr led the team in rebounds with six.
The Beavers will participate in a second exhibition game versus a Division I opponent, Nov. 5, when the team travels to Grand Forks, N.D. to battle University of North Dakota beginning at 7 p.m.