Made the run over to Bethel's Robertson Center on this Wednesday evening for the opening night of MIAC play between host Bethel and visiting St. Kate's. The Royals; with a somewhat surprising 2-2 record after dropping a 65-43 decision to Maryville College and also losing a heartbreaker to UW-River Falls on the road, were looking to right the ship and be the world beater that many (including myself) thought they would be. The other surprise was St. Kate's; coming into this contest with a unblemished 5-0 record and playing pretty well up to this point.
After the Wildcats took an early 2-0 lead on sophomore guard Audra Clark's lay-up at the 9:27 mark, junior guard Shanni Moorse made good on a drive and lay-up at the 8:04 mark and got fouled in the process and her subsequent free throw had Bethel up 3-2. But the Royals suddenly and inexplicably stagnated on offense; going ice cold from the perimeter and St. Kate's was quick to pounce on the opportunity given them; going on a quick 7-0 spurt. Senior guard/forward Shauna Horsch snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 7:32 mark and then the other half of the Clark duo; sophomore guard Meg, drained a "3" from the left wing area at the 6:59 mark. Then it was Horsch again; making a drive into the lane and a finish off the glass at the 6:17 mark for a 9-3 Wildcat lead. Bethel was able to close the gap to two points on two charity stripe shots by sophomore reserve forward Molly O'Toole at the 5:39 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by O'Toole at the 5:08 mark. But the 'Cats then proceeded to go on an 8-1 foray. First, flashy junior reserve guard/forward LaShay Holt banged home a "3" from the top of the key with 4:51 left and a lay-up by fellow junior forward Mari Lee with 3:46 left increase the margin to 14-8. Audra Clark then followed with 3:23 left with a drive into the lane for a finish and got fouled in the process and the obligatory free throw made it 17-8 and Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrecthsmeyer knew right then and there that a timeout was needed to get his squad back in sync. The break in the action appeared to give the Royals a boost as senior guard Hannah Niewald snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up with 1:49 left and fellow senior post Rachel Parupsky got into the paint for a score with 1:26 left that cut St. Kate's lead down to 17-12 to close out the first period.
St. Kate's managed to maintain its lead in the opening minutes of the second period and a Lee lay-up at the 9:28 mark did have the 'Cats up 19-14 but it was here the the Royals were able to turn up the intensity on defense and create turnovers that led to easy points. A key 9-2 run over the course of four minutes really changed the course of this contest. Two free throws by the reliable Moorse at the 8:05 mark got the game back to a single possession at 19-16 and a score in the paint by O'Toole at the 7:30 mark cut the Wildcat lead down to one at 19-18. A coast-to-coast lay-up by Holt at the 6:30 mark briefly increased the lead back to three for St. Kate's at 21-18 but Bethel senior guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz; who struggled from behind the arc in the first period, finally found the range from the right wing area with 4:55 left that knotted the score at 21-all. A steal by sophomore guard Angie Kirchoff led to a lay-up by freshman reserve post Hannah Johnson with 4:24 left that gave the Royals their first lead since the opening moments of the game. An Audra Clark "3" from the right wing area with 3:57 left gave the 'Cats their last lead at 24-23 but an 11-0 Bethel run fueled by its defensive prowess had St. Kate's on its heels. Kirchoff connected with a lay-up with 3:38 left as did freshman reserve guard Lily Porta did in transition with 3:11 left. Parupsky knocked down two charity stripe shots with 2:37 left and then Niewald unleashed a "3" from the left wing area with 1:36 left. A pretty move and finish in the lane by Parupsky with :55 left gave the Royals a 34-24 lead before St. Kate's finally stopped some of the bleeding just before the half. Two Horsch free throws with :23.6 left and a jumper in the lane by junior forward Kennedy Jennings with just :03 left on the clock before the half had the Wildcats back in the contest trailing 34-28 at the break but St. Kate's Head Coach Sean Pinkerton had to know that his team would need to take better care of the rock the rest of the way to have a chance. The Wildcats were pretty balanced scoring-wise in the first half with Audra Clark's 8 points leading the way but the nine turnovers hurt. Worse yet, they were getting hammered on the boards as Bethel held a decisive 29-21 edge on the glass. The Royals, too, were very balanced in their scoring with Niewald's seven points leading the way while Moorse, Parupsky and O'Toole all contributed six points a piece.
Bethel was able to increase its lead back to ten points early in the third period at 38-28 but when Parupsky picked up her third foul at the 7:30 mark it appeared that the Wildcats got a bit of a boost and proceeded to go on a 7-2 burst. Meg Clark connected on a tough, long-running lay-up at the 7:04 mark and Horsch craftily worked her way into the paint for a score at the 6:20 mark. Audra Clark uncorked a "3" from the top of the key at the 5:12 mark and the Royals lead was down to 42-35. Bethel was able to apply the clamps defensively and build their lead back up to double digits 46-35 with 4:47 left when O'Toole connected with a jumper but the Wildcats would make another valiant push. Holt connected with a short jumper with 4:34 left and after Audra Clark's one free throw with 3:58 left, Jennings used her willowy 5'11" frame to drive into the lane and finish that drew a foul and sent her to the charity stripe where she calmly sank the obligatory freebie that had St. Kate's back to within double digits trailing 48-41. A Holt lay-up with 3:01 left and two free throws by Horsch with 2:38 left now sliced the Royals lead down to four at 48-44 and even more problematic for Bethel was the fact that the Wildcats were now in the bonus as well. But this 9-2 run would be the last hurrah for St. Kate's on this night as the Royals recovered and went on a 8-1 run to close out the third period. Parupsky scored off of an inbounds pass with 1:23 left and free throws by Niewald with :51.8 left and O'Toole with :33.9 had the lead back up to nine at 54-45 which would have been quite so bad from a Wildcat perspective but with :02.5 left, St. Kate's made a bad mistake defensively when Schultz was fouled behind the arc that allowed her to go to the line to sink two more free throws to end the third period with the score now at 56-45.
With the wind now effectively taken out of the sails for the Wildcats, Bethel cruised in the fourth and final period. Moorse connected on a lay-up at the 9:08 mark and while Pinkerton called a timeout at the 8:58 mark to try and stem the tide, there was no stopping the Royal Express once it got rolling. Another Moorse lay-up at the 8:49 mark and yet another one by the former Apple Valley standout at the 8:16 mark now had the Bethel lead up to 62-45. Kirchoff's lay-up at the 7:27 mark drew a foul as well that allowed her to sink the obligatory freebie that made it a twenty-point game at 65-45. St. Kate's would try and respond with a 6-0 push; highlighted by an Audra Clark "3" from the right wing at the 6:57 mark but the 'Cats simply couldn't get the defensive stops when they needed them. Sophomore reserve guard Abby Miller snared a long offensive rebound and got a lay-up out of it at the 5:38 mark and then Porta got an offensive rebound of her own for a putback with 3:36 left. With the game firmly in hand, Herbrechtsmeyer got his more of his reserves into the contest down the home stretch. Freshman guard Hannah Simpson got two free throws to go down with 2:22 left and was also able to connect with a lay-up with 1:22 left. The Wildcats could only make small dents in the deficit and Bethel wound up a 76-61 winner when the final horn sounded.
Herbrechtsmeyer acknowledged afterward that his team did not get off to the good start that he had hoped for early on but once they found their way defensively, he knew they would be fine. He also pooh-poohed the notion that his squad should be the overwhelming favorite to win the MIAC this year. "We're really a young team" he stated; pointing out that there are only seven returners from last year's squad that made it to the MIAC Championship Game and got into the NCAA Tournament and that two of them are hurt - most notably junior forward Kalli Zimmerman who was in civvies for this one with an apparent leg injury of sorts. While Herbrechtsmeyer couldn't delve into details, of course, he is cautiously optimistic about Zimmerman's return sometime after the first of the year. O'Toole as well has been battling some nagging little hurts although she looked very solid on this night. When I look at the box score for this one, the thing that stands out to me is how the Royals won this in very Bethel-like fashion: with their defense as they were able to get 23 points off of turnovers alone. The Royals also had a commanding presence in the paint with not only a 44-26 advantage in scoring but also with 53-37 advantage on the glass. Moorse's 16 points paced Bethel on this night while St. Kate's was led by Audra Clark with her 18 points.
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