MONROE - The Monroe girls basketball embraced the big test of playing the top-ranked Division 2 ranked team in Beaver Dam on Saturday.
It was an early season test where Beaver Dam displayed a wealth of offensive options, size, outside shooting and a stingy defense rolling to a 70-49 win over Monroe on a snowy Saturday.
"It's a learning process," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "We schedule these games to learn how to play at a higher intensity to prepare us for the conference games and the games at the end of the season."
The Golden Beavers (7-0), ranked No. 1 in the WisSports.net Division 2 Coaches poll, jumped out to a 33-14 lead at the half. Despite shooting 21.7 percent in the first half (5 of 23) and committing 10 turnovers, the eighth-ranked Cheesemakers (5-1) were able to cut the Beavers' lead to 15 points a couple times in the second half.
Every time it looked like the Cheesemakers would make a run, the Beavers responded.
Beaver Dam was led by senior guard Cassidy Trotter, a Michigan Tech recruit, who scored a game-high 17 points.
"They just have so many people that can score, who are you going to take away?" Mathiason said.
Monroe sophomore Emily Benzschawel scored a team-high 16 points. Sophomore point guard Sydney Hilliard added 12 points and senior Lexi Hilliard had seven points.
Sydney Hilliard, who has Division I scholarship offers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Marquette, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee, scored 10 of her points in the second half.
Beaver Dam sophomore Paige Schumann and freshman Jada Donaldson each added 12 points. Donaldson, who hit four 3-pointers in the second half, had the task of defending Sydney Hilliard for most of the second half. She along with the Beavers' size with the 6-2 Afton Bartol, 5-11 Kara Crowley, 5-11 Stauffacher and 6-4 Aly Van Loo, looked to clog the lane.
The showdown between two of the state's top 10 teams was attended by University of Wisconsin women's basketball head coach Jonathan Tsipis.
"We just have to continue to get better every day," Mathiason said. "If we would have shot it a little bit better in the first half and been a little better on defense, it may have been different."
It was an early season test where Beaver Dam displayed a wealth of offensive options, size, outside shooting and a stingy defense rolling to a 70-49 win over Monroe on a snowy Saturday.
"It's a learning process," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "We schedule these games to learn how to play at a higher intensity to prepare us for the conference games and the games at the end of the season."
The Golden Beavers (7-0), ranked No. 1 in the WisSports.net Division 2 Coaches poll, jumped out to a 33-14 lead at the half. Despite shooting 21.7 percent in the first half (5 of 23) and committing 10 turnovers, the eighth-ranked Cheesemakers (5-1) were able to cut the Beavers' lead to 15 points a couple times in the second half.
Every time it looked like the Cheesemakers would make a run, the Beavers responded.
Beaver Dam was led by senior guard Cassidy Trotter, a Michigan Tech recruit, who scored a game-high 17 points.
"They just have so many people that can score, who are you going to take away?" Mathiason said.
Monroe sophomore Emily Benzschawel scored a team-high 16 points. Sophomore point guard Sydney Hilliard added 12 points and senior Lexi Hilliard had seven points.
Sydney Hilliard, who has Division I scholarship offers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Marquette, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee, scored 10 of her points in the second half.
Beaver Dam sophomore Paige Schumann and freshman Jada Donaldson each added 12 points. Donaldson, who hit four 3-pointers in the second half, had the task of defending Sydney Hilliard for most of the second half. She along with the Beavers' size with the 6-2 Afton Bartol, 5-11 Kara Crowley, 5-11 Stauffacher and 6-4 Aly Van Loo, looked to clog the lane.
The showdown between two of the state's top 10 teams was attended by University of Wisconsin women's basketball head coach Jonathan Tsipis.
"We just have to continue to get better every day," Mathiason said. "If we would have shot it a little bit better in the first half and been a little better on defense, it may have been different."
