Playing with just seven players, the Central Lakes College Raiders fell to the Mesabi Range Norse 75-55 Saturday.
Kaitlin Spar led the Raiders with 15 points, Alicia Lup followed with 14, Tanisha Beetso 13 and Taylor King 11.
Mesabi stayed undefeated in Northern Division play at 3-0 while the Raiders dropped to 1-2.
The Raiders also played short-handed as Brooke Miller, who has provided a strong inside presence for CLC, was in concussion protocol and unable to play.
While the Raiders have been able to get productive play with a roster of just eight players, it has hurt them in practice as they are unable to scrimmage at times. That hurt them in the second quarter as they struggled against the Norse's pressure defense.
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Starting the second quarter CLC trailed by one point but was outscored by 17 in the quarter to trail 44-26 at halftime.
"We had a really bad second quarter and did not handle their pressure," said CLC coach Randy Swanhorst. "We just haven't been able to work against that in practice."
For the game, CLC lost the turnover battle 32-15. The Norse turned those turnovers into 33 points.
One of the other areas that has hurt CLC all season has been the offensive glass and it was the case again Saturday as Mesabi outrebounded CLC 13-8 on the offensive end.
Trailing by 18 at the half, the Raiders cut into the lead and had it down to 11 points on a lay-up from Beetso late in the third quarter. Ultimately, pressure from the Norse built the lead back up in the fourth quarter.
"With Brooke currently in the concussion protocol, and having just seven kids, they really battled for three quarters," said Swanhorst.
The Raiders played good perimeter defense limiting Mesabi to just 3-for-23 shooting from behind the arc. They were also strong at the free throw line where they made 14 of 16 attempts.
Beetso led the team in rebounds with seven and Taylor King was next with six.
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Mesabi 43 32-75
Central Lakes 26 29-55
MESABI
Brielle Wills 6, Maija DePaulis 5, Abby Mayry 2, Cora Peterson 4, Morgan Johnson 14, Lexi Hill 10, Taneesha Dupree 5, Akayla Goerdt 4, Alexis Boissy 25. FG 33-68 (49 percent), FT 6-8 (75 percent). 3-point 3-20 (15 percent).
CENTRAL LAKES
Cheyanne Johnson 2, Aleia Lupa 14, Kaitlin Spar 15, Taylor King 11, Tanisha Beetso 13. FG 18-46 (39 percent), FT 14-16 (88 percent). 3-point 5-13 (39 percent). Division: 1-2. Overall: 4-10. Next: vs. Rainy River at International Falls 5:45 p.m. Friday.
