UNIVERSITY CENTER, MI – Cancellations earlier in the week forced the #24 Bay College Women's Basketball Team (23-4, 12-1 MCCAA) to play conference games on back-to-back days as they held off a very tough Delta College (15-12, 8-5 MCCAA) team on their home court by a final score of 90-83 on Saturday. On Sunday Delta played host to the Norse as they made up postponed Kirtland Community College (8-17, 4-9 MCCAA) game that was supposed to be played at Bay on Wednesday evening. The Norse rolled to a 86-48 win in the weekend finale.
After jumping out to a 15-6 lead, the Norse had to fend off their host on Saturday afternoon, as they went on a 7-0 run to close the gap. Bay led by six after quarter one, but Delta's offense wasn't nearly as efficient in the second quarter and the Norse led by double-digits at halftime, with the score standing at 45-32.
Bay led by as many as 15 in the third quarter, but the Pioneers kept chipping away from that point on. Delta worked their way back into the game and trailed 63-58 after three quarters of play.
In the fourth the Pioneers closed to within one possession on multiple occasions, but the Norse had an answer every time. After a three-pointer closed to within two and a missed jumper gave Delta a chance to tie or take the lead, Bay responded by creating a turnover and getting a basket from Lauren Zawada (SO, Bark River, MI). Midway through the quarter, Delta closed to score to 72-71 but the Norse wasted no time answering as Nina Bower (RS-FR, Bark River, MI) drained a three-pointer on the very next possession. With just under five to play, the Pioneers did it again, this time making the score 77-76 and it would be Marissa Ives (FR, Bark River, MI) that would respond, drilling a shot from behind the three-point arc.
Delta would pull to within two one more time, but the Norse connected on free throws in the next possession and took control from there. They wound up winning by seven in a tough battle.
Makenna Hendrickson (SO, Baraga, MI) led the Norse with 21 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and four steals. Zawada finished with a double-double, picking up 17 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists. Chloe Seymour (FR, Marinette, WI) added 15 points, nine rebounds, and four assists, while Bower ended her day with 11 points and six rebounds. Ives finished with ten points.
Delta was led by Aya Mosley (FR, Romeo, MI) who had 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and five blocked shots. Alexis Schatter (FR, Auburn, MI) picked up 18 points and eight rebounds while Makayla Watkins (SO, Grayling, MI) added 14 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists. Malaya Brown (FR, Riverdale, MI) added ten points.
With the season winding down and little room for make up dates, Delta College was kind enough to offer their court for a neutral site conference game, a rarity in the basketball world. The Norse had a bit of a slow start against the Firebirds of Kirtland Community College, but after KCC closed the score to 8-5 with just under four minutes to play, the Norse finished the quarter on a 12-1 run to take control of the game.
Kirtland regained their offensive momentum in the second quarter, but it wasn't enough to hang with Bay as they outscored the Firebirds 27-19 and took a 47-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Norse rolled in the second half, nearly doubling up the Firebirds in the third quarter, scoring 30 points and holding Kirtland to 16 points. Bay held KCC to just seven points in the fourth and won by 48 points.
Bay's offense was very efficient overall, hitting 47.4% of their field goals. Kirtland shot 36.0% for the game and hit on eight of 13 from the free throw line, while the Norse were 17 of 26 from the charity stripe. Bay also forced 34 Firebird turnovers while only turning it over eight times themselves, which gave them an advantage in sheer volume of shots. The Norse had 76 field goal attempts while Kirtland shot the ball 50 times.
Zawada put up 25 points and had eight rebounds, seven assists, and six steals. Hendrickson added 22 points while Mckenzie Hoffmeyer (SO, Bark River, MI) added ten points and had four assists. Gracie Kleikamp (SO, Powers, MI) had ten points and five rebounds.
Kayla McCoy (SO, Mesick, MI) led the Firebirds with 14 points. Lucy Hall (SO, Kalkaska, MI) added ten points and six rebounds. Aysia Bailey (FR, Houghton Lake, MI) added ten rebounds.
The Norse have solidified second place in the MCCAA Northern Conference and sit a game behind Mid Michigan College (24-3, 13-0 MCCAA). The season ends with a showdown with the Lakers on Tuesday evening on the road. The game is scheduled to tip at 5:30 pm.