Made my way over to Bethel's Robertson Center on this Tuesday night of Beat 'SC Week to take in the season opener (for me anyway!) between host Bethel and nearby Northwestern which made the short hop up Snelling Avenue. Given that the Royals were coming off a 20-win season and the Eagles were coming off a UMAC Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament I expected a close and competitive game. And I certainly wasn't disappointed.
Northwestern started off the contest - expectedly so - in their match-up zone; presumably to try and clog up the middle and force the Royals to beat them from the perimeter. But that didn't seem to faze Bethel; at least in the early going. Two scores by sophomore forward Kalli Zimmerman in the first three minutes along with an offensive rebound and putback by junior center Rachel Parupsky and a jumper from the left corner by junior guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz had the Royals up 8-2 by the 16:24 mark and a lay-up by Zimmerman at the 16:01 marked upped that advantage to 10-2 and had Northwestern Head Coach Aaron Kahl calling a timeout to get his troops reorganized. But the break in the action had a positive effect on the Eagles as the slowly but surely clawed their way back into the thick of things. Lanky sophomore reserve post Rachel Hart maneuvered into the paint for one score at the 15:29 mark and she struck again at the 14:02 mark and got fouled in the process and the ensuing free throw had Northwestern trailing by six at 13-7. A free throw by Bethel's Zimmerman a few seconds later upped the Royals lead to 14-7 but then Eagle senior sharp-shooting guard Chanel Madson let loose with a "3" from the right corner at got fouled in the process and her free throw completed a four-point play that suddenly had Northwestern to within three trailing 14-11. Junior transfer post Regan Cooper was fouled in a transition opportunity for the Eagles and her two freebies brought Northwestern to within one at the 11:45 mark. Sophomore reserve forward Emily Van Lith gave the Eagles their first lead of the game at 15-14 with her offensive rebound and putback at the 11:21 mark and that advantage that Bethel had early on in this game had vanished into thin air.
The Royals seemed to recover somewhat as a score in the paint by the always-reliable Zimmerman that got her fouled in the process and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw put Bethel back out in front 16-15. The Royals increased the lead to 18-15 on a Parupsky score in the paint with 10:08 left but Northwestern would hang tough and battle right back. A drive and finish by sophomore guard Tiffany Stubbs with 9:48 left coupled with a free throw by exciting new freshman guard Amy Berglund had the Eagles within two trailing 20-18 with 7:47 left. Madson's "3" from the right top area with 7:43 left put Northwestern back out in front 21-20 and that lead would increase to as much as 25-20 with 6:05 left thanks to a Berglund lay-up and a lay-up by Madson on a pretty give-and-go play. But Bethel refused to break out the panic button and instead fought their way back into things the same way Northwestern had to early on. With 5:22 left, Zimmerman snared a steal and dashed the other way for an easy lay-up and then senior forward Kailey Eid was sent to the line to shoot freebies with 3:25 left that had the Royals back to within one trailing 25-24. Lanky senior reserve post Jacki Smith; fresh off a successful volleyball season for the Eagles; put Northwestern back up by three with her offensive rebound and putback with 2:53 left but Bethel was able to counter with 2:42 left when reserve freshman guard Angie Kirchoff banged home a "3" that knotted the score at 27-all. The Royals would then inch back out in front in the final two minutes as junior guard Hannah Niewald connected on a drive into the paint with :56 left and Schultz did likewise on a lay-up in transition with :42 left that had Bethel up 33-29. Another Madson trey; this one from the left wing with :16 left brought the Eagles to within one but Zimmerman was able to give the Royals a three-point 35-32 edge at the half with her two charity stripe shots with just :04.2 left.
The Royals got off on another good start once the second half got underway; embarking on a 6-0 burst fueled by a Zimmerman score in the paint at the 19:09 mark and a Zimmerman steal and basket at the 18:21 mark for a 41-32 lead but that was countered by a 5-0 push by Northwestern as Madson was fouled behind the arc at the 17:37 mark that allowed her to drop three freebies and a Cooper lay-up at the 17:02 mark brought the Eagles to within four trailing 41-37 and Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer; not liking the look of how this was unfolding, called a timeout to halt this potential run. Northwestern was still able to get to within one when Madson was fouled on a lay-up and made the obligatory free throw but Bethel's Zimmerman did the same on the other end at the 15:20 mark and a Parupsky score in the paint at the 14:45 mark made it a six-point 46-40 Royal lead and now Northwestern's Aaron Kahl called a timeout to talk it over with his Eagle squad. Bethel, however, would increase their lead to as much as ten points by the 11:15 mark thanks to scores by Eid, Zimmerman and Kirchoff and with a 52-42 lead, it looked as if Bethel had finally established control of this one.
The Royals grabbed their largest lead of the evening - a twelve-point 58-46 lead - with 8:59 left thanks to a timely "3" by junior reserve guard Lexi Friesen from the top of the key back at the 10:36 mark but Northwestern was far from finished. Freshman reserve guard Jessica Cole's jumper from the top of the key just inside the arc with 9:20 left along with a scores in the paint by both Smith and Cooper had the Eagles back to within single digits trailing 58-50 with 8:22 left. Then, a 5-0 push by Northwestern fueled by two Stubbs freebies and a Cooper lay-up sliced Bethels lead down to five at 60-55 with 5:39 left. Bethel had reason to be even more nervous once the Eagles got into the double-bonus with 4:17 left. Two Cooper freebies and a pretty jump shot by Smith along the left baseline drew Northwestern to within three trailing 62-59 with 3:35 left. Bethel tried to stem the Eagle tide but their normally-reliable three-point bombers suddenly went stone-cold. A Madson lay-up with 2:48 left now had Northwestern within two trailing 63-61 and, despite on a night when the Eagles were guilty of numerous turnovers, Northwestern now was in position to steal an important non-conference game on an opponents floor.
Alas, the Eagles would fall just short. Zimmerman was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 1:21 left that upped the Bethel lead to 65-61 and then Friesen finally shook off some cobwebs and nailed a "3" from the right corner with exactly 1:00 left for a seemingly insurmountable 68-61 advantage. Still, the Eagles would not call it a night just yet. Berglund made one free throw after getting fouled with :48.4 left but would not get a crack at a second because of a Northwestern lane violation. Trailing 69-62, Smith; who had just finished up with volleyball season and really had little if any practice time shooting from long-range, uncorked a "3" from the right wing area with :27 left that cut the Bethel lead to 69-65. The Eagles had to immediately foul and Stubbs tabbed Bethel's Niewald to go to the charity stripe. Niewald was only able to get one freebie to go down and Northwestern still had life. Berglund was able to make a drive and connect with a lay-up with just :10 left on the clock that now had the Eagles within a single possession trailing 70-67. Smith immediately fouled Niewald and the Fridley product went to the charity stripe again to presumably ice this game for Bethel once and for all. But Niewald's freebie missed it's mark and Smith was there with her long arms to snare the rebound for Northwestern. The Eagles hustled down the floor with scant seconds left but just when they were trying to get somebody in position to take a "3" to send this one into overtime, Zimmerman came through to save the day for Bethel as she snared a steal with just :01.7 left to seal the deal and the Royals escaped a close one in their home opener with a 70-67 victory.
A disappointed but upbeat Kahl attributed this defeat to turnovers - 31 in all - that might make many coaches lose a lot of sleep. Still, Kahl seemed to take a lot of positives out of this one going forward; particularly Cooper's 13 points on this night coupled with Smith's nine rebounds. Herbrechtsmeyer was happy with the win but reserved as well. He pointed out the 3 of 23 shooting from behind the arc and admitted that his squad won't go very far with shooting nights like that. Still, Parupsky had a solid night with a double-double (11 rebounds and 12 points) and Niewald surprising grabbed seven rebounds herself. No doubt, the Royals will have to smooth out some of the rough spots (free throw shooting among them) but this squad should be in pretty decent shape going through the rest of the early part of the season.
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