ELY, MN – The Bay College Norse (2-3) battled back from a big deficit late and fell just short to the Rainy River Voyageurs (2-0). Both teams saw big leads evaporate in the game, but Rainy River held on for a 60-59 win at Vermilion Community College's Gymnasium.
It was a back-and-forth game of big runs, and it was Rainy River that jumped out to the first lead. Trailing by eight, the Norse answered back in a big way. Alaina Trudeau (SO, Gladstone, MI) nailed a shot from behind the three-point arc to end a seven-point Voyageur run. Bay fought back and tied the game at 15 after the first period.
The Norse continued their big run in the second quarter. Another Trudeau three and a long jumper by Alyssa Cretton (SO, Niagara, WI) helped cap off a 20-2 run, giving the Norse an 11-point lead.
The Voyageurs flipped the script to end the half, however. They went on a 14-2 run and grabbed a 31-30 lead at intermission.
The run continued into the second half as Bay hit a scoring drought in the third. After an early basket, Bay would not score again until splitting a pair of free throws with just over three minutes. Their struggles continued on the free throw line in the period, hitting just one of six. In the closing seconds, Cretton would once again hit a long jumper that she thought was a three, but had her foot on the arc. The Norse found themselves down by a score of 47-36 going into the final period.
The Voyageurs held on to their double-digit lead for a good portion of the fourth quarter. They seemed to have an answer for every Norse advance. Bay had to dig deep late to get back into the game late.
Stephanie Frappy (SO, Bonduel, WI) provided the initial spark, burying a three. After a Rainy River basket in the lane, the Norse went to Tianna Taylor (SO, Gwinn, MI). She would hit a tough basket and get fouled. She connected on the charity stripe to complete the three-point play. After a defensive stop, Cretton drove the right side of the lane, and all of a sudden, the Voyageur lead was cut to 58-54. Moments later Trudeau sank a pair of free throws to pull within two with 2:27on the clock.
Time continued to wind down and Rainy River was able to answer. The Voyageurs grabbed 18 offensive rebounds in the game, and a big one with time winding down gave them a basket to make the score 60-56.
Bay had a couple of chances to respond but turned the ball over and missed on the next possession as the game clock ticked under 30 seconds. It looked as though Bay would have to foul to extend the game, but a Taylor steal set up Cretton at the free throw line after she was fouled. She got one of the two attempts, making it a one-score game.
Once again, the Norse ended up with a big defensive play. This time it was Emma Rutter (FR, Chatham, MI) intercepted a pass up the sideline. They quickly got the ball up the floor and kicked the ball out to Cretton on the left wing. She buried a long shot which was initially ruled a three-pointer to tie the game. During the ensuing timeout, the officials got together and correctly ruled that Cretton had stepped on the line, and instead of a tie game, the score was 60-59 in favor of the Voyageurs.
With 12.6 seconds left, Rainy River had to kill the clock. Unfortunately for the Norse, they only had two team fouls, so they had plenty to give before forcing their opponents to the line. The Voyageurs had to inbound the ball on multiple occasions, and the Norse made it interesting. They tapped two passes away with a chance for a steal before the ball trickled out of bounds, and forced a held ball, but unfortunately the possession arrow favored Rainy River. They were able to chew up the remaining time to secure a win.
The Norse dropped to a losing record for the first time this season. They were outrebounded 45-28 in the match.
Cretton had a strong night for the Norse, finishing with 21 points and nine rebounds. Alaina Trudeau scored 15 points, grabbed five rebounds, and had three assists.
Shamiyah Bradford was the leading scorer for Rainy River. She had 17 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Cara Polk ended up with 13 points, nine rebounds, and four steals. Maddie Lowe ended up with ten points and seven rebounds while Kiarra Edley grabbed 16 rebounds.
The Norse will finish their trip to northern Minnesota with a 2 pm matchup against Minnesota-North Itasca.