Got into Bethel's Robertson Center armed with a Subway lunch early on this Saturday to get ready to take in a huge late-season conference clash between visiting CSB and host Bethel. The Royals; on an eight-game winning tear; wear looking to keep their streak going and maintain a stranglehold on second place in the MIAC. The Blazers meanwhile, were coming off that heartbreaking overtime loss at home to St. Olaf on Wednesday night and were needing a win to keep that sixth playoff spot all to their own so this contest arguably had something of a playoff atmosphere to it.
Bethel sophomore guard Shanni Moorse and CSB junior standout forward Mattie Lueck traded early scores for a 2-all deadlock in the games first two minutes. Royal junior sharpshooting guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz, however, was in no mood for tie games and she uncorked her first trey of the afternoon at the 16:50 mark from the left wing area that gave Bethel a 5-2 advantage. Mattie Lueck, however, would single-handedly bring the Blazers right back as her lay-up at the 16:09 mark and her jumper from the right elbow area at the 13:13 mark tied the issue again at 7-all. The Royals would respond with a 6-0 push of their own; done all by sophomore forward Kalli Zimmerman. Two charity stripe shots at the 12:55 mark and a short turnaround jumper as the 12:32 mark made it an 11-7 game and a score in the paint at the 11:28 mark upped the lead to 13-7.
CSB would make incremental swipes at the deficit but they were unable to make any real sustained runs as their offense continually bogged down in crucial situations; particularly down low where a suffocating Bethel defense simply shut down the Blazers inside game which forced several CSB turnovers. What swipes CSB could make had to come from medium-range and out on the perimeter. Senior reserve forward/post Elena Koch connected with a jumper along the right baseline at the 11:11 mark and Emily Lueck got a jumper from the free throw line to go down at the 10:34 mark that got the Blazers a bit closer trailing 15-11. Freshman reserve guard Abby Miller drained a "3" from the right corner with 7:57 left but that only kept the deficit at five as CSB trailed 19-14. Bethel extended the lead to seven at 23-16 when Schultz banged home another trey from the right top area with 6:24 left and upped it to nine when junior guard Hannah Niewald snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up with 6:08 left to make it 25-16. Mattie Lueck would single-handedly get the Blazers close again as she stole a ball in the backcourt and got a short shot to go with 5:15 left and then connected with a lay-up with 4:11 left that cut the deficit back to five trailing 25-20. The Royals, however, would close out the first half with a 7-2 spurt that would give them a bit more breathing room at the half. Freshman reserve guard Angie Kirchoff connected with two jumpers near the left elbow - one with 3:05 left and then again with 1:12 left. With :30.3 left, Zimmerman connected with a lay-up that got her fouled and gave her a chance to sink the obligatory freebie which she did to make it a 32-22 game once the horn sounded ending the first half. While Bethel wasn't necessarily setting the world ablaze with their shooting (13-36 for 36.1%), CSB was struggling mightily with 8-36 shooting for a chilly 22.2%. The Royals were also out-rebounding the Blazers 29-24 so something was going to have to change for the Blazers if they were going to entertain any notion of pulling off a huge upset.
Bethel, on the other hand, wanted to give the Blazers a steady diet of junior post Rachel Parupsky who was limited to just four points in the first half and compound CSB's woes down low even more. A Parupsky jumper from near the top of the key at the 18:34 mark and two free throws by the former Mounds View standout increased the Royal lead to 36-24 by the 18:03 mark. Consecutive scores by Koch and Miller would get the Blazers back to within single digits trailing 36-28 but one score in the paint by Parupsky at the 16:20 mark and two more free throws at the 15:35 mark increased the Bethel lead back to ten at 40-30. The Royals maintained this nine to eleven point cushion over the next three minutes but weren't able to extend it until the 11:18 mark when Niewald connected with a lay-up in transition at the 11:18 mark that got her fouled and allowed her to put down the ensuing freebie for a 49-36 Bethel advantage. A lay-up by senior reserve forward Kailey Eid helped the Royals maintain that thirteen-point edge at 51-38 and CSB's chances were slowly but surely slipping away.
A Koch jumper along the right baseline with 9:31 left and one free throw by the diminutive Miller brought the Blazers a bit closer trailing 51-41 but CSB simply had no answers for Parupsky who continued to dominate down low. Two scores in the paint with 8:46 and 7:51 left upped the lead to fourteen at 55-41 and, even worse for the Blazers, Bethel not only got into the bonus with 7:21 left but Mattie Lueck was now also saddled with her fourth foul as well. One free throw by Niewald with 7:02 left and a Parupsky jumper from the left elbow area with 6:20 left increased the Royal lead to 58-43. With 4:17 left, a Niewald lay-up gave Bethel a 62-45 advantage and with just under four minutes left, a Zimmerman "3" from the left top area gave the Royals their largest lead of the day at 67-47. The Blazers would manage to whittle away at the deficit in the last minutes but any hopes of a miraculous comeback had long since flown out the window. One freebie by Mattie Lueck who avoided fouling out with 3:34 left and four consecutive scores by sophomore guard Annie Dittberner - a short shot in the lane with 2:27 left and a "3" from the right top area with 2:01 left along with two free throws with 1:29 left and a lay-up with 1:09 left trimmed the Bethel lead down to fourteen at 71-57. Sophomore reserve forward Macy Kelly connected with a lay-up after a steal with :50.9 left but a Zimmerman drive and lay-up with :22.7 left put the finishing touches on a 73-59 Bethel victory.
I had to ask CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin afterward if, given the two losses his team suffered this week, they would be able to bounce back. "Absolutely!" he replied. "This is a very resilient bunch that I've got" he added. He admitted that, coming into this contest, that the challenge was great against a very good Bethel squad but he also noted that, aside from the top two teams (UST and Bethel), "there really isn't a team we can't beat and, conversely, there really isn't a team that can't beat us." So while the Blazers remain in solid contention for that sixth spot, there isn't that much room for error and they're going to have to take care of business the rest of the way if they want to cement their claim to it. Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer, whose squad improved to 17-4 overall (11-3 in the MIAC) was pleased with his team's total effort. I also got him to talk about some of the reserves that come off the bench; particularly senior Lisa O'Connor who joined the team after last season. Herbrechtsmeyer noted that she's worked very hard (and the minutes she gets reflects that) and, while she does make first-year mistakes from time to time, he wishes that he could get three more years out of her. So Bethel's road ahead looks very good for them; save for that next to last regular season home date with UST. If they do what they're supposed to do, some very exciting things definitely lay ahead for this squad.
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