Click the thumlenails to see photos and videos from the game, and to hear post-game comments from Coach James Fassett. Also click the AUDIO button to hear Madison Gamble's player spotlight interview.
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Bay College Norse women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2025-26 season Sunday evening, falling to the Lake Region State College (N.D.) Royals, 75-74, inside the Hudson Arena at Hamline University.
The Norse led for much of the game, including a nine-point lead at 59-50 in the third quarter, but went cold from the floor in the fourth quarter, scoring only seven points. The Royals' Sydney Schwabe drained a long triple with 28 seconds left to break a 72-72 tie, and the Norse could not recover, getting only a token basket at the buzzer as Lake Region celebrated.
“It was a tight game, up and down,” Norse Coach James Fassett said. “They came out with energy and shooting well, and pushing us. Making us have to get back on defense. Things that we normally do to teams. The fourth quarter, maybe it's a little bit of run out of gas, but we just couldn't get buckets to fall when we needed them. Down the stretch, there were some defensive breakdowns, they hit some shots, and we didn't.”
Indeed, it was a nip-n-tuck battle throughout, with the Royals grabbing a 26-22 lead after the first quarter and holding a slim 41-38 lead at halftime. Bay College dominated the third quarter, paced by Bark River-Harris graduate Lauren Zawada, who scored 16 of her team's 29 points in that third quarter. Zawada had three “and-one” baskets during that ten minutes, and helped her team build its biggest lead at 59-50 late in the third quarter.
“She came out aggressive,” Fassett said. “Things weren't really going her way in the first half, and she was a little frustrated. At halftime, I just kind of told her, there's a new half, let's get it done. She came out, started hitting some shots, and finishing. Nine of ten from the free throw line. She did a great job. We need her to be big for us, and to play well for us, and so it was good to see her rebound and play much better in the second half.”
Bay led, 62-57, entering the fourth quarter, but unfortunately, the Norse literally could not score, going more than six minutes without a point. And Zawada was the only person who scored in that fourth quarter for the Norse, finishing with 31 points and 13 rebounds.
The Norse were handicapped for much of the second half, when point guard Makenna Hendrickson had to go to the bench with four personal fouls. That happened with 6:46 left in the third quarter, and she didn't return until midway through the fourth quarter. Now, the Norse did manage to battle through that and keep the lead, but Fassett says it still hurt.
“I think we had a few too-many empty possessions during that time,” Fassett said. “Makenna kind of makes sure that we're in the right thing and doing the right thing. Not having her there, having other people do it, it just feels different. We weathered it. We hung in.”
It came down to the final seconds, and a clutch triple by Schwabe, who was hard for the Norse to handle all night. She led the Royals (6-3 overall) with 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting. She knocked down five triples, including the ultimate game-winner.
For the Norse, Hendrickson led the way on the glass with 14 rebounds to go along with her seven points, and that was done in just 27 minutes as she sat for 13 minutes because of the fouls. McKenzie Hoffmeyer had a nice stat line: 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Zawada's 31 points came on 10-of-32 shooting, and she added 13 rebounds.
It was the first loss of the season for the Norse, ranked 21st in the country in the NJCAA Division Two poll. Bay fell to 4-1 after this nailbiter setback.
“I told them that we're going to learn more from this than we do from some of the other large win we've had,” Fassett said. “A lot to learn from, and a lot to see. We've got to bounce back, and that's the good thing about this time of year. You don't have time to hang your heads about something because you've got another game coming.”
And the next one for the Norse is Tuesday night in Ironwood against the Gogebic Community College Samsons. Tip-off from the Lindquist Center is set for 6:00 ET and it will be broadcast live on WGMV-FM (Maverick 106.3) and on-line at www.radioresultsnetwork.com.
