Was at Bethel's Robertson Center on the eve of my birthday for the showdown between Gustavus and host Bethel. This would prove to be a pivotal game for the Royals who had their seven-game win streak snapped two nights before down at St. Olaf.
The Royals would start off well; getting to a 7-3 lead by the 16:13 mark thanks to junior Taylor Sheley's 3-pointer and sophomore Kelly Swenson's free throws. But GAC would soon battle back to take the lead. After sophomore Abby Rothenbuehler tied the game at 7-all with her drive and finish, junior Ava Perry would knock down a "3" from the top of the key at the 13:15 mark to put the Gusties in front 12-11. Soon after, reigning Miss North Dakota Basketball Eli Benz would get a steal and finish to make it 14-11 for the black and gold. Then Rothenbuehler again tallied another bucket after taking a beautiful pass for a 16-11 lead. Bethel would creep back into it at the 10:19 mark after senior Shana Grejtak scored off a drive to cut the Gustie lead to 18-16. But, more concerning for GAC was when freshman Julia Dysthie went down with an apparent knee injury and would not return.
Being under the gun again, the Gusties soon responded. It started when Perry knocked down consecutive 3-pointers from both the right and left wings that suddenly expanded the Gustie lead to 24-16. Junior PG Colleen Ruane sank a long 2-pointer at the 7:49 mark and then senior post Molly Mathiowetz got inside and finished to make it 28-16 GAC. Then, at the 6:26 mark Ruane nailed her own "3" from the left wing and, just like that, GAC was up by 15 points at 31-16. Now, Bethel had to respond and they did in the late stages of the first half. Sophomore post Scottie Moats was able to cut the GAC lead to single digits when she scored inside at the 2:31 mark and a bit lter Grejtak scored and was fouled in the process; giving her a chance to sink to freebies which she did to cut GAC's lead to 36-30. Grejtak would hit two more charity-stripe shots less than a minute later to cut the deficit down to a scant four points. Although GAC was able to get the margin back to seven points for a 41-34 lead going into the break at intermission, Bethel certainly had to feel somewhat better about itself than it did when they were down by 15.
Determined not to have a letdown like they did two nights ago against Augsburg, the Gusties came out firing on all cylinders in the second half. Sophomore Kelsey Florian hit a "3" at the 18:30 mark and fellow sophomore Steph Comer did the same from the right top at the 14:04 mark and once again the GAC lead was back to double digits; a cushion they would not relinquish the rest of the way. The frustration for Bethel which was suddenly sputtering offensively, boiled over at the 9:56 mark when Moats, who was called for a foul, must have said something that caught the refs attention as she was also slapped up with a "T" that gave Moats her fifth foul and sent her to the bench. Molly Mathiowetz was stellar after that episode and the Gusties would come away with another huge road win 77-64.
I think this game was pivotal for both squads because Bethel, which had been riding high after that thrilling win four days ago against Concordia now found itself struggling suddenly while the Gusties looked like a team that had just as quickly found itself and quite possibly had righted the ship after a somewhat disastrous conference start.
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