SIDNEY, MI – The Bay College Women’s Basketball Team (19-4, 8-1 MCCAA) cruised to a 96-54 victory over the Montcalm Community College Centurions (7-15, 4-5 MCCAA) on Saturday afternoon.

The two teams looked evenly matched in the first quarter. Two lead changes and a lot of offense resulted in a 23-20 Bay College lead after the first frame. Both teams shot it well in the opening frame with Bay hitting 45/5% of their shots and Montcalm connecting at a 47.1% rate.

Things changed quickly in the second quarter as the Centurion offense was not able to keep up the pace, but the Norse were incredibly efficient, hitting 11 of their 17 shots, including going five of seven from behind the three-point arc. Bay opened up a big lead, outscoring their hosts 31-13 in the second quarter.

Turnovers and rebounding hurt the Centurions as the game pressed on. The Norse continued to shoot the ball well. Bay turned the ball over just ten times in the game, while Montcalm committed 29 turnovers. The Norse also grabbed 17 offensive rebounds in the game and had 41 total rebounds, while the Centurions had 32 rebounds. Bay was nine of 29 from three-point and shot 43.2% for the game while Montcalm shot 38.3% and connected on just four of their 21 three-point attempts.

Laruen Zawada (SO, Bark River, MI) led all scorers with 29 points and also grabbed six rebounds. Mckenzie Hoffmeyer (SO, Bark River, MI) had 23 points and six rebounds, while Jillian Fraser (FR, St. Ignace, MI) finished with 12 points and four assists.

Montcalm was led by Emily Putnam (SO, Sheridan, MI) who had 15 points, four rebounds, and four steals. Baylor Syrjala (FR, Lakeview, MI) had eight points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.

The Norse will travel to Alpena Community College on Wednesday evening. That game is scheduled to tip at 5:30 pm.