First, I apologize for being a little late getting this one into my blog but the flu bug decided to get me horizontal for a couple of days. Needless to say, it feels good to beat it and feel good again. :)
Made my way over to the Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University on this cold, cold Tuesday night to catch this MIAC Playoff Quarterfinal between host Bethel and visiting St. Olaf; a rematch from this last Saturday's regular season finale in which Bethel triumphed 62-55. This time around, with everything on the line, it would be interesting to see what adjustments each team made coming into tonight's playoff clash.
Both teams seemed to have the jitters early on as the Oles and Royals were guilty of traveling vilations on their opening possessions. St. Olaf made a concerted effort to get the ball inside to lanky senior post Elise Raney and she responded with two scores in the paint that gave the Oles a 4-2 lead by the 16:26 mark. Bethel sophomore guard Lexi Friesen's "3" from the left wing area at the 15:59 mark gave the Royals their first lead at 5-4 and each side would trade one-point leads over the next three minutes. Another Raney score in the paint at the 13:01 mark and two free throws by sophomore Front Range bomber Kim Cerjan had St. Olaf up 10-7 at the 12:24 mark but Bethel senior sharpshooting guard Katelyn Vavra tied the issue at 10-all when she uncorked a "3" from the left top area at the 12:06 mark.
While the Oles may have found reason to feel good about themselves early on in this contest, they suddenly saw things go south as Bethel unleashed an 11-2 run over the next six minutes that drastically changed the look of things. After two free throws by freshman phenom Kalli Zimmerman gave the Royals a 12-10 lead at the 10:42 mark, Vavra increased the lead to 14-10 with a lay-up with 9:54 left. St. Olaf Head Coach Dave Stromme; not liking the look of things, called a thirty-second timeout but to no avail. With the Royals already in the bonus, Parupsky was able to get one freebie to go down after being fouled with 8:11 left and then senior southpaw reserve guard Micaella Petrich let loose with a "3" from the right top with 6:58 left for an 18-10 lead. St. Olaf's Cerjan temporarily stopped the bleeding with a drive and finish with 6:40 left but another Petrich "3" from the same right top area with 6:10 left made it a 21-12 game. Stromme had seen enough and had no choice but to burn a full timeout.
The Oles would come out of that timeout with some resolve and purpose and cut into the Bethel advantage. A drive and finish by freshman reserve guard Betsey Daly at the 5:46 mark and a "3" from Cerjan kept the deficit at single digits when Bethel threatened to pull away. A lay-up by Raney with 3:35 left and two great plays by a member of St. Olaf's "Colorado Connection" - sophomore point guard Lauren Gutierrez - a lay-up with 2:11 left and a steal and lay-up the other way with 1:53 left - had the Oles within seven trailing 30-23. But Bethel would make one last push before the halftime buzzer as Vavra snared a steal and dashed the other way for an easy lay-up with 1:30 left. Junior forward Lindy Parker was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback and got fouled in the process and the obligatory free throw had Bethel up by double digits at 35-24 with :31.6 left. Cerjan was able to knock down two free throws of her own with :15.3 left to get the Oles to within single digits again at 35-26 but St. Olaf clearly had their work cut out for them if they were going to get back into this thing.
Whatever Stromme said to his team in the locker room during the halftime break must have had some effect as the Oles came out on fire to begin the second half; going on a 14-5 run fueled by some fabulous three-point shooting. First, Cerjan drained a "3" from the left corner at the 18:57 mark and after Bethel matched that one with Friesen's "3" from the left wing with 18:41 left, Ole sophomore reserve forward Zoe Hansen got a chance to shine as she nailed a "3" from the top of the key at the 17:36 mark. Another Cerjan "3"; this one from the top of the key as well, sliced Bethel's lead down to 38-35 and then it was sophomore reserve guard Afton Wolter; with big sis Mackenzie cheering her on from the stands, swishing a "3" from the left corner that suddenly knotted things up at 38 a piece. Bethel sophomore post Rachel Parupsky put the Royals back out in front 40-38 with a score in the paint but St. Olaf's Raney matched that at the 13:42 mark to forge a 40-all deadlock and suddenly everything was up for grabs.
But as quickly as St. Olaf came alive, they died the same way. All the passion and fire they showed in the opening moments of the second half fizzled out in shocking fashion. And the Royals, who could have broken out the panic button after relinquishing a sizable lead in their first-ever home playoff game, responded with cool, calm reserve. First, Petrich unleashed a "3" from that right top area where she was comfortable in the first half for a 43-40 Bethel lead at the 13:20 mark. Then Vavra, the other savvy senior, nailed a "3" of her own from the right corner as the 12:38 mark to up the advantage to 48-40. Zimmerman knocked down a jumper in the lane at the 11:52 mark and then two more Vavra treys - one from the right corner with 10:24 left and another from the right wing with 9:28 left - completed a decisive 14-3 spurt that had the Royals firmly in control by a count of 54-44 and left the Oles reeling. Moreover, Bethel had been applying pressure defense and had gone into a 2-3 zone in the half-court that further frustrated the Oles as they could only make small bites at the Bethel advantage. The Royals consolidated on their advantage by being patient and tried to work the ball inside to Parupsky whenever possible. The sophomore from Arden Hills got one score in the paint with 5:38 left to maintain the ten-point advantage at 56-46 and then it was Zimmerman getting a lay-up with 5:02 left for a 58-46 lead. St. Olaf, desperate to try and make something happen on offense, saw those last-gasp hopes fall into the arms of disaster as Zimmerman snared an errant Ole cross-court pass and dashed the other way for an easy lay-up for a 60-49 Royal lead. A jumper from Zimmerman from the left elbow with 2:31 left along with free throws by Parupsky and a score in the paint with 1:23 left by Parupsky gave Bethel an insurmountable lead at 66-51 and two free throws by Petrich with 1:07 left made it a 68-51 game. St. Olaf got two late scores; fittingly by two players closing out their Ole careers: A finish in the paint by Raney with :22 left and a jumper from the left elbow by junior Maddie Ehrich who is graduating early with just :06 left to make the final score 68-55 for Bethel.
A very happy Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer never considered panicking when St. Olaf made their early second half run at his team. "We stayed the course" he said and it worked out for them. Without question it's another step forward for the Bethel program which has been looking to make that big step for a long time now. They've reached that 20-win plateau and also have a home playoff win under their belt. While both Vavra and Petrich have played their last home game for Bethel, the future looks incredibly bright for this Bethel program and I would expect them to be right in the mix next season for not only a playoff spot but also for the MIAC title as well.
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