The Lady Bulldog basketball continued to roll this week, improving to 19-2 with three big wins.
Becker 83, North Branch 28
Becker got a huge contribution from Courtney Nuest in its 55-point win over North Branch Monday night on the road. Nuest scored 25 points in the first half, connecting on five three-pointers and going 5-for-7 from the free-throw line. This coming off the previous game where she scored her 1,000th career point.
Adeline Kent had another great game, scoring 18 points to go with five rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Becker shot 52% from the field to go with 37 rebounds and 11 turnovers. North Branch shot 30% to go with 29 turnovers and just 20 rebounds.
“Our pressure made it really tough on them both in the half court and the man press,” said Head Coach Dan Baird.
Becker moved to 17-2 on the season with the win. North Branch fell to 10-9 on the season.
Becker scoring: Courtney Nuest 27, Kent 18, Julia Bengtson 16, Jackie Yoerg 8, Megan Gamble 5, Whitney Schug 3, Jenna Mittelstaedt 2, Ayla Brown 2, Alayna Lindquist 2.
North Branch scoring: Harmony Folstad 6, Paige Peaslee 6, Megan Bunes 4, Katelynn McAbee 4, Chloe Lattimore 2, Ella Kuhlman 2, Emily Bean 2, Maddie Helin 2.
Becker 84, St. Francis 32
Becker moved to 18-2 on the season with a convincing win over St. Francis Tuesday night in Becker.
Kent led Becker in scoring with 19 points, to go with five rebounds, five assists and seven steals.
Ayla Brown had a career high 16 points, two assists and three steals. Bengtson continued with her outstanding season scoring 17 points, four rebounds and three steals.
Becker shot 43%, pulled down 35 rebounds, had 24 assists and turned the ball over just six times — which is a season low.
St. Francis shot 38%, and had 37 turnovers.
Becker scoring: Kent 19, Bengtson 17, Brown 16, Courtney Nuest 9, Dani Nuest 8, Mittelstaedt 5, Lindquist 3, Gruenes 2, Westin 2, Gamble 2, Shug 1.
St. Francis scoring: Emma Kopet 8, Clair Aaberg 8, Mattisyn Mensink 5, Madi Rothbauer 3, Kiley Dustman 2, Makayla Rothbauer 2, Eve Shultz 2, Edosa Ogbemudia 2.
Becker 71, St. Croix Lutheran 61
The Lady Bulldogs won a huge game against an excellent opponent last Saturday in St. Michael. Becker beat the Crusaders by 10.
“St. Croix is an excellent three-point shooting team and we knew that going into the game,” said Baird. “They were still very tough to slow down, connecting on 12 three points.
St. Croix’s Hauge sisters — Laura and Luci — hit five threes and a few from NBA range. However, St. Croix had a tough time slowing down Becker’s transition game, and the Bulldogs made a few more plays down the stretch after the Crusaders closed to within three with about five minutes to play.
Courtney Nuest scored her 1,000th point in the game and she was mentioned for her accomplishment on WCCO Sports News Saturday night following the game. Nuest finished with 15 points and three rebounds.
Becker scoring: Bengtson 19, Kent 16, Courtney Nuest 15, Gamble 15, Dani Nuest 2, Maren Westin 2, Lindquist 2.
St. Croix scoring: Luci Hauge 21, Laura Hauge 17, Juel Skrien 8, Kenna Moon 7, Clara Avery 4, Ella Avery 2, Kenzie Maki 2.
Becker 82, Annandale 45
The girls played at Annandale Thursday night and came away with a 37-point win.
Becker jumped out quickly on the Cardinals and steamed ahead to a 62-22 halftime lead, before easing up in the second half. Becker was led by Courtney Nuest, who had 18 points.
Annandale was led by Lauren Campbell who had 10.
Becker scoring: C. Nuest 18, Kent 17, Dani Nuest 12, Westin 10, Bengtson 9, Gamble 7, Brown 7, Schug 2.
Cardinals scoring: Campbell 10, Abby Lillehaug 8, Josey Marquette 7, Morgan Jones 6, Kitri Reimer 5, Abby Neutz 4, Elizabeth Hoeft 3, Faith Simon 2.
Up Next
The Bulldogs were invited to participate in the final Breakdown Sports USA tournament in Alexandria this weekend where four of the six girl’s teams competing are state-ranked and only one team has more than five losses. Becker kicks off the Winter Classic tournament with an 11:30 a.m. game Saturday against 15-5 Alexandria.
