Gwinn High School graduate Tianna Taylor, left, goes up for a shot for Bay College in a college women’s basketball game against Harper College on Nov. 19 in Escanaba. (Photo courtesy Bay College)

ESCANABA — Gwinn High School graduate Tianna Taylor scored a team-high six points and added three rebounds, but Bay College was still overwhelmed by nationally ranked Bryant and Stratton 83-26 in their college women’s basketball game played Saturday in Escanaba.

The Bobcats of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, were ranked No. 12 as it marked the fourth time this season that Bay (6-11) has played a nationally ranked team.

B&S jumped out quickly, taking a 21-3 lead after one quarter and 48-8 at halftime, as Bay suffered its sixth consecutive loss.

“Did not look good, did not feel good,” Norse head coach Matt Gregory said. “The first two minutes was the only bright spot in that whole set of 40 (minutes). They’re (No.) 12 in the country for a reason. They did some really good things.

“It’s those small things that we are obviously trying to get better at. It really gets exposed against teams like this. It’s kind of an eye-opener in a way that’s needed. We’ve got to take a lot of learning from this one, for sure.”

Though the Norse fell behind 14-0 before scoring on an Andie Arsenault 3-pointer that was assisted by Taylor, the visitors only scored two points in the first 3 1/2 minutes.

Taylor made 4 of 5 free throws in her team-high point total as Arsenault and Cheveney Koski each added five points for Bay.

Koski also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds as the Norse weren’t too badly outrebounded, 38-27.

What hurt Bay was its shooting, making just 14 percent from the field (6 of 44) and just 7 percent on triples (2 of 27). B&S also made 14 steals, contributing in a major way to the Norse’s 23 turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Bobcats hit on 49 percent from the field (33 of 67) and 31 percent on 3s (5 of 16).

La’Janique Perry-Ellis led the Bobcats in four statistical categories with 26 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and six steals.

Tonight’s game at Gogebic Community College has been postponed due to COVID-19 protocols involving Gogebic. The men’s game between the same two teams will still be played in Ironwood and has been moved up to 7 p.m. EST.

This schedule for this weekend’s Bay College Winter Classic has also been adjusted due to the Rock Valley College women’s teams having to cancel out. Rock Valley is located in Rockford, Illinois.

Bay will play South Suburban College twice, at 4 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. South Suburban is located in South Holland, Illinois.

The men’s part of the event still includes four teams. On Saturday, Gogebic plays South Suburban at 2 p.m., while Bay (11-7) faces Rock Valley at 6 p.m., then on Sunday, the Gogebic-Rock Valley game is at 11 a.m. and Bay-South Suburban at 1 p.m.

While spectators are welcome to all of Bay’s games, the campus has a masking policy for all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, while indoors at all times.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.