HIBBING, MN – The Bay College Norse Women's Basketball Team (1-2) were forced to fight from behind in the second half. Despite closing the gap to just one point in the final minutes, the Rainy River Voyageurs (1-0) held out to steal a 65-60 victory at Hibbing Community College.
Rainy River grabbed an early lead in their first game of the season, but the Norse made their free throws early on and Madison Olsen (SO, St. Ignace, MI) hit a three for the first field goal of the game for Bay, cutting the score to 8-7.
The Norse tied the game twice in the first quarter, and the two teams were locked at 14 apiece at the end of that period.
Olsen gave the Norse their first lead of the game in just under a minute into the second quarter by finishing at the rim. The two teams went back and forth over the next couple of possessions and found themselves locked in a tie again. This time the score stood at 23 with just under six minutes left in the half.
The Norse went cold from the floor for the next five minutes. They allowed the Voyageurs to go on a 13-3 run before Cheveney Koski (SO, Rock, MI) finally made a layup for Bay. After a quick stop, the Norse caught a break as Alyssa Cretton (FR, Niagara, WI) was fouled on a buzzer beating shot, and she made two free throws to close the gap to a 36-30 Rainy River lead at intermission.
After a pair of baskets for the Voyageurs, the Norse responded with an Olsen free throw and a Kennedy Englund (SO, Rock, MI) three-pointer, making the score 40-34 in favor of Rainy River. This time the scoring drought would affect both teams.
Englund ended the drought over four minutes later with a free throw, but the next field goal for either team would come five-and-a-half minutes after that Englund three. Tianna Taylor (FR, Gwinn, MI) got free inside and made a basket to cut the lead to four.
The Voyageurs responded immediately with a three-pointer. After a pair of Norse free throws, they found themselves down five heading into the final quarter.
After the Norse cut the lead to three, Rainy River went on a run midway through the fourth. Shamiyah Bardford hit a jumper to start opening the gap. B'jine Arvie hit a jumper on the next possession, followed by another stop and a Bradford three. Arvie finished at the rim giving the Voyageurs their biggest lead of the game at 12.
The Norse needed to cut into the deficit quickly and turned to Englund to spark the comeback. She nailed a shot from behind the three-point arc. After Rainy River split a pair of free throws, Andie Arsenault (FR, Hermansville, MI) hit a pair from the charity stripe. An Andie Arsenault three pulled Bay to within five points with just under four to play.
Rainy River slowed the run with a layup, but the Norse were not done yet. Andie Arsenault hit another shot from behind the arc. The Voyageurs once again were only able to hit one of two from the free throw line. Taylor grabbed an offensive rebound on the ensuing possession and laid it back in. After a quick stop Taylor converted on a post move inside, and Rainy River was clinging to a one-point lead with just over two minutes remaining.
Momentum slowed for Bay at that point, as they were not able to convert on their next two possessions. After an Arvie layup, the Voyageurs split another pair of free throws for a four-point lead.
An Olsen finish at the rim made it a one-score game, but with just 18 seconds on the clock, the Norse were forced to extend the game by putting Rainy River on the line. Unfortunately for the Norse Arcadya Conway connected on both of her attempts, putting the game out of reach. Rainy River was able to get away with a five-point victory in their season opener.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the contest, as Bay hit on 29.1% of their shots, while Rainy River shot 29.6% from the floor. The big difference ended up being the rebounding battle as the Voyageurs bullied the Norse on the glass, outrebounding them 53-37. Rainy River also grabbed 22 of those rebounds on the offensive end. That afforded Rainy River 81 shot attempts to Bay's 55.
While the Norse shot it well from deep (seven of 15) the left some points on the free throw line, going 21 of 33. Rainy River was just 11 of 27 from the charity stripe.
Andie Arsenault led the Norse with 14 points and seven rebounds. Englund tallied 11 points while Olsen finished with ten points and seven rebounds.
Conway was the leading scorer for the Voyageurs, scoring 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Livonna Wallace earned a double-double, scoring 12 and collecting 11 rebounds. Bradford ended her evening with 11 points, while Marlandria Hebert ran down 12 rebounds in the game.
Bay continues their Minnesota swing on Saturday afternoon with a visit to Mesabi Range Community College. That game is scheduled to tip at 2 pm.