ESCANABA — Beware of shorthanded teams.

Bryant & Stratton College, despite having just eight available players, showed how dangerous it can be here Saturday while handing the Bay College women an 83-52 basketball loss.

The Milwaukee-based team got 41 points from its bench while posting its second straight victory and improving to 3-7.

Bay (4-10), which finished with 18 bench points, trailed 42-32 at halftime and had numerous chances to climb within single digits. The Norse, however, came up empty each time.

“This was a tough one,” said Bay coach Matt Gregory. “We worked on a lot of things during the week. I thought we’d be able to do a better job getting the ball to the post. We couldn’t capitalize on our opportunities. When you get opportunities like that, you have to take advantage of those.”

The Norse were still within 46-36 following a 19-point jumper by Ontonagon graduate Wardynski with six minutes left in the third, then were outscored 19-4 through the remainder of that quarter.

“We have pretty good kids coming off the bench,” said Bobcats’ coach Jeff Lorenz. “We started the season real slow, but we’re finally playing more like seasoned veterans. Our man-to-man (defense) was pretty solid today. We’re real pleased we were able to do that after a four-hour bus ride. Matt’s teams are very disciplined. He does a nice job with them.”

The Norse trailed 24-16 after the first quarter and had four chances to trim their deficit to six points or less in the second, but also failed to cash in on those.

On one possession during the second frame, Wardnyszki launched a 3-point shot from the right wing, which bounced out of the hoop and enabled the Bobcats to maintain their cushion.

Emmoni Rankins scored 21 points in a reserve role for the Bobcats, who held a 37-35 rebounding edge. Mikkalla Robertson added 19, and Maxine Paulowske had 12. Faith Watkins led them in rebounding with 13.

“They have a lot of tough players,” said Gregory. “They were playing with confidence. Holly played well today. She plays hard on both sides of the floor. She leads by examples and provides a lot of rebounding for us.”

The Norse hit just 18-of-65 field goals and committed 14 turnovers. The Bobcats were 33-of-70 from the floor and had 10 miscues.

“Our shots weren’t falling today, which was really disappointing,” said Rudyard graduate Cierra Molina, who scored eight points for the Norse. “Holly was the only one who shot well today.”

Bark River-Harris grad Lauryn Bloniarz grabbed 12 boards for the Norse, who host Milwaukee Area Tech Saturday noon.

Bryant & Statton 24 18 23 18 — 83

Bay College 16 16 8 12 — 52

Bryant & Stratton College — Paulowske 12, Robertson 19, Watkins 4, Williams 7, Vann 7, Brown 5, Hollins 8, Rankins 21. FT: 10-15; F: 13; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Paulowske 2, Hollins 2, Williams, Vann, Brown.

Bay College — Molina 8, Wardynski 13, Mannor 2, Boulton 4, Bloniarz 7, McGuire 2, Arsenault 2, Englund 5, Koski 1, Olsen 6, Clark 2. FT: 12-16; F: 14; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Molina 2, Wardynski, Englund.