The Otters held Albany standout Paige Meyer to no field goals and just three points at halftime as the Huskies took a 26-23 lead behind three 3’s and 11 points off the bench from Bailey Keske and 8 points from post player Madi Herkenoff. Ellie Colbeck poured in 16 of her 20 points in the first half, including four treys.
With the Otters leading 43-36 Albany went on an 11-0 run to take a 47-43 lead, as Meyer heated up, scoring 15 second half points. With Colbeck out of the game with an ankle injury, the Otters regrouped and went on a 13-0 run of their own to end the game. That run was keyed by strong defensive play from Sabrina Fronning, who finished with 5 steals and dished out 8 assists, aggressive rebound from Paige Pearson, who grabbed 14 rebounds on the night, and the scoring of Ratz, who made 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch.
“I am really proud of the resiliency our girls showed after Ellie went out of the game,” said Head Coach Brand Strand. “Sabrina had a great floor game and showed great leadership on the court and Tori really stepped up for us. Paige had a great night on the boards and I give a lot of credit to Carlie Meis and Anna Anderson who gave us great minutes off the bench.”
Fergus Falls (1-1) will open Central Lakes Conference play at Brainerd next Tuesday night.