Made my way over to Bethel's Robertson Center on this very cold Wednesday night for this very hot matchup between undefeated and #2-ranked UST which has a stranglehold on first place in the MIAC and host Bethel which has a lock on second-place in the MIAC and came into this contest with a solid 19-4 record. This game would be a huge opportunity for the Royals to show that they not only belong in the upper echelon but are also deserving of a bid to the NCAA Tournament as well. If they could somehow pull off the upset on this night, they would certainly solidify their chances for an invite to the Big Dance.
Ideally, Bethel needed to get off to a great start in this one but it was the experienced Tommies that dished out the early punishment; courtesy of senior post Maggie Weiers. A "3" from the top of the key by the New Prague native at the 19:05 mark and a "3" by junior guard Katie Stone from the left wing area had UST up 6-3 by the 18:28 mark. At the 17:57 mark, Weiers made a hard drive and pretty move along the right baseline to finish and followed that up with a jumper from the left top area; just inside the arc at the 17:32 mark to put the Tommies up 10-3. Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer; obviously sensing danger at this juncture, called a timeout to get his squad settled down and avoid further damage. The Royals appeared to get a lift when sophomore guard Shanni Moorse drained her first trey of the night at the 17:03 mark from the right wing area and added a free throw as well at the 16:42 mark that cut the deficit to five trailing 12-7. But UST is very good at planting the seeds of doubt in an opponent early on in a contest and they gradually widened their lead. Two free throws by senior forward Anna Smith at the 16:34 mark upped the lead to 14-7 and a "3" by the former Bloomington Jefferson standout from the top of the key at the 16:11 mark made it a 17-9 game. A Weiers drive and finish at the 15:43 mark made it 19-11 before consecutive scores by Bethel junior guard Hannah Niewald shrunk the Tommie lead to 19-15 by the 14:28 mark. But UST calmly went back to work again. A Weiers lay-up at the 13:57 mark and two Smith freebies at the 13:42 mark got the lead back to eight at 23-15 and a Smith lay-up at the 12:33 mark maintained the eight-point advantage at 25-17. Senior point guard Jen Dockter knocked down one charity stripe shot after getting fouled at the 11:59 mark and then senior reserve forward Elaine Warner made a hard drive and finish that extended the lead to 28-17. Southpaw senior reserve guard Hannah Hughes then drained a "3" from the left top area at the 10:37 mark for a 31-19 Tommie lead and Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer wasted no time in calling another halt to the action.
UST had a scary moment with 9:57 left when Smith rolled her right ankle and had to be assisted off the court but the Royals still were having a devilish time trying to cut into the deficit. But one bright spot for Bethel was emerging in this first half as Moorse; the Burnsville native and former Apple Valley standout, was instrumental in the Royals resurgence coming down the stretch before halftime. Although a score in the paint by the Tommies Warner with 8:37 left increased UST's lead to 33-21, Moorse got a good look from the right wing area behind the arc with 8:08 left and uncorked her second trey of the evening that temporarily cut the Tommie lead back to single digits. Junior post Rachel Parupsky knocked down two freebies with 7:37 left that further cut into UST's lead to trail by seven at 33-26. But a short jumper off the glass by Dockter with 7:06 left and a Stone "3" from the left corner with 4:58 left helped but the Tommies back up by ten at 38-28 and it just didn't seem like Bethel could sustain any kind of run that would get them close before halftime. Somehow though, the Royals were able to dig deep and find that extra ounce of fight within them that enabled them to get close. Moorse dropped two free throws with 4:41 left that not only got Bethel back to within single digits but the Royals were now in the bonus as well. Niewald connected with a lay-up with 3:44 left and then Moorse drained her third three-pointer of the first half; this one coming from the left corner with 3:14 left that trimmed UST's lead down to five at 40-35. A Moorse drive into the lane with 2:18 left and finish wowed the partisan Bethel contingent and two free throws by junior guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz shrunk the Tommie advantage down to three at 42-39. UST avoided a late first half disaster when Stone knocked down one more trey from the left wing area with :41 left but a score in the paint by Parupsky with :21.1 left had Bethel within striking distance trailing 45-41 which, considering the canyon that the Royals had dug themselves early on in this contest, wasn't bad. Bethel arguably gave up way too many three-pointers to the Tommies in the first half alone as UST was 6-8 from behind the arc. And, although the Royals owned the glass in the first half, they were also guilty of ten turnovers as well which hurt their cause early on.
Still, the bottom line at this point was that Bethel was close and, if they could clean up some things and get off to a solid start in the second half, they might get things to go their way. And the first two minutes in the second stanza suggested that the Royals might do just that. Moorse had the hot hand in the first half and she showed no signs of slowing down as she was able to snare an offensive rebound of her own miss at the 19:28 mark for a putback that had the Tommies lead reduced to a slim 45-43 count and a Parupsky lay-up at the 17:51 mark had Bethel within a tantalizing point trailing 46-45. UST's Dockter countered with a lay-up at the 17:28 mark to increase the lead to three at 48-45 but Tommie Head Coach Ruth Sinn; not at all convinced that her squad was playing with the intensity needed, called a timeout to talk to her team. That stoppage in play was just what the doctor ordered for UST and the purple-clad Tommies recovered. A Weiers free throw at the 16:28 mark and a Stone jumper along the left baseline at the 15:54 mark increased the lead to four at 51-47 and a Weiers jumper from the left elbow at the 15:07 mark made it 53-47. Weiers helped UST maintain the six-point edge at 55-49 with her drive and finish off of an inbounds pass at the 14:11 mark. The lead increased to seven points at 57-50 on Dockter's lay-up at the 13:28 mark and a pretty turnaround jumper in the lane by Weiers at the 12:12 mark maintained the seven-point edge at 59-52. Warner was sent to the charity stripe at the 10:48 mark where her obligatory free throws not only increased the lead to nine at 61-52 but also put the Royals in a situation where they were now out of fouls to give. Parupsky's jumper from the top of the key just inside the arc at the 10:29 mark helped Bethel trim the deficit to seven trailing 61-54 but Herbrechtsmeyer; not liking how things were going by this point, felt that a timeout was needed.
A Warner "3" from the left wing with 9:45 left made it a ten-point 64-54 Tommie lead and, although the Royals would never stop battling in their valiant comeback attempt, a shaky performance from the charity stripe would be their ultimate undoing in this game. Freshman reserve guard Angie Kirchoff connected with a jumper along the left baseline with 9:20 left and sophomore forward Kalli Zimmerman slithered into the paint for a score that drew Bethel closer trailing 64-58 and got fouled in the process as well but she could not get the ensuing freebie to go down. Parupsky connected with a jumper from the free throw line with 7:15 left that cut UST's lead down to 66-60 and Schultz did connect with two free throws after being fouled with 6:49 left that gave the home crowd plenty of reason for hope trailing 66-62. But, here again, the Tommies seemed to have an answer when they most needed it. Dockter drained a "3" from the top of the key with 6:35 left and followed that up with a lay-up with 6:08 left that increased the UST lead to nine at 71-62. Parupsky was fouled with 5:58 left but could only get the back end to go down thus only trimming the Tommie lead to 71-63. UST senior reserve forward Alyssa (nothing vanilla) Favilla connected with a jumper in the lane with 5:24 left that made it a ten-point game again at 73-63 and although Niewald connected with a lay-up in transition with 5:15 left for the Royals, two Dockter free throws maintained that ten-point cushion at 75-65 with 4:47 left and Bethel could no longer be content to just trade baskets with the Tommies. They had to somehow get stops and get on a run and they had to do it now.
Determined not to go down without a fight, the Royals made one last surge. Schultz made a pretty drive along the left baseline for a finish with 3:57 left and Zimmerman got one freebie to go down with 3:29 left that got Bethel back to within single digits trailing 77-70. A jumper by Moorse from the right wing area in transition cut UST's lead down to five at 77-72 with 2:58 left and a frenzied Bethel home crowd was on its feet yelling "Defense!!! Defense!!" But the Tommies remained collected, calm and cool in those final two minutes and they shut the door on the last remaining ray of hope the Royals had. With 1:46 left, Dockter connected with a jumper in the lane that upped the lead back to seven at 79-72 and after senior guard Laura Margarit came up with a big steal on the ensuing Bethel possession, Weiers was able to connect on a jumper in the lane with 1:02 left that all but sealed the deal for UST with a nine-point 81-72 advantage. Zimmerman was able to knock down a "3" from the top of the key with :47.4 left and also got a last-gasp lay-up with just :00.8 left to make the final score 81-77 but the Royals could only wonder afterward what might have been had they been able to clean up two critical aspects of this game - turnovers and free throws.
A disappointed Bethel Assistant Coach Dwight Nelson could only wince when looking at the box score afterward; quickly pointing out the abysmal 15-26 from the charity stripe for 57.7% which clearly won't get the job done against an elite team like UST. He also pointed out that the Royals indeed gave up way too many three-pointers; particularly in the first half when the Tommies started building a lead. Nelson felt that they just had to have this game given the fact that Bethel is currently ranked seventh in the West Region rankings behind Claremont Mudd-Scripps and fears that just making it to the MIAC Championship Game may not be enough - even with 21 wins. Herbrechtsmeyer, too, could only point to the box score that revealed the rather ugly numbers from the free throw line. He also faulted his team's roll-screen defense as well that was a factor in allowing those three-point opportunities that the Tommies had early on. As far as the road ahead and what may or may not be in the offing should Bethel make it to the MIAC Championship Game, he expressed disappointment that despite the fact his squad went on an eleven game tear in one of the toughest DIII conferences in America, it may not be enough to get an invite to the 64-team field should they make it to the MIAC Championship Game (and you can bet that I'll DEFINITELY have something to say if that indeed turns out to be the case). Meanwhile, UST's Sinn was definitely relieved and happy with the win. She was in total agreement when I pointed out to her that this game had an NCAA Tournament-like atmosphere and feel to it and also felt it was something that her team needed to experience - to be in a close game coming down the stretch in a hostile environment. And they responded when they had to. Without question, this is the time when you want to raise the level of your game in these critical situations and I felt that the Tommies did just that. Sinn also had plenty of praise for Bethel as well and said that they without question belong in the NCAA Tournament. So at least with this game, we may very well watched a preview of things to come once the MIAC Playoffs roll around and it would be a shocker if these two squads don't square off again for all the marbles in the MIAC on 1-28-15.
No comments:
Post a Comment