After dropping their season opener to national powerhouse Hopkins, the Becker Lady Bulldogs basketball team showed the ability to bounce back with a pair of blowout wins this past week to push their season record to 2-1.
Thursday evening, the team traveled to St. Cloud to take on the Apollo Eagles and the end result was never in doubt as the Bulldogs cruised to a 90-41 win.
Becker raced to a 30-4 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the first half behind a smothering full court pressure defense.
“We didn’t shoot the ball very well in the first half, but we still scored 54 points because of our rebounding,” said Coach Dan Baird, referencing his team’s 3-for-20 shooting from beyond the three point arc.
Becker entered halftime with a 54-18 lead, as Courtney Nuest and Megan Gamble each led the way with 14 points apiece.
The second half was much the same as Becker continued its domination on both ends of the floor and pushed the lead to 64-20 within the first two minutes.
Team scored several easy buckets in transition and also had a pair of long range three point shots by Julia Bengtson. Bulldogs switched to a half court trap and thoroughly confused the Eagles, who were unable to get into their offensive set.
Coach Baird cleared the bench with over 14 minutes remaining, but that didn’t change the pace of the game as 10 Bulldogs scored points.
Only a liberal substitution pattern and running time via the mercy rule kept the Bulldogs from reaching the century mark in points.
“We were happy that we were able to work on all aspects of our game,” said Baird. “Pretty much everything we have worked on in practice we were able to do in the game.”
Adeline Kent led the team in scoring with 19 points while Megan Gamble added 16 points and 5 rebounds. Baird also singled out Gamble for winning the team’s hustle award for the game.
Another bright spot was the shooting of Courtney Nuest, who chipped in 16 points and 4 assists.
“It was great to see Courtney hit some big shots for us,” added Baird.
Julia Bengtson also scored in double figures with 12 points and added 7 assists.
“Overall our girls were very focused and it was a good win for us,” concluded Baird.
Bulldogs 82, Zim 34
Last Friday, the Lady Bulldogs destroyed section foe Zimmerman behind Adeline Kent’s 23 points. Becker raced to a 53-26 lead at halftime of the contest in which nine different Bulldogs scored points in the game.
The Bulldogs’ full court pressure was too much for the Thunder, as Becker forced 40 turnovers in the game. Becker also held the Thunder to less than 30% shooting for the game.
Julia Bengtson had a great game with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 0 turnovers, while teammate Alayna Lindquist turned in a stellar performance with 9 points, 4 steals, 6 assists, one defensive charge and 0 turnovers.
“We did a great job dictating tempo,” said Baird. “However, we got outrebounded 38-29 and committed 19 turnovers. These are two areas we will look to improve on in our next contest”
The next game for the Bulldogs is Tuesday evening when they host Foley, who brings a 5-1 record to the game.
