The Becker Lady Bulldogs dropped to 1-2 with a loss to Willmar Tuesday night on the road.

 

Willmar drubbed the Bulldogs, 67-52 in an early key Section 5AAA contest.  The Cardinals out-rebounded the Bulldogs 49-30 for the game, which turned out to be a significant factor.

Becker was led in scoring by Haley Benda with 13 points who continued her strong start to the season.  

 

Julia Bengtson had 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.

 

Lexi Masog contributed with eight points and five rebounds. 

 

Willmar had balanced scoring with three players scoring 11 points.  Their play was dictated by Hannah Johnson, who did an excellent job at running the point/forward position.  She made good decisions, pulled down rebounds, made steals and just seemed to control the game while scoring seven points.  

 

Willmar came out and was the more aggressive and stronger team Tuesday night.  They got to the loose balls first and had more energy than Becker.  

 

“Head Coach Dustin Carlson did a nice job getting his girls ready to play,” said Becker Head Coach Dan Baird. “They dictated their style of play.”  

 

Becker shot 32% from the field for the game and 24% from the three-point line.  

 

“When you aren't shooting well from the field, you need to get to the foul line,” said Baird.  “We had one free throw attempt for the game which kind of told the story in this one.” 

 

Baird’s girls just never got into a rhythm, starting from the opening tip-off.

 

 “You’ve got to give them credit,” he said. “They were more aggressive and dictated their style of play.”

 

Becker scoring: Benda 13, Bengtson 10, Courtney Nuest 9, Masog 8, Renee Tripp 6, Madi Kerzman 4, Alayna Lindquist 2.

 

Willmar scoring: Carly Wedel 11, Madison Linbo 11, Sadie Raitz 11, Jordyn Swoboda 9, Johnson 7, Carly Magnuson 5, Cayle Hovland 4, Caitlin Ogdahl 3, Mackenzie Jones 2, Abby Berskow 2, Ashley Prahl 2.

 

Madi Kerzman of Becker has been named by Minnesota Basketball News to the Top 50 Class AAA Players list for the 2017-2018 season.

 

The first issue of Minnesota Basketball News lists the Top 50 Players for each class and ranks the Top 20 teams in each class along with providing highlights, stories, photos and columns. 

 

Minnesota Basketball News, which has been provided by Pacesetter Sports since 1994, is published weekly each Friday during the season and is available free online at www.pacesettersports.net.

 

The Bulldogs played Big Lake Friday at home and a full report on the game will appear in next week’s Citizen-Tribune.

 

Tuesday, the Bulldogs travel to Zimmerman to take on the Thunder at 7:15 p.m. then host Albany Friday at the same time.