Sophomore center Sydney Arrington marked a milestone Saturday night with her first career double-double for Bemidji State University women’s basketball, despite a 72-68 loss in the Metro State Thanksgiving Classic against Colorado Christian University. Arrington led BSU (1-3) with 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Beavers held a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter against the Cougars (1-3).
The Cougars jumped out early with a 6-0 run to begin the game, but the Beavers found their stroke soon after while taking their first lead, 12-11, 7:31 into the first quarter. Freshman guard Sydney Zerr sparked a 9-0 BSU run before BSU’s lead with her first 3-pointer of the game, followed by layups by junior forward Emma Rappe and two from senior center Sierra Senske. The Beavers held on to the lead through the first quarter, 18-17, for their first lead while exiting the opening period this season.
Bemidji State opened the second quarter shooting 4-of-5 from the field to extend its lead to eight points, 28-20. Following a 3-pointer from the Cougars, the Beavers went on a 10-2 run to grab their largest lead of the first half, 38-25, behind eight first-half points from sophomore center Sydney Arrington and six first-half points from Sydney Zerr. BSU took a 39-29 lead into halftime.
Despite Colorado Christian climbing back to within five points one minute into the second half, Bemidji State was able to again push its lead to double-digits. The Beavers shot 3-for-4 during a 7-0 run that spanned nearly two minutes while also forcing two Cougars turnovers. Colorado Christian ended the third quarter on a 7-0 run, though, to cut Bemidji State’s lead to 50-47 entering the final period.
The Cougars took their first lead since the first quarter over one minute into the fourth quarter. Both teams swapped the lead nine times over the final nine minutes and faced a 68-68 tie with 19 seconds remaining in the game off Senske’s 10th and 11th points of the night. Over the final 14 seconds, CC went 4-for-4 from the free throw line compared to 0-for-2 for BSU.
Arrington recorded first career double-double while leading the Beavers in scoring with 13 points and 10 rebounds. She pulled down five rebounds on each side of the ball and shot 5-of-11 from the field. Sydney Zerr finished with a career-high nine points behind Senske who finished with 11 on 4-of-5 shooting.
Bemidji State shot 38.8 percent from the field, compared to 39.6 percent by Colorado Christian, and made just 5-of-22 3-point attempts. The Cougars converted 9-of-22 3-pointers and missed just one free throw while shooting 25-of-26 from the charity stripe. The Beavers shot 11-of-21 from the line and won the rebound battle, 43-32.
Bemidji State returns to BSU Gymnasium to open the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule Friday, Dec. 1 and Saturday, Dec. 2 against University of Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State University.