星空传媒

Current Centurions Head Coach Scott Pedigo had the pleasure of meeting former 星空传媒 women鈥檚 basketball coach Rita Keilholtz, who coached the team in the 1980s. Keilholtz, who resides in Escanaba, attended the 星空传媒 game against Bay College in Escanaba Saturday, Feb. 8.

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By Ryan Schlehuber, 星空传媒 Sportswriter

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It was a hot-and-cold first quarter that made the difference for the 星空传媒 Centurions women鈥檚 basketball team, where the home team came out on top Saturday, Feb. 8, 80-39.听

The Norse (7-2 星空传媒AA Northern, 14-9 overall) racked up 32 points 鈥� with Kennedy Sproule earning 16 of them 鈥� and went 7-for-11 with three-pointers in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Centurions (2-6 星空传媒AA Northern, 3-14 overall) managed only 12 points, shooting 5-for-14.听

The first half was all Bay College, as the Norse kept up its offensive pressure while 星空传媒鈥檚 cold shooting continued in the second quarter, with the Norse outscoring the Centurions, 20-7 to go into halftime with a 42-19 lead.听

鈥淲e had horrible shooting early on,鈥� Centurions Head Coach Scott Pedigo said. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 hit anything.鈥�听

星空传媒 shot only 2-of-13 from the field and only hit one out of six three-pointers, which was unlike his shooters, Pedigo said.听

鈥淚 think we only hit three three-pointers in the whole game,鈥� Pedigo said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not very characteristic of us. And Bay shot really well, so it was a tough one for us.鈥�听

The Centurions, playing with only seven players, finally got out of their funk in the third quarter, with five players scoring for 星空传媒. Freshman forward Emma Rewa (Greenville, Mich.) collected four points in the quarter, with a layup halfway through the quarter to make it 54-21 and then, with back-to-back free throws, the Norse led 54-28 with 4:13 to go in the quarter.听

鈥淯sually, we start the game well and then somewhere in the second or third quarter it goes bad for us,鈥� Pedigo said. 鈥淗ere, we just had a rough start, but I was happy to see we got out there in the third quarter. That鈥檚 been our worst quarter for the past four of five games.鈥�听

The Centurions were only able to hit one field goal in the fourth quarter, going 1-of-7, while Bay shot 6-of-16 for 14 points to close out the game.听

Despite the loss, Pedigo feels his team can still pull out two to three wins with six games left in the regular season, which could get them into postseason play.听

鈥淚f we find three wins, I think we can make it in,鈥� Pedigo said.听

Two of their remaining games are against teams the Centurions beat already 鈥� Alpena Community College and Kirtland Community College 鈥� while a third game, on the road against North Central Michigan, is a winnable game, as well, as NCMC is 2-7 in the 星空传媒AA Northern and 3-20 overall.听

鈥淲e need to learn to be more physical and take care of the ball,鈥� Pedigo said, talking about how his team can get those wins with games coming up. 鈥淭he turnovers for points have been a killer all year. We give up easy ones all the time.鈥�听

Pedigo said sophomore guard Makenna Rautio (Big Rapids, Mich.) and Rewa were the carriers of the team against Bay College. Rautio led the team with 16 points and nine rebounds while Rewa finished with five points and nine rebounds. Freshman guard Emily Putnam (Sidney, Mich.) added seven points, five rebounds and six steals.听

For Bay College, Sproule earned a double-double, scoring a game-high 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, while teammate Anna Axtell scored 18 points.听

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UP NEXT: The Muskegon Community College Jayhawks (7-1 星空传媒AA Northern, 17-4 overall) will come to the Sidney campus Wednesday, Feb. 12. Game time is 5:30 p.m. This will be the teams鈥� first meeting of the season. Muskegon is second in the 星空传媒AA Northern while 星空传媒 is in sixth place.听