Women's basketball: MN West tops Ridgewater

WILLMAR - Free throws were the undoing for Ridgewater on Wednesday, as the Warriors gave up 29 points from the line in a 77-64 loss to Minnesota West.
The Warriors got in an early hole, trailing by 23 at the half.
“We started out too slow,” Ridgewater head coach Carrie Ogdahl said. “We’re not learning from our mistakes early on. The girls didn’t fold in the second half but we’ve got to learn our mistakes a little bit sooner in the game.”
Ridgewater fouled the Bluejays 26 times.
Erica Melbie led the Warriors with 19 points, and Sami Doering picked up a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Brooke Wuertz and Rachel Ampe each netted 10 points, and Wuertz notched four assists.
The Warriors (3-6, 12-10) next play Saturday at Riverland.
MN West 77,
Ridgewater 64
MN West 44 33 - 77
Ridgewater (3-6, 12-10) 21 43 - 64
Minnesota West
21-50 FG; 29-37 FT; 17 fouls … Scoring: Brittney Hermeling 14, Bridget Kramer 13, Brooke Henning 6, Melissa Gehl 15, Sonja Peters 6, Kristen Anderson 23 … 3-point shots: Hermeling 3, Gehl 3 … Rebound leader: Hermeling 8, Kramer 8 … Assist leader: 5 with 1 … Steal leader: Hermeling 2
Ridgewater
24-63 FG; 9-17 FT; 26 fouls … Scoring: Maddi Strandberg 8, Erica Melbie 19, Sami Doering 12, Brooke Wuertz 10, Rachel Ampe 10, Allie Seth 5 … 3-point shots: Strandberg 2, Melbie 3, Wuertz 2 … Rebound leader: Doering 10 … Assist leader: Wuertz 4 … Steal leader: Datri Jenson 2, Melbie 2