The Central Lakes College Raiders went up against a national power and shot 48 percent from the field, but couldn't overcome a first and third quarter 3-point barrage as they fell to the Hibbing Cardinals 90-71 Saturday, Jan. 26 in Brainerd.
Maggi Fellerman led the Raiders with 13 points and Liz Anderson scored 12 off the bench. Paige Wallevand was held to two first-half points, but finished with 11. Kelsie Weite also hit double figures with 10 points.
The Cardinals entered Saturday's game with a 6-1 division record ranked 10th nationally. Hibbing used its lethal 3-point shooting to build a 28-16 lead at the end of the first quarter and shot 42 percent from behind the arc for the game.
That effort was led by Hibbings' Sherae' Cherenfant and Bethany Baldwin. Both finished with 19 points. It was Cherenfant's penetration and Baldwin's 3-point shooting that caused the Raiders fits. Cherenfant tallied eight assists and Baldwin was 5-9 from behind the arc. It also caused Raiders head coach Brian Voigt to make an adjustment after the first quarter.
"We went with a zone because when Cherenfant gets in the lane it is tough and there are wide open 3s so playing the zone was the way to deal with that," he said.
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That and some half-court pressure paid off for the Raiders in the second quarter as they trimmed the Cardinal lead to seven at the end of the first half. Anderson's seven points off the bench keyed the rally.
The Cardinals adjusted and built a 27-19 edge in the third quarter.
"We kept up with our pressure in the third quarter but our downfall with that sometimes is that we forget about the middle and that has kind of been our Achilles heel all year and I think we might fall asleep because our front side does so good," Voigt said. "They were able to get it to the middle and when that happens you are down 20 feet and it is hard to make up that ground for a good shooting team and they are the best 3-point shooting team in our league."
The Raiders cut Hibbings' lead to 10 a couple of times in the fourth quarter, but Cherenfant stepped up with key buckets in the lane to seal the win.
"It was a great game all-around," Voigt said. "Both teams shot the ball well, but that third quarter, especially a two-minute period there where everything they put up went in, was tough. We had our hands up, but when a couple of their players make a lay-up from almost being on their back, it is their night and that is a really good team."
Hibbing 28 14 27 21-91
Central Lakes 16 19 19 17-71
HIBBING
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Stacie Lokken 3, Sherae' Cherenfant 19, Bethany Baldwin 19, Alexis Desjarlait 10, Hannah Morris 12, Shauna Kavajecz 8, Klaryssa Whelan 19. FG 32-64 (50 percent), FT 13-14 (93 percent). 3-point 13-31 (42 percent).
CENTRAL LAKES
Lillee Hardee 8, Kelsie Weite 10, Liz Anderson 12, Maggi Fellerman 13, Sam Schimpp 6, Lindsay Hendrickson 2, Paige Wallevand 11, Naomi Lane 6, Kali Mammenga 3. FG 26-54 (48 percent), FT 13-25 (52 percent). 3-point 6-19 (32 percent). Division: 5-3. Overall: 12-7. Next: hosts Northland 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30.
