BRAINERD — They had to wait until after the men’s game, but it was worth it.
The Central Lakes College Raiders celebrated their share of the Northern Division title for the first time since 1997 by cutting down the nets following their 100-35 victory over Mesabi Range Saturday, Feb. 18.
CLC swept the season series after defeating the Lady Norse 77-51 Jan. 21.
Samantha Quigley scored a game-high 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds while Alyssa Torgerson added 18 points and Jacey Rydberg finished with 16.
Kalli Papenfuss dished out 11 assists and tallied eight steals.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Raiders shared the division championship with Northland, who won a coin flip and will be the No. 1 seed with the Raiders gaining the No. 2 seed.
“We did something really special this year and everyone was a huge part of it,” Raiders head coach Krystal Brodeen said. “It wasn’t just one person or the coaches or a couple of players, it was everybody and we kind of left our stamp on things and let them know we weren’t here to mess around.”
After falling at Northland Saturday, Feb 11, the Raiders had a week before its next game. They started out fast to build a 31-6 lead after the first quarter. Quigley finished the quarter with 10 points.
“The coaches talked about coming out strong and playing our game and that is exactly what we did,” Quigley said. “Everyone agrees that we want to play more defense than we do offense and we are excited to learn.”
Earlier in the season, Brodeen wanted her team to focus on defense and convert turnovers into buckets.
The Raiders forced 24 turnovers and the outcome was never in doubt as the Raiders led 51-14 at the half. CLC’s main question was if it would score 100 points, a goal it achieved on a lay-up from Rydberg with just over 20 seconds left.
The Raiders’ focus now turns to the Region 13 Tournament. They have not been to the tournament since 2008 when they also qualified for the national tournament.
“Krystal (Brodeen) has mentioned that and it was our goal to put up a banner for this year and recognize also with her first year as coach and our first year back that it is very exciting.”
ADVERTISEMENT
CLC will open against Riverland, a team the Raiders hosted in December.
“Riverland will press us, but we had a good matchup against them in December before Sam joined us and we will be looking to take it to them,” Brodeen said.
Mesabi Range 6 8 8 13 -- 35
Central Lakes 31 20 29 20 -- 100
MESABI RANGE
Kylie Anderson 9, Elizabeth Hey 5, Anna Fink 6, Deetra Davis 10, Kataja Young 3, Janie Potts 2. FG 13-50 (26 percent), FT 3-7 (43 percent). 3-point 6-28 (21 percent).
CENTRAL LAKES
Jaime Johnson 15, Kalli Papenfuss 9, Clara Meyer 10, Ellie Anderson 1, Alyssa Torgerson 18, Samantha Quigley 31, Jacey Rydberg 16. FG 42-77 (55 percent), FT 6-7 (86 percent). 3-point 10-26 (39 percent). Division: 7-1. Overall:14-7. Next: in Region 13 Tournament at Anoka-Ramsey Community College Saturday, Feb. 25.
The Trust Project
