Bay Women Start Strong But Fall To Grand Rapids

Click the thumbnails to see photos and video highlights. Also click the AUDIO buttons to hear post-game comments from Coacg Matt Gregory and for Amya Harris player spotlight interview.

ESCANABA---The Bay College Norse women's basketball team hung close with the Grand Rapids Community College Raiders on Saturday, trailing by just four points midway through the second quarter. But the Raiders went on a 22-0 run and beat the Norse, 71-36, in Escanaba.

"That third quarter, we just couldn't get anything to fall," Norse Coach Matt Gregory said. "It's pretty tough to get back in a basketball game when you can't score a bucket for ten minutes."

Before that, though, the Norse hung with the Raiders for the first part of the game. trailing just 16-11 after the first ten minutes. Alyssa Cretton scored five points, including one on a tecnical foul whistled against the Raiders bench.

The Norse were still in it, trailing just 24-19 midway through the second quarter as Cretton knocked down a triple and Emma Rutter and Alaina Trudeau both scored baskets.

"I thought the fight was really, really good at the beginning," Gregory said. "The excitement and the energy and the talking on defense. One good stat line at halftime was they only had four offensive rebounds. That'something we really wanted to key on because in Grand Rapids, we gave up the ball almost 30 extra times. We were still in the game, down by elevem at halftime."

But the Norse did not score the rest of the first half, and did not score in the third period for more than eight minutes of that quarter. By the time Kassidy Roll scored a basket for the Norse with 2-54 left in the third quarter, the Norse were behind, 46-21.

Grace Lodes scored eight straight points inside the paint for the Raiders in that third quarter, and befor that, Sally Merrill scored nine points during the second quarter part of the run.

Merrill ended up scoring a game-high 26 points for the Raiders, while Lodes added 12 points. Another post player, Allison Kellogg, contributed eleven points, five rebounds, and three assists. Karissa Ferry came off the bench for seven points and eleven rebounds.

Cretton led the Norse with 14 points and four rebounds. Leah Allan had five points and nine rebounds. Roll contributed seven points and six rebounds off the bench.

Grand Rapids improved to 12-7 overall, and 6-3 in MCCAA play. The Raiders remained tied for third place in the conference standings.

Bay College fell to 7-16 overall and 3-6 in MCCAA play. The Norse remained a game behind Alpena Community College for the final playoff spot.

Alpena will provide the competition Wedmesday night for a "must-win" game for the Norse in their run at a playoff spot in their first-ever conference season.

"Well, we don't have anything to lose, for the most part," Gregory said. "We have to go in, play 100-percent confident, hard-working, everything-on-the-table kind of basketball. Alpena's got to play to keep the spot. We've got to play hungry enough to want it from them. We'll see what happens in the end."

Wednesday's game starts at 5:30 at the Bay College Gym. It will be broadcast live on FM-106.3 and on-line at www.radioresultsnetwork.com.