ESCANABA — A career-high 35 point performance from freshman Anna Axtell led Bay College women to a 112-59 victory over North Central Michigan here Wednesday. The Bay College men also picked up a 92-50 victory as Ryan Sweeney returned to the Bay College court and led the Norse with 18 points.

“I was really focused coming into tonight,” Axtell said. “I was looking to get rebounds and play tough defense and make my shots and I think we did that well as a team tonight.”

The women took control of the game early on as freshman Makenna Hendrickson came up with a steal and raced down the court for a layup to tie the game at two. Axtell hit a mid-range jumper to put the Norse up 4-2.

North Central tied the game at four on a layup by Arika Taylor and it was all Norse from there.

Axtell continued her domination as she scored eight of the next ten Norse points to extend the Norse lead to 14-6.

Bay sophomore Kennedy Sproule hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter to extend the Norse lead to 41-16.

“We are getting better every time out,” Bay women’s coach James Fassett said. “We have been working hard to cut down turnovers and being confident in our abilities on the floor.”

The Norse took a 53-27 lead into the halftime break.

Sproule drove in for a layup to start the second half and freshman Lauren Zawada followed it up with a 3-pointer from the wing to extend the lead to 58-27. Moments later Sproule came up with a steal and quickly got the ball to Axtell for the layup. Kadie Kaukola got a steal that led to the second 3-pointer by Zawada who had four on the night to extend the lead to 64-27.

Axtell also got involved from behind the arc as she knocked down a 3-pointer with 5:13 to go in the third to extend the lead to 70-32.

Axtell connected on another 3-pointer with 8:16 to go in the fourth quarter as North Central Michigan had no answers for the Norse as they cruised to victory.

Along with her 35 points, Axtell collected 10 rebounds.

Zawada had 25 points as well as six rebounds and five steals and Hendrickson had 10 points, eight assists, seven steals and six rebounds.

The men’s team went wire-to-wire for their win. Sophomore Ryan Sweeney had back-to-back layups to give the Norse a 26-16 lead with 7:46 to go in the first half.

“We needed a win like this,” Sweeney said. “We haven’t blown anyone out or had that big game and I felt like we did that tonight.”

KaiRee Gadson hit a 3-pointer from the wing and William Kelley drove to the basket for a layup to extend the Norse lead to 31-20.

With 1:59 to go in the first half, Mykel Lindsey hit a 3-pointer to extend the Norse lead to 40-22.

D’Marco Chelley drove in for a layup at the buzzer to put the Norse up by 20 going into the half.

The Norse opened the second half on a 11-4 run including a pair of layups by Sweeney and the Norse led 55-28.

With 14:05 to go in the game Chelley found Zavier Hayes who laid it in to extend the lead to 31.

Moments later Hayes connected on a 3-pointer that was followed up by a layup for Sweeney to extend the Norse lead to 66-30.

Chelley cleaned up the defensive glass with a rebound then took it the length of the court and delivered a monster dunk that extended the Norse lead to 40.

“I thought we did a pretty good job tonight,” Bay Men’s coach Matt Johnson said.

“We executed our game plan and I feel like we did a good job of sharing the ball and getting everyone involved.”

Bay freshman Connor Coduti had nine of his 11 points in the second half including a 3-pointer with 6:53 to go to extend the Norse lead to 77-36.

“We really needed this win coming off a pair of losses,” Coduti said.

“This game is a big boost of confidence for us going into the rest of our schedule.”

The Norse shot 53 percent from the floor and did not miss a free throw in six attempts.

Florence’s William Kelley made two 3-pointers in the contest while scoring 10 points in 18 minutes of action. He also recorded three rebounds and two assists.

Bay men and women’s teams will be back in action Saturday as they host Muskegon Community College.

Women’s Box Score

North Central Michigan 10 17 14 18 — 59

Bay College 30 23 35 24 — 112

North Central Michigan — Sutton 7, Wardin 13, Taylor 14, Shelton 16, Ferraiuolo 6, Stone 3. FT: 16-28; F: 16; Fouled Out: None; 3-pointers: Stone 1

Bay College — Hendrickson 10, Kaukola 5, Axtell 35, Sproule 13, Zawada 25, Longs 4, Phillips 6, Hoffmeyer 12, Anders 2. FT: 18-24; F: 23; Fouled Out: Anders; 3-pointers: Zawada 4, Sproule 3, Phillips 2, Kaukola 1

Men’s Box Score

North Central Michigan 24 26 — 50

Bay College 44 48 — 92

North Central Michigan — Dorsey 4, Conzelmann 10, Richardson 10, Hillaker 10, Jalen Williams 7, Linaker 3, Clancy 2, Pletcher 4. FT: 5-9; F: 8; Fouled Out: None; 3-pointers: Linaker 1

Bay College — Lindsey 14, Sweeney 18, N. Williams 4, Gadson 16, J. Williams 2, Kelley 10, Coduti 11, Plunger 2, Chelley 8, Hayes 5, Fahning 2. FT: 6-6; F: 10; Fouled Out: None; 3-pointers: Kelly 2, Coduti 1, Lindsey 1, Gadson 1, Hayes 1