Lions knock down Blue Angels

HANCOCK — Junior Natalie Bartle and sophomore Maija Rice scored at least 20 points each as the Finlandia University women’s basketball team (7-10) beat Mount Mary (6-13) 80-48, Saturday afternoon at the Paavo Nurmi Center.

For the first eight minutes, Finlandia and Mount Mary were trading buckets. The Blue Angels hit a 3-pointer to make it 10-9, Lions at the 3:22 mark.

FinnU pushed the lead to 15, 25-10 on a bucket by senior Casana Ryynanen at the 8:41 mark of the second period. MMU went on a 9-2 run to make it 27-19 with 6:12 left. Ryynanen hit a lay-up to start a 14-2 run to seal the game.

FinnU held the Blue Angels to 39.6% from the floor and 20% on triples. The Lions pulled down 25 defensive boards to just six offensive rebounds for MMU.

For Finlandia, Bartle had 22 points, 11 assists and eight steals while Rice had 20 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Senior Martina Jahfetson had 16 points with four treys and freshman Hannah Whitted scored 11 points.

For Mount Mary, Deja Rivers had 19 points and Skye Giddings scored 16.

Finlandia declaws Sabercats Friday

HANCOCK — Sophomore Elli Djerf and junior Natalie Bartle set school records as the Lions beat Maranatha Baptist (2-12) 106-35, Friday night at the Paavo Nurmi Center.

The first six minutes of the game was fairly close between Maranatha Baptist and Finlandia. The Sabercats hit a bucket to close the gap to 12-7 at the 4:27 mark.

Bartle hit a tough shot in traffic with 4:11 to go. That started a 23-5 run over the next nine minutes that put the game away.

FinnU’s point total was the third highest in school history. The Lions played solid defense forcing 36 turnovers and getting 49 points off those turnovers. FinnU held MBU to 26.8% from the floor while the Lions shot 52.8% from the floor and 48% on 3-pointers.

For Finlandia, Bartle had 30 points, seven assists and 13 steals while Djerf had 29 points and three steals.

Djerf was 7-of-7 on triples, becoming just the second player in school history to shoot 100% with at least six attempts. Bartle broke the single-game steal record of 11 by Marissa Burke (Mount Mary – Feb. 13, 2014).

For Maranatha Baptist, Kyria Teachout had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Up next

Finlandia closes the home season, Tuesday, Jan. 24, vs. Wisconsin-Superior. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.