Dec. 15—BEMIDJI — Through 10 minutes of play, the Beavers were looking sharp.
The Bemidji State women’s basketball team found itself ahead of Minnesota State Moorhead 16-12 after the first quarter of Saturday afternoon’s matchup at the BSU Gymnasium, combining good looks on offense with strong play on the other end of the court to take an early lead.
Senior guard Erin Barrette, who had just scored a team-high 19 points the evening prior, had already picked up a quick five points and an assist against the Dragons.
The second quarter, however, was a different story.
MSU Moorhead captured the lead less than three minutes into the quarter, splashing a 3-point basket to go in front, 21-20.
That wound up being the last lead change of the night. The Dragons continued to build their lead as the quarter progressed, finishing the first half with a 34-25 lead over the Beavers.
“We talked about it in the locker room, ‘Why did you change what was working?” head coach Chelsea Stoltenberg said. “Our offense was working, our defense was working, and then we have this lull in a quarter. Last night it was the third, tonight was the second quarter. We do our own thing and go off the script, and that’s just unacceptable basketball when you’re playing Northern Sun teams.”
Bemidji State’s offense struggled to find consistency as the game wound on. MSUM outscored BSU in the third quarter as well, crafting a 14-point deficit for the home team heading into the last frame.
The Beavers (2-6) shaved five points off that deficit in the final 10 minutes, but it was too little too late, ending the day with a 64-55 loss to the Dragons (6-4).
“You’re not going to wow me by scoring, you’re going to wow me on guarding and not turning the ball over and hopefully playing team (offense) will allow you to get easier scores,” Stoltenberg said. “We (were) really hammering that at halftime, and then at the end of the game, and that’ll be our focus in film and the next three days of practice before we hit St. Cloud.”
MSU Moorhead was dominant on the boards in the win, outrebounding BSU 41-25 and scoring 13 second-chance points. Senior forward Ella Giorgi was the only Beaver who collected more than three rebounds, finishing with four total boards.
“It’s embarrassing to not be tough enough to out rebound or want the basketball,” Stoltenberg said. “They’ve got a great rebounder, well, drag her out, toughen up a little bit and get these. It was one after the other, that’s deflating and there’s extra possessions on defense which takes away your energy on offense.”
Barrette wound up earning a team-high 10 points, notching a double-digit point total for the fourth time this season.
It’s becoming clear that, on a roster full of youth, Barrette is one of BSU’s more consistent scoring options.
“I run action for Erin and probably Tieryn (Plasch), she’s a great shooter, so I have some action where she can get some pop shots,” Stoltenberg said. “That happens when we run our offense smoothly, but we’re really getting sticky with the basketball and not shifting it, and then that makes it pretty easy on defense and makes shots more difficult.”
Barrette, the team captain, is one of four seniors on the team. While the Beavers continue to trudge through NSIC play looking for their first conference win, her leadership and consistency on the court are going to be pivotal attributes.
“She’s a leader, who she is as a human being off the court, on the court, everyone loves her,” Stoltenberg said. “She’s a good person and she’s been through it, she does what she needs in practice, leads the right way, so she was captain by us coaches. And she would have been named it by her peers, too. On and off the court, she’s someone you want to be around.”
“I’m going to try my best as a senior captain and player,” Barrette said. “I have quite a bit of experience, I’m going to try to keep leading our team in the right direction, being positive.
Sophomore Tieryn Plasch and fifth-year senior Janette Hanni were next up after Barrette on the scoresheet against MSUM, tallying nine points apiece.
Saturday’s loss to the Dragons was Bemidji State’s fourth straight in the conference.
As NSIC play continues, the Beavers are hoping to find that same first-quarter success they had against MSUM and keep it going through all four quarters.
“Keeping consistency, especially during that second quarter, keeping our lead, trying not to get down and (not letting) the other team (go) on a run is really our goal,” Barrette said. “Hopefully we can obtain them. … We need consistency from everyone. Once we get that, I think we’ll really start to click and be more positive going into games.”
Minnesota State Moorhead 64, Bemidji State 55
MSUM 12 22 19 11 — 64
BSU 16 9 14 16 — 55
Minnesota State Moorhead — Berge 18, Safranski 15, Johnson 8, Fisher 8, Ratz 6, Teko-Folly 4, Fritz 3, Srejma 2. Totals: 24-63 FGs, 6-19 3-pt. FGs, 10-16 FTs.
Bemidji State — Barrette 10, Plasch 9, Hanni 9, White 8, Giorgi 7, Heyer 6, Koenig 4, Guenther 2. Totals: 23-56 FGs, 7-23 3-pt. FGs, 2-3 FTs.
