The valiant second-half comeback attempt from GCC fell just short and the Samsons were edged 66-61 by the Raiders of Central Lakes College on Wednesday, January 31st in Brainerd, MN.
The Raiders took advantage of their size inside and capitalized on GCC turnovers early on as CLC jumped out to an early 15-0 lead. Freshman Vanessa Weber finally got the Samsons on the board as she scored inside with 3:03 left in the opening quarter. After a defensive stop, fellow Freshman Lilly Johnson found Weber inside for another easy bucket. Although the Raiders drilled a 3-pointer on their next possession, Weber scored again inside with 9 seconds remaining and GCC trailed 18-6 after one quarter. GCC’s scoring nearly matched the Raiders in the second quarter, as CLC outscored the Samsons by 2, 15-13. Led by 5 more points from Weber in the quarter, GCC trailed 33-19 heading into halftime.
The Samsons came out in the second half determined to cut into the CLC lead. Sophomore Kylee Hewitt, who was held scoreless in the first half, hit a bucket to start the third quarter for GCC. The Samsons outscored the Raiders 19-16 in the third quarter, behind 7 points from Freshman Kate Borseth, 6 points from Hewitt, 4 points from Freshman Annabelle Besonen and fellow Freshman Emmy Bobula chipped in 2 points. The Samsons cut the Raider lead to 11, trailing 49-38 after three quarters.
CLC hit a 3-pointer to begin the fourth quarter, but Hewitt went strong to the rim on the next GCC possession and was fouled. She split the pair from the line. After a missed GCC box out, the Raiders scored on a put back and went up 54-39 early into the final quarter. Hewitt responded with a huge 3-pointer of her own on the next possession and after a defensive stop, Besonen hit a shot in the lane, which cut the CLC lead to 10. The Raiders led 54-44 with 6:36 left. Both teams continued to trade baskets on the next few possessions, and with just over 4 minutes to go, the Raiders led 60-51. Hewitt was persistent at attacking the rim and drawing fouls so GCC had the opportunity to keep scoring with the clock stopped. After being fouled with 3:42 left, she drilled both free throws. She did the same thing the next time down the court for the Samsons and this time, she drew the 4th personal foul on one of the CLC post players. Because of a disagreement over the call, the CLC player was also issued a technical foul. Hewitt hit 3 of the 4 foul shots and GCC trailed 60-56 with 2:54 remaining. The Raiders scored inside on their next offensive set, but Hewitt had an answer. Kylee attacked the rim again and got to the line. She hit both from the charity stripe and GCC trailed 62-58 with 1:45 to go. Weber committed a foul on the next possession and CLC split the pair of free throws. On the next Samson possession, Hewitt came up huge again. She was fouled and hit the basket. She drilled the free throw to complete the three point play, which brought the score to 63-61 with 1:22 left. After a strong defensive stand, the Samsons turned the ball over and had to go right back on defense. The Raiders scored with 9 seconds remaining to go up 65-61. GCC called a timeout to advance the ball, but Kate Borseth’s 3-point attempt was tipped and the Samsons were forced to foul and CLC escaped with a 66-61 win.
Despite the loss, the Samsons outscored the Raiders 42-33 in the second half. Hewitt led the Samsons with 23 points (all in the second half) and 14 rebounds. Weber chipped in 11 points (all in the first half) and 9 rebounds. GCC hosts Mesabi Range on Wednesday, February 7th at the LSCC in Ironwood.
