Tuesday was far from the first time someone has asked Holy Angels coach Dan Woods what makes Laura Bagwell-Katalinich so good.

She is not big. She is not fast. She doesn’t jump high or have the most impressive natural shot.

It reminds Woods of another player. Larry Bird.

Against Marshall in the Class 3A quarterfinals, that comparison didn’t seem like too much of a stretch. Bagwell-Katalinich finished with 34 points and 14 rebounds and went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line in a 69-47 victory.

“Come over and keep watching her,” Woods said. “For some reason, she has drive. She gets it done, nonstop. She does it game in and game out. You can try to do what you want to. She just has the will to win.”

Bagwell-Katalinich and the rest of her team didn’t start out shooting well, but once they got some momentum, it turned into a clean, convincing win. Megan Meyer added 14 points and Holy Angels forced 17 turnovers as the Stars wore down Marshall and improved its season record to 23-5.

Marah Mulso led Marshall with 14 points, but the Tigers (23-7) never had the firepower to match Bagwell-Katalinich.

“In the second half, I really committed myself to getting rebounds, which led to easy putbacks,” Bagwell-Katalinich said. “Got a couple steals, and my game just took off from there.”

First Report

Holy Angels’ guard Laura Bagwell-Katalinich was able to weave her way to the basket time and time again Tuesday against Marshall.

As her point total increased, her teammates controlled the inside, defended and shot in a way that didn’t leave much room for drama.

Holy Angels beat Marshall 69-47 in the Class 3A quarterfinal at Target Center, and the Stars did so in clean and convincing fashion.

Bagwell-Katalinich finished with 33 points for the Stars, and Megan Meyer had 13.

Holy Angels (23-5) led 35-27 at halftime and wasted no time expanding that lead in the second period.

Marah Mulso led Marshall with 14, and Nyamer Diew and Lexi Saugstad each had 10, but the Tigers (23-7) could never match Holy Angels’ firepower.

Holy Angels will advance to face unseeded Thief River Falls in the semifinals Thursday at noon at Williams Arena.


Gallery: Holy Angels defeats Marshall