Fergus Falls turned a close start into a 19-point halftime lead to drop Bemidji to a 67-42 home loss in girls basketball on Thursday evening at the Bemidji High School Fieldhouse.
Long-range shooting helped Bemidji to a good start in the early possessions thanks to three-pointers from both Lexi Tatro and Jackie Johnson.
The Otters responded back by taking a lead that would never be relinquished, as they were paced by the playmaking and 21 points of South Dakota State commit Ellie Colbeck. Beth Bolte drained a triple to pull the Lumberjacks within six, but Colbeck responded at the other end to open up a 20-11 advantage.
Emily Wade’s scoring was Bemidji’s only measure of offensive consistency during the course of the evening, which included a lay-in through contact later in the first half.
Trailing 42-23 at the halftime break, Bemidji started the second half with another triple from Tatro to initiate some early offense.
The Lumberjacks found scoring a challenge throughout the second half on the way to posting just 19 points. Wade dropped in another finish plus a foul on her way to tallying a team-best 16 points.
Bemidji drops to 5-4 with the end of a three-game winning streak, and will now visit Alexandria at 7:15pm on Tuesday evening. The game can be heard on KBUN-FM 104.5 and KBUN1 at kbunsportsradio.com.
Postgame interview with Bemidji head coach Steve Schreiber: