Duluth, Minn. – The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs hosted the Bemidji State Beavers on Thursday night. The Bulldogs shot over 50% from the field on their way to a 76-54 win. The win extends their win streak to 12 games as they improve to 20-4 on the season.
Bemidji State opened the scoring on the night with a three-pointer on their first possession. From there, the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run to take a 9-3 lead with 6:46 remaining in the first quarter. During that 9-0 run,
Brooke Olson dominated early as she had 7 of those points. From there, the Bulldogs continued their hot offensive start as they continued to build their lead as they took a 18-5 lead, thanks to another
Brooke Olson layup. The Bulldogs once again continued their dominate play in the first quarter as they built up to a 25-11 lead. The Beavers responded with a layup at the buzzer as the Bulldogs took a 25-13 first quarter lead.
Brooke Olson had 10 first quarter points as they Bulldogs shot 10-17 (58.5%) from the field and 2-5 (40%) from three-point range in the quarter. Bemidji State struggled from the field as they shot 5-15 (33.3%) from the floor and 1-3 (33.3%) from three-point range.
The second quarter was a much slower start for the Bulldogs offense as they did not score in the second quarter until the 6:33 mark of the quarter.
Brooke Olson changed that however as she scored a three-pointer and a layup on back-to-back possessions as the Bulldogs extended their lead to 32-15.
Maesyn Thiesen began to heat up in the quarter as she hit two three-pointers in the quarter to extend the lead once again. A pair of
Maesyn Thiesen and
Sarah Grow baskets down the stretch as the Bulldogs took a 40-21 halftime lead.
Brooke Olson had a big first half with 17 points.
Maesyn Thiesen also added 10 points in the first half. The Bulldogs shot 6-16 (37.5%) from the field and 3-5 (60%) from three-point range in the second quarter. Bemidji State shot 2-13 (15.4%) from the field and 0-2 from three-point range in the quarter.
The third quarter began with both teams trading baskets early. The Bulldogs offense managed to stay hot as a jumper from
Brooke Olson kept the Bulldogs offense firing.
Sarah Grow also was having a strong offensive performance as a jumper from her gave the Bulldogs a 46-29 lead with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter. The Beavers attempted to mount a comeback but the Bulldogs answered with some key baskets to maintain a double digit lead in the third quarter. A
Taytum Rhoades layup towards the end of the third quarter gave the Bulldogs a 55-39 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs shot 6-12 (50%) from the field and 0-3 from three-point range. The Beavers shot 7-13 (53.8%) from the field and 1-2 (50%) from three-point range.
The Bulldogs managed to maintain their lead early in the fourth quarter as both teams traded baskets early in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs managed to maintain a double-digit lead through the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. A Bemidji State three-pointer right before the media timeout cut the Bulldogs lead to 13 points with 5:17 remaining in the quarter. Back to back baskets from Maeysn Thiesen and
Madelyn Granica allowed the Bulldogs to extend their lead to 17 points. The Bulldogs managed to hold onto their lead down the stretch as the game was out of the Beavers grasps. The Bulldogs managed to empty their bench down the stretch as the Bulldogs held on to win the game76-54.
The Bulldogs were led by
Brooke Olson who had 23 points on the night.
Sarah Grow also added 16 points while
Maesyn Thiesen had 13 points on the night. Olson led the team with 7 rebounds while Thiesen and
Taytum Rhoades both had 4 assists on the night.
Sarah Grow added on to her UMD blocks record as she had 2 blocks on the night. Thiesen and
Payton Kahl both also added 3 steals each. Overall, the Bulldogs shot 31-60 (51.7%) from the field and 5-16 (31.3%) from three-point range. They also shot 9-11 from the foul line.
The Beavers were led by Brooklyn Bachmann who had 19 points on the night. Rachael Heittola led the team with 10 rebounds on the night for a double-double. Overall, the Beavers shot 17-52 (32.7%) from the field and 4-13 (30.8%) from three-point range in the game. They also shot 16-19 from the foul line.
Who's Next: The Bulldogs will travel to face off against Minnesota Crookston on Saturday for their season finale.
