On Tuesday, Jan. 18, the Bulldogs hosted the Sauk Centre Mainstreeters. Paynesville didn't have its usual intensity and lost 48-39 to the conference leaders from Sauk Centre.The Streeters came out strong, scoring 15 points in the first quarter. It seemed as though the Bulldogs couldn't get their offense fired up, but Carin Frenchick sparked the Bulldogs by scoring 11 of her 17 points in the first half.
In the second quarter the Bulldogs got killed on offense boards, allowing numerous put backs by the Streeters. The score at halftime was 33-21 with Sauk Centre ahead.
The Bulldogs played great defense in the third quarter, only allowing four points. But the Streeters lead was too much for the Bulldogs as they only scored eight points in the third. Free throws were also a big factor. While the Streeters shot 22 free shots, the Bulldogs only shot eight. The final score was 48-39 with Sauk Centre on top.
"We have to be more aggressive on offense, and take it to the hoop more often," said coach Pat Deegan.
Leading the Bulldogs was Frenchick with 17 points and Steph Krupke with seven assists.
Sauk Centre 15 18 4 11- 48 Paynesville 8 13 8 10 - 39
| Sauk Centre-- | 15 | 18 | 4 | 11 | - 48 |
| Paynesville-- | 8 | 13 | 8 | 10 | - 39 |
Paynesville 59
Albany 58
The Huskies traveled to Paynesville on Friday night in a conference match up. This was a very important game for the Bulldogs if they wanted to contend in the conference. Paynesville trailed through almost the whole game, and were down by as much as 12 points. But the Bulldogs managed to pull off a win in the final seconds of the game, 59-58.
Things looked good for the Bulldogs in the first quarter even though the Huskies were on fire from the outside. Steph Krupke provided four assists in the first quarter, and Tanya Lieser added eight points as the Bulldogs led 16-14.
The Huskies continued their hot shooting in the second quarter scoring 19 points to the Bulldogs' 10. Going into halftime, the Huskies had a 33-26 lead.
The Bulldogs knew they had to cut the lead in the third quarter, but they only managed to stay fairly even with Albany, scoring 16 points to Albany's 17.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Huskies led by eight points, 50-42. Steph Krupke lit it up in the fourth quarter scoring nine of her 12 points, including two three-pointers to get the Bulldogs back in the game. The Bulldogs tied the score at 55, which was the first tie since the score was knotted at 16 in the second quarter.
Carrie Hemmesch made a free throw to give the Bulldogs the lead, and with a minute remaining, Tanya Lieser sank two free throws to put the Bulldogs up by three.
Albany's Darby Noreen converted a trey from NBA range to tie the score at 58, but with 11 seconds remaining, Albany fouled Hemmesch, and she made one free throw to put the Bulldogs on top.
Albany was able to get three shots off before the buzzer, but couldn't convert. Paynesville won 59-58 to put them at 3-3 in the conference.
"This was a big win for us, and I'm really proud of the girls for playing hard," said coach Deegan.
Four Bulldogs scored in double figures: Lieser with 16 points and 15 rebounds; Frenchick and Krupke with 12 points; and Hemmesch with 11.
| Albany-- | 14 | 19 | 17 | 8 | - 58 |
| Paynesville-- | 16 | 10 | 16 | 17 | - 59 |