ST. PAUL, Minn. – A big second quarter pushed Bay College womens’ basketball to a 75-67 win over the Lake Region State Royals Saturday.

After playing evenly in the opening minutes, the Royals (5-5) were the ones to pull away late in the first quarter. A 9-2 run helped give them their biggest lead of the game of seven multiple times in the final minutes of the opening frame. The Norse (3-3) got to the free throw line and cut the score to 20-17 in favor of Lake Region State after the first ten minutes.

A pair of free throws for the Royals started the scoring in the second, but the Norse went on a small run. Lauren Zawada got a basket, which was followed by a Jada Freudinger three-pointer to tie the game. Bay reclaimed the lead for good a few minutes later when Zawada put a jumper home again.

The Royals tied the game with a basket from Arden Faulkner with over six minutes in the half, but her team would go cold from that point forward. Makenna Hendrickson hit from behind the arc in the very next possession, triggering a run in which the Bay offense came alive while stifling the Lake Region attack.

The result was a 15-point lead before the Royals could respond. A pair of Faulkner free throws ended the scoring drought, and a shot from Kierra Holweger ended an over five minute stretch without a field goal. The Norse took a 39-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Royals were able to cut the Norse lead to single digits a few times early in the third quarter, but Bay was able to respond in every instance, and kept a double-digit lead for much of the period, including a 12-point advantage heading into the final ten minutes.

The Norse led by as many as 16 early in the fourth and looked to be cruising to a big win, as they still had a double-digit lead with under three minutes to play. A four-minute scoring drought from Bay made things interesting down the stretch as the Royals slowly crawled back into it and gave themselves a chance late.

A pair of free throws with just under three minutes to play put Lake Region’s deficit in single digits for the first time since early in the third. A Sydney Schwabe three shortly after that put the Royals just five points behind their opponents.

Things got even more interesting when a missed three-pointer gave the Royals the ball back with a chance to cut the lead to one possession, but a big stop by Bay turned the tide back in their favor. After an Anna Axtell steal, the Norse forced Lake Region into a difficult position. With just one team foul in the quarter, the Royals were forced to commit multiple fouls to get Bay to the free throw line and have a chance to get the ball back. Axtell made a layup before Lake Region State had a chance to get Bay to the charity stripe and as the clock ticked under a minute to play, the Norse were back to a seven-point lead.

The Royals did not score again and the Norse added some free throws to take the 75-67 win.

Axtell ended up with a great game and led all scorers with 24 points. She would get credited with a double-double, collecting ten rebounds, and also had three steals, two assists, and a block. Freudinger ended up with 11 points. Hendrickson and Zawada ended up with similar stat lines, as Hendrickson scored ten points, had six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Zawada scored ten points, had six rebounds, had two assists, and a block.

Holweger led Lake Region State with 16 points while grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds. Schwabe hit four of nine three-pointers, finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds. Faulkner converted all six of her free throw opportunities and had 13 points and five rebounds.

The Norse will finish off the season series with Gogebic Community College at 6 p.m. Tuesday as they travel to Ironwood. Bay won the first installment in Escanaba 86-55.