Alexandria girls' basketball: Cards succumb to Otters

• Bruzek

Alexandria’s Sarah Bruzek went up for a rebound during earlier Cardinal girls’ basketball action. She scored four in Alexandria’s loss to Fergus Falls Tuesday. (Eric Morken, Echo Press)

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Ninth-ranked Alexandria knew that it would be tough going against the No. 2 ranked Otters and it was, as Fergus Falls jumped to a 37-17 halftime lead and never looked back, handing the Cardinals a 73-43 road loss Tuesday night.

“The Cardinals…did many things well last night, except for scoring,” said Alexandria head coach Wendy Kohler. “The Cards executed the game plan to perfection and frustrated the Otters early and often as we changed defenses and kept them off their game for most of the first half, but could not cash in on easy scoring opportunities.

“We took excellent care of the ball against the long Otter defense and only turned it over 10 times, forcing 18 on the Otters.”

The Cardinals were, however, unable to convert on scoring opportunities, hitting just 27 percent in the game.

“Against a team like Fergus, a team needs to take advantage of scoring opportunities and finish,” said Kohler. “That was a key factor in the loss, as well as the Otters hammering the boards on us, having a 2:1 ratio in that department.”

Amanda Christianson paced the Redbird offense with 16 points, while Fergus Falls was led by Bailey Strand with 16, Brianna Rasmussen 14 and Kristin Traiser, who replaced starter Anna Monke in Tuesday’s game, with 12.

“Bright spots were that we took care of our possessions and generated great opportunities to score against a very talented team in the Otters,” said the Card coach. “We hit the practice floor focusing on finishing, rebounding toughness and keeping our heads up as good things lay ahead for this squad if we stay committed to improving.

FERGUS FALLS 73, ALEXANDRIA 43

ALEXANDRIA 17 26 — 43

FERGUS FALLS 37 36 — 73

ALEXANDRIA – Amanda Christianson 16, Kalli Bowser 8, Emily Thul 4, Sarah Bruzek 4, Amanda Gould 3, Dani Strater 2, Karly Betterman 2, Sam Frederick 2, Jess Syvrud 1, Jaylen Olson-Rodel 1.

FERGUS FALLS – Bailey Strand 16, Brianna Rasmussen 14, Kristin Traiser 12, Hanna Swenson 8, Kaitlin Capouch 8, Kathryn Sawtell 6, Devonie Smith 3, Nicole Anderson 2, Rachel Johnson 2, Jileen Tenneson 1, Samantha Velde 1.

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, cardinals, girls, basketball