Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Bay College’s Brooke Mannor goes up for a layup over UW-Marinette’s Sarah Barrette during Monday’s game at Bay College. The Norse won 88-35.

ESCANABA — Early in the season, coach Rob Robinson loves what he’s seeing from his Bay College Norse women’s basketball team. Regardless of the competition level, the Norse are playing hard for four quarters every game and showing improvement along the way.

A day after blitzing the Lake Superior State University jayvee team, the Norse came out on fire again on their way to an 88-35 victory over UW-Marinette on their home court Monday night.

The Norse (4-1) immediately led 8-0 after back-to-back buckets by Kaitlyn Hardwick and fastbreak layups by Kelsea Ackerman and Marissa Ackerman.

Bay finished the quarter leading 29-4 and then built a 50-13 halftime lead against a Marinette team playing with just six players.

“We have to run what we run, and that’s what’s important,” Robinson said. “We’re going to press 24/7 every time we’re on the floor. Our players have to keep getting better at it and better at it, so that’s why we do what we do. We’re just looking for game-by-game improvement and minute-by-minute improvement. We improved on some things last night that we messed up, as well as improving on some stuff from the Western Tech game (in a 74-45 loss).

“I’m proud of my girls and the effort that they always put forth, that’s for sure.”

The Norse, who used their press to force 33 Marinette turnovers, extended their lead to 68-17 with 3:37 left in the third quarter after back-to-back triples by Haley Trudell.

Trudell finished with 14 points while going 4 for 5 from behind the arc. Kelsea Ackerman also hit two 3-pointers, while four other players hit one to help the Norse shoot 10 of 18 from downtown.

“Kelsea and Haley have both been shooting it very well,” Robinson said. “They’re a combined 60 percent from 3 right now, which is a really good thing for us. As a team, we shot 55 percent from 3, so we have a lot of players who can shoot it. They work hard at it and they want to be successful, and I think they know that’s how they’re going to be successful.”

Holly Wardynski, JuliAnn Wickman and Hardwick each added nine points as the Norse continue to be balanced. Keshia Davis had a game-high seven rebounds.

Brianne Burnett led all scorers with 19 points for the Buccaneers.

“Tonight, we did a lot of rotating five,” Robinson said. “I don’t know who’s our top 10 because we have a lot of good players, so it’s really hard to decipher and figure that part of it out. There’s going to be learning, and as we learn hopefully we can keep winning.”

The Norse visit Milwaukee Area Technical College Friday before paying a visit to Harper Community College Saturday.

“We’re playing a real tough team on Friday and another back-to-back game on Saturday,” Robinson said.

UW-Marinette 4 9 6 16 — 35

Bay College 29 21 25 13 — 88

UW-Marinette — Burnett 19, Barrette 6, Swanson 5, Wingender 4, Reiswitz 1. FT: 6-12; F: 15; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Barrette 1.

Bay College — Trudell 14, Hardwick 9, Wardynski 9, Wickman 9, K. Ackerman 8, Hunter 8, Dalgord 7, McGuire 5, Davis 5, Mannor 5, M. Ackerman 4, Molina 3, Goodacre 2. FT: 8-15; F: 16; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Trudell 4, K. Ackerman 2, Wardynski 1, Wickman 1, Molina 1, Mannor 1.