The Becker Lady Bulldogs basketball team dropped to #3 in the state rankings for Class 3A despite winning four games this week and improving to 8-2.

Becker 78, C-I 73

Last Friday, the girls traveled to Cambridge-Isanti and eked out a five-point win.

“It was a good win against a team that shot over 60% from the field, said Head Coach Dan Baird.  

Becker had 15 turnovers to Cambridge’s 25, which helped their cause.  Cambridge out-rebounded the ‘Dogs, 36-27.  

“This was a good win against a good team that executed well against us,” said Baird. “Cambridge has girls that are very good offensive players.  Our depth helped us in this contest.”  

Baird had his girls pressing C-I the entire game until the last four-to-five minutes.    Cambridge was hurt by their poor foul shooting.  

Becker and Cambridge are the two teams most likely favored to win the Mississippi 8 Conference.  

“We were lucky to survive a furious run at the end of the game by Cambridge after leading by double digits throughout the contest,” said Baird.  “We made just enough plays to win the game.”

Becker scoring: Courtney Nuest 17, Julia Bengtson 15, Adeline Kent 13, Megan Gamble 12, Maren Westin 6, Dani Nuest 6, Ayla Brown 5, Alayna Lindquist 2, Jackie Yoerg 2. 

C-I scoring: Cammie Sheforgren 19, Jana Swanson 18, Mikayla Aumer 18, Jackie Olander 13, Molly Hennen 4, Myranda Brogger 1.

Becker 79, Bemidji 37

The Bulldogs defeated the Bemidji Lumberjacks by a score of 79-37 for a non-conference win, Jan 4 in Perham as part of the Breakdown Tournament.

Becker shot 57% in this game and was extremely efficient.  

Courtney Nuest didn’t miss a shot, going 4-4 from the three-point line, five-for-five from the floor and had four rebounds. Bengtson was 9-14 from the field and had three assists.  

Kent had a fantastic game falling just shy of a triple double.  She had 18 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. 

The Bulldogs rebounded well (40) and shot a high percentage of 57%.  

Bemidji fell to 8-4 on the season and Becker improved to 6-2.

Becker scoring:  Bengtson 20, Kent 18, Courtney Nuest 14, Gamble 12, Lindquist 4, Brown 4, Dani Nuest 3, Westin 2, Yoerg 2.

Bemidji scoring: Emily Wade 14, Jenna Jones 8, Katie Alto 4, Jackie Johnson 4, Ashley Hofstad 3, Kate Hildenbrand 3, Jody Pemberton 1.

Becker 88, St. Francis 46

Gamble had a terrific game in this contest, netting 20 points and attacking the offensive glass.  She also tallied eight rebounds. Westin came off the bench and used her sharpshooting skills to score 17 points, hitting on four three-pointers.  She also had four rebounds.

“We had balanced scoring with five girls scoring in double digits,” said Baird.  “We moved the ball well and really played excellent, unselfish basketball.  

Becker shot 51% from the floor and only had nine  turnovers to St. Francis’ 27.

Becker improved to 7-2 and 2-0 in the Mississippi 8 Conference.  St. Francis fell to 1-11 and 0-3 in the conference.

Bulldogs 71, Wildcats 39

The girls traveled to Chisago Lakes Thursday and won by 32.

In a dominant first half, the Bulldogs started fast and kept the “pedal to the metal” as four of their starting five recorded double-digit scoring. Freshman Westin led all scorers with 16 points.

In the second half, the girls reeled things in but still outscored the Wildcats 28-22. The win propelled the Bulldogs to 8-2 and 3-0 in the Mississippi 8 Conference.

Becker scoring: Westin 16, Kent 12, Gamble 11, Courtney Nuest 10, Bengtson 8, Dani Nuest 4, Brown 3, Jenna Mittelstaedt 2.

Chisago Lakes scoring: Emma Bjelland 11, Greta Gillach 10, Jill Erickson 5, Lizzy Godden 5, CeCe Dircks 4, Kaitlyn Wille 3, Alyssa Hempel 1.

Up Next

The Lady Bulldogs play at Willmar (8-3, 6-2) today (Saturday), then travel to Big Lake (7-4, 1-1) Tuesday before hosting North Branch (7-4, 1-2) Friday.