Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Anna Axtell and Coach James Fassett. Also click the AUDIO button to hear McKenzie Hoffmeyer's player spotlight interview.

SIDNEY, Mich.---The Bay College Norse women's basketball team opened the MCCAA conference season on Saturday with an easy 92-40 win over the newest team in the league, the Montcalm Community College Centurions, in Lower Michigan.

All nine Norse players scored and four of them reached double figures, as Bay jumped to a 29-5 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.

“It was a chance for everybody to get extended minutes,” Bay College Coach James Fassett said. “Early, our pressure was good. We got after them a little bit and we pressured them, forced them into a lot of turnovers early, and they couldn't get into what they wanted to do.”

Kennedy Sproule was hot early on, scoring a dozen points in the first quarter, six of them on a pair of three-point baskets. Anna Axtell added eight points in that first quarter, and the tone was set. It was 55-14 at halftime, and the Norse coasted from there.

Axtell ended up with 27 points and six rebounds to lead the Norse. Axtell did not play the entire fourth quarter.

“I just felt more confident, especially coming from Florida and a couple of rough games,” Axtell, a Menominee High School graduate, said. “I just had to come in with a lot of focus today. Starting on defense, I think we put a lot of pressure on them early on, and that forced a lot of turnovers. That led to a lot of lay-ups and helped us build a pretty pretty big lead in the first half.”

Sproule ended up with 17 points, and McKenzie Hoffmeyer added a career-high 16 points on eight lay-ups after steals caused by Bay's pressure defense. Montcalm had 33 turnovers in the game. The Norse had only six turnovers.

Makenna Hendrickson added eleven points for the Norse, as Bay improved to 8-7 on the season. The Centurions fell to 1-9 in their inaugural season.

The Centurions got the first basket of the game from Emma Rewa after winning the opening tip. The Norse scored the next 18 points, and then after Emily Putnam knocked down a triple to make it 18-5, the Norse scored 16 straight points to put it away.

Rewa had 12 points to lead Montcalm, and she had ten rebounds for a double-double.

“It's good to know what we can do, and what we're capable of,” Fassett said. “My first conference game here in Michigan, and I'm just looking forward to more games. When we do face stiffer competition, we'll be ready.”

Bay College plays its first game in a month this Wednesday night when North Central Michigan makes the trip to Escanaba from Petoskey. Game time is 5:30 and it will be broadcast live on Maverick 106.3 FM.