Made my way back over to Bethel's Robertson Center on this Saturday for the regular season finale as the Carleton Knights made their way up I-35 and the Union Pacific's "Spine Line" mainline to the Twin Cities to take on host Bethel. This would be my first and only look at the Knights this season and, although they were coming into this game with an 8-15 record (6-10 in the MIAC), I knew they had potential to raise the level of their game and were much better than their record. For Bethel, I wanted to see how they would respond after Wednesday night's tough loss at the hands of mighty UST and if there might be any hangover from that game. This was also Senior Day at Bethel as three Royals players were playing their last regular season home game - Lisa O'Connor, Kailey Eid and Lindy Parker. Additionally, Robertson Center was provided with an additional treat on this day as well. We all know what a great shot blocker and scorer junior post Rachel Parupsky is but what I didn't know is that this girl can sing as well and she did a sparkling rendition of the National Anthem that fired up the crowd prior to tip-off.
But once the game commenced, it would be Carleton who would come out on a high note. Senior guard Skylar Tsutsui helped the Knights draw first blood as she drained a "3" from the left corner at the 18:44 mark. A jumper in the lane by junior guard Michele Arima at the 17:45 mark and a "3" from the left wing by fellow junior guard Gabby Stienstra made it an 8-4 game. Bethel cut the Knight lead to 8-6 on a lay-up by junior guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz at the 16:50 mark but Arima would strike again for Carleton at the 16:34 mark when she slithered into the paint for a score and a 10-6 ballgame. A Schultz "3" from the top of the key at the 16:10 mark once again cut the Knight lead down to a scant point at 10-9 but another Tsutsui "3"; this one from the left wing area at the 15:43 mark put the lead back to four at 13-9 and Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer had seen enough to know that his squad was not getting the job done on defense and during the timeout he gave his squad an earful about not getting out to defend the "3"; the almost exact same scenario that unfolded against UST three nights earlier. That talking to definitely proved to be the fire that needed to be lit for Bethel as the Royals responded with a 16-0 run over the next five minutes. Sophomore guard Shanni Moorse; who had that fabulous 18-point performance in the losing effort against UST on Wednesday night, got the ball rolling with her "3" from the left corner at the 15:30 mark and a score in the paint by Parupsky gave the Royals their first lead of the game at 14-13 at the 14:47 mark. Sophomore forward Kalli Zimmerman snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 14:28 mark for a 16-13 Bethel lead and an alarmed Carleton Head Coach Cassie Kosiba wasted no time in calling a halt to the action to try and stem the tide that had suddenly turned against her team. But the Royals were just getting warmed up on this venture. Another Parupsky score in the paint coupled with one Moorse freebie and a score in the paint by Parker now made it a 21-13 game and Kosiba took a match to the Knights second timeout of the first half. A Zimmerman lay-up at the 11:22 mark that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw and a drive along the left baseline and pretty one-handed floater by junior guard Hannah Niewald at the 10:58 mark finished the run and now had Bethel up 26-13. Presumably, the early cobwebs had been shaken off for good.
Carleton managed to climb back to within single digits on two Steinstra free throws at the 10:18 mark along with an offensive rebound and putback of her own miss by freshman post Kayla Frank that made it a 26-17 ballgame with 9:43 left. The Knights would cut the deficit to seven at 26-19 on Tsutsui's drive into the lane and finish with 9:08 left but Bethel appeared to be on the upswing again as Parupsky knocked down two freebies with 8:20 left and then snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 7:29 left that made it a ten-point 30-20 lead. Parker's offensive rebound for a putback increased the margin to twelve at 32-20 with 7:15 left and the Royals forged their largest lead of the day at 36-22 when Parupsky connected on a nifty short turn-around jumper with 6:08 left. By this point, Bethel was on verge of blowing this one open but instead the Royals appeared to get a bit complacent and they unwittingly opened a door for Carleton to get right back into the ballgame. A short shot Tsutsui with 5:41 left and a jumper by freshman reserve forward Katherine Miles from the free throw line with 4:04 left trimmed the Bethel lead to 38-26. With 3:34 left, freshman reserve forward Sarah Waldfogel connected with a jumper from the free throw line as well that slimmed the Royals lead down to 38-28. Bethel looked like it might get a bit of a spark when sophomore reserve guard Anna Munsterteiger made a hard drive and finish with 3:17 left and when Niewald was fouled with 2:07 left the Royals found themselves in the bonus along with a 40-30 lead. But Niewald couldn't knock down the front end and the Knights embarked on a 8-0 flurry in the course of a little over a minute that completely changed the complexion of the contest. A Steinstra "3" from the left corner with 1:57 left and a drive and finish by freshman reserve guard and Los Angeles native Wendy Lo with 1:31 left cut Bethel's lead down to five at 40-35. With :51.4 left, Steinstra made a hard drive and finish and got fouled in the process as well and the obligatory free throw suddenly made it a one-possession game at 40-38. A score in the paint by Parupsky with :43 left stopped the bleeding by the Royals but that nice cushion and momentum that Bethel had hoped to take into the locker room at the half had vanished into thin air as Carleton now found themselves down by only four at 42-38.
For the Knights and Kosiba and her staff, this had to be a beautiful situation to be in because Carleton, with nothing to lose, could play loose and leave it all out there on the court with no real consequences. And they had been able to recover when down double digits by the midway point of the first half. Just as she had in the first half, Tsutsui, in her last game of her great Carleton career, drew the first blood of the second half with a drive and finish at the 19:49 mark and a "3" from the left wing area at the 18:24 mark by the Northridge, California native now had the Knights back out in front 43-42. Bethel would get the lead back on Moorse's short shot off of an inbounds pass at the 18:02 mark but an Arima jumper in the lane with 17:31 left and another Tsutsui "3" from the left top area at the 16:13 mark now had Carleton up 48-44 and a shell-shocked Bethel home crowd was now on edge. The Knights would still maintain a four-point edge at 52-48 on Tsutsui's drive and finish off the glass at the 14:18 mark but Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer avoided reaching for the panic button and calling a timeout and the Royals were able to find a way to dig down and rise to the occasion. Back-to-back scores in the paint by Parupsky - one at the 13:52 mark and another at the 12:43 mark - knotted the score at 52-all and a Schultz trey from the left corner at the 11:48 mark had Bethel up 55-52. Tsutsui would try and save the day for Carleton with back-to-back scores of her own - a drive and finish at the 11:26 mark and a "3" from the left wing at the 11:00 mark that had the Knights back out in front again by a count of 57-55. Both sides would trade one-point leads on their ensuing possessions but another Schultz "3" - this one from the right top area at the 10:12 mark - had the Royals back up for good at 61-59.
Still, Bethel was far from being out of the woods just yet as a slim lead and a pesky Carleton team made things very uncertain and things became even more troublesome when Zimmerman got tagged with her fourth foul of the day with 8:58 left and was forced to sit a spell on the bench. Much to the relief of the home crowd, though, the Royals were able sail through potential disaster and get into slightly calmer waters. A Parker jumper along the right baseline with 8:02 left and a Niewald lay-up with 7:29 left gave Bethel a five-point lead at 67-62 and, although the Knights were able to close the gap to one point again on scores by Lo, Miles and Frank, the critical juncture seemed to come at the 5:41 mark when Niewald was fouled. The Fridley native knocked down the first freebie and, although the second attempt was errant, she was able to snare the long rebound and get the ball to Parupsky who connected with a jumper in the lane with 5:36 left to forge a 72-68 Royals lead. Both Zimmerman and Niewald were able to get one free throw to go down on their attempts with 4:53 and 3:58 left, respectively. A Zimmerman drive and finish with 3:21 left had Bethel up 76-70 and still another Schultz trey - this one from the left corner with 2:20 left after the Royals snared three offensive rebounds in one possession, were the paving to ultimate victory. Steinstra tried to delay the inevitable with her jumper from the left elbow with 1:58 left but a short jumper by Niewald with 1:01 left kept the margin at seven at 81-74 and now Carleton was forced to foul at every opportunity. With Bethel in the double-bonus, the Royals were able to keep the Knights at bay. Two Moorse free throws with :41.5 left and a Schultz free throw with :31.3 left increased the lead to eight at 84-76. Tsutsui got the last points of her great Carleton career on one freebie with :15.7 left but it would not be nearly enough as Bethel came through with an 84-77 victory to garner their 20th win of the season.
Both Bethel Assistant Coach Steve Reiter and Herbrechtsmeyer expressed some disappointment with some of the inconsistent play of their squad during the game; particularly in the early going when they just didn't seem to have the energy or intensity needed. While the turnover margin was markedly improved in this outing, free throw shooting was still a sore spot for the Bethel staff; only marginally better at 19-30 for 63.3%. Herbrechtsmeyer also pointed out Carleton's shooting percentage at 28-52 for 53.8% and noted that his squad normally plays defense better than that. I asked Herbrectsmeyer, as his Royals get a bit of a respite before preparing for next week Thursday night's semifinal playoff game, on what they had to do to prepare, he replied quite simply, "Be better". The Knights meanwhile, ended their season with an 8-17 record and 6-12 in the MIAC and also now have to bid a fond farewell to Tsutsui who has done so much for this Carleton program in her four years there. Kosiba echoed those sentiments afterward and I asked her if she felt this squad took a step forward this year. Kosiba felt that they definitely had and she feels that this team is slowly but surely taking steps in the right direction. She also pointed to her young underclassmen and bubbled with enthusiasm about the things they are poised to do. Whether or not the Knights can return to their glory days that they enjoyed back in the early- and mid-2000's remains to be seen. Depth is still an issue and these young players still have to develop a little more. But Kosiba; who was on one of those early great Carleton teams, knows what it takes and will not rest until the Knights get there.
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