|
Bay College Women Lose In Regional Final, 70-48
 Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and listen to post-game comments from both head coaches. ESCANABA--The Bay College women's basketball team trailed by just three points in the third quarter but could not get the big run and lost to Dakota County-Bottineau (N.D.), 70-48, in the NJCAA Region 13 championship game Sunday afternoon in Escanaba.  "I thought we got off to a great start," longtime Bottineau Coach Wayne Johnson said. "We had a couple of buckets early, and defensively, we were tougher than heck. But then they made that run on us, and our kids just settled in and they rec0gnized the urgency of it, and they got it done. I thought our defense stepped up and we got some good shots, some nice passes." "I am very happy and pleased with the effort that these girls showed today," Norse Coach Matt Gregory said. "We gave the crowd something to watch, at least. They did some really good things (off the court), like, it was nice to see the freshmen get together and make some nice shirts for the sophomores because they weren't able to have a Sophomore Night (celebration, due to canellations). When teams do that, you know it's something special." The Jacks also have something special going, making the long 13-hour bus ride to Escanaba after rallying from eight points down to beat their rivals, United Tribes, in the semifinal. On Sunday, Bottineau jumped to a 13-4 lead as Kaitlynn Scherr nailed two triples and Trinity Goggles also connected from downtown. After Tianna Taylor scored inside and the Arsenault sisters knocked down a pair of triples for Bay, Haylie Conradsen nailed a three to make it 19-9.  There weren't many points in the second quarter, but Jacie Hall made her presensce felt for Botineau, with a layup and a triple, making it a 24-15 game. Taylor and Olsen both made inside baskets, bringing Bay to within 26-19 at halftime. In the third quarter, Bree Arsenault and Andie Arsenult both scored, and after a Hall layup for the Jacks, Olsen scored on a mid-range jumper, bringing the Norse to within 28-25 with 7:37 left in the third quarter. That excited the large Norse crowd, but the Jacks had the answer. The Jacks went on a 14-2 run to take a 42-27 lead, capped off by a Goggles triple after Alyssa St. Pierre also hit a three and Scherr also connected from downtown. The Norse never got the deficit under double digits from there. "They came down and hit some big shots," Gregory said. "We were trying to pack it in (defensively) and make them make those tough shots. Our close-outs were there where they needed to be, for the most part, but I guess the little more in-shape, the little more focused, at times, wins and goes on."  "She's been our key player all year long," Johnson said. "We've really good balance, but she's kind of stepped up and led us scoring-wise. The impressive thing about her, and people look at the step-back jumper, and it's great, but the impressive thing about her is she's such a competitor, and she's a two-way player. She defends. She did a heck of a job on that Number 15 (Andie Arsenault) for Bay today. She plays it the right way." Jacie Hall also scored 15 points for the Jacks, while Goggles and Scherr both added 11. The Norse lost a regional tournament game on their home court for a third straight year, but not without a battle. Olsen, a third-year sophomore, led the way with 12 points. After the game, Olsen signed her National Letter of Intent to play at Olivet (Mich.) College. Taylor and Andie Arsenault both scored ten points, and Bree Arsenault led the Norse with seven rebounds. Bottineau improved to 19-12 on the season. Bay finished 8-18.  |
