BRAINERD -- A pair of early three-pointers by Briana Goldschmidt ignited the Willmar offense and the Cardinals went on to defeat the Brainerd Warriors 50-37 Thursday night in Central Lakes Conference girls basketball.
The win was the sixth straight for the Cardinals (11-2, 14-4), who stayed a game behind front-running St. Cloud Tech in the CLC race.
The Cardinals trailed 6-0 when Goldschmidt came off the bench to trigger a 10-0 run with a pair of three-pointers as Willmar took the lead for good.
"We got a huge spark out of (Goldschmidt) off the bench," said Willmar coach Brad Atchison. "She hit a couple of threes and got the ball inside to Laura (Nielsen) to get us started."
Nielsen, a senior center, poured in 21 points, five over her average. Senior point guard Andrea Brown, who made all seven of her free-throw attempts, finished with 12 points.
ADVERTISEMENT
Goldschmidt sank her third three-pointer of the half just before the horn for a 29-20 margin at intermission.
"In the second half our match-up zone did a nice job," said Atchison. "Brainerd had trouble with it and struggled to get off shots."
Kayla Huether had 13 points to lead the Warriors, who lost their sixth straight. They also lost 47-40 at Willmar Dec. 10.
Katie Holmgren added four points plus five rebounds and Brin Hanson supplied four rebounds and three assists. Dana Guetter chipped in with her usual tenacious defense, which induced turnovers and two steals each by herself, Brown and Nielsen.
Willmar 50, Brainerd 37
Willmar (11-2, 14-4) 29 21 -- 50
Brainerd (1-10 4-14) 20 17 -- 37
WILLMAR - 19-40 FG (4-10 3 pt); 8-9 FT; 20 rebounds; 8 fouls ... Scoring: Laura Nielsen 21, Katie Holmgren 4, Andrea Brown 12, Brianna Goldschmidt 13 ... 3-point shots: Brown, Goldschmidt 3 ... Rebound leader: Nielsen 6, Holmgren 5, Brin Hanson 4 ... Assist leader: Brown 5, Dana Guetter 3, Hanson 3 ... Steal leader: Guetter 2, Brown 2, Nielsen 2
ADVERTISEMENT
BRAINERD - 16-44 FG (1-10 3 pt); 4-6 FT; 26 rebounds; 11 fouls ... Scoring: Dani Uphoff 6, Kayla Huether 13, Megan Bates 8, Butler 2, Steph Neugebauer 2, Joetta Johnson 4, Natalie Niager 2 ... 3-point shots: Huether
NEXT -- Willmar: Tuesday at Fergus Falls
