Click the thumbnails to see photos and video highlights. Also click the AUDIO buttons to hear post-game comments from Nina Bower and Coach James Fassett. Also click to hear Marissa Ives' player spotlight interview.
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn.---The Bay College Norse women's basketball team finished the 2025 portion of its schedule on Saturday with another easy victory, beating the St. Cloud Technical & Community College Cyclones, 85-54, in Minnesota.
The result improved Bay's record to 9-2 on the season heading into the Christmas break. Eight of the Norse wins have come by more than 20 points, and the only two losses came by one point, and both of those were away from home.
“I think we're solid,” Bay College Coach James Fassett said. “We've got some good competition coming up after the break. I feel good about where we're at. I think the girls feel good about the team, and where we're at as a team. We've got a great group that gets along both on and off the court.”
Four Norse players scored in double figures, and nine of the ten women who suited up scored points. Bay was again led by sophomore Lauren Zawada, who finished with another double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds. She also dished out seven assists.
“Lauren came out, and she hit two or three three's right off the bat,” Fassett said. “If you scout her, you don't think she's a shooter. So, you kind of let her shoot those shots. She hit them today, and it changed the game for us and elevated us a little bit, too. Sometimes on the road, you need something that elevates you, and Lauren did that today.”
Bay led at the end of the first quarter, 26-17, and grew that lead to 45-28 at halftime. The Norse defense forced 27 turnovers, while Bay had just ten turnovers of its own.
A big challenge for the Norse was dealing with 6-foot-2 center Maya Sampy, who's not only tall, but is also strong. Sampy ended up with 14 points and eight rebounds, and played only 20 minutes. While she was on the court, Sappy was dominant inside with catches over the defense and easy baskets. But Fassett says his girls handled it well.
“When she'd get a rebound and a put-back, our girls were looking like, well 'what are we gonna do',” Fassett said. “But they kind of figured it out. We didn't talk too much about defending her because she doesn't play extended minutes. When she was in, she was effective, but our girls kind of figured it out on the fly.”
Freshman Nina Bower was the one who had much of the job of defending Sampy.
“She's very tall, and very strong, and she knew how to get to the hoop.” Bower said. “If I let her get the ball, I knew she was likely to score because she's a lot taller than me. So, I knew I had to do my work early and after I let her score one or two, I realized what I had to do and I think I did a pretty good job of doing that.”
Bower also had her moment to shine on offense, pouring in 16 points. She knocked down a buzzer-beating triple from the volleyball line to end the first half.
“The other team was shooting a free throw and Kenna (Hendrickson) kind of looked at me and she said 'when you inbound the ball, be ready to get it back for a shot'. I was like, OK. She had a shot and I figured she would take it, but she just gave it right to me and so I just threw it up. It worked out, I guess.”
McKenzie Hoffmeyer and Jillian Fraser both scored 12 points for the Norse, and Gracie Kleikamp chipped in nine points off the bench.
SCTC had its record fall to 7-5 after losing a game for the second straight night. The Cyclones got 12 points from Allison Groskreutz and eleven points from Jadyn Young to go along with the 14 scored by Sampy.
Bay College made 24 of its 44 two-point basket attempts, and was 10-of-32 from behind the three-point line. The Norse were just 7-of-14 from the foul line, however.
The Norse will return to action on January 2nd and January 3rd at a tournament in Port Huron, hosted by the St. Clair County Community College Skippers.
