BEMIDJI, MN – Needing a win to remain in the hunt for a home playoff game, the University of Mary women's basketball team turned to a trio of freshmen to power the Marauders to a 64-52 win at Bemidji State University. Gabbie Bohl, Cassie Askvig and Lauren Rotunda combined for 42 points.
 
The win moves the Marauders into a tie with St. Cloud State University for fourth place in the Northern Sun North division with one game to play. The Huskies fell 81-77 in overtime to national-ranked MSU Moorhead. Because Mary has a better record in North division games, should the two teams remain tied in the standings after Saturday's season finales, the Marauders own the tiebreaker and are in line to host a game in the opening round of the NSIC conference basketball tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 22. A win by Mary at Minnesota Crookston or a loss by SCSU against Northern State gives the Marauders the fourth seed in the North.  
 
A scoring force for Mary the last few weeks, Bohl posted a game-high 17 points. The redshirt freshman post also had four rebounds. A freshman forward, Askvig came off the bench to score 15 points, haul down eight rebounds and deal four assists. She made 5-of-7 shots from the field and was 5-of-6 at the line. Rotunda, a freshman guard, scored ten points and distributed a team-high five assists.
 
The Beavers jumped out to an 8-1 lead but a dominant effort in the second quarter soon pushed the Marauders out in front. Behind a barrage of three-pointers, Mary finished the opening half on a 17-5 run to enter intermission up 26-21. Dani Williams hit two treys and Rachel Weir and Sawyer Kluge hit triplets during the Marauders explosion.  
 
Down nine, BSU knotted the score at 36-36 behind an 11-2 run. Mary regained the momentum by scoring on three straight possessions via a layup by Bohl, a Hannah Larson jumper and a trey by Weir.
 
Refusing to fade away the Beavers closed within five before Askvig took over. The Minot, ND, native scored 10 points – including eight straight – during a 14-0 Marauders run to put the game away in the final quarter.
 
Behind a combined 15-for-26 shooting effort by the three freshmen, Mary shot 44 percent from the floor for the game while limiting BSU to a stark 33.3 percent. The Marauders went 7-of-18 behind the arc and had a 35-31 rebounding edge.
 
Weir added eight rebounds and seven points for Mary.
 
Sierra Senske led BSU with 16 points and seven rebounds. Aimee Pelzer added 12.
 
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