Bunge, McCaskill lead Lady Miners to win in opener

Katie Bunge

Katie Bunge spent the entire 2005-06 season watching the Lady Miners play from the sidelines as she had to sit the season out due to her transfer.

On Friday night, the Lady Miner fans finally got to see what they have been waiting for, as Bunge scored a career-high 17 points and added nine rebounds to help pace UMR to a season-opening 70-54 victory over Wayne State (Mich.) in the UMR Tip-Off Classic.

Bunge and Tamara McCaskill, who scored 16 Friday, combined to make 13 of their 20 field goal attempts on the night as the Lady Miners captured their season opener for the fifth straight season. UMR was never behind in the contest, bolting out to an 11-2 thanks in large part to McCaskill, who scored six points in that early run.

Wayne State drew to within six at one point in the first half, but Bunge sparked a UMR surge through the latter stages of the opening 20 minutes. After she missed four of her first five shots from the floor, Bunge made her final three attempts of the half and scored 12 points as UMR built a lead that would stand at 18 by halftime at 40-22.

The Warriors, who like UMR were playing their season opener Friday, scored the first eight points of the second half to get to within 10 at 40-30. After the teams traded baskets, the Lady Miners rattled off 15 of the next 18 points in the game to build their biggest lead of the game of 22 when Bunge hit a lay-up at the 12:04 mark. UMR would eventually lead by as many as 24 points in the second half.

Bunge and McCaskill were the only two Lady Miners in double figures in the scoring column, but UMR did shoot 49 percent on the night while holding the Warriors to 36.5 percent shooting. The Lady Miners also went 6-15 from three-point range, with Chism McEntire connecting on three of the six treys for all nine of her points on the night.

Wayne State had four players in double figures, led by Joy Nash with 13 points.

UMR will face Saginaw Valley State (0-1) Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building to close out the UMR Tip-Off Classic. The Cardinals dropped a 68-59 decision to seventh-ranked Henderson State Friday night.