IRONWOOD, MI - The Bay College Norse Women's Basketball Team (4-3) shook off a sluggish start to dominate Gogebic Community College (0-7), 88-51, Tuesday night in Ironwood.

Anna Axtell (FR, Menominee, MI) had another great game, scoring 27 points and grabbing ten rebounds for another double-double. Axtell has crossed the 20-point mark four times already in this young season.

"Anna knows she can score," Norse Head Coach James Fassett said. "She's a scorer, and she can score inside and out. She knows that if she misses one, she's going to take the next one, and she's probably going to make it."

The Norse defense was aggressive in the third quarter, holding the Samsons without a single basket. Bay outscored Gogebic, 26-4, with the only Samson points coming on free throws.

"Over the past week, we've been working hard defensively," Fassett said. "Just trying to get up in the passing lanes and bother people a little bit more. Make them work a little bit harder. I think this game was a chance to really do that, and show that, and I think we did."

Besides Axtell's 27 points, Bay got 13 points and seven rebounds from Kennedy Sproule (SO, Niverville, MB), twelve points each from Bark River-Harris teammates Lauren Zawada (FR, Bark River, MI) and Mackenzie Hoffmeyer (FR, Bark River, MI), and Kyra Anders (FR, Krum, TX) chipped in eleven points and seven boards.

Fassett says he was happy to see his team rebound from a sluggish first half, which saw them lead by just five points in the second quarter before leading by eleven at the half.

"We were doing everything right in transition and we were doing everything right defensively," Fassett said. "We just weren't putting the ball in the hole. We were missing layup after layup after layup. As a coach, you look at it as kind of a lack of focus."

But then came that third quarter, when the Norse completely locked down the Samsons to the tune of that 26-4 run. In all, the Bay defense forced 33 GCC turnovers.

The Samsons were good at the free throw line, however, making 20 of their 22 charity tosses. Sydney Saari (FR, Hurley, WI) led GCC with eleven points. Melissa DiGiorgio (SO, Hurley, WI) had nine points and seven rebounds.

Bay College will take its three-game winning streak into the Thanksgiving Break.

The Norse will be back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at Bryant & Stratton (WI) in suburban Milwaukee. That game will kick off a three-game road trip, with stops also in the Chicago area on Dec. 6 and Dec. 7.

Story and photo courtesy of Jack Hall, RRN Sports