JOLIET, IL -The Bay College Norse Women's Basketball Team (6-7) lost another close game on Sunday, falling to the Joliet Junior College Wolves (3-6) by a final score of 53-50.
"Same story, different day," Norse Head Coach Matt Gregory said after his team lost its fourth single-digit game of the season. "In the locker room, we talked about the basic 'Basketball 101' stuff. Being mentally-strong. Being actually able to be physically strong, too. We just got so far behind. It takes time for us to get things going lately, and that just can't happen."
The game actually started with a technical foul because the new Joliet uniforms only have numbers 1-through-15, and you can't have a uniform with the number six or higher. Kennedy Englund (SO, Rock, MI) knocked down the free throw to give Bay a 1-0 lead.
The Norse had trouble with the Wolves' full-court press, committing eight turnovers in the first half alone. That was compounded by 15 offensive rebounds for the Wolves in that first 20 minutes.
Fortunately, the Wolves didn't shoot well in the first half, even though they had 39 shot attempts to 21 for Bay. The Norse trailed, 14-11, after the first quarter as Allasha Alexander (FR, Joliet, IL) nailed a three-pointer off of a Bay turnover at the buzzer.
Bay fell behind, 23-15, before stabilizing late in the second quarter. Bree Arsenault (SO, Hermansville, MI) cut to the basket and scored on reverse layup, Tianna Taylor (FR, Gwinn, MI) scored an inside basket from the base line, and Alyssa Cretton (FR, Niagara, WI) banked a shot home to cut the deficit to 26-22 at halftime.
The Norse trailed throughout the third quarter, but were able to stay close enough to be able to be within striking distance. An Andie Arsenault (FR, Hermansville, MI) triple brought Bay to within 34-33, then in the fourth quarter, Englund got hot from downtown.
Englund made back-to-back threes early in the quarter to bring the Norse to within 40-39, and then the Norse finally grabbed a lead at 46-45 when Andie Arsenault passed to Cheveney Koski (SO, Rock, MI) for a driving lay-up.
After the Wolves regained the lead, Englund nailed her third shot from behind the arc from the left wing to give Bay a 50-49 lead with 1:38 to play. The Norse would not score another point as they turned the ball over three times and Joliet made four of their eight free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.
The Norse were 6-of-17 from three-point range and 9-for-15 from the free throw line. Andie Arsenault led the Norse with 13 points and seven rebounds. Englund had 12 points, while Taylor contributed eight points and three rebounds.
Joliet got 12 points from Alexander, the only player to score in double figures.
Bay College will have a tough road next weekend as the Norse spend their fourth straight weekend away from home. They will face two of the top three ranked teams in NJCAA Division Three: Rochester Community and Technical College and Anoka-Ramsey College in Coon Rapids.
Story courtesy of Jack Hall, RRN Sports