ESCANABA — Nobody can say they didn’t try.

Try as the might, however, the Bay College women couldn’t prevent their basketball season from ending here Wednesday night as they fell to 11th-ranked Rochester (Minn.) Community & Technical College 64-46 in a sub-regional opener.

Bay was within 50-46 after Ontonagon graduate Holly Wardynski drained a 22-foot jump shot from the left wing with 6 1/2 minutes left to play, but the Norse (6-11) then couldn’t buy a bucket through the remainder of the contest.

“Offensively, things were falling, and defensively we had a lot of good effort,” said Bay coach Matt Gregory. “It’s tough to play at the pace Rochester was playing for 40 minutes. They’re a good team, and we knew that going in. Holly hit some good shots for us. We can absolutely build on this.”

Wardynski sank a 21-foot jumper early in the third stanza, then added a 20-foot jumper from the left wing, giving the Norse a 31-25 lead two minutes into the third.

The Yellowjackets (15-0) responded with five unanswered points, trimming their deficit to 31-30 on a 15-foot jumper by freshman Olivia Christianson with 6 1/2 minutes left in the third.

Bay still led 39-36 following a jumper from the right corner by Rudyard graduate Cierra Molina at 4:05.

Rochester answered with a 9-0 run, gaining a 45-39 lead on a layup by freshman Myia Ruzek with 50 seconds remaining in the third.

Bay College’s Mid Peninsula connection shaved its deficit to 45-43 in the closing moments of the third as Chevy Koski split a pair of free throws and Kennedy Englund sank a jumper from top of the key.

Rochester then extended its lead to 50-43 on a 12-foot jumper by freshman Kiley Nihart prior to Wardynski scoring Bay’s final points.

“It looked like we wore them down in the fourth quarter,” said first-year Rochester coach Jason Bonde. “We got 16 steals tonight, which led to some easy baskets. We played well as a team, and their team fought hard from start to finish. Their shots weren’t falling, and we were taking advantage of that.”

The Norse trailed 15-12 after the first quarter and took its first lead at 21-20 on a 21-foot set shot from the right wing by North Central grad Bree Arsenault with two minutes remaining in the second frame.

Christianson gave the Yellowjackets a 25-23 lead on a pair of gifters with 14.5 seconds left in the second.

The Norse then tied the score at 25 on two free throws by Gwinn grad Brooke Mannor six seconds before the intermission.

Wardynski scored 11 points in her final game in a Norse uniform. Molina added 10 points, five assists and four steals.

Christianson paced the Yellowjackets with 25 points, and Ruzek scored 17 in a reserve role.

“This is only Myia’s second game back from an injury, and she finally showed up in the second half,” said Rochester first-year assistant coach Amber Zitzow. “Their kids did a great job. They’re very physical.”

Rochester held a 42-31 rebounding advantage, hit 23-of-59 field goals and committed 13 turnovers, including just one in the fourth quarter. Bay was 16-of-50 from the field and had 24 miscues.

“Turnovers is one thing we talked about at halftime,” said Gregory. “If we didn’t have as many of those, we probably could have been up by a lot more. Christianson is averaging 20 points a game. She’s a very strong player, and Ruzek looked real good for a girl playing only five games this year.”

Rochester 15 10 20 19 — 64

Bay College 12 13 18 3 — 46

Bay College — Molina 10, Wardynski 11, Mannor 2, Boulton 4, Bloniarz 2, Arsenault 5, Englund 9, Koski 1, Olsen 2. FT: 4-7; F: 20; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Molina 3, Wardynski 3, Englund 3, Arsenault.