Saturday, January 19, 2013

FAYETTE, Iowa (Dorman Gymnasium) - The Bemidji State University women's basketball team suffered a 79-67 set back at Upper Iowa University Saturday in Fayette, Iowa. The Beavers fall to 7-9 overall and 3-9 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.

Junior Jessie Althoff (F, Becker, Minn.) posted a season-high 17 points to lead the Beavers in scoring. She went 7-for-14 (50%) from the field and added five rebounds. Kate Warmack (Jr., C, East Grand Forks, Minn.) posted 13 points and nine rebounds, while junior Lanae Rash (G, Milwaukee, Wis.) had 10 points, four rebounds and four steals.

Bemidji State shot 37.3 percent from the field and 25 percent from beyond the arc, while UIU posted a 46.2 percentage from the field. The Peacocks made 15 more free throws than the Beavers and went 25-for-31 (80.6%).

After a jumper from UIU, Warmack put the Beavers on the scoreboard with a basket that tied the game 2-2. With 10:46 left in the first half BSU was down by four points until a three point jumper from Althoff put them within a point from Upper Iowa, 13-12. Freshman guard Emily Reichert (Rogers, Minn.) quickly put the Beavers in lead with a jumper of her own. To widen the gap Rash made a bucket that brought the score to 16-13.

With 7:52 left until halftime, Morgan Lee (Jr., G, Hayward, Wis.) answered a 3-pointer from UIU with her first basket of the game. Another Peacock 3-pointer tied the game 18-18 until a free throw from senior guard Shannon Thompson (Rosemount, Minn.) put the Beavers a point ahead. After 3:20 without a bucket from Bemidji State and eight points from UIU, Althoff made a jumper that brought the score to 26-21 in favor of the home team. Another jumper from Althoff ended the first half with Upper Iowa owning a 32-27 lead.

The Peacocks opened the second half with five points in just over a minute and it wasn’t until 18:38 that the Beavers were able to make a jumper. A foul on UIU with 16:04 left in the game put Rash at the free-throw line where she scored two points for BSU, who were still trailing its opponents 41-34. With 14:43 left in the second half senior Emily Kaus (C., Eagan, Minn.) made a layup that put BSU two points closer to their opponent, unfortunately for the Beavers this would be the closest they would get to UIU for the rest of the game at 43-38.

With 1:32 left on the clock Lee made a jumper that put BSU 15 points behind, 77-62. Rash made the final bucket for the Beavers with 1:05 left in the game and the jumper was answered by free throw from UIU to end the game 79-64.

The Beavers are back in action on January 25-26 at home against Minnesota State University Moorhead and Northern State University, respectively.

For more information on the Bemidji State women’s basketball program, follow the Beavers on Twitter (@BemidjiStateWBB or @BSUBeavers), like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BemidjiStateWomen’sBasketball or facebook.com/BSUBeavers) or sign up for the TXTUpdates from BSUBeavers.com text-messaging system through the "Mulitmedia" pull down menu on the main page of BSUBeavers.com.

Nestled in Northern Minnesota’s wooded region and located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, Bemidji State University sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey membership in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

--bsu--