NORTHERN SUN INTERCOLLEGIATE CONFERENCE

Beavers’ final push comes up just short in 1st-round NSIC Tournament loss to Huskies

Pioneer Staff Report — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 04:43:59 GMT

ST. CLOUD — Halfway through the second frame, the Beavers’ odds were looking grim.

The 12th-seeded Bemidji State men’s basketball team had let its 31-29 halftime lead slip away, trailing five-seeded St. Cloud State 51-37 in the first round of the NSIC Tournament.

But with the season on the line, BSU got hot.

Sophomore guard John Pecarich nailed a 3-point basket, followed up a couple of possessions later by a layup from senior John Sutherland. After a quick layup from the Huskies, Pecarich splashed a 2-point jumper and Sutherland converted on another drive to the basket. SCSU grabbed a point at the free-throw line before senior guard Daxton Dayley knocked down a triple.

Junior guard Jareon Mayo kept the baskets coming with a tip-in, and with 4:24 left on the clock, senior guard/forward Malang Athian made a 2-point jumper to cap off a stellar 16-3 run for Bemidji State. The Beavers only trailed by one point, 54-53.

Less than a minute later, Pecarich answered SCSU point at the free throw line with a 3-point basket, giving BSU its first lead since the opening seconds of the second half.

However, the hosting Huskies battened down the hatches, retaking a 60-56 lead with a layup and trio of free throws. Junior guard Tate Olson finished a tough layup at the cup to bring Bemidji State within one possession, but St. Cloud State clung to its thin lead in the final two minutes.

The Huskies made their free throws down the stretch and allowed just one 2-point basket from their opponents, fending off the Beavers for a 68-60 victory and a berth to the NSIC Tournament quarterfinals.

Sutherland had quite the game, scoring a team-high 20 points and grabbing 16 boards off the glass, becoming Bemidji State’s all-time rebounding leader in the process. Pecarich was the only other Beaver to finish a double-digit point total, tallying 10.

BSU officially ends the 2024-25 season with a 10-19 overall record, 7-15 in conference play.

St. Cloud State 68, Bemidji State 60

BSU 31 29 — 60

SCSU 29 39 — 68

Bemidji State — Sutherland 20, Pecarich 10, Olson 9, Dayley 8, Athian 6, Mayo 4, Severts 3. Totals: 25-60 FGs, 5-19 3-pt. FGs, 5-9 FTs.

St. Cloud State — Hawks 18, Philippe 13, Morgan 12, Dahl 12, Winkel 11, Marks III 2. Totals: 19-55 FGs, 6-23 3-pt. FGs, 24-30 FTs.

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From transfer to NSIC star, John Sutherland found his home at Bemidji State

Alex Faber — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 18:40:52 GMT

John Sutherland didn’t choose Bemidji State out of high school.

There was certainly plenty of mutual interest, though. Sutherland was a standout at Grand Rapids High ��, averaging 32.1 points and 13.3 rebounds per game as a senior. He was in contact with head coach Mike Boschee, drawn to the program for its history of successful bigs and the proximity to home.

When it came down to decision time, the Beavers were near the top of his choices. But in the end, he wound up picking Minnesota Duluth .. for about a year.

Sutherland averaged 3.3 points and 2.6 rebounds in the 12 games he played with the Bulldogs his freshman season. However, Sutherland decided to enter the portal and head down the road to the other school he nearly selected out of high school: BSU.

“It was close to home again,” Sutherland said. “They also had a lot of good bigs here, like Derek Thompson and other good bigs they’ve had here, so I wanted to come here and learn from them. I think it was a great spot for me, and the coaches seemed really nice.”

A few years later, that decision seems to have been the right one. Sutherland is wrapping up his fourth season with the Bemidji State men’s basketball program. In that time, he’s collected a host of accolades, including two straight NSIC First Team nods.

“I just got comfortable here,” Sutherland said. “The coaches made sure that I was super welcome and I just really enjoyed it here. And it’s only an hour from my house, so my whole family comes. My grandparents come to every game, I usually have almost my whole family here.”

“He’s not only a good basketball player, he’s a good guy, good kid,” Boschee said. “He’s a good teammate, he’s fun to have around, he’s fun to coach. And obviously, a really good basketball player that has done a lot of really good things for us. A couple years of all-conference – it’s hard to be all-conference. If you’re fortunate to coach one of them, it's a blessing. So on and off the court, he’s been tremendous for the program.”

Sutherland’s senior season with the Beavers has come with some road bumps, namely missing the beginning weeks of this season due to injury.

But with a bid to the NSIC tournament as the No. 12 seed, Sutherland’s career didn’t come to an end when Bemidji State ended the regular season with a Senior Day loss to Minnesota Duluth.

In Wednesday’s first-round matchup against fifth-seeded St. Cloud State, the star big has at one last one more opportunity to showcase the player he’s become at Bemidji State.

“(The senior season) definitely flew by,” Sutherland said. “I was hurt for the first eight weeks or so with a broken foot, so it made it fly by super fast, but it’s been good to be back healthy for the last stretch here. … It’s just great to have one more game, at least, in the postseason for sure.”

An immediate impact

It didn’t take long for Sutherland to start producing when he transferred to Bemidji State.

After playing just 12 games with Minnesota Duluth off the bench as a freshman, Sutherland started in all 24 games he played with the Beavers the following season.

On a roster with talented big men like Derek Thompson and Dalton Albrecht, Sutherland still managed to stick out, averaging 10.3 points (good for the fourth-highest average on the team) and 5.7 rebounds (third-highest) per game. He also finished the year with 14 blocks, tied for the team-high.

“The coaches here just put me in great spots,” Sutherland said. “Boschee found where I like to play from, where I play my best basketball. … I always just try to be me when I go out there, I guess. Coaches put me in spots for me to just play how I play, and I just play off my teammates well.”

Sutherland just kept developing. In his second season at Bemidji State, he ended the year averaging 19.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, leading the team in both categories.

The stellar season wound up with his first all-conference accolade as he was named to the First Team. He also notched a trio of NSIC North Division Player of the Week awards through the regular season.

“I don’t know if it’s anything we did,” Boschee said. “Most kids that work hard or competitively have some talent, they’re going to get better as times goes on, as long as they stick with it and keep working at it, keep working at the games and seeing their flaws and are being honest with themselves in ways that they can be better, and he’s one of those guys.”

Sutherland’s game had crystallized: a big who could get tough finishes at the rim, create all sorts of shots for himself in the paint with the ability to kick it out to teammates if defenses collapsed in too hard.

“He really didn’t do a lot of outside shooting or free throw shooting or anything like that, he just did it with a lot of toughness,” Boschee said. “Really good one-on-one player, he could isolate, he can get into the paint and get a shot off for himself pretty much anytime. And then he’s also a really good passer and a willing passer. So a lot of good stuff, a lot of it’s work, a lot of it’s just maturation process for kids that love the game, want to get better.”

The 2023-24 season continued in a similar fashion for Sutherland. He led BSU in assists (113) and scoring average (20 points per game), finding plenty of success playing alongside Albrecht. Albrecht could shoot the three as a 6-foot-7 forward, creating a lethal one-two punch on the court for the Beavers that caused havoc for opposing defenses.

Sutherland wound up earning his second All-NSIC First Team award in his third year at BSU, as well as a spot on the D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team.

“He’s just someone that has some talent,” Boschee said. “Obviously we’ve put him in situations where he could be successful, but you’ve got to be good. He was good, and he wanted to get better, that’s what it comes down to.”

Sutherland’s 4th-year campaign

With Albrecht graduating, Sutherland went into the 2024-25 as the Beavers’ “guy.” There were certainly other solid players across the court.

Tate Olson was back after illustrating plenty of promise as a sophomore, and the offseason addition of Malang Athian seemed poised to give the program a boost. But Sutherland was clearly the essential piece to the puzzle as Bemidji State’s go-to player at the five.

“Dalton was a three 3-point shooter, maybe guarded the fives, but Johns always kind of been our five-man, so to speak,” Boschee said. “Since he’s not as big as Dalton was last year, Dalton guarded the fives a little bit, John guarded more the fours, and this year he’s going back and forth. Like I said, if you don’t shoot it very well on the perimeter, usually going to be doing a lot of stuff inside.”

Again, this fourth go-around with BSU hasn’t gone exactly as planned, thanks to the early-season injury. But since Dec. 19, Sutherland's been active in nearly every game. He already leads the team in average points per game with 15.7, and he’s grabbing 6.8 boards per game (good for the second-highest average on the team).

Sutherland has also already racked up 73 assists, which is second only to Olson’s 80 — and Olson has played in 12 more games.

“He just gets so much attention,” Boschee said. “He’s probably played 13, 15 fewer games than everybody else, but his assists are probably towards the top. He’s more than just a scorer, he can find people, and he has to because of the way people keep guarding him.”

With the regular season in the rearview and win-or-go-home basketball officially on the slate, Sutherland seems to be back in the swing of things, comfortable and ready cap off his senior season with Bemidji State in the postseason.

“My first four or five weeks after I came back, I was still hurting,” Sutherland said. “But now everything’s feeling good, so I'm feeling great for the playoffs. … Over the last 14 games, I’d say we definitely built a lot more chemistry. With me being out the first eight or nine games, it was definitely different once I came back, it kind of changes our offense. I feel like we’re in a great spot right now.”

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USF knocks off Bemidji State on Jack Thompson's buzzer-beater

Matt Zimmer — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 04:21:11 GMT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Jack Thompson has had a long, decorated career as the point guard for the Sioux Falls men's basketball team, and he's not ready for it to be over.

With the Cougars' first-round NSIC Tournament game hanging in the balance on Wednesday night at the Stewart Center, the fifth-year senior from Eagan took over in the final minutes and sent USF on to the second round and the Sanford Pentagon with a coast-to-coast buzzer-beater that lifted USF to a 68-66 win over Bemidji State.

The Cougars entered the tournament on a five-game losing streak, and they found themselves trailing 22-6 in the early stages of the game on Wednesday. It looked like maybe the Cougars were ready to call it a winter. Thompson had other ideas, and when his layup fell through the net as the buzzer sounded, the USF students that filled the bleachers behind both baskets burst onto the court and mobbed Thompson, an apporpriate reward for one of the more memorable moments in recent USF hoops history.

When asked where it ranked among his own personal milestones, Thompson answered: "It's got to be No. 1. I wasn't ready to be done yet, so it's got to be way up there for sure. Going down the stretch, it's your last game in your home gym, it's definitely in the back of your mind that you don't want to be done playing."

After Thompson hit a 3-pointer to give USF a 66-62 lead, the Beavers answered with four straight points, the last two coming on a pair of free throws with eight seconds left in the game. USF had a timeout left, but coach Chris Johnson didn't want to let the Beavers set up their defense. Also, he trusted his senior point guard.

"Why don't you call a timeout there?" Johnson asked rhetorically. "Because No. 2 had the ball. Worst-case scenario, we've got 10 seconds and five minutes in our own gym to win a game. And best-case scenario, we can throw it in to (Thompson) and he can go and make a play, and that's what he did."

The slow start, Thompson and Johnson both said, wasn't due to the Cougars coming out flat or lacking effort or intensity. They just couldn't get shots to go. That made it easier to stay engaged, and they went on a 26-6 run of their own to retake the lead by halftime. But Johnson thought that comeback left his team exhausted, and they found themselves down by six midway through the second.

"We had some good really good looks and missed them," Thompson said. "Maybe a little bit of nerves from guys who haven't been in this situation before. But we got settled in and played more the style we wanted to."

Thompson had 13 points and six assists for the Cougars, while Noah Puetz had 16 points and Shawn Warrior 15.

USF (13-16, 9-13 NSIC) shot 44% and was outrebounded 40-30 by the Beavers. Bemidji State (13-16, 9-13 NSIC) outscored USF 14-5 at the line but made just 14-of-27 from the stripe. Dalton Albrecht had 23 points and 13 rebounds, and John Sutherland had 16 points and 10 boards. Tate Olson added 12 points and nine rebounds.

The Cougars also got an assist from their football team — a couple dozen of them sat behind one basket and impacted the game by heckling the Beavers and giving energy to the Cougars' players on both ends of the court. It made for what Johnson called one of the energetic home games in recent years.

"It's really fun when you've been playing the way we've been playing," Johnson said. "I mean, we'd lost five in a row, didn't have a lot of confidence, and we had a lot of games where we were right there and didn't get it done. Then you get down 22-6 to start the game, I mean, that can go two different ways. I was really proud of our guys for fighting back.

"We needed to find a way to win tonight. And there's nothing better than the last (home game) of Jack Thompson's career, with what he's meant to us, to make a shot like that. That'll be a cool memory for him and for me, too."

With the win, USF will face league champion Minnesota State, the No. 3-ranked team in Division II. The Mavericks are 26-2, with two wins over USF that were both competitive games. That game tips off on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls.

"House money, man," Johnson said. "They beat us by five here last time and we were ahead with two minutes left. If we play really well, we'll be in the game. If we don't ... I mean, they're the No. 3 team in the nation. Our guys just want to keep playing. We have a lot of new guys that have never been to the Pentagon. Just to get to have a chance to have a positive moment like this after the three weeks we've had is huge."

Sioux Falls 68, Bemidji State 66

BSU 34 32 — 66

USF 37 31 — 68

BEMIDJI STATE — Albrecht 23, Sutherland 16, Olson 12, Williams 10, Tennyson 3, Davis 2. Totals: 23-53 FGs, 6-16 3-pt. FGs, 14-27 FTs.

SIOUX FALLS — Puetz 16, Warrior 15, Thompson 13, Morisch 7, Scales 6, Ingwerson 5, Kettner 4, Alm 2. Totals: 28-61 FGs, 7-23 3-pt. FGs, 5-7 FTs.

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NSIC tournament pairings are set

Matt Zimmer — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 02:55:45 GMT

SIOUX FALLS — The NSIC basketball tournament bracket is set.

The top 12 twelve teams (men's and women's) have qualified, and the top four have earned first-round byes.

So the Division II conference tournament begins Wednesday night, with the 5-8 seeds hosting the 9-12 seeds on their home floors, and the winners advancing to second round action at the Sanford Pentagon, which begins Saturday. The championship games are set for Tuesday, with the men's and women's winners each earning an automatic bid to the Division II NCAA tournament.

On the men's side, MSU-Mankato earned the No. 1 seed on the heels of a 26-2 regular season that saw them go 20-2 in NSIC play. Minnesota Duluth, MSU-Moorhead and Minot State earned the second, third and fourth seeds and first-round byes, respectively.

MSU-Mankato is the No. 1 women's seed as well, followed by UMary, Concordia-St. Paul and Northern State.

USF and Augustana's women each got in at the tail end of the standings, with the Cougars coming in 11th and the Vikings 12th.

Augustana's men finished 7th and USF 8th, meaning the Viking and Cougar men are both at home Wednesday night for first round action.

Here are the complete brackets for the tournament. All games at the Pentagon will be televised on Midco Sports.

NSIC women's tournament

First Round

Wednesday

(11) USF at (6) Minnesota Duluth, 6 p.m.

(10) Minot State at (7) St. Cloud State, 6 p.m.

(9) Winona State at (8) MSU-Moorhead, 6 p.m.

(12) Augustana at (5) SMSU, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday at Sanford Pentagon

Moorhead/Winona vs. MSU-Mankato, 4:30 p.m.

SCSU/Minot vs. UMary, 7 p.m.

Sunday at Sanford Pentagon

SMSU/Augie vs. Northern State, 4:30 p.m.

UMD/USF vs. Concordia, 7 p.m.

Monday at Sanford Pentagon

Semifinal, 4:30 p.m.

Semifinal, 7 p.m.

Tuesday at Sanford Pentagon

Championship, 7 p.m.

Men

First Round

Wednesday

(9) Bemidji State at (8) USF, 6 p.m.

(12) St. Cloud State at (5) SMSU, 5:30 p.m.

(11) Northern State at (6) Winona State, 6 p.m.

(10) Wayne State at (7) Augustana, 6 p.m.

Saturday at Sanford Pentagon

USF/BSU vs. MSU-Mankato, 11 a.m.

Augie/WSC vs. UMD, 1:30 p.m.

Sunday at Sanford Pentagon

SMSU/SCSU vs. Minot State, 11 a.m.

WSU/NSU vs. MSU-Moorhead, 1:30 p.m.

Monday at Sanford Pentagon

Semifinal, 11 a.m.

Semifinal, 1:30 p.m.

Tuesday at Sanford Pentagon

Championship, 4 p.m.

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University of Jamestown applies to join NSIC athletics, AD confirms

Eric Peterson — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 03:28:20 GMT

FARGO — The University of Jamestown has applied for membership to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, athletic director Austin Hieb confirmed Tuesday, Aug. 22.

The North Dakota school — a four-year private university — recently made a presentation to the NSIC, according to multiple sources.

“We are exploring the opportunity, and in order to fully explore the opportunity, we needed to submit an application," Hieb said. "We are still evaluating everything. We think we owe it to our students and to our student-athletes to explore possible options in the geographical footprint of the NSIC.”

The Jimmies are an NAIA program that competes in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Hieb has familiarity with the NSIC, working in athletic administration at Northern State prior to the University of Jamestown.

The NSIC is an NCAA Division II league with 15 members spread over Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. UJ would fit into the league's geographic footprint with its proximity to schools like Minnesota State University Moorhead, the University of Mary, Minot State and Northern State.

According to the university's website, the University of Jamestown had an enrollment of 1,256 students for the 2022-23 school year. If UJ receives an invitation to the NSIC, the university would have to transition to NCAA Division II.

The NSIC has 13 football programs and 15 programs in volleyball and men's and women's basketball for the 2023-24 school year.

The GPAC currently has 12 members, including Jamestown, with schools in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. The Jimmies offer 21 combined men's and women's varsity sports, including two American Collegiate Hockey Association ice hockey teams.

In the past decade, the UJ athletic department has upgraded multiple facilities, including an $11.5 million renovation to Charlotte and Gordon Hansen Stadium, where the Jimmies play football. The school also recently built The Harold Newman Arena, a $15 million project. The facility has seating for 2,000 and is the home for multiple sports, including volleyball and men's and women's basketball.

The Jimmies also announced recently they plan to construct an indoor bubble athletic wellness facility next to Newman Arena. That project is expected to be completed in November.

Last November, when the NSIC announced Upper Iowa was leaving to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference, NSIC Commissioner Erin Lind said having an even number of teams has advantages from a scheduling perspective.

“There’s definitely some pros that come in with an even number, in particular with how our league has traditionally scheduled," Lind told The Forum at the time.

For sports like basketball, the NSIC had travel partners when the league had 16 members.

MSUM athletic director Chad Markuson said last November that the NSIC didn't need to rush into adding a member to get an even number of teams for sports like football, volleyball and basketball. Not all 15 member schools have every sport that the NSIC sponsors.

“We’re a very strong and very stable league in the landscape, we need to approach any kind of expansion with that mindset," Markuson told The Forum at the time. "We’re not in a desperation where we just need a school to fill that.”

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WOMEN’S TENNIS: Beavers crack NSIC Tournament, face mighty Augustana in opener

Pioneer Staff Report — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 17:25:13 GMT

BURNSVILLE -- The Bemidji State women’s tennis team did just enough in the regular season to earn a spot in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament, which the league announced Sunday.

BSU grabbed the eighth and final spot in the single-elimination tournament and will face top-seeded Augustana in the first round. The match is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday, April 23, in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The Beavers finished 4-7 during the regular season, which was one game ahead of St. Cloud State for eighth place in the conference standings.

The Vikings won their 11th consecutive regular season championship this year. Augustana has won 129 straight NSIC matches -- a streak that dates back to 2009 -- and is looking for its 10th straight NSIC Tournament championship this spring. The Vikings have won their last 25 NSIC Tournament matches.

The Beavers lost 7-0 to Augustana on April 9. Hannah Peterson and Laney Rutkowski won 6-4 at No. 3 doubles during that match, and although BSU didn’t earn the team doubles point, the victory still marked Bemidji State’s first singles or doubles win against Augustana since March 2009.

The winner of Friday’s match advances to the semifinals at 8 a.m. Sunday, April 24. The championship is scheduled for noon on Sunday.

Also on the Beavers’ half of the bracket, fourth-seeded U-Mary will take on fifth-seeded Southwest Minnesota State in the first round.

Winona State earned the No. 2 seed and matched up with seventh-seeded Minnesota Duluth, while No. 3 Minnesota State Moorhead and No. 6 Sioux Falls round out the field.

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SOFTBALL: Beavers split in first home games since 2019

Micah Friez — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 00:24:22 GMT

BEMIDJI -- The Bemidji State softball team had spent so long away from home, it’s no surprise that the Beavers decided to play extra innings on Monday.

Playing on the BSU softball field for the first time since April 27, 2019 -- an incredible 702 days ago -- Bemidji State ushered in the conference season with an 8-4 win and 4-3 loss to split a doubleheader against Minnesota Crookston.

“It’s awesome,” BSU head coach Brittany Gomez-Olson said of playing at home. “It’s exciting to be playing the game, really, because of how much we missed last year. You never know when the game can be taken away from you, and that was a prime example of what had happened last year.”

The coronavirus pandemic afforded the Beavers just 22 games before sinking its teeth into the season and canceling the remainder of the year. Bemidji State played its final game on March 13, 2020, just four days before BSU’s scheduled home opener.

“(We) try to remind them to appreciate it every single time you go out,” Gomez-Olson said. “They have an actual experience that has happened, which took the game away from them. We try to reiterate it every single time we go to practice, every single time we go out to the field -- or anything they do.”

And so when the Beavers hosted the Golden Eagles on Monday, it was the first time since April 2019 that their familiar field had seen any game action.

Bemidji State (5-11, 1-1 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) made the most of it, too, scoring eight runs between the fifth and sixth innings of game one.

Trailing 2-0 entering the fifth frame, BSU exploded with five runs. Lexi Derrick, Emmarie Yeager and Stephi Dullum all had RBI singles, with Dullum’s knock bringing two runs home. Ashley Herold also walked with the bases loaded to push a run across.

Although Minnesota Crookston (5-11, 1-1 NSIC) scored twice more in the sixth to make it a 5-4 game, Sami Dullum singled in a run and Derrick doubled for two more in the home half of the sixth.

“It catches like fire,” Gomez-Olson said of the offense. “Once somebody gets on, you just keep it rolling. That’s what we need.”

Stephi Dullum tossed a complete game to pick up the win from the circle, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits while striking out six.

Game two of the doubleheader went to extra innings. Sami Dullum had a first-inning RBI double and then scored on a wild pitch, but the Beavers still trailed 3-2 entering the bottom of the sixth. Stephi Dullum came through in the clutch, singling in the tying run with two outs.

Although BSU showed resiliency late, it couldn’t keep up in the eighth inning. Second baseman Grace Bragg dropped a pop-up that allowed the go-ahead run to score, and then the Beaver bats struck out swinging in the bottom half of the inning to go down in order.

“We’ve just got to make the plays we need to be making,” Gomez-Olson said. “And then not striking out as much, still making contact with the ball and making adjustments throughout the game.”

Bemidji State finished with 11 strikeouts during game two, tallying a total of 21 on the day.

Kaidron McClafferty didn’t allow an earned run, but she was still stuck with the loss after pitching the final two innings and allowing the one unearned run.

The Beavers won’t have to wait nearly as long for their next home game. Southwest Minnesota State is scheduled to be in Bemidji for a Friday, April 2, doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

“We were excited going into the year this year, to get our season in,” Gomez-Olson said. “It’s exciting for everyone to be outside, (have) an opportunity to play. And it’s an opportunity to play on our field.”

Bemidji State 8, Minnesota Crookston 4

UMC 001 102 0 -- 4-7-1

BSU 000 053 X -- 8-10-3

WP: St. Dullum (CG, 7 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K)

LP: Humhej (CG, 6 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 3 ER, 4 BB 10 K)

Minnesota Crookston 4, Bemidji State 3

UMC 110 010 01 -- 4-7-2

BSU 200 001 00 -- 3-5-4

WP: Humhej (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K)

LP: McClafferty (2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K)

SOFTBALL: Beavers split in first home games since 2019

BSU freshman Stephanie Ferguson singles to right field during game two of a doubleheader against Minnesota Crookston on Monday, March 29, 2021, at the BSU softball field. (Micah Friez / Bemidji Pioneer)

BSU freshman Maddy McCann takes her lead off first base during game two of a doubleheader against Minnesota Crookston on Monday, March 29, 2021, at the BSU softball field. (Micah Friez / Bemidji Pioneer)

Bemidji State freshman Stella Dolan delivers a pitch during game two of a doubleheader against Minnesota Crookston on Monday, March 29, 2021, at the BSU softball field. (Micah Friez / Bemidji Pioneer)

Bemidji State's Brittany Gomez-Olson is in her third season coaching at BSU, her second as the team's head coach. (Micah Friez / Bemidji Pioneer)

Bemidji State senior Lexi Derrick frames a pitch for a strikeout during game two of a doubleheader against Minnesota Crookston on Monday, March 29, 2021, at the BSU softball field. (Micah Friez / Bemidji Pioneer)

Bemidji State sophomore Emmarie Yeager makes a throw from her knees for an out during game two of a doubleheader against Minnesota Crookston on Monday, March 29, 2021, at the BSU softball field. (Micah Friez / Bemidji Pioneer)

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Beavers book 28 spots on NSIC Winter All-Academic Team

Pioneer Staff Report — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 18:48:07 GMT

BURNSVILLE -- A total of 28 Bemidji State student-athletes earned a spot on the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Winter All-Academic Team, including 18 named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence, the league announced Thursday.

In all, 797 student-athletes across the Northern Sun were recognized for their success in the classroom, and 482 earned Team of Excellence laurels.

To be eligible for the NSIC All-Academic Team, student-athletes must maintain a grade-point average of 3.20 or better while being a member of a varsity traveling team, have reached sophomore athletic and academic status and have completed at least one full academic year at their institution. The GPA threshold is 3.60 for the Team of Excellence.

BSU’s women’s indoor track and field team led the way with 13 total selections, seven of which were named to the Team of Excellence. The women’s basketball team had 12 honorees and eight Team of Excellence recipients, and all three men’s basketball selections were named to the Team of Excellence.

The women’s track and field selections were (asterisk denotes Team of Excellence honors): *Zoe Christensen (Jr., Glencoe); *Elizabeth Hiltner (Jr., Osakis); *Beatrice Kjelland (Jr., Park River, N.D.); *Anastasia Klein (So., Pittsville, Wis.); *Ryne Prigge (Jr., Ely); *Rafaela Rafajlovska (Sr., Gostivar, Macedonia); *Amanda Smith (So., Litchfield); Faith Beck (Jr., Dickinson, N.D.); Libby Christenson (Sr., Stewartville); Carissa Decko (Sr., Deer River); Analise Fabre (Sr., St. Charles); Lily Johnson (So., Monticello); Emma Realing (So., Casper, Wyo.).

The women’s basketball picks were: *Brooklyn Bachmann (Sr., Minooka, Ill.); *Tori Bott (So., Two Harbors); *Taylor Bray (Sr., Anoka); *Teagan Pompa (Sr., Elgin, Ill.); *Coley Rezabek (Jr., Sunrise Beach, Mo.); *Taylor Vold (Jr., Hermantown); *Molly Wenner (Jr., Cottage Grove); *Claire Wolhowe (Jr., Staples); Gabby DuBois (Sr., West Fargo, N.D.); Rachael Heittola (So., Belleville, Wis.); Trinity Myer (Jr., Hayward, Wis.); Sydney Zerr (Sr., Shakopee).

The men’s basketball selections were: *Griffin Chase (Sr., Nevis); *Cody Landwehr (Jr., St. Cloud); *Derek Thompson (Sr., Cold Spring).

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Bemidji State’s run meets UMD, ends in semifinals

Micah Friez — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 18:04:35 GMT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Bemidji State darlings met their demise on Saturday morning.

The BSU women’s basketball team suffered a 76-67 loss to top-seeded Minnesota Duluth during the NSIC Tournament semifinals in Sioux Falls, S.D., ending a captivating year that’s suddenly over all too soon.

“I’m so proud obviously. It was quite the ride,” head coach Chelsea DeVille said of the season. “We’ve been taking baby steps, and now we finally took a big leap where we needed to and always thought we could. Just a remarkable year. Lots of great memories, and a great way to push forward for next year.”

The Beavers challenged No. 9 in the nation all morning, tied as late as 61-61 with 3:04 to go. But the Bulldogs imposed their will with a definitive 12-2 run that dashed Bemidji State’s hopes of the program’s first-ever conference championship game appearance.

“That stretch proved they had been here before, in those moments,” DeVille said. “Between Ann Simonet being the tournament player that she always is, and then (NSIC North Player of the Year) Brooke Olson, they just had some poise and some big-time shots when they had to.”

The semifinal loss will likely be a small blip on the season’s memory. Rather, BSU will often look back with rose-colored glasses on a year to be remembered as the program’s first winning season since 1995-96 and its first quarterfinal victory since 2004. What’s more, they also set a standard that they fully expect to uphold moving forward.

It may be over, but what a season for @BSUBeaversWBB:

-First winning season since 1995-96
-Highest conference finish since 1996-97
-First NSIC semifinal since 2004
-Longest win streak (7) since 1987-88
-First Coach of the Year since 2003-04
-3 POTW awards, tied for most ever
— Micah Friez (@micahfriez) February 27, 2021

But don’t be mistaken: They sure gave UMD a run for their money on Saturday, too.

Minnesota Duluth (12-1) led for the majority of the first half, including a 13-12 advantage after the opening quarter in part to six BSU turnovers.

Nevertheless, Gabby DuBois hit a reverse layup off an offensive rebound midway through the second, capping an 8-2 spurt that set Bemidji State in front 22-21. The teams traded blows to the end of the half, which finished in favor of the Beavers by a 32-31 margin.

Even when the BSU offense wasn’t operating smoothly in the third quarter, allowing the Bulldogs to take a seven-point lead, the defensive effort was what kept Bemidji State in contention.

“I thought we played about as good defense for 90% of the game as we could have,” DeVille said. “(We were) really tough, getting the rebounds and limiting them.”

A 51-45 score through three quarters bled into a 57-49 Beaver deficit early in the fourth. But BSU stormed back, finally finding an offensive spark behind a Taylor Vold 3-pointer and Rachael Heittola’s inside dominance for a game-tying 7-0 run. Shortly thereafter, Brooklyn Bachmann’s layup brought on another tie at 61-61 with 3:17 remaining.

“That’s the maturity in who we are as a team,” DeVille said. “This team gave me a calm and cool that we could get out of any hole, or we could win any game no matter what.”

Yet UMD scored the next five points within a nine-second span, leading to the 12-2 run that decided the game before it went final.

FINAL of a @NorthernSunConf women’s semifinal | The Bulldogs advance to their 3rd straight championship!

67 @BSUBeaversWBB
76 @UMDWomensBBall

𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 + 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆: https://t.co/3YL6lnJ20W
#TourneyHQ x #NSICTourney pic.twitter.com/oxdJT7r0b6
— #TOURNEYHQ (@MidcoSN) February 27, 2021

Heittola did all she could in scoring a season-high 29 points, while Trinity Myer added 18. Olson tallied 25 for Minnesota Duluth alongside 18 from Simonet.

Bemidji State finishes the season 10-6 overall and graduates three seniors in Taylor Bray, Gabby DuBois and Teagan Pompa.

Bray did not play in the postseason due to an ankle injury. She finishes her career with a 54.2 shooting percentage, breaking Sherry Hill’s 39-year-old program record of 53.6%.

No. 1 Minnesota Duluth 76, No. 3 Bemidji State 67

BSU 12 20 13 22 -- 67

UMD 13 18 20 25 -- 76

BEMIDJI STATE (10-6) -- Heitola 29, Myer 18, Bachmann 6, DuBois 5, Vold 5, Zerr 4, Rezabek 0. Totals: 23-56 FGs, 19-21 FTs, 67.

MINNESOTA DULUTH (12-1) -- Olson 25, Simonet 18, Kahl 8, Thiesen 8, Gilbertson 4, Grow 4, Rhoades 4, Nelson 3, Granica 2. Totals: 26-61 FGs, 17-22 FTs.

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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Beavers top CSP, reach conference semifinals in another historic step

Micah Friez — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 18:32:52 GMT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- In a season with so many milestones, is it really any surprise that the Bemidji State women’s basketball team found another to reach?

The Beavers made the latest step in a historic season-long march on Friday morning, defeating Concordia-St. Paul 71-70 in Sioux Falls, S.D., and advancing to the NSIC Tournament semifinals for just the second time ever.

“It means a lot, only being here for the second time in the semifinals,” junior Trinity Myer said. “But I don’t think that we’re going to necessarily play any different than we have before. We’re right where we want to be. We definitely earned being here.”

BSU had to hold its breath down to the wire, as Riley Wheatcraft’s late layup bounced off the rim, the miss ensuring a one-point win for the newcomers from the north country.

FINAL: @BSUBeaversWBB 71, Concordia-St. Paul 70.

The BSU defense holds, and for just the second time ever, Bemidji State reaches the NSIC Tournament semifinals. They got their behind Rachael Heittola’s hot start and Trinity Myer’s clutch finish. pic.twitter.com/gVyPbXnIAX
— Micah Friez (@micahfriez) February 26, 2021

“Oh man, I could have just bawled the entire time. I could still be crying,” said Bemidji State head coach Chelsea DeVille, the North Division’s Coach of the Year. “I’m just so excited and happy. Seeing our kids, it’s such a high. This is why you coach, for moments like that.”

The Beavers (10-5) will be back in the conference’s final four for the first time since 2004. They’ve never reached the conference championship game, but they’ll have a chance to rewrite that storyline at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, against top-seeded Minnesota Duluth. The Bulldogs beat Sioux Falls 78-64 in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

“We did a nice job against Duluth, in our opinion, both times we played them,” DeVille said of the regular season, both road losses. “We need to make more shots than we did, and obviously we have a big challenge ahead. … We’ll be ready to go.”

On Friday, Myer and Rachael Heittola scripted the victory.

BSU got a dream start, using 10 points out of Heittola for a 17-7 lead in the opening 5:57. The Golden Bears (11-6) responded with an 8-0 run and were within 19-15 after one, yet Heittola kept the advantage at 25-19 early in the second quarter.

But she didn’t score the rest of the half, and CSP shot 10-for-16 in the quarter to force a 35-all tie going into the break.

Concordia-St. Paul had a strong third quarter, as well, but Myer scored 10 points in the frame to keep Bemidji State close. The deficit reached five, but Myer answered back with a layup, then took a charge, to help keep things within 57-56 entering the fourth.

And then, down 64-61 with five minutes left, the Beavers decided this was their game to take.

“I think it was just who wanted it more,” Myer said. “We found the grit within us to finish the game, especially in the last quarter, where it truly mattered.”

BSU scored eight straight points to jump ahead 69-64, capped by a Heittola bucket on the block off a deep entry pass from Myer with three minutes to go. The Golden Bears inched back within 71-70, then got a defensive stop with 6.8 seconds to go, but the potential game-winner didn’t fall, advancing Bemidji State to the semifinals.

“It was definitely nerve-wracking, that last possession. But we pulled it out,” Myer said. “We’re just a big family. I think we’re all so happy for each other, and we’re proud of each other.”

Myer finished with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. Heittola had a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, and Taylor Vold tallied 11 points for the Beavers, as well. CSP got four scorers in double figures, led by Sidney Wentland’s 16.

“(This win) means everything moving forward,” DeVille said. “However this year ends, we’ve taken so many strides and set a standard that we need to continue.”

No. 3 Bemidji State 71, No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul 70

BSU 19 16 21 15 -- 71

CSP 15 20 22 13 -- 70

BEMIDJI STATE (10-5) -- Myer 22, Heittola 20, Vold 11, DuBois 8, Bachmann 7, Zerr 3, Rezabek 0, Wolhowe 0. Totals: 24-63 FGs, 18-21 FTs, 71.

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL (11-6) -- Wentland 16, Becher 14, Wheatcraft 11, M. DuBois 10, Schultz 8, Schaub 5, Lemke 4, Zgutowicz 2, Hanson 0, Johnson 0, Kuma 0. Totals: 28-62 FGs, 11-16 FTs, 70.

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