The Anoka-Ramsey Women's Basketball team hosted Bismarck State and Bay College over the weekend and came away with a split, falling to Bismarck State 80-55 on Saturday before beating Bay College 65-60 on Sunday.
The Golden Rams struggled shooting from the field in the loss to Bismarck State, hitting just 30.8 percent of their shots, and just 24 percent of their threes.
The second and third quarters proved to be the difference as Anoka-Ramsey was outscored 48-26 in those two periods combined.
Anoka-Ramsey stayed in the game during the first quarter with strong defense allowing just six made field goals and 35.3 percent shooting for BSC.
Trailing 29-27 with 4:33 to go in the second quarter, the Golden Rams went cold from the field as the Mystics went on a 12-1 run to pull away.
A slow start offensively to the third quarter saw the Golden Rams fall behind 56-32, as the Mystics continued to build on their lead.
Adaya Sandifer was 10 of 17 from the field for 23 points, and added seven assists.
Charo Nickens pulled in 16 rebounds while adding nine points.
Chloe Vezies added 14 points.
A better shooting day followed for Anoka-Ramsey on Sunday, as the Golden Rams repeatedly found lanes to the basket against Bay College to get the win.
Anoka-Ramsey shot 45.3 percent overall, and narrowly won the rebounding battle 38-37.
The Golden Rams built a 13 point lead early in the second quarter following a Sandifer layup.
Anoka-Ramsey led by 12 midway thru the second quarter before Bay started to make a run, pulling within 28-26. A layup from Sandifer and a free throw by Nickens settled the half with Anoka-Ramsey up 31-26.
Both teams continued to battle back and forth throughout the third with neither team leading by more than three until a Madi Peschl layup, another from Nickens, and two Hailey Babcock free throws put the Golden Rams up 52-44 heading into the fourth.
Bay struck first in the final period to get back within six, but Anoka-Ramsey went on a five point spurt to get some breathing room.
Bay College wasn't done, cutting the deficit to three, 59-56 with 1:44 to go, and again 61-58 with 1:19 left. But four straight free throws down the stretch helped Anoka-Ramsey pull out the win.
Nickens led the way with 20 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Sandifer with 11 points.
Ariana Owens scored ten points, while Peschl also chipped in ten.
Anoka-Ramsey wraps up the 2019 portion of the schedule at 7-4.
