Click the thumbnails to see photos and video highights, and to hear post-game comments from Coach Matt Gregory. Also click the AUDIO button to hear Emma Rutter's player spotlight interview.

ALPENA---”We've got a few more left, and we're going to keep fighting for the rest of them”.

That was the post-game message Wednesday night from Bay College women's basketball coach Matt Gregory after his team not only suffered another heartbreaking loss, but also lost another player to injury.

The Norse played a great first half and led the Alpena Community College Lumberjacks by as many as eleven points, but could not hang on, losing for the eighth time this season by single digits, 60-53, in Alpena.

And to make matters worse, the Norse lost guard Claire van Ginhoven to a knee injury in the first minute of the game after she had nailed a triple to give Bay a 3-0 lead.

Despite all of the adversity, and seeing his team fall to 5-13 on the season and 1-3 in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association standings, Gregory said there is no way that he or his players will throw in the towel.

“We've got to find ways to just play outside of our minds,” Gregory said. “Tap out some extra talent that raises the bar a little more than we have been. I think it just comes down to confidence, and not giving-a-crud, y'know.”

The Norse did a lot of good things in the first half, even after van Ginhoven went down with the injury that left her on crutches alongside her fellow Gladstone Brave Alaina Trudeau, who got hurt three weeks ago down in Florida.

Bay had an outstanding second quarter after trailing 14-12 after the first ten minutes, going on a 14-2 run led by spirited play from Leah Allan off the bench. Allan, known more for her volleyball skills, was big in the second quarter, scoring seven points, including on an “old-fashioned” three-point play that gave Bay a 17-15 lead.

Bark River-Harris's Kassidy Roll also stepped up with two second quarter baskets, Superior Central's Emma Rutter scored twice, and Stephanie Frappy drained a triple. At the end of that run, the Norse had their biggest lead of the game at 28-17.

The Lumberjacks quickly cut into that lead with back-to-back triples, but the Norse still held a 31-25 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, however, Alpena relied on third-year center Jade Schultz, who was tough to stop inside the paint. She scored ten points in that quarter as Alpena outscored Bay, 19-11, in the third quarter. Alyssa Cretton kept the Norse afloat by scoring nine of her team's eleven points in that ten minutes, and so Bay was still in familiar territory heading to the fourth quarter: in a dogfight, trailing just 44-43.

The game was close down the stretch, but Schultz was too much, scoring ten more points in the fourth quarter. The Norse were within 55-51 with 2:10 left after Cretton knocked down a jumper, but Schultz scored again inside and Makayla Kamysek scored her only basket of the game to put it away at 59-51.

“We had a very good first half,” Gregory said. “Very comfortable. Very balanced. And then, in the fourth quarter, it's a close game, and we tense up. We talked about that in one of the time outs. It's like, it's the same game, don't make it bigger than it really is. Unfortunately, at times, that's what happened, and Alpena hit a couple of shots to get their momentum going. That's why we're on the other end, with an 'L' again.”

Schultz led the Lumberjacks (4-7 overall, 2-2 MCCAA) with 31 points.

“She's a tough player, especially when she gets the jump on you and gets into that easy sweet spot,” Gregory said. “When she gets the ball down low, that comfortable, and we don't put a little bit of pressure and make it tougher, she's going to have a kind of night like that. Maybe we should have double-teamed her and let them shoot from the outside all night, I don't know.”

“But with another player going down in the first half, we had people playing out of position. We've got to find a way to still be a player, see thoe opportunities to drive, and not force things.”

Allie Urlaub hit three triples and scored eleven points for Alpena.

For the Norse, Cretton led the way again, scoring 20 points. Allan had a career-high nine points off the bench as she filled in for van Ginoven. Three other players scored six points apiece.

It doesn't get easier for the Norse on Saturday, as they're on the road again, in Saginaw, taking on Delta College. The Pioneers lost a tight 77-71 game to first place Mid Michigan Wednescday night, and they are 3-1 in MCCAA play and 9-9 overall.

Saturday's game starts at 1:00 and will be broadcast live across the Upper Peninsula on FM-106.3, and streamed on-line at www.radioresultsnetwork.com.