Lady Spartans Open Season with Win on Home Court
The M State lady Spartans won their season opener on Tuesday, handing Central Lakes College a 53-41 defeat in Fergus Falls. M State trailed by one point after three quarters but finished strong by outscoring the Raiders 20-7 over the final ten minutes of the game. "It was a great team win," said Head Coach Jodi Holleman. "The girls played with a lot of heart and hustle in the fourth quarter. It was great to have a packed gym for the home opener!"
In her return to the team, Jayna Gronewold led with 17 points, while adding 5 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Mia Blaskowski (10 points, 11 rebounds) recorded a double-double in her college debut. Moraes Bugbee and Itzel Salazar were also in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Bugbee added 5 rebounds and 2 steals, and Salazar dished out 2 assists and came up with a pair of steals. Madi Foss contributed 4 points and 6 rebounds off the bench.
M State struggled from 3-point range, making only 3-of-20 treys. They shot 32.8% (19-58) overall, made 12-of-17 (70.6%) free throws, and won the rebounding battle, 40-38.
Alyssa Torgerson was the leading scorer for the Raiders with 20 points and Chesney Phillip grabbed a team high 12 boards. Kalli Papenfuss had 8 steals and dished out 3 assists. Central Lakes shot 23.7% (14-59) from the field, but made only 2-of-20 from 3-point range.
M State will host Northland Community and Technical College at 1:00pm Saturday.
