Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Bay College’s Madison Olsen (24) blocks a shot from Finlandia’s Katie Loman (11) Saturday at Bay College.

ESCANABA — It all came down to the free throw line at Bay College Saturday as the Norse women’s basketball team had its 18-game home win streak broken by the Finlandia Lions, 50-45.

“Our girls found a way to win and dug it out,” Lions coach Mariah Dunham said.

“It was one of those games that maybe last year we don’t win. We had all freshmen last year, and now we’ve added some upperclassmen and (experienced) players. Those freshmen now have a year under their belt.”

After an offensively lackluster third quarter on both sides, the game was tied 36-36 going to the fourth.

Finlandia’s Harlee Froberg scored on a layup 15 seconds into the period. Over the next four minutes, both teams scored exclusively from the charity stripe, with Bay going 1 for 4 and the Lions making 4 of 4 to lead 42-38 with four minutes left.

“You can’t win games shooting less than 70% on free throws,” Norse coach Rob Robinson said. “That’s really been our Achilles heel. That’s really the difference. If we shoot the same amount, and they shoot 80% and we shoot 57%, we lose. That’s something we have to work on and feel confident on.”

Kaitlyn Hardwick reduced Bay’s deficit to 42-40, but a 3-pointer from the Lions’ Carsyn Osterman made it 45-40 with 3:25 remaining. Harlee Froberg followed that up with another jumper to extend Finlandia’s lead to seven.

Hardwick got an opportunity at the free throw line with just over a minute left but missed both. Osterman sank two free throws of her own with 20 seconds left to make it 49-42 to seal the game despite two more baskets from Trish McGuire and Cierra Molina in the closing seconds.

The Norse led 16-14 after the first quarter but fell behind in the second after an adjustment from the Lions.

“I think we were rushing (in the first quarter),” Dunham said. “Bay does a great job of pressing, and we got caught up in that game. That’s just not going to work when you play a team like that. Unfortunately, right now we’re missing one of our best players — someone who’s an inside post player that we really could’ve used tonight.”

Bay pulled back within two at the half thanks to a last-second triple from Haley Trudell but couldn’t capitalize in the third.

“We didn’t shoot as well as a team,” Robinson said. “At only 27%, we missed a lot of layups, and it was a physical game. It’s tough to lose a game when you outwork your opponent, and I think we really did today. We just made a few errors.

“We had maximum effort. I told them after the game that if we play this hard against two-year schools and play smart, we might not lose another game this season.”

The Norse were led by McGuire with eight points, while Hardwick notched six points and 15 rebounds.

Osterman led the Lions with 14 points. Bailey Froberg added 13 points, while Harlee Froberg finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Bay and Finlandia face off again Wednesday at Finlandia.

Finlandia 14 17 5 14 — 50

Bay College 16 13 7 9 — 45

Finlandia — Osterman 14, B. Froberg 13, H. Froberg 11, Ryynanen 6, Austin 4, Pertile 2. F: 24; Fouled out: none; FT: 16-20; 3-point field goals: B. Froberg 1, Osterman 1.

Bay College — McGuire 8, Wickman 6, Hardwick 6, Trudell 6, Wardynski 5, Ackerman 4, Molina 4, Olsen 4, Bloniarz 2. F: 20; Fouled out: Hardwick; 3-point field goals: Trudell 2, McGuire 1.