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2008-09 Schedule and Results

 

DAY
DATE
OPPONENT
TIME
SITE
Friday
Oct. 31
Briar Cliff
W 74-55
Sioux City, IA
Saturday
Nov. 1
Morningside
L 58-54
Sioux City, IA
Friday
Nov. 7
Great Falls
W 80-70 OT
Great Falls, MT
Saturday
Nov. 8
MSU-Northern
L 80-57
Havre, MT
Monday
Nov. 17
Brandon University
W 90-46
Brandon, MB
Saturday
Nov. 22
Rocky Mountain College
W 71-70
Billings, MT
Sunday
Nov. 23
Carroll College
L 71-60
Billings, MT
Monday
Dec. 1
Rocky Mountain College
L 85-76 OT
Minot, ND
Saturday
Dec. 6
Dickinson
L 70-63
Minot, ND
Monday
Dec. 8
Brandon University
W 97-51
Minot, ND
Friday
Dec. 12
MSU-Northern
W 66-52
Minot, ND
Saturday
Dec. 13
MT-Western
W 81-66
Minot, ND
Friday
Dec. 19
Rio Grande - Hoop-n-Surf
W 58-55
Honolulu, HI
Saturday
Dec. 20
Waldorf - Hoop-n-Surf
L 67-61
Honolulu, HI
Tuesday
Dec. 30

St. Cloud-Exhibition

L 72-61
St. Cloud, MN
Monday
Jan. 5
Briercrest College
W 99-31
Minot, ND
Friday
Jan. 9
South Dakota Tech
W 75-61
Minot, ND
Saturday
Jan. 10
Black Hills
L 88-71
Minot, ND
Thursday
Jan. 15
Jamestown
L 70-67
Minot, ND
Sunday
Jan. 18
Valley City
L 76-68
Valley City, ND
Friday
Jan. 23
Mayville
W 70-67
Minot, ND
Saturday
Jan. 24
Dakota State
W 81-61
Minot, ND
Wednesday
Jan. 28
Dickinson
L 61-59
Dickinson, ND
Sunday
Feb. 1
University of North Dakota (Ex.)

     L 96-42

Grand Forks, ND
Friday
Feb. 6
Black Hills
L 63-45
Spearfish. SD
Saturday
Feb. 7
South Dakota Tech
L 74-68
Rapid City, SD
Wednesday
Feb. 11
Jamestown
L 78-71
Jamestown, ND
Saturday
Feb. 14
Valley City
W  90-84 OT
Minot, ND
Wednesday
Feb. 18
Dakota State
W 65-59
Madison, SD
Thursday
Feb. 19
Mayville
W 84-57
Mayville, ND
Sunday
Feb. 22
Playoffs - Jamestown
L 66-56
Jamestown, ND

 

 

 

 

 

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Bagsby and Mack Garner Post-season Honors

 

 

Minot State's Lashay Bagsby has been named All-American as well as All-Conference and MaKenzie Mack has also be selected All-Conference.

Bagsby is a 6'1" senior post player that excelled at Minot State for two years after transferring there from a junior college.

Mack, a junior Scranton, North Dakota, broke into the starting line-up this year and had a great season.  The 5'11" forward will be counted on for senior leadership on and off the floor next year.

 

 

 

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Jimmies Hold Off Minot - Beavers Finish Season at 15-14

 

JAMESTOWN - Minot State University kept cutting into an early Jamestown College lead.

The Jimmies kept answering.

The Beavers cut JC's nine-point lead to one numerous times, but never took a lead in the second half as the Jimmies held off MSU 66-56 in the quarterfinals of the Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball postseason tournament Sunday at the Jamestown Civic Center.

"We had a little momentum shift in the second half and got to within two and I thought there was a chance to get over the hump," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "But credit their defense, we didn't get many open shots."

The No. 6 seeded Beavers finished the season at 15-14 overall, while the No. 24 ranked and No. 3 seeded Jimmies improved to 20-8 on the season.

While MSU had plenty of chances early, it was JC that opened a lead. The Jimmies took a 12-6 lead after nearly 10 minutes of play on a Mara Paulson basket.

"I thought both teams were a little more nervous, it's win and move on, or lose and go home and both teams were a little tight," JC head coach Mark Wiest said. "That and both teams played real good defense. Neither team lit it up and nobody had much rhythm."

"It was tough, No. 1 to get shots and No. 2 to get them to fall," Green Gerding said.

MSU cut the early lead to four at halftime behind the play of senior Holly Siverling and junior MacKenzie Mack. Mack finished with 10 points at the break and Siverling scored nine of her 14 points in the first half, giving MSU a physical presence in a very physical game.

"Holly had a nice all-around game. She is so hard to handle inside and is a physical presence in a physical game," Green Gerding said. "This was her type of game."

The Beavers kept chipping away in the second half as MSU turned its focus to senior Lashay Bagsby. Bagsby scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.

"The guards did a good job of finding the posts and (Bagsby) finished," Green Gerding said.

But the Jimmies had an answer for everything MSU threw at them. Early it was Paulson, who hit three early baskets in the second half and added a pair of free throws. She gave her team a 41-34 lead on a short jumper with 12:28 to play.

"It was really important (to not give up the lead). We did a good job of maintaining it. Each run we answered with our own," Wiest said. "We have done that all year and have won these close games."

The Jimmies built the lead to 51-41 on an Amanda Rantapaa 3-pointer with 7:24 to go, but the Beavers got back into it cutting it to 56-54 with 1:42 to play. JC, however, got a pair of free throws by Heidi Fiechtner with 1:29 to go and the biggest basket of the game as Fiechtner pulled down an offensive rebound and putback on the Jimmies next possession for the 60-54 lead.

"Their defense was very good, but we got better as the game went on against it," Wiest said. "We attacked the basket and got to the free-throw line and that is a big part of our game - get to the paint, get to the line and made free throws."

MSU couldn't get closer than that as JC hit 9 of 10 free throws in the final 2:42 of the game and 22 of 24 overall.

Fiechtner led the way with 17 points and added seven rebounds for the Jimmies, who travel to Black Hills State for the semifinals Wednesday. Paulson added 12 points and Kellie Schuneman scored 15 for JC.

Along with Bagsby and Siverling, Mack finished with 12 points and Sam Medcalf added seven points, four assists and five rebounds for the Beavers.

 

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Bagsby helps MSU to Blow Out Win in Mayville

MAYVILLE - Minot State raced out to a 46-30 first-half lead and cruised to an 84-57 win over Mayville State in Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball here Thursday.

The game was the regular season finale for both teams. MSU (6-8 DAC, 15-13 overall), the No. 6 seed in the DAC tournament will travel to No. 3 Jamestown College in the first round Sunday starting at 7:30 p.m. Mayville State (1-13, 3-23) is at top seed Dickinson State in the first round.

MSU raced out to an early lead behind solid shooting. The Beavers hit their first five shots in the game.

"Everything feels better when you start hitting your shots. We were 5 for 5 at the start," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "I think missing shots is contagious as is hitting shots and we had three or four people hitting right away."

The Beavers had four players in double figures and all seven players who scored, netted at least six points. Lashay Bagsby led the team with 23 points, while McKenzie Mack added 17 points, and seven rebounds. Whitney Loftesnes scored 13 points hitting two 3-pointers and Caroline Folven chipped in with 11. To kickstart the offense, MSU moved the ball around, garnering 24 assists on 34 field goals as a team. Sam Medcalf dished out nine assists, while Dora Garza had five.

"We were moving the ball around unselfishly and passing up a shot to get a good shot," Green Gerding said.

The Comets hit just 29 percent from the floor and were 3 of 20 on 3-pointers. MSU gave up a total of 10 field goals in the first half and then held Mayville to just six in the second half.

"We had a great first half defensively and offensively. About the only way Mayville scored in the first was at the free-throw line," Green Gerding said. "We are pleased to get the win last night in a close game and then come out here with a lot of energy."

Ali Sonstelie scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds for the Comets. Katelyn Peterson and Erin Ericson each scored 11 in the loss.

MSU shot 64.5 percent in the first half from the floor, including 6 of 9 3-pointers and finished the game hitting 56.7 percent overall. Along with the double figure scorers, Medcalf and Holly Siverling scored seven apiece and Garza added six.

 

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Beavers Win at Dakota State 65-59

MADISON, S.D. - Minot State University overcame 17 first-half turnovers and 12 Dakota State 3-pointers to earn its second straight Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball win.

The Beavers rallied for 43 second-half points to take a 65-59 win over the Trojans here Wednesday.

"We couldn't handle their pressure at all in the first half," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "We turned it over because we weren't sound with the basketball. We kind of crumbled under the pressure.

"In the second half, we regrouped. Looked to attack with penetration and did some nice things to clear out the back side for layups for (Lashay) Bagsby."

Bagsby responded with 23 points and 14 rebounds to pace the Beavers. She also had a key offensive rebound late in the game with Beavers clinging to a small lead.

"We really did a great job on the boards," Green Gerding said. "We had just five turnovers in the second half, took care of the basketball, got back in the game, took control of it and stayed in control of it."

MSU (5-8 DAC, 14-13 overall) held DaSU to just 32 percent shooting, but the 3-pointers were almost the equalizer. The Trojans (3-10, 8-19) were 12 of 40 from beyond the arc. Katie Bourk finished with six 3-pointers for a team-high 20 points, while Alyssa Kirk hit four 3s for 16 points.

The Beavers hit 41 percent from the floor. Along with Bagsby, MSU got 13 points and seven rebounds from MacKenzie Mack, eight points, six rebounds from Whitney Loftesnes and six points from Caroline Folven.

"Teamwise, we did a good job of getting the ball inside when we needed to," Green Gerding said. "We got contributions from several people. Mack had a pretty solid game for us. Folven gave us a spark in the second and scored like six straight."

MSU moves on for its regular season finale with a game at Mayville State tonight at 5:30 p.m.

"It's been a long time since we've won at Dakota State," Green Gerding said. "It's a big win from that perspective. It's a hard place to play, a long trip."

 

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Beavers Beat Valley City in OT

Click to Close

 

The Minot State University women's basketball team accomplished something it hasn't done in what probably feels like an eternity.

The Beavers rallied from a second half swoon.

MSU trailed No. 19 ranked Valley City State by 14 points midway through the second half, rallied and then held off the Vikings in overtime, winning 90-84 in Dakota Athletic Conference play Saturday at the MSU Dome.

"Everything felt different," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "There was some excitement out there, some energy, and gosh, we had fun."

The Beavers looked to be out of synch as VCSU went on a 21-7 to start the second half. MSU, however, stormed back behind a renewed defensive effort and an unique combo on the floor. The Beavers used its "red" defense with a twist - a trap that Green Gerding attributed to assistant coach Gary Walhaug - and the group of MacKenzie Mack, Sam Medcalf, Dora Garza, Hatti Ternes and Holly Siverling.

"I think we found five people that had some rhythm and worked together and played unselfishly," Green Gerding said. "We got he ball where we needed it to go. We found (MacKenzie) Mack a couple of times. When we went off the run, she wanted the ball and sometimes we listen to the players and got it to her."

Mack blossomed in the combination as the junior scored many of her game-high 32 points in the final 10 minutes of regulation and overtime. She also finished with a team-high 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.

"It's been tough because we have been losing and we finally got this one," Mack said. We stuck together as a team. There were a lot of positives out there tonight. We just played well."

The Beavers (4-8 DAC, 13-13 overall) actually took a seven point lead on a 3-pointer by Ternes with 5:14 to play. VCSU didn't go away taking back the lead at 74-73 on a 3-pointers from Caitlyn Wojahn with 1:33 to go. The teams traded baskets until MSU took a two-point lead with a free throw by Lashay Bagsby with 10.8 seconds to play.

The Vikings' Brittany Olson, who had a team-high 21 points, forced overtime with a tough, off balance shot in the paint with 3.8 seconds to play.

"Coach just said stay positive and we are going to get this one," Mack said of the Beavers huddle before overtime. "We needed to just keep defending and move the ball. There wasn't a lot of plays or anything, just have fun and play as hard as we can in overtime."

MSU never trailed in overtime as Medcalf scored 24 seconds into the extra session. Mack scored at 3:39 and gave the Beavers a 84-78 lead after hitting four of six free throws during a 40 second span. She was 10 of 15 in the game and the Beavers were 20 of 28 in the second half and overtime.

"Down the stretch, we were where we needed to be," Green Gerding said. "I thought Mack and Holly were a tough match up for them."

Along with Olson, the Vikings (8-4, 16-10) got 20 from Amanda Brown and 12 from Abby Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse and Olson pulled down eight rebounds each.

Bagsby scored 11 of her 17 points in the first half to help MSU's cause. Medcalf added 12 points and six assists and Hatti Ternes finished with 10 points and four rebounds in one of her best games in a Beavers uniform.

"Hatti hit some shots and played pretty smart defensively," Green Gerding said. "And, she took care of the ball. Holly was a force in there, did a great job of keeping the ball out of the paint and was on the boards. Bottom line is we got some great contributions from our bench."

MSU finishes its DAC regular season on the road Wednesday and Thursday as they head to Dakota State and Mayville State.

 

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Beavers Can't Complete Comeback


The Beavers fell behind 21-6 over the first eight minutes of the game and did not look to be in the game.

MSU rallied to take a second half lead, but couldn't hold on as No 25 Jamestown College hit six 3-pointers in the second half en route to a 78-71 win in Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball Wednesday at the Jamestown Civic Center.

"We worked hard and did some good things in our zone defense, but they hit some key 3s," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "Give the credit. We did a lot of good things, but it was the little things that kill you."

The biggest thing for the Beavers was free throw shooting as the Beavers were just 13 of 21 in the second half.

"Free throws killed us - just like they did at home," Green Gerding said.

The Jimmies' (7-4 DAC, 17-7 overall) pressure defense rattled the Beavers early on as they took a 16-6 lead on a 3-pointer by Ali Edwards. The Beavers were stuck on six points for just under three minutes during a 14-2 JC run.

"I don't think we did anything special, but just played with a lot of energy the first 10 minutes," JC head coach Mark Wiest said. "We wanted to put a lot of pressure on them and turn it into a full court game. We hoped to wear them down and I thought we did that early. It looked like we had a step on them."

But the Beavers (3-8, 12-13) battled back behind the outstanding play of Sam Medcalf and steady work by Lashay Bagsby. Medcalf spent a stretch on the bench with two fouls, but came back to both score (10 in first half, 20 in the game), and also run the team.

"Sam had a great game. She looked to attack on offense," Green Gerding said. "She got some things going with the three and found some rhythm and did a good job of getting the ball to Lashay in transition."

MSU's biggest lead in the second half was eight on a 3-pointer by Medcalf with 14:04 and the Beavers still led by six at 48-42 on a three-point play by Bagsby with 12:08 to go, but JC started to hit 3s.

"We were a couple of baskets away from being out of it," Wiest said. "Give our kids credit. We knew they would make a run at us and they made a big one. But we found a way to win."

The Jimmies' Stacey Nygaard started things off with a 3-pointer to just the MSU lead to 48-45, Nichole Ahlers gave the Jimmies a 50-48 lead a minute after Nygaard and Mindy Clark capped things off with the dagger at 3:02 and a 66-59 lead.

"We got a little stagnant against the zone so we went four guards out," Wiest said. "It isn't something that we do a lot of but it worked. We hit some 3s and that opened some things up. Ahlers hit three big ones and Clark hit a big one. As soon as you do that it opened some things up."

While JC hit the majority of its 3-pointers in the second half, MSU struggled after Medcalf's 3 early in the second half. The Beavers finished just 4 of 15 and went 2 of 10 in the second half.

While MSU struggled on 3s, Green Gerding was happy with the team's overall offensive performance.

"We attacked most of the night on offense," she said. "We scratched and clawed during that run to get back into it.

"Bottom line is we had a couple of defensive assignments we didn't execute and that's the difference in the game."

Edwards led the Jimmies with 17 points and added six rebounds. She scored 10 of her points on 10 of 12 free throw shooting. Clark was the only other JC player in double figures with 10, but Mara Paulson, Heidi Fiechtner and Ahlers each scored nine.

Along with Medcalf's 20, Bagsby hit for a game-high 23 points and finished with eight rebounds. MacKenzie Mack added eight points and six rebounds for the Beavers. MSU plays its last DAC regular season home game Saturday as they play host to Valley City State.


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Mines Pulls Away from Minot

 

RAPID CITY, S.D. - For the third straight night, Minot State University played a strong first 10 minutes. For the third straight game, the Beavers have nothing to show for us.

MSU led 23-17 midway through the first half, only to have South Dakota Mines rally as the Beavers dropped its third-straight game, losing to the Hardrockers 74-68 in Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball here Saturday.

"We had a really bad stretch in the second half where we didn't take care of the basketball and took some bad shots," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "We were a step slow defensively."

The Hardrockers (5-6 DAC, 9-16 overall) had five players in double figures, but none scored more than 14. Jerika Ihnen paced Mines with 14, while Bethany Holyoak finished with 12 and Maria Luze, Jessica Tsignine and Leah Sundby all finished with 10 points.

"They got open looks and knocked them down," Green Gerding said.

The Beavers (3-7, 12-12) loss spoiled the career night for MSU freshman Caitlin Durkin. Durkin scored 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting and added three rebounds and three assists off the bench.

"Caitlin has been better and better every day in practice. She got a lot of time the past two games and took advantage of what we gave her," Green Gerding said. "She was aggressive on the offensive end."

MSU shot the ball well most of the night, hitting 26 of 51 for 51 percent, but took 12 fewer shots than Mines. The Hardrockers forced MSU into 23 turnovers, scoring 23 points of those miscues.

"The combinations we had at times weren't the best for us and we were forced into that because of foul trouble," Green Gerding said.

Ihnen and Tsignine finished with seven rebounds each, while Tsignine paced the Hardrockers with four assists.

Lashay Bagsby scored 15 points and Whitney Loftesnes added 13 for the Beavers. Bagsby also finished with six rebounds. MacKenzie Mack pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to go along with her eight points.

MSU finishes a four-game road swing at Jamestown College (5:30 p.m.) Wednesday.

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Beavers Buikd Up Early Lead but Can't Hold On

SPEARFISH, S.D. - Minot State University built an 11-point lead early in the first half, but No. 6 Black Hills State didn't go away.

The Yellow Jackets closed the first half on a 22-4 run to take a 30-23 lead at the break and did not look back, pulling away from the Beavers for a 63-45 Dakota Athletic Conference win here Friday.

"We couldn't score," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "We missed easy shots and had too many crucial turnovers that turned into points for them."

MSU (3-6 DAC, 12-11 overall) opened with 19 points in the first six minutes, but a combination of solid BHSU defense and poor shooting did the Beavers in. MSU scored just 26 points over the final 34 minutes.

"We had good looks overall, we just didn't convert," Green Gerding said. "They always play tough defense, they are a great defensive team."

BHSU (8-2, 19-5) won its fourth straight game and its 13th in its past 15 games. The Yellow Jackets only shot 37.7 percent from the floor.

"We played solid defense the entire game," Green Gerding said. "We made them take tough shots."

The Beavers hit just 34.8 percent from the floor, going just 6 of 23 in the second half. That, coupled with 24 turnovers, helped the Beavers to it lowest point output of the season.

Piggy Pili led all scorers with 15 points for the Yellow Jackets. Kristi Ryan and Keely Krolikowski had nine points apiece.

Whitney Loftesnes scored 12 points and MacKenzie Mack added 10 to pace MSU. Mack also pulled down eight rebounds.

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Molina Signs with MSU

Click on the "RECRUITS" link on the top of this page to read all about it!

 


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Beavers Fall at UND

GRAND FORKS - Danye Guinn finished with a team-high 15 points and the University of North Dakota had six players finish in double figures scoring as it topped Minot State University 96-42 in a women's college basketball game Sunday at the Engelstad Sioux Center.

Dora Garza led Minot State with 10 points on 4 of 4 shooting while Lashay Bagsby added nine points for the Beavers, who were outscored 42-23 in the first half and 54-19 in the second half.

"It's a great opportunity for us to play in a great facility with a good crowd against a really good team," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "I thought we competed really well for a half. They got us down and we got back to within 11 with two minutes to go in the half."

North Dakota (12-10) turned over the Beavers 29 times while committing just 12 turnovers and had 40 points off of turnovers.

Minot State made 13 of 45 field goals, including 4 of 12 shots from beyond the 3-point line.

"We got some good looks offensively, but just didn't finish very well," Green Gerding said.

The Beavers (12-10, 3-5 DAC) play at Black Hills State Friday and at South Dakota Mines Saturday

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Safranski Signs with Minot State

Click on the "RECRUITS" link on the top of this page to read all about it!

 

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Late bucket beats Beavers

 

The Dickinson State women's basketball team is doing what championship teams do.

On Wednesday night, the Blue Hawks fought through a difficult situation and won a big Dakota Athletic Conference game with clutch shots.

Kelly Pankratz's 5-foot jumper from the left baseline sat on the rim for a moment before rolling in with 2 seconds left, giving the 14th-ranked Blue Hawks a 61-59 victory over Minot State on Wednesday night at Scott Gymnasium.

"Great teams can battle through adversity like we did in the first half and come back and win games," DSU coach Guy Fridley said.

The Blue Hawks (16-5, 6-1 DAC) had quite a bit of hardship to battle through and not just in the game.

In the morning, junior center Kia Herbel the team's leading scorer and rebounder had a hypoglycemic episode that caused her to faint and hit her head on a cabinet in her apartment.

With Herbel fully recovered by game time, Fridley thought his team's troubles were over.

Then, the Beavers (12-10, 3-5 DAC) climbed to a 17-2 lead just 6:28 into the first half.

But, the Blue Hawks battled through their difficulties and found a way to hold onto first place in the DAC.

With Herbel stymied by the Beavers' interior defense, Pankratz and other players off the bench sparked DSU's comeback. The Blue Hawks clawed their way back by the 5-minute mark, when a shot in the post by Kia Herbel made it 21-17.

But, the Beavers kept DSU scoreless for the next four minutes and went into halftime leading 30-21.

"I thought we defended very well," Minot State coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "It seems like when we needed a bucket, we came up with one."

MacKenzie Mack had eight points and Lashay Bagsby had six during the run. Mack finished with 16 points. Bagsby had 12 points and eight rebounds.

"Mack plays her heart out every game," Green Gerding said. "She gives you everything she's got and never spots coming at you."

DSU had a similar philosophy in the second half.

Herbel scored DSU's first nine points after halftime and Kelsey Boedeker sank a 3-pointer from the right side a little more than 6 minutes into the half to give DSU its first lead, 38-37.

The sophomore guard scored 10 points in a 3:12 span to help the Blue Hawks regain the momentum in second half. She finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

DSU held onto small leads for much of the second half. But, back-to-back shots in the post by Mack and Bagsby put the Beavers up 59-57 with a minute left.

Herbel got a shot in the post with 50 seconds left to tie the game at 59. The 6-foot-2 post said better ball movement in the second half freed her up for easier baskets.

"I got some great passes from the guards," said Herbel, who finished with team highs of 16 points and eight rebounds. "Coach said we needed to penetrate me and that's what'll get us more touches inside."

After calling a time out 16 seconds left, Fridley drew up a play based on what defense Minot State showed. The play, intended to free up senior guard Ashley Emmons, didn't go exactly as planned and instead left Pankratz alone benenath the basket.

"I got really scared because Lashay Bagsby was right there," Pankratz said. "I saw Ashley was stuck, so I cut baseline. I saw an opening."

 

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Beavers Win Big Over Dakota State

Medcalf

Sam Medcalf did a little bit of everything.

Minot State's junior point guard from Andover, Minn., scored 16 points, pulled down 10 rebounds, dished out seven assists and finished with four steals. And, she drew three charges.

"There have been a couple games where I have fouled out lately and coach has been getting on me for that," Medcalf said. "So I wanted to go out and outwork (Dakota State's) guards. I had a little more focus."

Medcalf's play, along with the most complete half of basketball for the Beavers in the first, led to a 81-61 win over Dakota State in Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball Saturday at the MSU Dome.

The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Beavers against the Trojans and gave MSU a modest two-game winning streak.

"I look at a couple things. We took care of the basketball, made shots so that makes everything look better and we were real sound on what we were doing on defense," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "And we controlled the boards. We gave up some rebounds late, but with the three bigs in there, it seems like we are crashing the boards real hard."

The Beavers (3-4 DAC, 12-9 overall) played nearly a complete first half as they opened up a 20-8 lead on a hoop by Holly Siverling 7:28 into the first half. The Beavers extended it to 36-19 on a layup by Medcalf seven minutes later. MSU shot 53 percent from the floor, hit 11 of 13 free throws and pulled down nine offensive rebounds.

"It was pretty close," Green Gerding said when asked how close to perfect MSU was in the first.

The Trojans (2-5, 6-15) tried to extend their defense in a half-court trap, but the Beavers weren't bothered by the pressure.

"I don't know why they extended it as far out as they did, because the skip was open all night," Medcalf said. "We knocked down some shots and then went inside. We didn't want to move the ball around too fast so the post would get lost. They utilized the space and we got it down low."

"I am proud of our point guards because not one time did we turn the ball over in the way they set up that defense," Green Gerding added. "We must have set a record in throwing bounce passes. The light must have come on and we use it a lot."

Dakota State made one run in the second half whittle a 48-26 halftime lead down to 11 on a 3-pointer Katie Bourk. MSU, however, refocused on the inside play of Lashay Bagsby and the senior didn't disappoint. Bagsby, who scored a game-high 19 points, went on a personal 8-0 run to stretch the lead back to 20.

"Sam had a huge game and I though Shay had her best weekend," Green Gerding said. "Her athleticism really showed."

The Trojans were paced by three players with 12. Dana Tschakert, Alyssa Kirk and Megan Swecker all scored a dozen. Bourk had 11 points and finished with nine rebounds for DSU.

Along with Medcalf and Bagsby, MSU also had Caroline Folven (16) and MacKenzie Mack (10) in double figures and got nine points and four assists from Whitney Loftesnes.

"Last night was a little tough in the ending, but it was a win," Medcalf said. "I hope it snowballs from here."

MSU travels to rival and conference leader Dickinson State Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. tip off.

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Bagsby Preserves Win Over Mayville

 



Whew.

That was the collective feeling as Minot State University's Lashay Bagsby stole the ball under the Mavyville State hoop with six seconds to play.

Bagsby found herself in the perfect position with the Beavers clinging to a 58-57 lead.

"Their player kind of went down on the baseline and stopped and she turned into me. The ball was there and I waited to see what she was going to do," Bagsby, a senior from Bakersfield, Calif, said. "When it was still there, I just grabbed it and went."

The steal and MSU's Caitlyn Durkin's clutch free throws with 2.9 seconds remaining preserved a 60-57 win for the Beavers snapping a three-game losing streak in Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball Friday at the MSU Dome.

"That was a good defensive play," Minot State head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "We took a chance and went with our "red" defense and I don't think they were ready for it."

Green Gerding and assistant coach Bill Triplett talked about the defensive switch from man during a timeout and decided to go with the zone.

"It took about 59 seconds of a minute timeout," Green Gerding joked. "Triplett had a good point, if it is a 2 or a 3, we loose. You worry about the 3 in red, but it doesn't matter, so we took the chance."

Bagsby was the key early for Minot as well as late as she scored her team's first 12 points. She finished with a game-high 20 points and hit her first 3-pointer of the season.

"Nothing special, just ready to go," Bagsby said of her start. "I was just open and threw it up there (on the 3-pointer). I shoot them in practice but don't in the game. I think I can now.

"After losing three in a row, this just feels so much better."

The Beavers (2-4 DAC, 11-8 overall) built a 52-39 lead on a 3-pointer by Caroline Folven and a hoop by Bagsby with 6:12 to play in the second half.

But Mayville (0-6, 2-16) hung around the entire game, making a push at the Beavers in the final six minutes. The Comets' Kelli Smart answered the Bagsby basket with a 3-pointer, sparking a 13-2 run over the next 4:23. When Comets' Ali Sonstelie scored with 1:49 to play it was 54-52.

"Mayville had done that all season," Green Gerding said. "They hang around, hang around and in the end, they are still there. I knew they wouldn't go away and would continue to play hard."

While Bagsby's steal finalized the win, it was Dora Garza's steal and free throws following the Sonstelie basket that maintained the Beavers cushion.

"Dora took the Jamestown (College loss) personally and I thought if she was in the situation again, she would come through for us because she is a tough player," Green Gerding said. "And Caitlyn hit some big free throws. Our freshmen played strong for us."

The Comets scrappy play throughout kept Minot off balance on the offensive end. While the Beavers were able to make multiple runs, they weren't able to put Mayville away.

Mayville was paced by Erin Erickson's 14 points as the freshman guard hit four 3-pointers. Sonstelie and Lindsay Sannes each scored 10 points for the Comets.

Along with Bagsby, Folven (14 points) and MacKenzie Mack (11) scored in double figures. Folven added six rebounds, while Garza dished out five assists.

MSU is back at the Dome tonight as they play host to Dakota State at 4 p.m.


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Vikings Shoot Down Beavers

 

VALLEY CITY - Minot State University couldn't buy a 3-pointer and couldn't stop Valley City State from making big ones.

The Beavers went 1-for-17 on 3s, while the Vikings knocked down 8 of 20, but it was key ones for VCSU that held off any comeback for MSU as Valley City took a Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball game Sunday at the W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse.

"We didn't shoot the ball very well, defend or play very hard," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "We had too many mental mistakes that cost us."

Emily Goedert knocked own two big 3s in the second half and Brittany Olson hit a key one as well to keep the Vikings (3-2 DAC, 11-8 overall) lead around 15 much of the second half.

The Beavers chipped away at the lead multiple times, getting it to eight a on a MacKenzie Mack steal and layup, to 10 on a rebound, putback by Caroline Folven with 5:14 to play, and to seven on a 12-footer by Mack with just under two minutes to play. But the Beavers never got it under seven in the second half.

"We saw some improvement in some areas. We just have to get better," Green Gerding said.

The Beavers now stand at 10-9 overall and 1-4 in the DAC.

VCSU had solid balance as all seven of the Vikings who scored hit for at least seven points and five VCSU players scored double figures. Olson paced the Vikings with 17 points, Caitlyn Wojahn and Amanda Brown scored 12 each and Andrea Hummel and Mandy Johnson scored 10 apiece.

Lashay Bagsby had a good second half, scoring 13 of her team-high 17 in the second. Folven finished with 16 points, while Mack had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Beavers are back at the MSU Dome for its last home Friday-Saturday DAC weekend as they play host to Mayville State Friday and Dakota State Saturday.

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Jimmies Rally Over MSU 70-67



Jamestown College’s Kellie Schneman and Minot State University’s Lashay Bagsby (right) and

Dora Garza (bottom) battle for a loose ball as the two teams played Thursday at the MSU Dome



Minot State University needed just a couple more baskets or a couple more defensive stops to upset No. 5 ranked Jamestown College.

Neither happened.

The Jimmies held MSU without a field goal over the final 5:53, outscored the Beavers 10-1 over the final 2:42 and forced seven straight MSU turnovers to end the game en route to a 70-67 win in Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball Thursday at the MSU Dome.

"I was a little concerned, but looked up at the clock and there was a lot of time," JC head coach Mark Wiest said. "We had good possessions down the stretch. We weren't far away from it being out of reach, but I was pretty confident."

The Beavers took a 66-60 lead on two free throws by MacKenzie Mack with 3:11 to go, but mustered just one more point the rest of the way.

"We didn't handle the pressure at the end," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "We didn't make the plays we needed to and they did on their end."

The Jimmies' final push was made behind stellar play by Ali Edwards. Edwards scored seven of her game-high 22 points over the final 1:40, all with four fouls. She hit a huge 3-pointer from the wing to tie the game at 67 and gave the game its final lead change with a short jumper with 25.4 seconds to play.

"Ali is such a good defender for us," Wiest said. "But what she did for us on the offensive end is what we feel she is capable of."

"The thing with Ali is she is such a smart player and knows enough about the game to keep herself in the game with fouls."

The game featured 18 lead changes and 11 ties, including 11 changes in the second half alone.

JC switched defenses all night and went to a full court press that seemed to rattle the Beavers. MSU had 20 turnovers compared to just seven by the Jimmies.

"They came out in the press and I don't know if that bothered us a little bit," Green Gerding said. "We haven't done the little things. I have been saying that all year."

"We played good defense and we are going to have to play that kind of defense the rest of the year," Wiest said. "I thought when (MSU point guard Sam) Medcalf fouled out we could rattle (Dora) Garza a bit. Our defense was solid."

The loss spoiled a great night for MSU's Whitney Loftesnes. Loftesnes scored a team-high 21 points, hitting all five of her 3-pointers and finishing 7 of 7 from the floor.

Neither team's offenses looked comfortable in the first half as the game was tied at 27. MSU was terrible from the free-throw line in the half, hitting just 1 for 8. MSU went just 11-for-21 from the line for the game.

"That was the story right there," Green Gerding said. "You have do things throughout the game to put yourself in position. If we make free throws, we are in a better position."

Along with Edwards, Mara Paulson and Alison Epping each scored 11 for the Jimmies (3-1 DAC, 13-4 overall).

MSU (1-3, 10-8) had four players in double figures as Caroline Folven (15), MacKenzie Mack (14) and Lashay Bagsby (10) joined Loftesnes. Bagsby added a game-high 13 rebounds for the Beavers.

The Beavers will try rebound against Valley City State Sunday in Valley City.


 

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Yellow Jackets Sting the Beavers


Black Hills State head women's basketball coach Mark Nore was a little surprised how his team shot the ball Saturday night.

After all, Nore and his No. 10 ranked Yellow Jackets have struggled at the Minot State University Dome in the past.

"I was really surprised. This is only the second time I have won here," Nore said. "It is probably the toughest place to play, so to get a win here is good."

But shooting was not an issue for BHSU as they hit 47.5 percent from the floor, including 17 of 33 in the first half, en route to an 88-71 Dakota Athletic Conference win over the Beavers Saturday.

"It never felt like a 20-point game," Nore said. They are so good here. I knew they would make a big run, but we countered and hit shots. You usually win when you hit shots."

When the Yellow Jackets (3-1 DAC, 14-4 overall) weren't making shots, they were grabbing offensive rebounds. BHSU finished with 16 for the game and had almost as many offensive boards (9) as MSU had total (10) in the first half.

"It was the little things like not boxing out and keeping them off the boards," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "We didn't create our own breaks. They played real well and shot teh ball well from the floor, but we kind of match their shooting. It was the little things like turnovers and not hitting free throws."

The rebounding, along with MSU's problems with the Yellow Jackets' pressure defense, created a nightmare scenario for the Beavers (1-2, 10-7).

"We couldn't get a comeback going against them. Give them credit, they answered the runs we make at them," Green Gerding said.

The game was back and forth until the Yellow Jackets blew open the game. After a media timeout midway through the first half, BHSU turned a two-point lead into a 49-28 bulge with 58.3 seconds to play. The run was capped by a 3-pointer by Keely Krowlikowski, one of her three triples and 17 points.

"It was a little bit of both, we got extended it out and played a little harder," Nore said. "I think we got them on their heals a little bit. Their shooters hit some shots early, but we did a better job of closing out on their shooters."

MSU tried to mount a comeback as MacKenzie Mack and Lashay Bagsby hit baskets and Whitney Loftesnes a 3-pointer, but BHSU's Brittany Fuhrman hit a 3-pointer after Bagsby's hoop and another after Loftesnes' to keep the Beavers at bay. Fuhrman led all scorers with 20 points.

Bagsby, who was hampered by foul trouble much of the way, and Loftesnes each scored 16 for the Beavers. Holly Siverling finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists off the bench for a solid overall weekend.

"Holly had a good weekend for us," Green Gerding said. "I thought she did a good job tonight.

"We just made too many mistakes, the silly travels and you can't do that, especially in league against good teams. We stressed it (taking care of the ball) and it was just a lack of concentration. There is no excuse for it."

MSU plays host to Jamestown College Thursday at the Dome starting at 5:30 p.m.

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Minot Bombs Tech After Slow Start

 

Bagsby pulls down a rebound Friday night vs. South Dakota Tech

 

It was not coincidence that Minot State University's best offensive stretch came when they knocked down 3s.

The Beavers hit four in a row during a 13-0 stretch that turned an otherwise tight game into a MSU cushion.

The run was more than South Dakota Mines could recover from as the Beavers ran away with a 75-61 Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball win Friday at the MSU Dome.

"They gave us everything we could handle and almost more than we can handle," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "For us to stick together and grind it out and have the explosion at the end, it was a great win."

The Beavers (1-1 DAC, 10-6 overall) earned their first win in the DAC, while Mines (2-1, 6-11) fell to 2-1 in conference play.

The run was started by MSU's Sam Medcalf's 3-pointer from the wing with 6:05 to play, cutting the Mines lead to 53-52. Thirty second later, Medcalf found Whitney Loftesnes for a 3 to give the Beavers a 55-53 lead. The same combination hooked up again for a 58-53 lead and, after a MacKenzie Mack free throw, Caroline Folven capped it with another from the top of the key - on yet another feed from Medcalf - with 3:13 to go.

"It was an attitude thing," Green Gerding said. "Sam missed a couple of easy ones and we talked about playing with some confidence, getting that swagger back that she has. She wanted the ball and hit the first one. It was nice to get some things rolling."

Folven was the key offensively for the Beavers much of the night. She finished with a game-high 21 points and added nine rebounds.

"Actually it was kind of funny. In warmups, it was frustrating," she said. "But once the game got going, I got on a little role. It started to come a little easier after that."

Mines had things in control early as they opened a 24-12 lead on a 3-pointer from Ariel Granillo with 5:21 to play in the first. Mines held the Beavers to just five field goals over the opening 15 minutes. But the Beavers rallied over the final five. MSU went on a 20-8 run to end the half, started by post Holly Siverling's free throw and capped by a Medcalf lay up.

"We made some adjustments and they started to fall," Folven said. "It makes us that much harder to guard. These games in January and February are huge and we are working hard at getting after it."

Neither team shot the ball extremely well in the game as both teams finished at 33.8 percent from the floor. MSU hit just 9 of 30 field goals in the first half and Mines was held to 10 of 35 in the second half.

"We didn't play a very good 15 minutes, but the last five minutes, we were awesome," Green Gerding said. "To come back down by that much and tie it at half, that was a key stretch. We came out flat, but had a burst of energy."

Mines Loryn Schuetzle held the Hardrockers with 15 points and three assists, but was held to just three in the second half. Bethany Holyoak and Jessica Tsignine each scored 12 for Mines, with Holyoak adding 10 rebounds. Jerika Ihnen had a game-high 13 rebounds for the Hardrockers.

"We were in man-to-man, it was a matter of recognizing who she (Schuetzle) was and getting up on her," Green Gerding said.

Along with Folven, MSU had three others in double figures. Lashay Bagsby scored 14 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, while Medcalf and Loftesnes each scored 10. Medcalf added seven assists and Loftesnes six as MSU had 17 assists as a team.

The Beavers play host to Black Hills State tonight (4 p.m.) in the middle of a three-game home stand.

 

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Beavers Blow by Clippers

 

       Rokki Parker and Holly Siverling go up for a rebound Monday vs Briercrest



With 99 points and nine players scoring eight or more individually, it would be easy for the Minot State University women's basketball team to only think of the offensive end.

But the Beavers defense was as good as can be.

MSU held Briercrest College (Sask.) to just nine field goals and 16.7 percent shooting as the Beavers cruised to a 99-31 nonconference NAIA women's basketball win Monday at the MSU Dome.

The Beavers (9-6 overall) gave up just 12 points in the second half, holding the Clippers to three field goals total in the second.

"We have been going hard at each other and playing hard in practice and that carried over," MSU freshman guard Dora Garza said. "We got after it on defense. We wanted a steal on every possesion."

MSU nearly forced a turnover every other possession. The Beavers caused 34 turnovers in the game, while Briercrest took just 54 shots.

"I didn't think we got sloppy either," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "We have really carried our intensity over from the St. Cloud (State) game. We have had good practices and have been working hard at taking care of the ball - coming to meet passes and some of those things. We could have got sloppy, but played within ourselves."

Turnovers have been a sore subject for Green Gerding and MSU, but the Beavers finished with just 13 turnovers compared to 26 assists and 16 steals.

"We took better care of the basketball, which is something we have been trying to do," Green Gerding said.

The game was never really in doubt. After the Clippers took a 4-3 early lead, MSU went on a decisive run. The Beavers took an 18-6 lead on a 3-pointer from Hatti Ternes from the right corner on a feed from Holly Siverling with 12:25 remaining. Whitney Loftesnes' 3 with 8:33 to play in the first stretched the lead to 29-12 and by the time Lashay Bagsby hit a rebound putback with 17:10 to play in the second making it 59-19, the game was a blowout.

"We got good production from a lot of people and played hard," Green Gerding said. "It was a good game for Dora and Caitlin (Durkin). We need them to come around and have good games for us. It was also good for, obviously Shay (Bagsby) played well, but also Caroline (Folven) had a great second half. Rokki Parker also had a good game for us as she was one of our leading rebounders."

MSU had solid balance as four scored in double figures and all 10 players scored at least five. Bagsby finished with a game-high 18, Folven had 16 points and 15 rebounds, Garza and Durkin added 10 each, Ternes nine, MacKenzie Mack, Siverling and Loftesnes' eight each, Sam Medcalf seven and Parker five. Parker had 11 rebounds and four assists for the Beavers.

"We are starting to get in sync," Garza said. "I feel I am starting to feel better, too. It was a good win to get us ready for conference."

Briercrest was paced by Morgan Sawatzky's 13 points. Amara MacCormack added seven points and three rebounds.

Minot State didn't shoot a great percentage from the floor as they hit 41.6 percent and only 25.5 percent on 3-pointers but more than made up for it with 27 offensive rebounds. Folven had nine offensive boards, while Parker added four. In all, MSU held a 64-40 rebounding advantage.

The Beavers move into the bulk of their Dakota Athletic Conference schedule as they play host to South Dakota Mines Friday (5:30 p.m.) and No. 10 Black Hills State Saturday (4 p.m.) at the Dome.

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MSU Loses Exhitbition at St. Cloud 72-61

 

       Siverling Gives Beavers Big Lift in Exhibiution at St Cloud

 

 

Without Katie Tacheny, it might have been a rough one for the St. Cloud State women’s basketball team Tuesday.

After a strong first half behind Tacheny’s 20 points, the Huskies struggled in the second against NAIA opponent Minot State at Halenbeck Hall. The Beavers showed lots of hustle and heart and just wouldn't go away when St. Cloud built up leads. 


Nevertheless, Tacheny finished with a career-best 29 points and set a school record with 10 steals for her first career double-double as the Huskies held off the upstart Beavers 72-61.

Minot State outscored the Huskies 35-27 in the second half after trailing 45-26 at halftime. St. Cloud State hadn’t played since Dec. 22 against Dakota State.

“We played really well in the first half, and for whatever reason, we just struggled in the second,” Tacheny said. “We haven’t played in eight days and it’s always tough coming back from that. But this is a good game to get under our belts. A win’s a win and we’ll take it.”

Tacheny, who was sporting a red scratch on her nose from the game and a black eye that she suffered in practice a few days earlier, came out firing in the first half. She hit three shots from beyond the arc and was active on the perimeter on the defensive end.

“Minot was doubling our posts and I was just getting kickouts,” Tacheny said of her hot start. “When you’re open, you have to take the shot. Whoever is feeling it on a certain night, we have to give the ball to them. Anybody can step up on any given night on this team because we’re so balanced.”

It was Tacheny’s defense that might have stood out the most as she had six points off steals in transition.

“Katie carried us all night,” St. Cloud State head coach Lori Fish said. “We have to have more people step up so that doesn’t happen. Thank God for Katie tonight. I thought she did a great job and played with a lot of confidence. She kept us in it.”

The Huskies suffered a scare with 14:02 to go in the second half when sophomore center Rachel Booth went down hard following a collision on the baseline with the Beavers’ Holly Siverling. Booth suffered a sprained right ankle and didn’t return to the game.

Booth was on crutches afterward and said she’ll begin treatment on the ankle right away. Fish said it was too early to tell whether Booth would miss Saturday’s game against Concordia-St. Paul.

MINOT STATE (61)

MacKenzie Mack 5-11 1-3 11 (7 rebounds), Holly Siverling 5-10 2-2 12, Sam Medcalf 0-6 2-2 2 (5 assists, 3 steals), Whitney Loftesnes 6-11 1-1 17, Hatti Ternes 4-6 1-2 11, Dora Garza 0-0 0-0 0, Caitlin Durkin 0-0 0-0 0, Caroline Folven 2-4 1-2 6, Lashay Bagsby 1-2 0-0 (6 rebounds). Totals: FG 23-50, FT 8-12, REB 32, TO 31, PF 16.

ST. CLOUD STATE (72)

Talisha Barlow 5-8 2-2 12 (9 rebounds, 3 steals), Danielle Ellison 3-7 1-1 7, Rachel Booth 6-7 2-2 14, Katie Tacheny 10-17 6-7 29 (10 steals, 4 assists), Krystal Scott 2-6 0-0 4, Marlayna Graff 0-4 0-0 0, Anna Cashman 0-5 2-2 2, Aaryn Booker 0-4 4-4 4. Totals: FG 26-58, FT 17-18, REB 30, TO 18, PF 18.

Three-point goals: MS — 7-13 (Loftesnes 4-7, Medcalf 0-2, Ternes 2-3, Folven 1-1); SC — 3-14 (Barlow 0-2, Ellison 0-1, Tacheny 3-7, Cashman 0-4). Fouled out: none; Technical fouls: none; Points in the paint: SC — 38; MS — 30; Points off turnovers: SC — 35; MS — 11; Second-chance points: MS — 12; SC — 8; Fastbreak points: SC — 12; MS — 0; Bench points: MS — 8; SC — 6.

 

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Waldorf Edges Minot in Hawaii

Mack dumps in 16 in losing effort

TheWaldorf Warriors defeated the Minot State Beavers 67-61 on Saturday in a game that was tied at halftime.  Both teams came out of the locker rooms fighting for control in the second half, but it was Waldorf who would come out on top as they took the lead and never looked back with just over fourteen minutes left.

Waldorf was led by Megan Forster who shot 9-17 for 21 total points. Forster also pulled in nine rebounds, one steal and had two assists. Sarah Swanson followed closely shooting 6-11 for 20 total points as well as grabbing eight rebounds, two steals, and one assist. Rachel Hannam led in steals with five as well as shooting 7-13 for 14 total points and four rebounds. Ali March led the team in rebounds with 12 as Kate Milbrandt led the team in assists with four.

Minot State was led by Mackenzie Mack who shot 7-11 for 16 total points, nine rebounds, and five assists and Lashay Bagsby who shot 6-13 for 16 total points, seven rebounds and two steals.

"I really thought this was a game that we should have won", stated Coach Gerding of Minot State.  "We need to learn to bring it every night, every minute, every posession and right now we're not doing that.  We're kind of a Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hide team and with only two games left till our conference games get back underway, we need to figure that out"!

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Beavers Get Win Over Rio Grande in Hawaii

      Mack knocks down a 3-ball for the Beavers in win over Rio Grande

HONOLULU, Hawaii - Minot State University held Rio Grande (Ohio) to just 22 second-half points as the Beavers rallied from a four-point deficit at the half to win 58-55 at the Hoop n' Surf Tournament in NAIA women's basketball Friday in Honolulu, Hawii.

The Beavers (7-5 overall) held Rio Grande (7-4 overall) to just nine field goals in the second half and gave up just 1 of 12 shooting on 3-pointers to overcome the deficit. MSU, while not shooting the ball particularily well all night, hit 3 of 9 3s in the second.

The biggest 3-point weapon was guard Sam Medcalf, who nailed 2 of 3 from beyond the arc to pace the Beavers with 14 points. Lashay Bagsby added 12 points and three steals and McKenzie Mack pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to go with nine points. Holly Siverling came off the bench to scored seven points, grab eight rebounds and dish out three assists.

Rio Grande was led in scoring by Sarah Drabinski's 14 points, while Erin Kume had 10 rebounds and eight points.

 

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Erickson Signs with Minot State

Click on the "RECRUITS" link on the top of this page to read all about it!

 

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Beavers Get Win over Montana-Western

 

It has become like a broken record for Minot State University's women's basketball team.

When the Beavers shoot the ball well from the perimeter, they are a much different team.

In Saturday's game against Montana-Western, the Beavers both used the 3-pointer and played off the outside shot to hold off the Bulldogs 81-66 in NAIA women's basketball at the MSU Dome.

"We were a little more aggressive on the perimeter and didn't just rely on the posts," MSU guard Whitney Loftesnes said. "It gets the adrenaline going."

Loftesnes was a big reason for the improved perimeter shooting as she knocked down four 3-pointers and created off the dribble to help feed Lashay Bagsby. Loftesnes scored 15 points and Bagsby finished with 22 points on 9 of 11 shooting.

"We passed up the rushed shot to get the better shot," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "We hit some shots inside and outside. It makes everything feel better and look better. You think your execution is great when you hit some."

The Beavers led by 14 at the break and had to weather multiple runs by the Bulldogs. Western closed within 54-49 with 8:45 to play on a basket by Alysa Brown.

"We knew they would come at us in the second," Loftesnes said. "We were trying to get a couple runs going."

MSU did with Bagsby at the center of it. She hit a basket 13 seconds after the Brown bucket and then fed Loftesnes on the baseline for the 3-pointer, jumping the lead back to 10 at 59-49.

"You have to give (Western) credit because they changed up some things and got back into it," Green Gerding said. "We kind of lost our focus on the offensive end for a bit, but defensively we played well."

MSU held Western to just 35.5 percent shooting in the second half and only 3 of 15 shooting on 3-pointers. The Beavers, on the other hand, shot 60.9 from the floor, knocking down 53 percent on 3s. MSU was 6 of 9 in the first half from beyond the arc.

"We have been working on our defense and tried to not give them much momentum," Loftesnes said.

"This whole weekend we worked on switching things up on defense," Green Gerding said. "Our man has been solid but it is nice to throw some of the zone in there."

MSU (7-5 overall) had another solid night in scoring balance as four players reached double figures. Along with Bagsby and Loftesnes, Mack added 15 points and seven rebounds while being limited in the second half due to foul trouble. Sam Medcalf capped a solid weekend as she scored 13 oints and dished out six assists.

Western (4-6 overall) was led by Chloe Mosey and Jamie Lake who scored 15 apiece. Brown added 14 points and Genna Rucker scored 12 for the Bulldogs.

MSU is next in action at the Hoop-n-Surf tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii Friday and Saturday. The Beavers take on Rio Grande Friday and Waldorf College Saturday.

 

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MSU Beats Montana State-Northern

Folven gets to the rim Friday vs. MSU-N



Minot State University's Caroline Folven gets around the defense of Montana State-Northern's Zivile Gaizutyte during the first half of an NAIA women's basketball game at the Minot State Classic Friday at the MSU Dome.


For a stretch of four minutes in the second half, the Minot State University women's basketball team looked very good.

The reason?

The Beavers hit some perimeter shots.

To be more specific, MSU's Sam Medcalf and Hatti Ternes were 4 of 4 on 3-pointers during a 12-2 run that in all was a 15-2 game-changing run as MSU pulled away from Montana State-Northern in NAIA women's college basketball at the Minot State Classic Friday at the MSU Dome.

"We just didn't rely solely on the inside game, we hit some shots on the perimeter," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "It wasn't just one thing. It was a plethora of things - several areas at different times."

The game was back and forth until the key run late in the second half. MSU took a 46-42 lead on a three-point play by MacKenzie Mack with 7:36 to play. Medcalf hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key after a solid pick by Lashay Bagsby freed her up beating the shot clock on the Beavers next possession. Medcalf hit her second 3 on a similar play a minute later and Ternes nailed back-to-back 3s from the wing on feeds from Caroline Folven and Bagsby to give the Beavers a commanding 58-44 lead.

"We usually look for the roll or the girl in the corner," Medcalf said of the pick play. "I shot it and it went in and it felt good to hit one. I thought it was going in right away, but I thought coach would ream me because she doesn't like that shot."

Medcalf was solid in the second half after picking up her third foul. She played the rest of the contest with three, scoring eight points, dishing out seven assists, pulling down four rebounds and swiping two steals.

"Hitting shots takes pressure off the posts and it feels pretty good to get some to fall," she said. "It had been a little frustrating. We have relied on the posts too much."

Ternes scored nine points on 3 of 3 shooting from beyond the arc. The Beavers had great balance as Mack led the team with 12 points, Bagsby added 11, Whitney Loftesnes, Holly Siverling and Folven each had eight.

"We had hardly anybody in double figures, eight, eight, eight and nine, that's great," Green Gerding said. "We did a good job of not posting (Stacie) Barker. She is a good shot blocker and Shay did a good job of passing off to the other posts. And, when Holly was in there, she did a good job of taking it right at her."

The Skylights took an early lead but couldn't pull away from Minot early as the Beavers defense held Northern off balance. MSU-N shot 46 percent in the first half, but only led 28-26 at half.

"We were changing it up on defense to keep them off rhythm," Green Gerding said.

Barker scored 15 points for Northern (3-7 overall).

Mack and Bagsby had eight rebounds each to pace the Beavers (6-5 overall). MSU avenged an earlier 80-57 loss to Northern in Havre, Mont.

The Skylights play Jamestown College today at noon and MSU takes on Montana-Western at 2 p.m.

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Minot State Hammers Brandon 97-51

 

MSU's Caitlin Durkin recovers the loose ball vs. Brandon

What a difference making a couple perimeter shots can make.

MSU hit five 3-pointers in the first half and seven overall in a 97-51 win over Brandon (Man.) University in nonconference NAIA basketball Monday at the MSU Dome.

The Beavers snapped a three game losing streak and scored more points in the first 25 minutes than they did in the entire game Saturday against Dickinson State.

"It was nice to see some people come out and hit some shots," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "The inside game was good again. Thought we fired nearly on all cylinders.

"We played pretty loose and played even harder (than Saturday) at certain positions. We know we are going to be there at the end. We didn't solve all our problems, but we are getting better little by little."

MSU opened with a different lineup than much of the first half of the preseason, going with a big post trio of Lashay Bagsby, MacKenzie Mack and Caroline Folven. The combination worked as MSU jumped out to a 34-11 lead 13 minutes in.

"We were just trying it out. It was interesting," Folven said. "We are trying to find something that works. We had some difficulties last week. I like it (the lineup change). It was fun to be on the court with Mack because she is such a great player."

Add in reserve post Holly Siverling and the Beavers got what they have come to expect from their big players. Folven finished with 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Bagsby led the Beavers with 17 and Siverling added 14 points and six rebounds.

"Give those guys credit - all five of them. Add Rokki (Paker) in there she is a good player but isn't going to get a lot of time because she has great players in front of her," Green Gerding said.

Mack finished with eight rebounds, seven points and five assists in her new role as a small forward.

"She didn't get a lot of looks in the second half or she would have another double double," Green Gerding said.

Green Gerding was also happy with her team's production from the bench in terms of both points and quality minutes. Every MSU player scored and along with Siverling, Rokki Parker chipped in with eight points and five rebounds, Hatti Ternes found her range with 3 of 4 3-pointers for nine points and Caitlin Durkin added six points. In all, MSU's bench scored 47 points, pulled down 26 rebounds and handed out 12 of the team's 23 assists.

"I think we needed a game like this," Folven said. "The shots just weren't falling, but we came in here and there wasn't a lot of stress or pressure. I think this is as good of a time as any to get going."

The Bobcats were paced by Melanie Thompson's 17 points, while Meghan Allison added 10 points and five rebounds.

MSU plays host to the Minot State Classic Friday and Saturday, taking on Montana State-Northern Friday at 7 p.m. Jamestown College and Montana-Western kick things off at 5 p.m. at the Dome.

 

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Blue Hawks End Beavers’ Streak

Dickinson State holds off MSU to end 9-game losing streak

MacKenzie Mack goes up for two of her 17 points

Minot State University women's basketball coach Sheila Green Gerding said during the week that her team couldn't control the ball going in the basket.

She was probably more prophetic than she had hoped.

The No. 9 ranked Beavers never shot well enough to win the game as a combination of Dickinson State defense, missed shots and poor MSU decisions led to a 70-63 Blue Hawks win in NAIA women's basketball Saturday at the MSU Dome.

The win for DSU snapped a 9-game MSU winning streak in the Dakota Athletic Conference opener for both teams. The loss also sent the Beavers to its third straight loss.

"I think that was the best defensive effort we have had all year," DSU head coach Guy Fridley said. "We talked all week that on that end will win the game. We denied the wings and tried to put pressure on the ball. It is tough for them to get it to the area that they are tough (post players) when you pressure the ball."

MSU (4-5 overall, 0-1 DAC) almost had enough offense as both team's defensive efforts stymied most of offensive output in the game. MSU shot 43.1 percent from the floor, 21.1 on 3-pointers and just 9 of 19 at the free-throw line. DSU (7-3 overall, 1-0 DAC) didn't fare much better from the floor (43.4 percent) and on 3-pointers (14.3 percent), but went 22 for 26 on free throws.

"Lack of shooting and poor decisions, those are the two areas we are struggling with right now," Green Gerding said. "We defended very well and played hard. The post gave us everything they could give us, we just didn't get it done on the perimeter."

While neither team had a lead more than five most of the way, the game remained very close until late. MSU took a late one-point lead on a Lashay Bagsby basket with 9:21 to play in the second half. But DSU countered with a Kelsey Boedeker hoop 10 seconds later. DSU never trailed again.

"It all comes down to a defensive effort. I don't want to be redundant, but the defense eliminated the big run," Fridley said. "To hold an explosive team like Minot to 63 is big for our kids. We kind of ground it out on defense."

MSU couldn't get a solid run going to take advantage of solid defense. While poor shooting was part of the problem, poor decisions were the other. MSU had 23 turnovers and a good portion of those came in key situations.

"We are not going to win with those kind of mental mistakes. We had too many times where we had unforced errors," Green Gerding said. "You will probably see a different lineup on Monday. We need to see who is going to come to play."

MSU did a solid job on the conference's top scorer Kia Herbel as she was limited to 13 points and seven rebounds. Boedeker (13 points), Ashley Emmons (12 points) and, mostly in the first half, Staci Moore (seven points) gave her solid help.

"We work everything around Kia and the girls know that. But Minot did a good job of keeping it out of her hands," Fridley said. "Kelsey and Staci in the first half, did a nice job off the bench. We are capable of doing great things even when Kia isn't scoring."

MSU was again carried by its post players as MSU's Lashay Bagsby, MacKenzie Mack, Holly Siverling and Caroline Folven combined for 45 points, 21 rebounds. Bagsby led the way with a game-high 22 points, while Mack ended with 17 points, 11 rebounds and four steals.

The Beavers won't play a DAC game until after the New Year, but are back at the Dome Monday as they play host to Brandon (Man.) University at 6 p.m. at the Dome.

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Larson Signs with Minot State

Click on the "RECRUITS" link on the top of this page to read all about it!

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MSU Loses Home Opener in Overtime

Bagsby scores 30 for the Beavers



Rocky Mountain outscores MSU 16-7 in overtime to upend Beavers 85-76. Last weekend, the two teams played 40 minutes and the Beavers won by just a single point.  This time, after 40 minutes, the two teams were tied!

Minot State University and Rocky Mountain College played much of the same formula throughout their nonconference NAIA women's basketball game Monday night.

The Bears would open a small five-to-seven point lead and the Beavers would chop it back to a one-possession game.

There were only a couple of small hiccups to the formula, the last sending the game to overtime.

But RMC used that same blueprint in overtime and Minot State didn't have another answer as the Bears outscored MSU 16-7 in the extra session to take the game 85-76 at the MSU Dome.

"It was kind of whoever had the mini run had the advantage," RMC head coach Brian Henderson said. "Nobody was clearly in control of it. That is how it has gone with us and Minot.

"I thought we handled it (overtime) real well. We are feeling pretty good about ourselves right now, playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of maturity."

The win avenged a buzzer-beating win for MSU over RMC a little over a week ago in Billings, Mont., and spoiled the Beavers' home opener after a month on the road.

"I didn't think we made real great decisions in the first half," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "We looked a little rusty and not in sync in the first half. Part of that was them defensively, but we kind of shot ourselves in the foot several times and forced ourselves to the in the position we were in at half."

Rocky opened a 12-4 lead on a three-point play by Lisa Schoer to give the Bears its biggest lead of the game until late in overtime. MSU cut back into the lead as Lashay Bagsby hit one of two free throws to cut it to 12-11 and the recipe for the rest of the contest was on. Bagsby had a game-high 30 for the Beavers and battled RMC's Janie Rayback, who finished with 26 to lead the Bears, all night.

"It was a classic battle underneath," Henderson said. "We did a good job inside but they did a good job too. Bagsby is real good and I thought Janie did a good job too."

The Beavers were down 38-31 at halftime, but battled back to earn their first lead since early on, 43-42, on a basket by Holly Siverling with 15:14 to play in the second half. MSU didn't lead again in regulation, but tied it a couple of times, the last on a MacKenzie Mack left-handed runner in the paint with 11.7 second to play to force overtime, tied at 69.

"I thought we played better in the second half, executed pretty well in the things we wanted to do, thought we defended fairly well and did a better job of keeping them off the boards," Green Gerding said. "But it is hard to fight back, claw and dig and give that kind of effort and then hold on in overtime. We kind of shut down in the overtime."

The Beavers took their last lead of the night, 72-71, on a Bagsby free throw with 3:30 to play in overtime. But the Bears answered back with a 3-pointer from the wing by Jennifer Orchard. Orchard, a reserve, scored 21 points on 5 of 7 shooting on 3-pointers, added six rebounds and was a general thorn in MSU's side all night, hitting key 3s throughout the second half and overtime.

"She hasn't been getting a lot of minutes, but she came in and hit some big shots," Henderson said. "I thought our bench overall did a good job for us."

"We couldn't get over the hump all night," Green Gerding said. "It seemed like we would either shoot ourselves in the foot or they would make a big play and, all of a sudden, they had the lead back."

The Bears were 8 of 19 from beyond the arc, while MSU struggled to 5 of 27 shooting on 3s. The Beavers were just 2 of 15 in the first half.

"We had good play from our posts, but didn't get a whole lot when they countered that," Green Gerding said. "We didn't shoot very well in the first half - 2 of 15 from the 3-point line - that wasn't very good. Our shot selection was not good. We were taking off balance shots and shooting in a hurry."

Dani Henderson, who played for Minot State assistant coach Bill Triplett at Reed Point High School in Montana, had a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with 14 points and four steals for the Bears (4-6 overall).

MSU's Whitney Loftesnes hit all five 3s for the Beavers (4-4 overall) on her way to 15 points and five rebounds. Mack finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals and Siverling added 10 points and five boards.

MSU begins its Dakota Athletic Conference season playing host to Dickinson State Saturday at the Dome. Game time is set for 4 p.m.


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Carroll Women top No. 13 Minot State 71-60

     Mack and Folven combined for 40 points for MSU but it wasn't enough to get the win


Building on momentum gained after Saturday night’s win over South Dakota Tech, the Carroll College women’s basketball team won their second in a row, downing No. 13 Minot State 71-60 Sunday afternoon in Billings.

The loss drops nationally-ranked Minot State, a team that made it to the Elite Eight of last year’s NAIA division II national tournament, to 4-3 on the year. The Lady Beavers played their 3rd straight game without their returning all-conference center, Lashay Bagsby.  Bagsby isexpected to be back from injury next Monday, December 1st when the Beavers host Rocky Mountain in Minot at 7:00 pm.  Carroll improved to 6-4 before heading into the Thanksgiving break.

“This was a big confidence builder before the holiday,” Saints head coach Shawn Nelson said.

The Saints got a chance to watch Minot beat Rocky Mountain on a last second 3-pointer Saturday night.

“We wanted to focus defensively on their 3-pointers,” Nelson said.
The Saints did just that, holding Minot to zero percent from behind the arc.

“Defensively we played good, and we did a much better job executing our offense,” Nelson said.

The Saints have now scored 70 points or more in their last two games.

“I think that we are better at understanding what we want to do on the floor,” Nelson said.
Alysha Green broke out of a three-game scoring slump tallying 20 points. Elly Bruursema poured in 11 points and also dished out four assists. Nikki Mills turned in a solid game with 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Amy Allen added 10 points and four rebounds.

Minot's Medcalf  did a great job defending Bruursema, holding the 2006 Montana Miss Basketball to 11 points, so Carroll needed someone else to step up.  Green did just that.  Bruursema's uncle, Bill Triplett, was her high school coach at Reed Point, Montana and is currently an assistant coach at Minot State.

MacKenzie Mack socred 22 points for the Beavers and Caroline Folven also hit double figures ith 18.  No other Minot State player was able score more than 6 points.

"Their guards made some shots and ours didn't", commented Minot State head coach Sheila Gerding. " I think we were 0 for 9 from three point range. We did a great job defending them the first half but they shook free too many times the second half and it cost us" Carroll is a very good team."


Carroll College (6-4) - Elly Bruursema 11, Jill Jagelski 6, Nicole Leibach 2, Nikki Mills 10, Sara Meyer 8, Alysha Green 20, Amy Allen 10, Shannon Bosley 4.
Minot State University (4-3) - Caroline Folven 18, MacKenzie Mack 22, Sam Medcalf 3, Whitney Lofesness 6, Dora Garza 4, Caitlin Durkin 3, Holly Siverling 4.

Halftime: Minot St. 27, Carroll 24.

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Medcalf's 3-Pointer Lifts Beavers to Comeback Win 71-70

Medcalf leads MSU to comeback win over Rocky


Rocky played a great first half.  Minot State was equally as tough the second. 

As you might expect when that happens, it all came down to the last possesion as the Beavers trailed by two. MSU was forced to foul and send Rocky's Dani Henderson to the line with 9 seconds remaining. 

Fortunately for the Beavers, Henderson missed the front end of the one-and-one. Folven rebounded the miss and quickly got the outlet pass to Medcalf.  The junior point guard passed the ball up the floor and then spotted up from about 25 feet when the ball came back to her. Medcalf calmly caught and shot the would-be game-winner with just one tick left on the clock. The ball swished through the net as the horn sounded and red light turned on.   Game over - Beavers win! Beavers win! Beavers win! 

"This was a heck of a comeback and exciting finish", stated Coach Gerding.  "This was one of those games that is a huge boost when you get the win in that fashion but it's equally demoralizing when you are on the other end it.   We were in the same situation at Morningside earlier this year and we know what it feels like to have a big lead and see it evaporate to a team that gets on a serious roll.  This time, we were the team that got hot ane we were the team to comeback from 18 down".

Medcalf finished the game with 16 points and MacKenzie Mack continued her stellar play as she dumped in 15.  The Beavers also got solid contributions from Holly Siverling and Caitlin Durkin as they chipped in with 11 and 9 for MSU.  The win moveed the Beavers record to 4-2.


Minot State University (4-2) - Caroline Folven 4-7 0-0 9, MacKenzie Mack 6-12 1-2 15, Sam Medcalf 6-8 0-0 16, Whitney Loftesnes 2-10 2-2 8, Hatti Ternes 1-11 0-0 3, Dora Garza 0-2 0-0 0, Caitlin Durkin 2-3 4-4 9, Ashley King 0-0 0-0 0, Holly Siverling 3-6 5-5 11. Totals: 24-59 12-13 71. 3-point goals: 11-28 (Folven 1-1, Mack 2-4, Medcalf 4-6, Loftesnes 2-7, Ternes 1-6, Garza 0-2, Durkin 1-2). Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Mack. Assists: 9 (Mack 4). Steals: 4 (Medcalf 2). Blocks: 1 (Siverling 1). Rebounds: 31 (Mack 10).

Rocky Mountain College (3-6) - Dani Henderson 3-9 0-1 7, Janie Rayback 8-14 2-3 18, Liz Lewis 5-15 3-4 17, Shaylynn Conroy 4-8 1-3 11, Tana Stewart 2-5 2-2 7, Molly Schenderline 3-8 0-0 8, Jennifer Orchard 0-0 0-0 0, Lisa Schoer 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 26-61, 8-13, 70. 3-point goals: 10-28 (Henderson 1-4, Lewis 4-10, Conroy 2-4, Stewart 1-4, Schenderline 2-6). Fouls: 15. Turnovers: 16. Assists: 17 (Lewis 6). Steals: 2 (Lewis, Conroy 1). Blocks: 2 (Rayback, Stewart 1). Rebounds: 42 (Rayback, Henderson 9).

Halftime: Rocky 36, Minot State 22.

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Three Little Pigs Help Beavers Get to Hawaii

 

 

The Minot State University women's basketball team is raising money to help fund its trip to Hawaii in December where they will play in a basketball tournament.

Pictured from left to right are Hatti Ternes, Dora Garza, Caroline Folven and employees of Prudential (Cheryl Croonquist, Larry Louser, and Amy Sayler). In Folven's arms is a three-week old female pig named Bob. At the center of the “Haul the Hog” fundraiser, Bob was “given” to a person and if the receiver donated $10, they were able to “send” the pig to someone else.

In one day, five teams of women with three little pigs raised more than $3000 for the trip to Hawaii. Bob was donated by a Knox farmer for the fundraiser and was returned once the event ended.

Anyone wanting to donate to the fundraiser can call Sheila Gerding at 701.858-3261 or Bill Triplett at 701.858-4452 . You may also call the athletic office at 858.3041 or 800.777.0750.

The Lady Beavers would like to send out a big THANK YOU to everyone for contributing to the fundraiser. 

 

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Folven Leads Beavers Over Brandon


The Minot State Lady Beavers traveled north across the border on Monday for a game with the Brandon Lady Bobcats. The Beavers knew that their starting center, Lashay Bagsby, would be out with an injury. Her replacement?  Caroline Folven, or Care Bear, as Bagsby calls the 6' Illinois native.

The sophomore post player shot 9 for 11 from the floor and finished with a game high/careerhigh, as she scored 22 points for the Beavers.  MSU now stands at 3-2 as they head to Billnigs, Montana this weekend for games with Rocky and Carroll, two very good Frontier Conference teams.

Minot had five players in double figures.  Along with Folven, Holly Siverling, Hatti Ternes, MacKenzie Mack and Whitney Loftesnes also chipped in with 12 or more.  Mack achieved the double double as she pulled down 11 boards to go along with her 14 points.

"This was a good game for us," stated Coach Gerding. I saw some imporovement in our team and that's what it's all about this time of year."


MSU: Caroline Folven 9-11 3-4 22, Holly Siverling 6-12 3-4 15, Hatti Ternes 6-12 0-0 14, Whitney Loftesnes 5-11 0-0 12, MacKenzie Mack 6-11 1-2 14, Caitlin Durkin 3-4 0-0 6, Sam Medcalf 2-4 0-0 5, Dora Garza 0-3 1-2 1, Halee Rasmussen 0-4 1-2 1. Totals 37-72 9-14 90

Brandon: Allie Butz 4-17 0-0 9, Jennalee Burch 4-10 0-0 8, Stephanie Lacey-Avon 3-5 1-2 7, Meghan Allison 3-5 1-2 7, Lezley Sutherland 3-8 0-0 6, Sarah Lopes 0-4 4-6 4, Kelsey Solarchuk 1-3 0-0 2, Chelsey Hiebert 1-2 0-0 2, Chelsey Kretai 0-0 1-4 1, Christie McCullough 0-3 0-0 0, Nicisha Johnson 0-0 0-0 0.

3-pointers: MSU: 7-20 (Medcalf 1-2, Folven 1-1, Loftesnes 2-5, Ternes 2-6, Mack 1-2); Brandon: 1-8 (Butz 1-7, McCullough 0-1). Rebounds: MSU: 36 (Mack 11, Folven 7, Siverling 5); Brandon: 32 (Sutherland 5, Lacey-Avon 5). Assists: MSU: 24 (Garza 6, Folven 5, Ternes 3); Brandon: 12 (Lacey-Avon 3). Blocks: MSU: 0; Brandon: 2 (Allison 1, Sutherland 1). Steals: MSU: 15 (Folven 6, Garza 3, Ternes 2); Brandon: 7 (Butz 3). Turnovers: MSU: 20; Brandon: 34.

 

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Northern Hands Lady Beavers 2nd Loss

       Bagsby Drops in 20

MSU-Northern of Havre, MT shot the lights out and Minot State wasn't able to come back like they did the night before.  The Lady Skylights shot 56% for the game as they rolled to the 80-57 win.  The Beavers shot just 35 % in the first half and trailed 42-24 at the half.

"We got off to a slow start and couldn't recover," MSU Head Coach Sheila Gerding said. "Northern is a good team and they were just better than us tonight."

The Beavers had three players in double figures in scoring, led by Lashay Bagsbly's 20.  Bagsby also led in boards with 9.  Juniors MacKenzie Mack and Hatti Ternes each had 11 points. The Beavers now stand at 2-2 and head for Brandon, Manitoba for another non-conference game on Monday, November 17.

 

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Minot Gets Overtime Win at Great Falls 80-70


      Ternes Shoots Beavers to Road Win

It's hard to win a basketball game when you never own the lead in regulation play.

It may be even harder to win a basketball game when you commit 37 turnovers. But the Minot State Beavers achieved both of those rare milestones Friday night when they rallied to defeat the University of Great Falls 80-70 in a nonleague women 's clash at McLaughlin Center.

"We've won games before when we never led the whole game," said Minot coach Sheila Gerding, who has won more than 200 games in her 14 years at the North Dakota school. "I couldn't tell you when, but it's happened." Turnovers were on the minds of both coaches. "Usually when you force 37 turnovers, you should win," said Lady Argos' mentor Shawn Chaffin after his team squandered a 13-point first-half lead. "We let one get away tonight." Gerding had another perspective. "With 37 turnovers, we could have gotten frustrated and given up. Our kids just kept clawing and scraping. We didn't give up, and defensively we played pretty well for the most part. They're a good team, and it was just a great win." Great Falls surprised the Beavers with an early fullcourt press, and the Lady Argos scored the first nine points in only 73 seconds. Kassie Holmgren, former C.M. Russell High star, had a 3-pointer and a layup in the surge. UGF built its lead to 28-15 on a 3-point play by Holmgren with 8:07 left in the half, and the Lady Argos still led 40-30 at intermission. But Minot State was more patient the second half, and made 68 percent of its field goal tries, many of them low post baskets by 6-1 Lashay Bagsby and 5-11 Mackenzie Mack. But the Beavers trailed until Hatti Ternes buried a 3-pointer off an out-of-bounds play with 19.6 second to play, knotting the score at 66. Holmlund missed a long shot at the buzzer and the teams went to a five-minute extra session. UGF sophomore forward Marissa Francis, former Great Falls High star, sank a baseline shot to give the Lady Argos a quick 68-66 lead, but Minot reeled off the next 12 points to win going away. The Beavers prospered even though Bagsby ¿ their best scorer and rebounder ¿= fouled out with 3:58 remaining in regulation. "I don't know if we thought we in trouble (after Bagsby fouled out)," said Gerding. "She's a huge offensive factor for us, but we've got other kids. Our post play is kind of what we were going to."

Chaffin didn't like his team's execution the final 25 minutes. "We settled for way too many jump shots the second half. We were getting to the rim (the first half), but you can't settle for those shots against a good team." UGF , 2-2, was led by Francis with 18 points and nine rebounds. Holmlund and Jocelyn Moore added 13 points, and point guard Leslie Saunders contributed 11 points and two steals. Ternes topped Minot with 17 points including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Guard Sam Metcalf led the Beavers with 12 rebounds. UGF is home at 6 tonight against Dickinson State , while Minot (2-1) travels to Havre to meet MSU-Northern.

MINOT STATE (80) MacKenzine Mack 7-10 2-2 16, Lashay Bagsby 5-7 4-8 14, Sam Metcalf 1-1 -2 4, Whitney Loftesnes 0-2 4-5 4, Hatti Ternes 5-8 3-4 17, Dora Garza 1-4 4-4 6, Caitlin Durkin 1-2 0-0 3, Caroline Folven 5-7 0-0 10, Ashley King 0-0 0-0 0, Holly Siverling 1-4 4-6 6. Totals: 26-45 22-33.

GREAT FALLS (70) Marissa Francis 5-10 8-11 18, Jocelyn Moore 6-8 1-2 13, Leslie Saunders 4-11 2-2 11, McKenzie gentry 3-5 0-0 7, Kassie Holmlund 4-9 3-4 13, Keyla Briese 1-4 0-0 3, Morgan Jorgenson 0-1 0-0 0, Carrie feenstra 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Stephen 1-5 0-0 3, D.J. Ellis 0-0 1-2 1, Danielle Heny 0-4 0-1 0. Totals; 24-58 16-23.

Halftime: UGF 40-30. Regulation: 66-66. Three-pointers: Minot 6-11 (Mack 0-2, Metcalf 1-1, Loftesnes 0-1, Ternes 4-5, Garza 0-1, Durkin 1-1), UGF 6-15 (Francis 0-2, Moore 0-1, Saunders 1-1, Gentry 1-2, Holmlund 2-6, Briese 1-2, Jorgenson 0-1, Stephen 1-1). Rrebounds: Minot 44 (Metcalf 12), UGF 22 (Francis 9). Fouls: Minot 19, UGF 24. Fouled out: Bagsby, Francis. Turnovers: Minot 37, UGF 23.

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Top Ranked Morningside Gets Scare from  # 13 Minot State

      Mack Proves to be MSU's Defensive Stopper    -    Photo by Gene Knudsen



Take away the replay monitor and the apparent game-winning shot that TV screen wound up erasing. Take away the ramifications of a national tournament quarterfinal game. When Morningside and Minot State had their big women's basketball rematch Saturday night at the Tyson Events Center, it didn't fall too far short of that dramatic battle last March 15 on this same Gateway Arena floor. Leslie Foral's two free throws with 10.1 seconds left secured a four-point lead and Morningside turned it into a heart-stopping 58-54 win as the eight-game, two-day Tyson Classic came to a close in highly entertaining fashion.

The pre-season No. 1 team in the NAIA Division II poll, Morningside roared back from an 18-point deficit, trailing 43-25 three minutes into the second half, to win again over the team they dealt a heartbreaking 87-86 national tournament setback just over seven months ago.

Junior forward Brittany Williamson scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, accounting for nearly half her team's 33 points after a first half that saw them fall behind 37-25 after being outscored 21-4 in the final 8:34 before intermission.

Minot State, No. 13 in the pre-season poll, added the first six points of the second half to open up a 43-25 bulge. And, it certainly looked as if the North Dakotans might be getting a measure of revenge for that memorable tourney game in which the replay monitor showed their final shot, an apparent game-winner, had come just a fraction of a second too late.

"Honestly, what I thought at that point was that we were better than this,'' said Williamson, reflecting on the Mustangs' 18-point deficit. "I thought we're not going to sit here and let this team walk all over us when we know we can play better.''

What happened next? Morningside Coach Jamie Sale pulled his troops to the bench for an emotional time-out. And, the message came through loud and clear.

"It was just a matter that somebody had to step up,'' said Williamson. "Whether it was our three-point shooting or me posting up hard underneath or just whatever it took.''

The three-point shooting wasn't the answer, though. After hitting just five of 16 three-point tries in the first half, the Mustangs missed all 11 attempts from the arc in the second half. What did work, though, was the inside game, which also included eight points from Roni Miller while senior standouts Dani Gass and Autumn Bartel each contributed four assists. Gass, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds, was the Mustangs' only other double-figure scorer.

"You've got to give them credit,'' said Minot State Coach Sheila Green-Gerding, crediting Morningside for its courageous rally. "They went to the boards hard and they really picked up the pressure and the intensity. We just never really settled down.''

Williamson tallied the first seven points of an 11-0 run that started the comeback, pulling the Mustangs within 43-36 with 13:32 to play. Just that quickly, the Sioux City collegians restored enough confidence to get the job done.

The Mustangs, though, didn't get over the hump until Gass hit two free throws with 3:04 to play, giving them their first lead since midway through the first half at 53-52.

After a traveling call on Minot State star Lashay Bagsby, Miller scored on a nifty feed from Williamson, making it a 55-52 advantage with 2:41 remaining. And, there would be no more scoring until Bartel hit one of two free throws with 35 seconds to play, making it 56-52. Bagsby, who chalked up 16 points and 15 rebounds, scored from the low post with 11 seconds left to pull the Beavers within 56-54.

Then, it came down to Foral, receiving the inbounds pass and drawing a quick foul, then hitting both free throws to secure a two-possession advantage.

Whitney Loftesnes, another of three returning starters for Minot State, added 11 points, getting nine of those on three three-pointers that fueled a 14-2 run to finish off the first half.

Mack was asked to guard Mornignsides' Dani Gass and did a great job.  Look for the 5'11" junior to be MSu's defensive stopper this year.


MINOT STATE (54)

Sam Medcalf 0-3 0-0 0, Whitney Loftesness 4-8 0-0 11, Hatti Ternes 3-12 0-0 8, MacKenzie Mack 4-10 0-0 9, Lashay Bagsby 7-13 2-3 16, Dora Garza 1-5 0-0 2, Caitlin Durkin 1-4 0-0 2, Caroline Folven 3-5 0-0 6, Holly Siverling 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-60 2-3 54.

MORNINGSIDE (58)

Dani Gass 3-9 4-4 10, Leslie Foral 2-9 2-2 7, Autumn Bartel 2-13 3-5 7, Laura Nelson 0-6 0-0 0, Brittany Williamson 7-15 4-4 18, Kayla Weerheim 1-2 0-0 3, Katie Sponder 2-3 0-1 5, Erica Luetje 0-2 0-0 0, Roni Miller 3-7 0-0 8. Totals 20-66 13-16 58.

Halftime -- Minot State 37, Morningside 25. Three-point goals -- Minot State 6-23 (Loftesness 3-5, Ternes 2-9, Mack 1-4, Garza 0-1, Durkin 0-2, Medcalf 0-2), Morningside 5-27 (Miller 2-2, Sponder 1-2, Weerheim 1-2, Foral 1-3, Gass 0-2, Bartel 0-5, Belson 0-6, Williamson 0-4). Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Minot State 45 (Bagsby 15, Mack 11), Morningside 41 (Williamson 10, Gass 8). Assists -- Minot State 16 (Medcalf 7), Morningside 14 (Gass, Bartel 4). Turnovers -- Minot State 26, Morningside 15. Total fouls -- Minot State 18, Morningside 11. Officials -- Marlin Schoohoven, Doug Miller, Ann Schroeder.

 

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Beavers Open Season with Road Win Over Briar Cliff

      Bagsby goes up for two of her 9 points   -    Photo by Gene Knudsen



Seldom has Mike Power felt so good about disappointment.

After watching his young Briar Cliff women's basketball team falter late in a 74-65 loss to 13th-ranked Minot State, Power found solace in the long faces that awaited him in the BC lockerroom.

"Me and our team both, I think, have high expectations,'' said Power. "It was nice to see there was a lot of disappointment.''

On the heels of a season that saw the injury-plagued Chargers lose their last 12 games in a row, winding up 11-20, Power thinks he has a team that might finally get Briar Cliff back into the NAIA Division II national tournament hosted by Sioux City for the last 11 years and counting. Losing their first of two games in this season-opening Tyson Classic wasn't cause for celebration. Nonetheless, there were plenty of encouraging signs in a game that saw the Chargers rally from an early 14-1 deficit and tie things up 51-51 midway through the second half. After all, this was a Minot State team with a solid returning nucleus from a squad that lost a heart-stopping national tournament quarterfinal to Morningside last March.

"Walking in here brought back some heartbreaking memories,'' said Minot State Coach Sheila Green-Gerding, whose team saw an apparent victory reversed when the review of a video replay showed an apparent winning basket had come too late in a game Morningside won, 87-86.

Green-Gerding's team lost its top two scorers, including Minot State career scoring leader Kendra Meyer. And, the Beavers faced a little adversity in this game because their leading holdover, Lashay Bagsby, is battling the flu. Bagsby, a 6-1 senior from Bakersfield, Calif., who had 30 points in the loss to Morningside last March, was limited to 13 minutes, totaling just nine points and four rebounds. Minot State, though, got a huge lift from 5-11 junior MacKenzie Mack, a newcomer in the lineup, who hit all eight of her first-half shots and had 18 of her game-high 22 points in the first 20 minutes. Hatti Ternes, another new starter, added 11 points for the Beavers, who led 38-27 at halftime, shooting nearly 70 percent (16 of 23), and the North Dakotans pushed their advantage to 49-33 early in the second half. Briar Cliff responded with a 13-0 run, pulling within 49-46, and knotted things up 51-51 on a three-pointer by Kendra Collins with 10:39 to play. The Chargers, though, could never get over the hump and were held back by inopportune turnovers and lackluster success (17 of 31) from the free throw line.

Minot State did pile up 30 turnovers, working against an aggressive BC press, but the Chargers had 25 miscues and shot just 38 percent (22 of 58) to the Beavers' 52 percent (26 of 50).

Christa Stewart, a 6-1 freshman from Glenwood, had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead BC, which played most of last season without anyone taller than 5-9. The Chargers also got 10 points and six boards off the bench from 5-11 frosh Megan Salcedo, an Omaha Marian product.

It was a disappointing BC debut for NCAA Division II transfer Liz Grider (Southwest Minnesota State), who hit just three of 12 shots, missing all five of her three-pointers, and had seven turnovers before fouling out with 3:29 to play. Jamee Phipps, one of Power's top veterans, also struggled offensively, hitting one of seven shots, and the Chargers were without last season's leading scorer, Cat Nelson, whose return from a knee injury could still be several weeks away.

BC takes on ninth-ranked Jamestown, the Dakota Athletic Conference pre-season favorite, in today's 4 p.m. contest.

BRIAR CLIFF (65)

Samantha Pearson 2-3 0-2 4, Jamee Phipps 1-7 0-1 2, Liz Grider 3-12 2-4 8, Carly Hansen 1-6 2-2 5, Christa Stewart 6-9 4-9 9, Kendra Collins 3-8 0-1 8, Michelle Determan 2-5 1-2 6, Kelsi Karkosh 0-2 2-2 2, Megan Salcedo 2-4 6-8 10, Whitney Waechter 2-2 0-0 4, Krystal Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsy Armstrong 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 17-31 65.

MINOT STATE (74)

Sam Medcalf 3-4 2-3 9, Whitney Loftesness 3-7 0-0 8, Hatti Ternes 5-9 0-1 11, MacKenzie Mack 9-11 3-6 22, Lashay Bagsby 3-6 3-4 9, Dora Garza 0-3 2-5 2, Caitlin Durkin 2-3 4-4 9, Caroline Folven 0-3 0-0 0, Holly Siverling 1-3 2-4 4, Ashley King 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-50 16-27 74.

Halftime -- Minot State 38, Briar Cliff 27. 3-point shots -- Briar Cliff 4-21 (Collins 2-7, Determan 1-2, Hansen 1-4, Phipps 0-3, Grider 0-5), Minot State 6-17 (Loftesness 2-6, Mack 1-1, Medcalf 1-2, Durkin 1-2, Ternes 1-4, Garza 0-1, Folven 0-1). Rebounds -- Briar Cliff 36 (Stewart 9), Minot State 39 (Mack 9). Assists -- Briar Cliff 10 (3 with 2 each), Minot State 20 (Medcalf 7, Loftesness 6). Turnovers -- Briar Cliff 25, Minot State 30. Total fouls -- Briar Cliff 23, Minot State 24. Fouled out -- Grider, Mack.

 

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Monson Signs with Minot State

Click on the "RECRUITS" link on the top of this page to read all about it!

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MSU Women Picked Second in DAC Poll

Jamestown College edged MSU for first garnering 45 points and five first place votes compared to 43 points and two first place votes for the Beavers. Black Hills State earned the league's final first place vote and finished third in the overall voting with 41 points.

MSU finished third in the conference last season going 21-11 overall and 10-4 in the DAC. The Beavers were the final selection into the NAIA national ournament and won two games, falling in the Elite Eight to Morngingside (Iowa) College.

The Beavers return third team All DAC center Lashay Bagsby, a senior who averaged 12.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

South Dakota Mines (fourth), Dickinson State (fifth), Mayville State (sixth), Dakota State (seventh) and Valley City State (eighth) round out the poll.

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Lady Beavers Top Alumni 85-52

Bagsby, Mack and Parker hit double figures for the Beavers

The Minot State Lady Beavers hosted their alumni on Saturday night and came away with a 33 point victory after it was all said and done.  Three Beavers put double figures in the scoring column led by Shae Bagsby who had 12.  Bagsby, a 6'1" athletic post player, was an All-DAC performer last year for Minot State.  MacKenzie Mack also hit double figures with 11 as did freshman post, Rokki Parker.  Freshman point guard, Dora Garza, and junior guard, Hatti Ternes each scored 9.  Caroline Folven and Whitney Loftesnes helped out with 7 and Sam Medcalf had 6.  Caitlin Durkin, another solid freshman, scored 5.  Halee Rasmussen chipped in ith 4, Ashlie King had 3 and Steph Brossart capped off the scoring with one point.  Senior post player, Holly Siverling did not play as she is nursing a thigh injury, Siverling should be ready to play by midweek and may see action in the scrimmage games Sunday, Oct. 26.

Kendar Meyer led the alumni with 13 points while Brittni Walker and Rashawna Mays had 8.  Bagsby was the games leading rebounder as she pulled down 13 boards for the double/double.

"I was pretty happy for the most part" commented Minot State coach Sheila Gerding.  "We had too many turnovers and we need to hit the boards a little harder and be a little smarter as far as spacing goes on offense.  That being said, I really liked how we pushed the ball, how unselfish we were and how hard we played.  We have a chance to develop into another team that's pretty tough to beat."

The Lady Beavers will have two home scrimmage games on Sunday, Oct. 26 when they host Williston at 11:00 am and Lake Region at 2:00pm at the dome. 

 

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MSU Women's Basketball to Host Alumni

The Minot State University women's basketball team will host their annual alumni game Saturday, October 18 at 6:00pm at the MSU Dome.

The alumni game features the 2008-09 women's basketball team versus several players of the past. This year's alumni include All-American, Kendra Meyer (04-08), eather Lizotte (05-08), Brittni Walker (04-08), Jenny Castro (03-07), Brandy Howard (02-05), Brenda Robinson (03-05), Rashawna Mays (03-05), Beth Quaintance (02-04), Ali (Olson) Clemenson (94-98), Mandy Schelling (98-00), Danielle Levasseur (08), and Ashleigh Osborne (08).

Fans are welcome and encouraged to attend. Admission is free of charge.

 

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Adopt-A-Beaver Program

 

MSU Women's basketball is currently seeking adopt-a-beaver parents for the 08-09 season.  The Adopt-A-Beaver program allows a family or person in the community to "adopt" a Lady Beaver for the season.  Duties of the "parent(s)" are to come to games and cheer on your Lady Beaver and provide them with love and support onand off the court.  Parents can be as involved as they want to.  Some current players will have their player in their home for meals, bring care packages to their lady for road trip, and include their player in some family outings and such.  Cost to be a parent is $100.00 and it includes two free "adopt-a-beavers" sweatshirts and two picture pins of your player.  If you are interested in this program, please contact Sheila Green Gerding at 701-858-3261.

 

 

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Hegel Enters Minot State University's Althletic Hall of Fame

On Sept. 27, 2008, Tiffany Hegel entered the MSU Athletic Hall of Fame.  Hegel was a four year letterwinner in women's basketball from 1994-1998. During this time, Hegel helped Minot State to thei first ever conferfence championship and NAIA National Tournament appearance in 1996 and then again in 1998. Hegel was named to the NDCAC All-Conference  team in 1996, 1997, and 1998. She was also named Most Valuable PLayer by her teammated in 1996 and 1997. In her senior year, Hegel was named NAIA All-American, MSU Women's basketball's first ever All-American. She left Minot State as the career field goal record holder shooting 54.6% from the field. Tiffany is currently employed at Banner Behavioral Health Hospital and resides n Scottsdale, Arizona.

 

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2007-08 Minot State "Lady Beavers"


 

 

DAY
DATE
OPPONENT
TIME
SITE
Friday
October 26
Western Montana
L 58-55
Minot, ND
Saturday
October 27
Montana Tech
W 85-74
Minot, ND
Sunday
October 28
Brandon University
W 86-45
Minot, ND
Friday
November 2
University of Great Falls
L 90-69
Great Falls, MT
Saturday
November 3
MSU-Northern
L 61-49
Havre, MT
Friday
November 9
University of Great Falls
W 83-70
Minot, ND
Saturday
November 10
MSU-Northern
W 62-52
Minot, ND
Saturday
November 17
Rocky Mountain College
W 70-69
Minot, ND
Monday
November 19
Brandon University
W 74-60
Brandon, MB
Friday
November 30
Montana Tech
W 80-76
Butte, MT
Saturday
December 1
Western Montana
L 69-54
Dillon, MT
Thursday
December 6
Dickinson State
W 71-60
Dickinson, ND
Saturday
December 15
Rocky Mountain College
L 83-68
Billings, MT
Friday
December 28
University of Winnipeg
W 90-55
Minot, ND
Saturday
December 29
University of Winnipeg
W 74-45
Minot, ND
Friday
January 11
Dakota State
L 90-84
Minot, ND
Saturday
January 12
Mayville State
W 74-62
Minot, ND
Friday
January 18
Jamestown
W 57-46
Jamestown, ND
Saturday
January 19
Valley City
W 71-54
Valley City, ND
Friday
January 25
SD School of Mines
W 82-79
Rapid City, SD
Saturday
January 26
Black Hills State
L 72-65
Spearfish, SD
Friday
February 1
Black Hills State
W 75-63
Minot, ND
Saturday
February 2
SD School of Mines
L 72-70
Minot, ND
Friday
February 8
Valley City
W 81-65
Minot, ND
Saturday
February 9
Jamestown
W 72-56
Minot, ND
Friday
February 15
Mayville State
W 81-76
Mayville, ND
Saturday
February 16
Dakota State
L 91-66
Madsion, SD
Wednesday
February 20
Dickinson State
W 88-64
Minot, ND
   
Playoffs
   
Sunday
February 24
Jamestown
L 67-54
Minot, ND
National Tournament
Wednesday
March 12
Shawnee State
W 94-82
Sioux City, IA
Friday
March14
William Jewell
W 94-93
Sioux City, IA
Saturday
March 15
Morningside
L 87-86
Sioux City, IA

 

 

 

Top Stories

====================

 

2008 NAIA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT

Participants from all 32 teams make up the letters "NAIA" in Sioux City, Iowa at the national tournament.

 

Minot State women's basketball team ended their National Tournament run by dropping an ultimate heartbreaker to the #1 seed from Morningside, Iowa. The Lady Beavers ended their "Cinderella" tournament run with an awesome performance that came up one-tenth of one second short of upsetting the top seed. The Beavers finish end their season with an overall record of 21-11. This is the first time in MSU history that the Beavers have had back to back 20 win seasons.

 

Heartbreaker


Did it count or did it not?

The Red Light told the story!

       Mack goes up for two vs. Morningside

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — There was enough drama in the final 1.8 seconds to last a week — probably the remainder of the offseason for Minot State University.

The Beavers' Brittni Walker hit an apparent game-winning shot at the buzzer only to have it waved off by court-side instant replay ending a wild final few moments of play. The replay saved an 87-86 win for Morningside College in a quarterfinal game at the 2008 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament Saturday at the Tyson Events Center.

“For a minute of my life, I thought we were going to move on,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “We had a very good shot at the end. It was such an incredible high at the end only to have it taken away.”

The Beavers (21-11) in bounded the ball under their own basket to Lashay Bagsby, who had her initial shot blocked. Walker grabbed the rebound, scored and the signal was the basket was good. After nearly five minutes of deliberation, the basket was waved off.



“We thought originally that it wasn't good. Thanks to whoever invented the video camera,” Morningside head coach Jamie Sale said. “I guess if the replay said we weren't right, we would have to live with it.

“Give Minot State credit, they didn't get down and fought back. I feel bad for them, they probably deserved this game as well.”

The Mustangs (33-3) built a 16-point second-half lead behind solid 3-point shooting. Morningside hit 13 of 29 3-pointers for the game and used the 3 as the main weapon to fend off the Beavers in the second half.

“We knew they were good shooters,” Green Gerding said. “We probably didn't give our kids enough credit and didn't think that we could guard the drive. We should have come out of the zone a little earlier in the first half.”

But the Beavers did not go away, cutting into the lead throughout the final nine minutes. Morningside took a 73-64 lead on a falling, spinning shot by J.J. Hall with 9:55 to play. MSU then went on an 18-9 run tying the game on a 3-pointer by Whitney Loftesnes from the left wing.

“I thought we were in a pretty good position after Whitney's shot. I thought we had the momentum,” Green Gerding said. “I was confident that the kids would make plays.”

The Beavers took an 84-82 lead on a bucket by Kendra Meyer with 1:07 to play, but MC's Dani Gass gave the Mustangs an 85-84 lead with a three-point play with 50.2 seconds to play. Meyer again gave MSU the lead with a basket after a steal with 31.7 seconds, only to be trumped by Gass again with a pair of free throws with 15.6 seconds, setting up the final flurry.

“We choked a little bit in the second half, but Dani Gass made plays down the stretch,” Sale said. “That's what we expect her to do.”

Meyer, the Beavers all-time leading scorer, ended her stellar career with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists, saving her best for late in the game.

“Kendra struggled shooting early, but had some huge baskets for us late,” Green Gerding said.

The Beavers put the final play in the hands of Bagsby due to the junior's stellar play throughout. Bagsby had a game-high 30 points and eight rebounds, scoring 17 in the second half.

“We kind of knew that they would try to get it to their post players because we didn't handle them very well,” Hall said of the final play. “They hurt us inside all game.”

Gass, Hall and Autumn Bartel did the most damage to the Beavers as the trio combined for 57 points. Gass scored a team-high 22 points, while Hall added 18 and Bartel 17 for the Mustangs. Hall finished with four 3-pointers, while Bartel added three.

“We came out so strong and were clicking early,” Hall said. “But we started to play not to lose instead of to win. We have been in some close games like this. I am thankful for the film or we'd be crying right now.”

With Bagsby, Walker and MacKenzie Mack, the Beavers held a 46-30 advantage in the paint. Walker finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and Mack added five points and eight rebounds.

“Lashay had such a great game,” Green Gerding said. “All of our posts played well. That is why we designed the final shot for Lashay. She played so well.”

Morningside moves on to face rival Northwestern in Monday's semifinal.

While MSU's season came to an end Saturday, Green Gerding was happy with her team's tournament.

“What a great effort to battle back like we did,” she said. “Especially with having to play two overtimes (in Friday's second round game) and how we thought our season was over and everything. We had our chances to win at the end. I couldn't be more proud.”

 

 

Minot State Knocks Off William Jewell


In Double Overtime to Advance to Elite 8


SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Minot State University had just enough gas in the tank to hold off William Jewel College. But it took a last defensive stand to do it. MSU forced the Cardinals' last desperation attempt after the final buzzer sounded and the Beavers survived to make the Elite 8 with a 94-93 double overtime win over WJC at the 2008 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament Friday at the Tyson Events Center.

“This team is playing with a lot of heart because the legs are on empty,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said.

The Beavers led by one with 6.4 seconds to go in the second overtime when, off a missed free throw, WJC made its final push. WJC's Hillary Adams' attempt on the final play was well after the final buzzer and did not go in. Adams was forced to circle around the top of the key due to a heads up defensive play by Sam Medcalf, who jumped out to force Adams to change course.

“Sam and I communicated real well and she jumped out,” said Beavers senior guard Kendra Meyer. “We were switching everything and just trying to stay in front of them.”

The Beavers (21-10) seemed to be in control in two different times, once in each overtime, on big 3s by freshman Whitney Loftesnes.

“I was a little nervous and I guess that showed at the line late,” Loftesnes said. “But I felt good shooting especially after Wednesday's game (in the first round), where I got some shots to fall and got a little confidence.”

Loftesnes looked pretty confident when she hit the second of two huge 3s in the left corner late in the double overtime. Loftesnes took a feed from Sam Medcalf and knocked down the shot to put MSU up by five at 92-87.

“Whitney hit some big shots for us,” Green Gerding said. “She was very confident in her shot.”

The game was sent to overtime on another big 3-pointer, by the Cardinals' Erica Ferguson. Ferguson gave William Jewell new life as she nailed a 3 from the top of the key with an off balance shot, tying the game at 75. MSU's MacKenzie Mack's 3-pointer at the end of regulation was short.

“I have never been in a double overtime game before. It was pretty intense,” MSU junior Brittni Walker said. “But I was more nervous in regulation than in the overtimes. I guess we just went out and played at that point.”

Walker elevated her play in the overtimes, scoring on a three-point play on an offensive rebound to give MSU an 80-78 lead in the first overtime and a 3-pointer of her own to give MSU a 89-86 lead in the second extra session. “I really don't know. I wasn't even sure where I was exactly,” she said on the 3-pointer. “I was just playing. I wasn't thinking about too much at that point.”

She played the entire overtime minutes and the final 7:45 of the game after picking up a technical for an elbow and her fourth foul. “I don't usually stay in many games after getting my fourth foul,” Walker said with a laugh. “I just tried to keep some distance but not play too soft. I wasn't very happy (after the technical), but I tried to work hard.”

The game didn't look like it was going to have a dramatic ending after nine minutes of play in the first half. MSU raced out to a 38-14 lead on solid shooting. The Beavers hit 63 percent of their shots in the first half, even after cooling off from its hot start.

“We had great intensity in the early part of the game,” Loftesnes said.

“We had kids hitting shots and it seemed like we had a different kid step up at different times,” Green Gerding said.

WJC didn't go away, chipping the lead down to seven on a short jumper by Adams with 4:04 to play. The Beavers were held scoreless for nearly six minutes after scoring 38 in the first 11.

“It was almost like we came out too strong,” Meyer said. “We got the big lead and were hitting shots, but you knew they would start hitting some of their's and it would eventually even out.”

Mack gave the Beavers a boost right before half, hitting a 3-pointer with 9.6 seconds remaining. Mack had a great first half, scoring all of her 16 points in the first stanza.

“MacKenzie gave us great minutes,” Green Gerding said. “She shot the ball really well in the first.”

The Cardinals (23-10) kept chipping away, however. After MSU made a second run to start the second half, pushing the lead to 59-42 on another three-point play by Walker, WJC worked its way back into the game. They pulled to within eight after Faith Pontius hit two free throws on the technical, to three on a 3-pointer by Jessica Stewart with 5:45, one on a drive by Ferguson with 4:12 to play.

“We were surprised about how well they shot the ball. We knew that they like to drive, but they really hit their shots,” Green Gerding said. “That made it tough to defend. Do we come out and have them drive by or give up a 3?”

The Cardinals were led in scoring by Adams, who finished with 20 points in 44-plus minutes. Ferguson scored 19 points, Pontius 14 and Amber Parker 13. Stewart added eight points and six assists to the WJC cause.

Walker finished with game-highs in points with 22 and rebounds with 15, including six offensive. Meyer added 19 points, six assists and six rebounds, while Loftesnes and Lashay Bagsby scored 14 and 12 respectively.

“Give Lashay credit, she had a good overtime after struggling at times in regulation,” Green Gerding said. “She rebounded from a tough start and was very good on both ends late.”

The Beavers advance to the Elite 8 for the second time in four years — both times as a No. 7 seed — and will take on Morningside today at 6 p.m. The winner advances to Monday's final four.





Minot State Women Shock Shawnee State in Opening Round


Minot State University women's basketball team upset Shawnee (Ohio) State 94-82 in the first round of the 2008 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament Wednesday (March 12) in Sioux City, Iowa.

"The way we came into this tournament, I don't think we felt too nervous," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "We felt this was kind of a rebirth. The kids came out relaxed.

The Beavers beat the Bears at their own game with solid 3-point shooting and a strong transition. MSU hit 9 of 15 3-pointers, while holding a normally strong shooting Shawnee State team to just 3-for-17 from beyond the arc.

"We got out on their shooters," MSU senior Kendra Meyer said. "Everybody did their job. We knew coming in that they wanted to shoot 3s and we did a good job of taking that away from them."

Meyer lead the team with a game-high 28 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Brittni Walker added 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks to capture the MSU victory.

The Beavers (20-10), a No. 7 seed for the third-straight time at the national tournament, knocked off a No. 2 seed for the second time in three trips to the tournament.

MSU will play William Jewell, who upset defending champion Indiana Wesleyan in the first round, Friday at 4 p.m.

 

 

Day 4 -

MSU among the elite (eight, that is)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Whew.

There was an eruption of joy from the Minot State University women's basketball bench after this one. The Beavers held on to defeat William Jewell College with a dramatic 94-93 double overtime win to advance to the Elite 8 of the NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament.
A little more than a week ago, the Beavers were done — out of the tournament, at least figuratively. Now, they are apart of the elite of the NAIA for the 2007-08 season.

What a run so far.

There is plenty of work to be done, of course. The Beavers aren't going to role over and die, but they will hopefully take one small, deep breath before the national quarterfinal today and remember that they were the sixth-best team in the eyes of the Dakota Athletic Conference, the ninth an final at-large bid by the NAIA and the seventh selection in their bracket (out of eight).
Coach Sheila Green Gerding said the team relished that underdog role the entire season.

“Some of the players were really motivated by that,” she said of the sixth pick in the conference. “Kendra (Meyer), Lashay (Bagsby), Sam (Medcalf) really took that to heart.”

Heart was a word used a lot Friday night and with good reason. The Beavers could have folded after WJC all but whittled down their lead and forced the overtime, but they kept counter punching all night. While the media mumbles about being impartial, I can't help it but smile a little with this run. I have had the good fortune of getting to know this group a little more over the past week and I have nothing but good things to say. This has been a memorable trip for a lot of reasons, but one big one is the way the women's team has treated me.

I have teased the assistant coaches a bit over the past couple of columns, but Green Gerding and I talked a little Friday about the assistants and she made sure to stress the job they are doing.
There are a lot of little things that happen and this group has been great about getting the team prepared and knowing what to do in those situations,” she said. “Things like having our best rebounders in the lane on free throws and having our best defensive players on the court for that last defensive stand. Those little things most people don't notice.”

I am sure the team has taken a little bit from each of them. Coach Bill Triplett is the situation guy. We talked about substituting Lashay Bagsby and Brittni Walker late in Friday's win as important to keeping Walker in the game despite picking up her fourth foul with more than seven minutes remaining in regulation. Coach Gary Walhaug is the teacher. You can see him discussing the little things with each coach like footwork and positioning. Coach Mandy Schelling is the fire. After Whitney Loftesnes put the Beavers up 92-87 with 1:28 to go in the second overtime, Schelling smacked the floor with both hands during her celebration. Plus, after watching her play cards, I can only imagine what they learn about trash talking (sorry, Mandy, I couldn't resist).

There is certainly something special going on here in Iowa. Like Green Gerding said referring to something Meyer mentioned earlier in the week, this team had its season taken away once. They are not going to led anyone take it away again.

Day 5 -

Wild way for it to end

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Unbelievable.

The events that surrounded the final 30 or so seconds of play were simply too crazy to fully describe. There is not a worse way for a game to end than to have a referee run over to a monitor, stare at it for five minutes while one team's heart has been ripped out and another wants to explode with joy so bad that hurts. Then for the tables to turn in a violent waving of the arms.

The call was probably the correct one in the end. I was on the baseline when the play happened and as far as I could tell, Minot State University's Brittni Walker potential game-winning shot at the Elite 8 of the NAIA women's basketball tournament was a bit too late. But come on, get it right on the court so both sides don't have to go through that.

It was a strange way to end what was a very good basketball game. If there were still doubters that MSU belonged in the final eight, they should be converted. If you still aren't swayed, then you're an idiot or you can't see through your home-team colored glasses. The Beavers battled one of the top teams in the country and basically lost the game by a fraction of a second.

A lot of the talk after the game had to do with the timing of the play, but I think that that is pretty cut and dry. Look at the replay and figure it out. What is debatable and what makes the replay so annoying, is they can't take a second look at the foul that occurred on Lashay Bagsby's attempt just prior to Walkers rebound putback.

I know, sour grapes. But it sure looked like she was fouled on the elbow. Of course the whistles were away at that point. Let the kids decide the game is old adage, but really, is not blowing the whistle letting the players decide the game any more than blowing it? If a foul is a foul then it should be a foul at any time during the game — in the first minute of a preseason game and the final seconds of a triple overtime game. A non call affects the game just as much. By the way, the whistles weren't away when the Beavers fouled Morningside's Dani Gass with 15.6 seconds to go. OK, enough belly arching.

The 2008 tournament will do down as one of the best, at least from the MSU standpoint. Two upset wins, a double overtime thriller, a potential game-winner against a No. 1 seed, who could ask for anything more? I was subtly reminded about a couple of things and they were both reinforced in Saturday's play. First, the MSU cheer squad did a fantastic job at the MSU men's game in Branson, Mo., Thursday, and equalled that Friday and Saturday at the women's tournament. The team brought a little something extra to the very vocal group of MSU supporters.

Which brings me to the second point. Those supporters constantly included players and fans from opposing DAC teams that were at the respective tournaments. The Jamestown College men's team looked pretty good in MSU green and red during the men's game. Each of the JC players sported the Beavers' home jerseys during MSU's first-round game. It was a great show of support for the conference. On Saturday, as the game wore on, more and more Black Hills State fans moved into the section the Minot fans occupied. Then, during the BHSU quarterfinal game that followed, the Beavers cheer team sat with the Yellow Jackets fans and cheered. Classy, all around DAC. A little brotherhood (or sisterhood) goes along ways.

By the way, thanks to my reminder. She knows who she is.
Well, it is back on the bus for the trip home. This has been a wild run through the heart of the midwest. Maybe we can make another trip like this in about 360 or so days.

 


Women place three on All-Conference

 

Meyer named MVP

 


The Minot State University Women placed three players on the All-Conference team for this year. Kendra Meyer, a 5'7" Senior from Prior Lake, MN, was voted to the First Team, Brittni Walker, a 6'0" Junior from McLaughlin, SD, to the Second Team and Lashay Bagsby, a 6'1" Junior from Bakersfield, CA to the Third Team. Kendra Meyer was voted the DAC's Most Valuable Player. Meyer averaged 19 points (second best average in the DAC), 4.11 assists per game, Walker averaged 13.4ppg, 8 rebounds (second best averaged in the DAC), and Bagsby averaed 12.3ppg, 6 rebounds.

Women Lock Up Home Court

 

MAYVILLE — The Minot State University women's basketball team locked up a first-round home game for the Dakota Athletic Conference by virtue of an 81-76 win over Mayville State here Friday.

The No. 22 ranked Beavers also stayed in the hunt for a DAC championship as they kept pace with Dakota State and Black Hills State, all who have 9-3 conference records. MSU travels to Dakota State today for another key conference matchup, with game time set for 4 p.m. in Madison, S.D.

The Beavers controlled much of the very physical game, keeping the Comets at bay in the second half. Many of the time is was senior Kendra Meyer who had the answer for the Beavers. Meyer hit for a game-high 26 points, knocking down her biggest in the second half.

“Kendra hit some huge shots in the second half for us,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “She played like an All-American should.”

The physical nature of the game induced three technicals, one on Green Gerding and two on Mayville State head coach Dennis Hutter.

The Beavers did a solid job defending Mayville's Cassie Leraas. Leraas scored 17 point, but had to work for most of her baskets. Nikki Muenke had a good night scoring 20 for the Comets and pulled down 10 rebounds. The Comets were effective on the offensive glass, pulling down 24 asa team and outrebounding MSU 24-5 on the offensive end and 48-27 overall.

“We did a good job of defending all night. We held them to 35 percent shooting, but got killed on the offensive boards,” Green Gerding said. “We used a combo of Medcalf, Whitney (Loftesnes) and (Kayla) Rettig on her again and limited her looks at the basket. She only took eight shots.”

MSU (18-8 overall) had good overall balance as Brittni Walker (13 points) and Lashay Bagsby (10) joined Meyer in double figures. Whitney Loftesnes added nine points, Kayla Rettig and Medcalf added eight each and MacKenzie Mack scored seven for the Beavers. MSU hit 12 of 21 3-pointers as six different players nailed at least one 3.

“I thought we got really good contributions from everybody,” Green Gerding said. “Everybody who played did things to help us win. It was a big one for us. We have two to go.”

 

Beavers have Jimmies Seeing RED



On Parent Night



Minot State University has had recent trouble with the Saturday half of Dakota Athletic Conference double headers. MSU had lost two straight on the second day, and last week's was attributed mainly to energy.   There was not problem with that this time around.

The Beavers used a swarming zone defense to hold Jamestown College to just seven first-half field goals as No. 22 MSU took a 72-56 win in DAC women's basketball at the MSU Dome on a night that the parents of the players and coaches were honored for all that they do.

"We started the game in zone for the first time in my 13 years," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "I don't know if I like that, but you have to play to your strengths. It makes you move around and play hard."

The Beavers used the solid defense and the post play of Lashay Bagsby, Brittni Walker and MacKenzie Mack to build a double-digit lead in the first half. Mack stepped back to nail a 3-pointer to cap a 10-2 run and give MSU a 16-6 lead with 13 minutes to play in the first.

"It was nice to see a couple of those go down," Green Gerding said. "The posts did a good job of getting to the open spots and he guards did a good job of getting them the ball. I think the post did a good job of being active and running the floor."

Walker scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the first half, while Bagsby had eight of her 14 and Mack five of her 10

"I don't think that we necessarily tried to get the ball to the posts, we just made sure we found our spots," Bagsby said. "We were just trying to have fun, that's the key. Work hard and have fun."

MSU built an 18 point half-time lead and extended it to 41-20 on a Kendra Meyer 3-pointer, but the Jimmies battled back. JC scored the game's next 11 points to cut the lead to 10.

"We talked about finishing things off," Bagsby said about the team's conversation in a timeout during the run. "We got into a comfort zone. We were able to get it kicked back into another gear."

The Beavers quickly built the lead back as Meyer hit a pair of free throws, Walker drained a corner 3 and Mack hit a post move.

"It was good to finally get one to drop," Walker said of the 3. "It's been a couple of weeks. I don't normally shot from the corner, but we have one play that I am out there."

Walker and Bagsby hit the offensive glass hard as both finished with five. Bagsby's offensive rebound, putback pushed the lead to 17 and the Jimmied never cut it below 14.

"We had a little bit of a letdown right away out of the gate in the second half," Green Gerding said. "You can't have that in the ‘red' defense."

Amanda Rantapaa led the way for the Jimmies (4-7 DAC, 11-13 overall) with 13 points, while Ali Edwards and Giuli Varriano each scored 10. The Beavers held Varriano, the DAC's leading scorer, 10.5 points below her average.

"We really didn't do anything special with her," Green Gerding said of Varriano. "You can't do much different in the zone. We just played hard and got out on everybody."

Kendra Meyer joined the three posts in double figures with 13 for MSU (8-3, 17-8). Bagsby finished with a game-high 10 rebounds while Walker added nine. Sam Medcalf finished with a solid overall night, scoring five points, swiping five steals and dishing out five assists.

"It feels real good to come back on the second night a play hard and get the win," Walker said. "We finally finished a weekend off."

 

Rettig Shoots Beavers to Win

Over Valley City



On a night where leading scorer Kendra Meyer was held without a basket in the first half, Minot State University needed someone to score.    That soemone was Kayla Rettig.

Rettig, a junior from Lewistown, Mont., was on fire in the first half, hitting all five of her 3-pointers and scoring 15 points, to help No. 22 MSU to a 81-65 win over Valley City State in Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball Friday at the MSU Dome.

”It felt real good,” Rettig said of her shooting. “It's all my teammates, though. They got me the ball in a good place to shoot.  ”I was kind of feeling it in warm ups.”

Rettig's scoring was especially important for the Beavers as Meyer was limited by a thumb injury.

”It was nice to see Kayla catch fire,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “I thought she was looking to shoot the ball. The guards are going to have to do that because teams are packing it in our posts.”

The Beavers (7-3 DAC, 16-8 overall) took a 36-24 lead on a Rettig 3 with 1:17 to play in the first half. From there, the lead fluctuated from double digits to four points until midway through the second half.

”Valley City plays hard,” Green Gerding said. “They made it difficult for us to operate at times. But I thought we also played hard. We may have been beat on a play, but we competed.”

Meyer didn't score in the first half, but she rebounded to finish with a game-high 18 points. She hit a big 3-pointer from the left wing with 8:16 to play. The shot ballooned the lead back to 10 points and was apart of a 19-2 run for MSU that put the game away.

”Her hand is all right,” Green Gerding said. “It is the best it has been all week. We didn't go to her that much in the first half because we didn't know how it would feel. She told us that it was fine at halftime, so we started to go to her.”

”We weren't sure what would be up with Kendra and she is obviously such a great scorer. I felt I had to step up and be a leader,” Rettig said. “We had a lot of different people make plays.”

The Beavers were pressed into going deep to their bench as second-half fouls started to rack up. MSU had three players finish with four fouls each and one foul out. The bench responded by scoring 30 points, grabbing 20 rebounds and dishing out nine assists. MacKenzie Mack continued to have a solid season coming off the bench as she finished with eight points and five rebounds despite only 11 minutes of time due to foul trouble. Danielle Levasseur didn't commit a turnover in 10-plus minutes at the point.

”We know we have good depth at every position,” Green Gerding said. “It is good to see Danielle getting more comfortable. When you are a transfer, it takes about half of the year to figure?? you out.”

All 12 Vikings (0-10 DAC, 5-18 overall) who played scored and Amanda Brown led VCSU with 13 points. No other Vikings' player reached double figures, however. Terra Billiet and Brittany Olson each scored eight, while Jessica Tykwinski and Brown led the team in rebounds with six apiece.

Lashay Bagsby (13 points) and Sam Medcalf (10) joined Meyer and Rettig in double figures for the Beavers. Brittni Walker finished with seven points and joined Rettig with eight rebounds to lead MSU.

”It was real important to get this one because we weren't very happy after last Saturday,” Rettig said referring to a home loss to South Dakota Mines. “We came out on Monday and were hungry to get this win.”

Note: MSU honored former standout Jenn Sundahl at halftime of the men's game with a shadow box. Sundahl, from Mohall, was a NAIA Division II Honorable Mention All-American in the 2005-06 season. She helped the Beavers reach the NAIA Division II national tournament twice in her four-year career.

 

 

Beavers Lose a Close One



to the Hardrockers



For South Dakota Mines, it was a a high point in a tough week.

For Minot State University, it was a game of missed opportunities.

The No. 25-ranked Hardrockers held MSU to just 37.5 percent shooting and got a combined 40 points from Bethany Holyoak and Loryn Schuetzle to upset the No. 21-ranked Beavers 72-70 in Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball Saturday at the MSU Dome.

The Hardrockers snapped a three-game losing streak that started with a loss to MSU at home Jan. 25 — a game they lost two-time All-American Melanie Vedvei to a knee injury.

“It's been a tough week,” Mines head coach Barb Felderman said. “Melanie meant so much to the team. She was the leader. It's not like these girls can't play well together. We have done it in practice.”

The Beavers' poor shooting was a combination of solid defense by Mines and missed close-range shots by MSU.

“We did everything we possibly could to lose that game,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “We were flat in the shoot-around before the game. You could see it coming.”

Part of Green Gerding's frustration stemmed from the fact the Beavers played one of their best game a night before in upending No. 14 Black Hills State. Now the Beavers find themselves in second place, tied with the Yellow Jackets and Mayville State and a game behind DAC-leading Dakota State. MSU fell to 6-3 in the DAC, while Mines improved to 5-4 in the conference.

“We had a big win on Friday and couldn't continue it,” Green Gerding said.

Neither team enjoyed much of a lead throughout the game, but the Beavers opened a 10-point margin midway through the second half on three straight steals — the final resulting in a pair of free throws by Brittni Walker.

But Mines made an immediate run, outscoring the Beavers 14-3 to take a 61-60 lead on free throws by Holyoak with 7:12 to go. Holyoak was a thorn in the Beavers' side all night, scoring 20 points and pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds.

“Bethany does a great job inside even though she is so slight,” Felderman said. “She absorbs contact so well.”

Neither team had a larger lead that the 3-point lead (72-69) the Hardrockers enjoyed on a Holyoak par of free throws on an offensive rebound with 1:25 to play. MSU got to with in 72-70 on a free throw by Kendra Meyer and had a chance to tie or take the lead on the final play of the game, but Whitney Loftesnes' shot with three seconds to play didn't fall.

“We figured Meyer would talk the final shot, but we didn't really do anything different against it,” Feldeman said.

“You take what the defense give you,” Green Gerding said. “I thought Whitney took a good shot, it just didn't fall. We missed too many free throws and good looks at the basket before that to win the game.”

The Beavers only missed six free throws in the game, but missed three of those in the final three minutes.

While it was Holyoak down low that proved tough for MSU, Hardrockers guard Loryn Schuetzle was tough to handle both inside and out. Schuetzle scored 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting, hitting 4-of-6 3-pointers.

“She is a combo kid,” Felderman said. “She played very well for us. We have relied on all of our freshman all season.”

Nicole Martin added 11 points for the Hardrockers (17-6 overall), while Jerika Ihnen added seven rebounds to the Mines' cause.

The Beavers (15-8 overall) were led by Meyer's 23, while Lashay Bagsby finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Walker chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds. MSU was plagued by 21 turnovers.

“We didn't defend for three-quarters of the game, especially in the paint,” Green Gerding said. “We had no energy. It was very frustrating.”

 

Minot Get Win Over Black Hills

Minot, ND - What a difference 6 days can make.

Beavers lock down Yellow Jackets

Minot State University’s Brittni Walker hasn’t been herself over the past five games. Part of what has been bothering her is back and neck pain that hasn’t gone away since a fall during the Dakota State game and part of it was mental.

Walker looks to have overcome both.

The junior scored 19 points and pulled down 17 rebounds and hit a near-record 17 of 18 free throws to propel No. 21 Minot State to a 75-63 win over No. 14 Black Hills State in Dakota Athletic Conference Friday at the MSU Dome. One explanation for her game, however, had nothing to do with either.

“I blew out my regular shoes in practice and don’t have a back up pair,” she said. “So I had to use the shoes I wore my senior season in high school. I might just have to wear them the rest of the season.”

Whatever the reason, Walker’s return to stellar play couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for MSU. The Beavers struggled to find any rhythm on offense in the second half, only hitting six field goals. But Walker’s free throws and solid post defense help the Beavers win their second game against a top 15 team in as many Fridays.

“We were much better in post defense (Friday) then last week,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “We did give the posts some help. Brittni was very active right from the start on defense and that made a big difference.”

MSU won despite taking just 17 shots in the second half, being outshot 65-42 on field goals and turning the ball over 25 times.

“I wasn’t sure,” Green Gerding said when asked if she thought her team could overcome an offensive night like Friday’s. “It shows the importance of defense. It’s a great feeling to know we can.”

The Beavers (6-2 DAC, 15-7 overall) were very good early, going on a 12-0 run to start the game, capped by a Kendra Meyer 3-poiner with 16:14 to play in the first half. But things ground down from there.

“We came out with great energy and were hitting shots,” Meyer said. “After a while, they picked it up and it kind of evened out. The defense was the key. We did a much better job of things this week.”

MSU was never able to fully shake BHSU but the Yellow Jackets couldn’t get the lead under three points. An Alexis Krull free throw got it to 40-37 with 15:42 to play, but Meyer answered with a midrange jumper to start a 7-0 MSU run.

“We never found any flow on offense. Never, ever, not even in the second half,” BHSU head coach Mark Nore said. “You have to credit Minot for that and we didn’t hit many shots. I think it is so tough to go on the road, No. 1, and it is hard to play a team back-to-back. They schemed us well.”

Meyer was again solid, scoring 26 points, pulling down six rebounds and adding four assists. Until a basket by Lashay Bagsby at 3:48, Meyer had the only field goals for MSU in the second half. Her biggest was a 3-pointer at 7:08 to go, answering a 3 by BHSU and pushing the lead back to 53-44.

“This one feels pretty good because we still remember losing to them last week,” Meyer said. “It takes some of the pressure off on the weekend.” MSU did a solid job on BHSU post tandem Lacey Haughian and Snjezana Dojcinovic. Haugian scored 12 points and had four rebounds, while Dojcinovic was held to just eight points and five rebounds.

“We did a lot to prepare for them this week,” Walker said of the Yellow Jackets’ post players. “Playing them back-to-back probably helps us out in that respect. They did some things we weren’t expecting last week, but we were ready for it this time.”

Lindsey Buthe (12 points) and Bayley Chevron (10) joined Haughian in double figures for the Yellow Jackets (5-3 DAC, 17-5 overall.) BHSU shot just 33.8 from the floor in the game and hit only 7 of 25 3-pointers. Only Meyer and Walker hit for in double figures, but multiple MSU players contributed. Sam Medcalf, Bagsby and Caroline Folven each finished with seven points and Whitney Loftesnes hit two 3-pointers for six. But MSU also had solid minutes from reserves, as Danielle Lavasseur, Kayla Rettig, Heather Lizotte, Ashley King and MacKenzie Mack had valuable minutes.

“I thought Caroline Folven had another solid night,” Green Gerding said. “We had some kids play some big minutes — even if it was just for a couple minutes. It was a real team win.”

Black Hills Defends Home Court

SPEARFISH, S.D. — The Minot State University women's basketball team got the start it wanted.

The Beavers took an early 28-24 lead at No. 13 Black Hills State.

But MSU didn't get the finished it was looking for.

The Yellow Jackets outscored MSU 22-6 to finish the first half and held off multiple second-half charges to win 72-65 in Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball Saturday at the Donald E. Young Center.

”Minot's a good team and we had to be ready for them to come out,” BHSU head coach Mark Nore said. “It was a team effort, really. Our defense was what keyed the rally.”

The Beavers (5-2 DAC, 14-7) were looking to capitalize on momentum from knocking off No. 10 South Dakota Mines a night before and had a solid start.

”We were disorganized with what we were doing on defense,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “We looked a little lost at times. I don't know what to say about it exactly because there were times that (a BHSU player) was all alone.”

While the defense spurred on the Yellow Jackets run, it was the play of their posts that sustained it. BHSU (5-2, 17-4) post combination of Snjezana Dojcinovic and Lacey Haugian hurt MSU all night. The duo combined to score 40 points as Dojcinovic netted 22 and Haugian added 18 and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds. The BHSU combination of Dojcinovic, Haugian and Courtney Johnson — who hit two big 3-pointers — outscored MSU's posts 46-27.

”We didn't do anything special against their posts,” Green Gerding said. “That was the plan was to try to play them straight up and hold everyone else down.”

Haugian and Johnson keyed the early part of the first-half run as Haugian scored on a post move and Johnson hit the first of her 3s from the top of the key. An Brittany Fuhrman 3-pointer just moments after the Johnson basket gave the game its 13th and final lead change.

”Our post players have been solid for us all season,” Nore said. “Z's (Dojcinovic) confidence is way up and she has been very good for us.”

The Beavers never went away, cutting the BHSU lead to five multiple times in the second half but couldn't get closer. MSU cut it to five a final time on two free throws by Brittni Walker with 5:36 to play, but Haugian converted a three-point play 29 seconds later to push the lead back to eight.

”We were never really in sync on offense. No, not at any time, really,” Green Gerding said. “Every time we were able to get something going on offense, they would answer on defense. When you are trying to make a comeback, you have to have a couple of stops.”

The Beavers were also hampered by turnovers much of the night, committing 21 on the night.

No other Yellow Jackets player reached double figures after Dojcinovic and Haugian, but had solid offensive balance. Alexis Krull scored nine points and added five assists. Johnson, Fuhrman and Bayley Chevron all finished with six points for BHSU.

MSU was paced by Kendra Meyer's 18 points. Lashay Bagsby scored 15 points and had four blocks. Whitney Loftesnes hit three 3-pointers to score nine and Walker added five points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

The two teams will have little time to figure each other out as they play again Friday, this time at the MSU Dome starting at 5:30 p.m. Minot State, Dakota State and Black Hills are tied for first at 5-2.

 

 

Minot Upends SD Tech


RAPID CITY, S.D. — There were so many factors why Minot State University's win over No. 10 South Dakota Tech was important for the Beavers.

First, MSU took over sole possession of first place in the Dakota Athletic Conference at 5-1. Second, the Beavers knocked off a top 10 NAIA ranked team, the top such team in the DAC. And last, it was in one of the toughest places to earn a win in the conference.

”It's huge — on so many levels,” MSU senior guard Kendra Meyer said. “We have some new players and it really helps our confidence. And it shows the rest of the league what we can do. This is such a tough place to play.”

The Beavers took a 33-30 lead on a Whitney Loftesnes 3-pointer with 1:06 to play in the first half and never relinquished it, hanging on for an 82-79 win Friday at the Kings Center.

”The bottom line is this is a difficult place to get a win,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “I thought it looked like a game of who scores down the stretch instead of who makes stops. It turned out to be like that.”

The Beavers (5-1 DAC, 14-6 overall) took a 77-68 lead on another Loftesnes 3 on a feed from Meyer with 3:10 to play in the game. MSU had to hold off a late run by the Hardrockers behind good-enough free-throw shooting.

”I have been disappointed about my shooting and the coaches have told me to take open looks,” Loftesnes said. “The posts did a great job of looking for me. We knew they would double down and the wings would be open.  ”It feels really good to get this one.”

The first half was the Meyer show as she scored 19 of her game-high 24 points and took charge of the game on both ends of the court. She, as well as Sam Medcalf, drew the difficult assignment of guarding Mines' star Melanie Vedvei.

”I asked for the assignment (on Vedvei) — I wanted that one,” Meyer said. “Things were going for me in the first half. (The Hardrockers) tightened things up in the second half, but we had other players make plays.”

Loftesnes and Lashay Bagsby both turned in solid showings in the second half scoring and MacKenzie Mack was again steady on both ends of the court. Loftesnes scored 14 points hitting 4 of 7 3-pointers. Bagsby added 14 points, seven rebounds and Mack hit 3 of 5 free throws down the stretch.

”I thought Lashay, MacKenzie and (Caroline) Folven gave us good minutes. You probably could go down the list,” Green Gerding said. “Lashay really figured things out in the second.”

The Hardrockers (4-2, 16-4) cut the MSU lead to 80-79 on a Bethany Holyoak offensive rebound putback, but Mines did not get closer. Medcalf, who scored 10 points, hit 1 of 2 free-throws, to push the lead to 81-79. Loftesnes pulled down a rebound and got a jump ball that MSU regained the ball on a miss by Mines on the next possession and Mack went 1-for-2 with 16.1 seconds to go to seal the win.

”It was very physical,” Loftesnes said. “I like how intense this game was. It was a lot of fun.”

Mines was hurt by two technicals in the final 13:17 of the game, the second resulting in the ejection of head coach Barb Felderman with 17.3 seconds to go and the loss of Vedvei with 35.3 seconds due to an injury. Vedvei, who finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, did not return to the court and her status was not immediately known.

Along with Vedvei, the Hardrockers had three other players in double figures. Holyoak finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, Jennie Malone added 14 points and Jerika Ihnen scored 13 points off the bench.

MSU's Brittni Walker had a game-high 10 rebounds along with eight points. Folven scored five and had four rebounds in 12 minutes. The Beavers hit 8 of 18 3-pointers, while holding Mines to just 2 of 13 from beyond the arc.

The Beavers won't get much time to celebrate as they travel to Spearfish, S.D. to take on No. 13-ranked Black Hills State today at 4 p.m. (MST).

”We will enjoy this one for about five hours,” Green Gerding said. “Then we will get up and get back at it.”

 


 

A Lift from Mack



Leads Beavers to Victory


MacKenzie Mack

VALLEY CITY — With five minutes remaining in the second half, Minot State University's MacKenzie Mack was whistled for a foul on a rebound attempt.  Mack immediately turned to the MSU bench and flashed a big smile, knowing she had gone a little too hard for the rebound.

She had reason to smile, however, as just about every rebound Mack had gone for in the second half, she got.

”The coaches talked to us (Friday) morning and one of the things they said was that we needed to get on the offensive boards,” Mack said. “I just tried to go hard whenever the ball went up. It was physical and that kind of got me fired up.”   Mack finished with nine points and 10 rebounds and Lashay Bagsby added a game-high 23 points to lead the Beavers to a 71-54 Dakota Athletic Conference win over Valley City State Saturday at the W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse.

”She brought us toughness,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said of Mack. “MacKenzie went up and took it out of traffic. She gave us a big boost.”

Mack was a monster on both ends during a convincing 28-8 run that turned the game from a 41-41 tie into a rout. She scored seven of her points during the run and controlled the glass.

”Mack also did a little bit of everything for us,” Green Gerding said. “She made a couple of big passes and hit some shots.

”I really think that our defense sparked this win. We have been waiting for a while to be able to say that. The defense got the offense going.”

Bagsby was key for the Beavers in the first 26 minutes. The junior scored 19 first-half points and was one of the only effective offensive threats for MSU.

”I just tried to come out with as much energy as possible early and the team would follow,” Bagsby said. “We did a better job of communicating in the second half, talking about where the screens were coming from and help-side defense.”

The Vikings played inspired basketball until the big second-half run for MSU. VCSU answered everything MSU threw at it early on, talking a 38-36 lead on a basket by Gosia Debicka.

”They played hard, you have to give them credit,” Green Gerding said. “We didn't handle their pressure defense very well in the first half. I thought we did a better job of it in the second.”

The Beavers had 12 first-half turnovers, but shored things up in the second, finishing with only 16 for the game.

The first 26 minutes were close as neither team enjoyed a lead larger than six and featured six ties and 10 lead changes.

”We probably came out a little slow, I don't know what it was,” Mack said. “I think we finally realized that it wasn't going to be as easy as we thought. Valley City did a good job with their defense in the first half, we had to match that.”

With Mack's stellar play leading the way, the Beavers' bench finished with another solid game. The Beavers got a big 3-pointer from Kayla Rettig in the second half and had solid minutes from Ashley King and Caroline Folven. King, who hasn't seen the floor much in conference play, had two points, two rebounds a steal, an assist and was solid on defense in 15 minutes of play.

”Ashley played very well — she made the most of the time she was in,” Green Gerding said. “We got a big offensive rebound and played good defense.”

The Beavers also had a solid second half from senior Kendra Meyer. Meyer, who was held to five in the first half, scored 12 in the second to finish with 17. She had eight of those points during a 19-5 run, dished to Rettig for her 3 that gave MSU a 39-38 lead and drive fora bucket that broke the final tie of the game at 43-31.

Abby Dralle and Terra Billiet each finished with 11 points to pace VCSU (0-4 DAC, 5-12 overall) Dralle added seven rebounds for the VIkings.

The Beavers (4-1, 13-6 overall) will be back on the road next weekend as they travel to South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State Friday and Saturday.

 

Beavers shut down Jimmies

     
Post players Walker, Bagsby, Mack and Folven combined for 38 points on 16 of 22 from the floor.

JAMESTOWN — A lot was made about Jamestown College's defensive pressure heading into Friday's game.  And for the most part, the Jimmies were solid, holding Minot State University to 57 points, 15 under its average.

But the Beavers proved they can play some defense as well.  MSU held Jamestown College to just 17.4 percent shooting and four field goals in the first half and just 25.5 percent for the game, grinding out a 57-46 Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball win at the Jamestown Civic Center.

”We switched from man to our red defense and hustled and played hard,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “We didn't handle the ball very well and didn't shoot the ball real well at times, but the defense was solid.”

The Beavers' defense spurred on a huge run over the final 15 minutes of the first half. After trailing 12-4 on a Giuli Varriano basket with 14:53 to play in the half, the Beavers held JC to just one basket and only six points the rest of the half. During that time, MSU had seven different players score.

”It was a struggle at times to score,” MSU freshman Whitney Loftesnes said. “We didn't move the ball real well and didn't do a good job of getting it inside in the first half. It started to come along a little better in the second half.”

Loftesnes was key in an early second-half run that gave the Beavers their first double digit lead. Loftesnes, from Velva, scored her team's only points during an eight-minute stretch — on two 3-pointers — to give the Beavers a 34-23 lead.

”I saw the guard sagging down and was just ready to shoot when I got the ball,” Loftesnes said. “I am getting more minutes and am trying to make the most of them.”

After Loftesnes' second 3, JC could not get closer than six. While MSU couldn't shake the Jimmies, the Beavers kept the game in hand, mainly behind an offensive burst by Brittni Walker. Walker scored 14 of her game-high 18 in a six-minute stretch midway through the second half, coming just after she had to leave the game after loosing both contacts lenses on a rebound attempt.

”I don't know if the play had anything to do with the increased offense of not, but I knew that I did not want to lose that game,” Walker said. “I got a little break (while getting a spare set of contacts) and the guards did a great job of getting me the ball when I cam back.”

The Beavers move into a four-way tie for first place along with Dakota State, Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines all at 3-1.

”It was big win, especially on the road and at a tough place to play,” Loftesnes said.

”It's huge for us,” Green Gerding said. “It was a good team win for us. We got great minutes from (MacKenzie (Mack) and Caroline (Folven). That's what you need on the road.”

The Beavers were in foul trouble much of the first half, but Mack and Folven spelled Walker and Lashay Bagsby very well. Mack finished with eight points and seven rebounds, while Folven had four points and three rebounds. The Beavers post players Bagsby, Walker, Mack and Folven combined for 38 points on 16 of 22 from the floor.

The Jimmies (1-3 DAC, 8-9 overall) were led in scoring by Varriano with 13 points. Heidi Fiechtner scored 11 off the bench and Cori Doubek finished with eight points and 10 rebounds, scoring all eight from the free-throw line.

Bagsby scored eight points for MSU, who improved to 12-6 overall. Loftesnes and Sam Medcalf each finished with six, while Loftesnes and Kendra Meyer each pulled down eight rebounds. Meyer added eight assists and five points for the Beavers.

 

 

Meyer leads Beavers to

Victory Over Mayville


Kendra Meyer

For the first 10 minutes Saturday, the game resembled the track meet expected of two teams who can score points.  From there on out, the game ground down into a physical battle.

Minot State proved it can play both.

The Beavers got 20 points — 16 in the first half — from senior Kendra Meyer and the Beavers defense forced 24 turnovers and 33.9 percent shooting from Mayville State in a 74-62 Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball win at the MSU Dome.

"I thought it was a real grind," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "I think that comes from two teams that were a little tired and to teams that can play good defense."

The Beavers trailed 21-20 at the 10:31 mark of the first half during the track meet, but went on a 17-7 run started by a great post move by reserve Caroline Folven and finished by a bucket with 43.3 seconds to play in the first half by MacKenzie Mack.

"This was a huge win for us," Meyer said. "Especially after (losing Friday to Dakota State), we needed to take care of things at home and show the DAC what we can do."

Meyer was superb in the first half, hitting 5 of 10 shots and all five free throws to score 16. Not only did Meyer score, but she continued to control the MSU offense.

"She did a great job. It seemed like when we needed something, Kendra gave it to us," Green Gerding said.

While Meyer provided the early offense, Sam Medcalf and Whitney Loftesnes were stingy on defense the entire way. The defensive duo drew a tough assignment of guarding Comets' star Cassie Leraas and guard Jamie Wheeler. The Mayville guards combined for 23 points, but it took 17 shots.

"Sam and Whitney were in lock-down mode," Green Gerding said. "That is tough to do for an entire game."

"We planned to face guard Leraas and just try to work hard and stay with her," Medcalf said. "We did a pretty good job on her. It helped that we were able to be physical and take some of those open looks away."

The Beavers pushed the lead to 10 a couple of times in the second half, the final time at 54-44 on a 3-pointer by Kayla Rettig with 12:25 to play in the game. The Beavers didn't look comfortable on offense at times in the second half and the Comets were able to get to within 64-59 on free throws by Leraas. But Meyer came up with another huge shot on a backdoor feed from Brittni Walker to take a 69-61 lad with 1:13.

"It was a great pass and not one you usually throw in a situation like that," Green Gerding said.

"It was a read play," Meyer said. "Brittni made a great pass. They were overplaying a little, but it wasn't any kind of set play or anything."

While the Minot offense wasn't overly effective in the second half, the Beavers made up for it with offensive rebounds. The Beavers had 10 in the second half and Walker, Mack and Folvin turned those into points four times in the half.

"We talked about that at half," Green Gerding said of the offensive boards. "We had five (Friday) night and had three in the first half. The kids just did a better job of going to the glass in the second."

Leraas fnished with 21 points to pace the Comets. Erika Anderson (12 points) and Laura BigCrow (10) also reached double figures for Mayville (2-1 DAC, 8-6 overall). BigCrow had a game-high 14 rebounds.

Walker and Lashay Bagsby hit for 12 apiece for the Beavers, who moved to 2-1 in the DAC and 1-6 overall. Walker added 10 rebounds — three on the offensive end. Folven added nine off the bench and Medcalf pitched in with eight.

"Things were flowing so much, so I stepped up and took the open look," Medcalf said. "It felt good to get a couple to fall."

 

MSU Comeback Falls Short


Whitney Loftesnes (left) and Lashay Bagsby (right) go up for two points in a Dakota Athletic Conference basketball game against Dakota State Friday at the MSU Dome.


The Dakota State lead turned out to be too much to overcome.

The Trojans shot a blistering 66.7 percent from the floor in the first half and hit their first five shots of the second half to build a 21-point lead they did not relinquish — barely.

”Playing with a lead is crucial,” DSU head coach Jeff Dittman said. “You could see that tonight. Minot State definitely outplayed us in the second half, but we had built a big enough lead.”

The Beavers cut the lead to three twice in the waning minutes of the second half, but could get no closer as the No. 18-ranked Trojans hit 8 of 10 free throws in the final 1:18 to take a 90-84 Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball win Friday at the MSU Dome.

”You kind of feel like you won the game with the way we played down the stretch,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “Obviously, we want to win the game, but I don't think we have anything to hang our heads about.

”Hopefully our kids learned a lesson. You have to come out ready to play.”

MSU did not Friday and DSU took full advantage. The Trojans hit 4 of 5 3-pointers and 22 of 33 in the half to take a 50-38 lead at the break.

”Any win on the road is a good win in this conference,” Dittman said. “We were very happy with how we handled their pressure in the first half. The things we did well offensively against their pressure, we didn't do in the second.”

The Beavers cut the lead to three on a three-point play by Kendra Meyer with 2:19 to play. Meyer was great in the second half, scoring 15 of her game-high 28 in the second, while running the offense much of the half.

”Kendra did a great job of keeping us steady,” Green Gerding said. “She had a great overall game, running the team.”

But the Trojans had enough in the tank to fend off the Beavers. DSU's Nicole Geraets hit a big bucket on the Trojans' ensuing possession to extend the lead back to to five. MSU's Lashay Bagsby scored at 1:18 to cut the lead back to three for final time at 1:39 as Jill Hansen drilled two free throws at 1:18.

Part of the MSU surge in the second half came from renewed energy on the defensive end and part came as the Beavers were able to get DSU's star post Laura Tewes into foul trouble.

”The thing is that Laura along with Maria (Gengler) are shot blockers and it allows our perimeter players to be more aggressive,” Dittman said. “Without her in the game, we can't do that.”

Tewes fouled out with 2:19 to play, scoring 13 points on just 17 minutes, but the Beavers lost forward Brittni Walker two minutes earlier. Walker's loss was big for MSU as she scored 11 of her 15 points in a 10 minute span while the Beavers were on a 25-8 run.

”It was a big loss for us because she was really starting to assert herself,” Green Gerding said.

DSU's Jessica VanLoy was steady all night with a team-high 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. Garaets was 6-for-8 from the floor on her way to 16 points, while Gengler added 14 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for the Trojans (1-1 DAC, 9-7 overall).

Meyer, Walker and Bagsby combined for 60 of the Beavers (1-1, 10-6) 84 points as Bagsby added 17 points and six rebounds to Meyer and Walker's points. Caroline Folvin and MacKenzie Mack score eight and seven points off the bench respectively for MSU.

The Beavers are back at the Dome tonight at 4 p.m. against Mayville State.

 

MSU Lady Beavers Complete

 

Sweep of Winnipeg

 



A near empty gas tank wasn't enough to stop Minot State University from completing it's sweep of University of Winnipeg.

The Beavers (10-5) slowed the tempo of the game down with 29 trips to the free-throw line and held the Wesmen to just 16 second-half points in a 74-45 nonconference women's basketball win Saturday at the MSU Dome.

“We weren't very sharp (Saturday) and I think part of that had to do with fatigue from (Friday night),” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “We played very hard and we did as well as we could after a long break. I think we did a good job defensively tonight and they got a little tired down the stretch.

“We struggled a little bit in the scoring column, but when you struggle your leaders have to step up and get the job done for you. I think Brittni Walker and Kendra Meyer both did that by getting to the free-throw line and doing a lot things for us.”

After being held below her scoring average in Friday's game, Meyer got off to a hot start in the first half of Saturday's game. The MSU junior scored 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting in the first 12 minutes of the game, including 2 of 5 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. Meyer, who is still adjusting the point guard position, finished with a game-high 27 points.

“She creates a lot for other people, she makes good passes and tonight she found a way to get the rack,” said Green Gerding of Meyer at the point.

Walker was held to just seven points in the first half, but she took over the paint in the second. Walker scored 13 of her 20 points due in part to 10-for-11 shooting at the free-throw line.

“We go into the locker room and tell ourselves that the score is 0-0,” Walker said. “We do that so we can come out aggressive. Our aggression and playing good defense played a big part in the win.”

MSU's defense held Winnipeg to 16 percent shooting in the second half and the Beavers shot a steady 43 percent in both halves. Coming into the two-game series with Winnipeg, the Beavers had a long layoff. The Beavers were able to tire the Wesmen Saturday, but Green Gerding feels her team has yet to recover from the break fully.

“They went man and we tried to get penetration to get to the foul line, which helped a lot (with slowing the game),” Green Gerding said. “I think they got tired, but I think we got a little tired too and that's what happens when you take 10 days off.”

Walker said that coming out of a long break is almost like starting over at day one of the season.

“The hardest part is really getting used to running up and down the court again,” she said. “Sprinting up and down the court can be tough when you are off for 10 days. But I think we will be ready for our next games.”

Catie Gooch was only player to score in double figures in scoring for the Wesmen with 15 points.

Lashay Bagsby, Sam Medcalf and Caroline Folven all contributed six points for MSU. Bagsby also had a game-high 11 rebounds for the Beavers, who are up next against Dakota Athletic Conference foe Dakota State on Jan. 11.

 

 

Bagsby Dumps in 22 in Beaver Win

In a game where Minot State University scored 90 points, its defense was the star.

The Beavers held the University of Winnipeg scoreless for 7:54 spanning the first and second halves and blew out the Wesmen 90-55 in nonconference women's basketball Friday at the MSU Dome.

“We were a little fatigued and had a let down on defense,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “We didn't handle their pressure for a couple of possessons right away. But credit the kids, they battled.”

MSU led by as many as 13 points in the early going, but Winnipeg cut the lead to just 38-35 on an offensive rebound putback by Alex MacIver with 1:48 to play in the first half.

The ensuing MSU possession loomed large in the final outcome. MSU forward Brittni Walker was fouled and went to the line for a one-and-one. During the Walker free throw, Winnipeg head coach Tanya McKay was whistled for a technical foul and Walker hit all four free throws giving MSU a 42-35 lead. The Beavers went on to outscore the Wesmen 26-0 over the next eight minutes to put the game away.

“We talked about getting some intensity on defense and getting into a flow on offense,” MSU senior Kendra Meyer said. “I think we were a little tired. We had that line change and got some fresh legs in and that made a difference. It is tough to come off of a break and know where you are at, but everybody stayed in pretty good shape.”

It was Meyer, Walker and junior post Lashay Bagsby that keyed the Beavers' run late in the first half and on into the second half. Meyer and Walker each finished with 12 points in the first half and Bagsby scored 12 of her game-high 22 points in the Beavers' 17-0 run to start the second half. Bagsby added five rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot in just 16 minutes.

“I felt pretty good,” Bagsby said. “We kept the intesity going during the run. It took a little while to get into the game. The defense got us going.”

The Wesmen (6-8 overall) never threatened after the MSU run, shooting just 5 of 34 from the 3-point line and only 29.6 percent for the contest.

“We talked about playing hard on every play before the Christmas break and for the most part I thought we did that,” Green Gerding said.

Walker added 17 points, four rebounds and two assists and Meyer finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists in a fine all-around game.

“Kendra did get as many shots as we need her to have later in the season, but distributed the ball very well,” Green Gerding said. “She fits well into the point-guard position easily because she sees the court so well.”

“It's fine,” Meyer said of the point position. “I like it. It is something different that we can use later in the year. I don't care about all the numbers, the only one is the final score.”

Green Gerding was not only happy with her starting post Bagsby, but backup Caroline Folven as well.

“Lashay has gotten better and better as the year has went on,” she said. “And I thought that we got great minutes out of Caroline off the bench.”

Folven and Kayla Rettig each finished with 10 points in reserve roles for the Beavers (9-5 overall).

The Wesmen were paced by Amy Ogidan's 10 points and six rebounds, but didn't have another player reach double figures.

The two teams tangle again tonight at 7 p.m. at the Dome as part of a double header. It is the final tune up for the MSU women's team before resuming conference play January 11 against rival Dakota State.

 

Key Free Throws



Lift MSU Over Dickinson

Minot State University's Kendra Meyer fights off Dickinson State's Ashley
Bakich-Emmons, right, and JaTonn Parham during a Dakota Athletic Conferenc
women's basketball game Thursday at Scott Gymnasium.
(Photo courtesy of Dustin Monke, Dickinson Press.)

 

DICKINSON — Dickinson State got antsy and Minot State University took full advantage.

After gaining a small lead late in the second half, the Blue Hawks got caught up in a foul free-for-all that blew up in their faces as the Beavers hit 13 of 16 free throws in the final 4 minutes to earn a 71-60 Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball victory on Thursday night at Scott Gymnasium. It was the conference opener for both teams.

”I thought we played with composure in the last four minutes of the game and did what we needed to do,” Beavers coach Sheila Green Gerding said.

DSU held a 54-52 lead with 6:29 left and kept things close for the next three minutes before getting foul happy down the stretch.

”When we did get a little momentum, our energy was so high we got careless,” DSU coach Guy Fridley said.

The Blue Hawks took their first lead when Ashley Bakich-Emmons picked off a pass and took it uncontested for a fast-break layup to give the Blue Hawks a 54-52 lead. On the previous possession, DSU senior forward Elise Daughton tied the game with the exact same play. Daughton came off the bench to score 17 points, and nab four rebounds and two steals. However, the Beavers finally gained the upper hand when DSU got caught fouling on numerous possessions.

”The effort defensively was there,” Fridley said. “We've just got to get more intelligent in the last four minutes.”

Along with shooting 21 of 27 from the free-throw line, the Beavers held a distinct advantage down low.

Minot State used its significant size advantage down low — not to mention some good inside shooting — to build an early lead it used as a buffer as the game wore on. The Beavers dominated down low, scoring 20 of their 37 first-half points in the paint en route to a 37-29 halftime lead.  Minot State junior center Lashay Bagsby had the best game of her season according to Green Gerding. The 6-foot-1 junior scored 22 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and had six steals.

”It kind of surprised me,” Bagsby said. “I didn't know how I was going to come out today. I was kind of nervous.”

Minot State senior Kendra Meyer definitely wasn't shaky in the clutch. Meyer hit all eight of her free throws in the final four minutes to help the Beavers gain the momentum in the final moments. The 5-foot-7 guard finished with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. Fridley said slapping at the ball on defense keyed Minot State's free-throw outburst.

”We had that run, but we used it (free throws) to hurt us,” he said.

MSU is in Billings, Mont. to face Rocky Mountain College in its final game before Christmas. MSU returns home Dec. 28 and 29 for a pair of games against the University of Winnipeg with both games scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

 

 

MSU Ladies WIN AT TECH

 

Meyer Leads Beavers to 4th Straight Win

Nov. 19 - The game was north of the border in Brandon, Manitoba and the Lady Beavers kept rolling with a 74-60 win over Brandon.  Leading by just three at the half, MSU put together a nice 2nd half to go up by over 20 and cruised on to their 4th staright win led by Kendra Meyer's 29 points.

 

 

Walker's Reverse Helps

 

Beavers Come Back

Nov. 17  -    All the time Minot State University junior Brittni Walker spent practicing reverse layups as a youngster paid off.

Walker hit a reverse layup with 33 seconds remaining in Saturday's NAIA non-conference women's basketball game, propelling the Beavers to a 70-69 victory over Rocky Mountain College at the MSU Dome.

The shot came out of a timeout, but Walker said it wasn't called.

“That actually wasn't a play. We were just looking to get it into the post. We knew I was faster than their post. I felt her on my back and when my guard passed it into me I looked baseline and saw there was no one on the other side,” Walker said. “When I was younger Dad would always work on reverse layups with me so I knew I could make it.”

Walker finished with 18 points — 12 coming in the second half — and had a game-high seven rebounds as the Beavers (5-3) won their fifth straight at home. Senior Kendra Meyer lead the Beavers with 20 points, shooting 6 of 14 from the field and 2 of 5 from beyond the three-point line. The Beavers were 15 of 20 from the free throw line in the game (8 of 9 in the second half), while Rocky Mountain College was 8 of 15.

“We did shoot very well down the stretch from the free throw line,” Beavers head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “We did a couple things well down the stretch. We did a great job of limiting (Rocky Mountain College) to one shot. Second thing, we were very patient offensively. We got the ball inside and when the shot clock did run down we made plays.”

MSU led by as many as 11 points in the first half and held a 37-30 halftime lead, but Rocky Mountain College was able to charge back. The Bears used an 18-6 run to take a 55-50 lead with 0:05 to play in the game.

“We just made some poor decisions offensively, turned the ball over and then we didn't do a good job on defense,” said Green Gerding of the Bears' run. “That combination will put you in a hole.”

The Beavers eventually tied the game on a pair of Meyer free throws, then retook the lead at 64-62 with 4:07 to play when senior Kayla Rettig put back Meyer's miss. After that, MSU never relinquished its lead.

Sophomore Sam Medcalf and Meyer both added four assists for the Beavers, who shot 25 of 58 rom the field. Rocky Mountain College finished 28 of 59 from the floor.

Gretchen Wall led the Bears with 13 points, while Shaylynn Conroy added 12 points.

MSU will travel to play Brandon University Monday.

 

Meyer Leads Minot State to Win

Nov. 10- - The Minot State Lady Beavers ran their season record to 4-3 on Saturday night as they avenged a loss from a week ago at Havre by beating MSU-Northern by the score of 62-52.  Click the link below to read all about the Lady Beaver victory.

 

 

MSU Gets Back on Winning Track

 

with Win Over Great Falls

 

Nov. 9 - - The Minot State Lady Beavers had a huge first half by dumping in 54 points in the fisrt 20 minutes and never looked back as they knocked of the Lady Argos from Great Falls by the score of 83-70.  Click the Link below to read the article in the Minot Daily News.


 

Lady Beavers Cap Off 3 Game

 

Weekend with Win

Oct. 28 - - The Minot State Lady Beavers handed Brandon an 86-45 loss as the non-starters for MSU got plenty of playing time and, in doing so, showed Coach Gerding that there will be considerable depth in this year's squad. The win upped the Lady Beavers record to 2-1.

 

 

Brittni's Beavers Bounce Back

 

With Win Over Tech


Oct. 27 - - Brittni Walker dumped in 23 points, blocked 4 shots and pulled down 15 rebounds as Minot State beat the Montana Tech Lady Orediggers by the score of 85-74.  Kendra Meyer also scored 23 for the Beavers who even their season record to 1-1.

 

Lady Beavers Complete Five Pre-season Scrimmages

The Minot State Lady Beavers traveled to Minnesota on October 13 to scrimmage Anoka Ramsey Community College and MCTC, two junior colleges.  The games were played at Coon Rapids, close to the homes of current Lady Beavers, Kendra Meyer and Sam Medcalf.  MSU came away with two victories, but more importantly, everyone got to play and show Coach Gerding what they could do on the court to help the Lady Beavers this year.

On October 19, MSU hosted Lake Region and Williston in a couple more tune-up games to get ready for the season lidlifter. Again, the Lady Beavers prevailed in both scrimmages and the Lady Beaver coaches were happy with the improvement shown over the previous games.

On Saturday evening, October 20th, the Lady Beavers had their final pre-season game which was played against former Lady Beavers in the annual MSU alumni.  Arita Oler, Jenn Sundahl, Betsy Vig, Jenny Castro and Amy Fulmer gave the current Lady Beavers a good workout but the Lady Beavers proved to be too much for the alumni as the 2007-08 MSU squad went on to win by double digits.

Minot State will open their season with three home games beginning on Friday, October 26th as they host Western Montana at 4:00 p.m.  Saturday's contest will tip off at 7:00 verses Montana Tech and on Sunday, the game vs, Brandon University will begin at 4:00.



 
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