Los Angeles Rams

Los Angeles Rams

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Concordia vs Bethel 12-5-15

After taking in the Park Center - STMA game at the Breakdown Tip-Off Classic over at Hopkins, I made the run across town over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University to take in this important early-season clash between visiting Concordia and host Bethel; two of the upper-echelon teams in the MIAC.  The Royals; fresh off their victory over St. Kate's on Wednesday night, were looking to keep their conference record perfect while the Cobbers were certainly still smarting after dropping a tough home game to UST on Wednesday night.  If Concordia wanted to avoid having an early 0-2 record in the conference, they were going to have to do it the hard way.

As expected, this one stayed close early on without either side gaining a decided advantage.  After a lay-up by junior forward Jenna Januschka at the 7:57 mark had Concordia up 2-0, the Royals would respond as senior point guard Hannah Niewald knocked down two charity stripe shots after getting fouled at the 7:45 mark and a short jumper by senior post Rachel Parupsky gave Bethel a 4-2 advantage.  The Cobbers would come right back, however, as junior guard Greta Walsh banged home a "3" from the right wing area as the shot clock was winding down at the 6:44 mark and then Januschka grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback at the 5:58 mark for a 7-4 Concordia lead. The Royals would answer the call as junior guard Shanni Moorse drained a "3" from the left corner with 4:54 left and then sophomore reserve forward Molly O'Toole connected on a running jumper in transition that gave Bethel a slim 9-7 advantage.  With the score tied 11-all with 1:54 left, the Cobbers made a push to close out the first period.  Walsh connected on a pretty give-and-go lay-up attempt with :45.3 left that drew a foul and her subsequent free throw put Concordia up 14-11.  Then, with just :06.5 left, Januschka got hacked down low and was sent to the line where she then dropped two freebies to extend the lead to five at 16-11.  While Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer had to have been less than pleased at the waning moments of the first period, there was still no reason for panic - yet anyway.

The Royals seemingly regained some of their stride in the early minutes of the second period.  Senior guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz connected on a lay-up at the 7:33 mark and Moorse got one of her own at the 7:16 mark that cut the Cobber lead to one at 16-15.  After Concordia jumped ahead 18-15 on a lay-up by freshman reserve guard Jamie Mentzer at the 7:05 mark, Schultz finally found the range from three-point land and her bomb from the right wing area at the 6:09 mark knotted things up at 18 a piece.  Januschka would single-handedly give the Cobbers a three-point lead.  After getting fouled at the 5:22 mark, she dropped the first free throw but her second attempt missed the mark.  The Royals, however, made the mistake of not boxing out the 6'0" St. Cloud native and she grabbed the long rebound and got a putback for a 21-18 Concordia lead.  Again, the Royals kept their cool and kept the battle close.  Freshman reserve post Hannah Johnson connected with a lay-up with 4:16 left and then an O'Toole score in the paint with 3:09 left put Bethel back up 22-21.  With both sides trading one-point lead over the next two minutes, the Cobbers tried to make a move right before the half.  Sophomore reserve guard Cassidy Rahman maneuvered into the paint for a score with 1:48 left for a 25-24 Concordia lead and then Walsh connected on a pull-up jumper from the right elbow with :41 left that made it 27-24 but a lay-up by Hannah Johnson with :13 left narrowed the deficit to one as the Cobbers took a 27-26 lead into the locker room at the half.  Rebounding and turnovers were very even in the first half and the only discouraging thing for the Royals going into the break was that they couldn't seem to find that spark that might ignite a run to open up some distance.  Still, no reason to panic.

Concordia looked to get off on the right foot once the third period got underway and a lay-up by strong senior forward Olivia "Dibs" Johnson at the 9:47 mark and a score in the paint by Januschka at the 8:46 mark helped forge a 31-27 lead.  Bethel looked like they were right back on track when Schultz let loose with another "3"; this one from the left corner that pulled the Royals back to a single point trailing 31-30.  At the 7:37 mark, O'Toole put the home team back out in front when she connected with a short jumper off of an inbounds ass that made it 32-31 Royals and most of the people in attendance in Robertson Center thought this might be the start of a Bethel run that would give them firm control of the outcome.  Strangely enough, however, this is exactly where things started to fall apart for the Royals.  A Januschka score in the paint at the 7:23 mark prompted a key 7-0 Cobber run.  At the 7:03 mark, the acrobatic Walsh connected with a pull-up jumper in transition and drew a foul in the process and the ensuing free throw now had Concordia up 36-32.  Another Januschka score in the paint at the 5:42 mark upped the advantage to 38-32 and, although senior guard Hannah Jeske got tagged with her third foul with 4:48 left, the complexion of the game had unmistakably turned in favor of the Cobbers.  The Royals would respond with a 4-0 push of their own that drew them back to within a single possession with 3:20 left but Concordia would hold off the Bethel charge.  Still another Januschka score in the paint with 2:57 left and a Rahman lay-up with 2:28 left had the lead back up to six at 42-36.  Bethel would narrow the gap to a single possession on one free throw by sophomore reserve guard Abby Miller with 2:07 left and an O'Toole jumper from the right elbow off the glass with :16.7 left and things looked a lot better going into the fourth and final period for the home crowd but the Cobbers managed to put some tabasco sauce on that feel good moment when senior guard Katie Rosenfeldt connected with a running one-handed jumper with just one tick left on the clock to make it a 44-39 ballgame.

The Royals kept looking for that magical touch; some sort of juice or spark that would propel them in this fourth period and it just simply wasn't there as missed opportunities ruled the day and Concordia was all too anxious to pounce on Bethel's misforutnes.  Olivia Johnson knocked down two charity stripe shots at the 9:43 mark and then Rosenfeldt got one to go down at the 8:31 mark that had the lead back at six at 47-41.  At the 8:06 mark it was Olivia Johnson again with a turnaround jumper off the glass which was followed by two free throws by Walsh who was fouled in a transition opportunity at the 7:52 mark and suddenly the lead bulged to ten points at 51-41.  Bethel tried to chip away at the deficit but the harder they worked the more it seemed like they were just treading water and getting nowhere.  The Royals managed to slim down the deficit to six points on scores by Niewald and Moorse by the 6:01 mark at 51-45 but each time the Cobbers would have an answer. Olivia Johnson was simply nails in this fourth period for Concordia and with 4:20 left she muscled into the paint for a bucket that pushed the lead back up to eight at 54-46.  Bethel would get as close as five points when Hannah Johnson got into the paint for a score with 3:56 left and drew a foul and the subsequent free throw made it 54-49 but the Royals could get no closer.  Olivia Johnson came up with yet again another huge score with 3:09 left on a turnaround jumper in the lane and then it was a matter of Bethel fouling in a vain attempt to preserve clock.  Olivia Johnson and Januschka sank insurance freebies down the home stretch and the Cobbers stole an incredibly important road victory by a count of 62-55.

Concordia Head Coach Jessica Rahman was very relieved after this big win and when I asked her about how this team was able to turn the tables after the disappointment against UST a few nights before she just chalked it up to hard work in practice and how they get after it on the court.  For me, I was VERY impressed with Januschka's outing on this day as she led all scorers with her 22 points. Even Rahman sang her praises as she noted that she's worked very hard and has definitely made strides from last year.  Even her older sister Erin, who was a senior on last year's team, couldn't help but smile in the victory celebration afterward and half-joking confided to me that "she learned a lot from me!"  Meanwhile, on the Bethel side, the furrowed brow of Herbrechtsmeyer really told the story as he was going over the box score.  I had to ask him about why Parupsky was conspicuously absent in the second half.  Herbrechtsmeyer didn't mince words.  "Ineffective" he said.  In fairness, even the best of players can have off days and I suspect that this disappointment will light the proverbial fire for this all-region player.  But, at the same time, the "ineffective" could really apply to the entire team on this day as they were guilty of 19 turnovers and were decisively beaten on the glass as well by a 46-38 count.  "We're living in last year" added Herbrechtsmeyer.  "We've got to get better.....I don't know how good that is but it'd better be better than we were today."

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