Made my way over to Bethel University's Robertson Center on this Wednesday night armed with a small supper and God's nectar (aka Pepsi) to take in this important conference clash between visiting Gustavus Adolphus and host Bethel. The Gusties were coming into this contest right in the thick of things in the highly competitive MIAC while the Royals were looking for some sort of a jump start in what so far has been an incredibly disappointing season considering the sky high expectations back in November.
As expected, things were tight in the early going. With the game tied at 4-all, Bethel senior post Rachel Parupsky connected with a short jumper along the right baseline at the 6:41 mark that gave the Royals a 6-4 lead but that advantage didn't last long. An offensive rebound and putback by sophomore point guard Mikayla Miller at the 6:14 mark and a score in the paint by freshman reserve newcomer post Olivia Hass at the 5:38 mark gave GAC an 8-6 lead. Freshman reserve guard Justine Lee's score in the paint with 4:35 left and two free throws by the former Dawson-Boyd standout gave the Gusties a 12-8 lead with 4:26 left. Fellow freshman reserve guard Taylor Anderson connected with a jumper from the left elbow with 3:11 left and a drive and lay-up by Mikayla Miller with 2:41 left now gave GAC a 16-9 advantage. The Royals tried to counter as sophomore reserve guard Abby Miller drained a "3" from the left corner with 2:24 left and one free throw by senior point guard Hannah Niewald reduced GAC's lead down to 16-13. But the Gusties came right back as Lee banged home a "3" from the left wing area with 1:40 left and one Hass charity stripe shot got the lead back up to seven at 20-13 with 1:16 left. Bethel again tried to counter as junior guard Shanni Moorse drove into the lane for a finish with :36 left and an offensive rebound and putback by freshman reserve post Hannah Johnson with :08 left shaved the Gustie lead down to four at 22-18 but once again, Bethel appeared to be out of sync on offense and looked a bit shell-shocked on how the Gusties were taking the battle to them.
It appeared early on in the second period that the Royals had figured out their problems and were well on their way back to getting into the thick of things again. One free throw by junior forward Kalli Zimmerman at the 9:50 mark and a score in the paint by sophomore reserve guard Angie Kirchoff at the 8:22 mark brought Bethel back to within one possession trailing 24-21 but things took a change for the worse for good for the Royals shortly thereafter. GAC sophomore forward Miranda Rice snared an offensive rebound for a putback and drew a foul in the process and her free throw made it 27-21 and then sophomore reserve post Stephanie Klockmann connected on a lay-up at the 6:55 mark that suddenly made it a 29-21 ballgame and Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer; whose team takes so much pride in its defensive tactics, realized that trouble was brewing and he called a timeout in hopes of quickly turning things around. But the Gusties were just getting into their groove. Free throws by Anderson and Klockmann not only gave GAC a ten-point cushion at 33-23 but, even worse for the Royals was that now the Gusties were in the bonus as well. A lay-up by Mikayla Miller with 4:41 left and pairs of free throws by the former Goodhue standout expanded the lead to 39-23 with 3:34 left. A "3" by senior guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz from the right corner took some of the fat off of the deficit for Bethel trailing 39-28 but the Royals simply could not seem to generate any kind of sustained run that might have changed things up going into the home stretch of the first half. Two free throws by junior guard Hannah Howard with 1:14 left and a pretty "3" by Mikayla Miller from the left wing stretched GAC's lead to 44-28 and a Howard lay-up with :12.4 left punctuated a fabulous second period for the Gusties as they took a 46-29 lead into the locker room at the half. A glance at the first half box score shows that more than just the score stood out in this one. GAC absolutely hammered the Royals on the glass by a 31-18 count and while the Gusties didn't necessarily shoot that great from FG range, Bethel shot even worse; 33.3% from FG range and an icy 22.2% from three-point land.
If the Royals wanted to get back into this thing and turn this game - and quite possibly their season around - they simply had to come out of the gates on fire at the beginning of the third period. While the flames weren't exactly blazing, Bethel finally did show some signs of life that hinted that this contest could get interesting again. Zimmerman started things off at the 9:46 mark with an offensive rebound for a putback and Niewald did the same at the 8:49 mark that shaved the Gustie lead down to 46-33. Free throws by both Schultz and Parupsky pulled the Royals closer and hopes appeared even brighter when GAC's Mikayla Miller picked up her third foul at the 8:04 mark. Pairs of freebies by both Parupsky and Moorse reduced the Gustie lead down to 50-39 at the 5:24 mark and a lay-up by sophomore reserve forward Molly O'Toole with 4:18 left finally got Bethel back to within single-digit range trailing 50-41 and GAC Head Coach Laurie Kelly; determined to not let another lead get away from her young squad, called a timeout. The Royals still threatened, however, and drew even closer. One Niewald free throw with 3:48 left and an O'Toole "3" from the top of the key with 3:07 left cut the Gustie lead down to 52-45 and Niewald a minute later got loose on a fast break attempt lay-up that hung precariously on the rim before gravity got the best of the ball and allowed it to fall harmlessly off into the arms of GAC senior reserve forward Lindsey Johnson. That lay-up; had it gone in, might have greatly changed the complexion of this one but this is precisely where the Gusties were able to dig in and get the ship sailing in the right direction again. A "3" by Lee from the right wing area with 1:54 left and one Lee charity stripe shot with :52.8 left got the lead back out to nine at 56-47 and then it was Lindsey Johnson stealing the spotlight with her jumper from the free throw line right before the buzzer with just :00.7 left for a 58-49 lead that seemed to suck the air out of the comeback balloon for Bethel.
Things just seemed to go from bad to worse for the Royals in the fourth and final period as they were not only trying to once again claw back from the brink but were now also facing foul trouble as well. Moorse picked up her fourth foul at the 9:04 mark and Parupsky got tagged with her third foul at the 8:44 mark. Gustie freshman reserve forward Kendall Thompson connected with a short shot off of an inbounds pass at the 8:01 mark to give GAC a 62-49 lead and at the 6:20 mark Parupsky got whistled for her fourth foul of the evening. Bethel tried desperately to find a way - any way possible - that might somehow get this thing turned around but it simply was not happening on this night. Junior guard Kelsey Carpenter put down two freebies at the 5;13 mark and a lay-up in transition by Mikayla Miller with 4:58 left made it 67-52 which, for all intents and purposes, was the ballgame. Hass got into the paint for a score with 3:41 left as did Rice with 2:03 left. Lindsey Johnson gracefully drained a "3" from the left wing area with 1:46 mark and free throws by Lee down the stretch gave the Gusties a big 79-65 win on the road.
As you can imagine, Kelly was bursting at the seams with pride and joy over her squad's triumph on this night. "I felt like we came out as the aggressors" Kelly said and I think that second period was perhaps the best ten minutes of basketball I've seen the Gusties play in a long, long time; certainly from a defensive and rebounding standpoint. I think more importantly, this young team took a big step forward overall as they not only got a big road win but it was also against a team that many, including yours truly, looked to be as early favorites in the conference race. On another front, I also think that Mikayla Miller is hands down the best point guard in the conference and she's only a sophomore. She obviously can score but it's more than just that. She can defend and she's also got an uncanny ability to be able to get in the paint and mix it up with bigger, taller players fighting for a rebound. She's very strong and deceptively quick and simply tough to guard and she knows how to take care of the rock as well. Lindsey Johnson as a senior is the glue that holds this team together. She's got great leadership ability and does all the things on the court that you want from a senior. Recovering from a bout of mono has limited her time on the court and even Kelly admitted that it's been and still is a process of slowly bringing her back and having her get to feeling the way she wants to feel out there. Kelly couldn't help but lament about the game a week ago at home against CSB; a decision that they dropped in OT and what could have been but, at the same time, they're right in the thick of things and they're right where they want to be. At the same time, we all remember how things went south for this team down the stretch last year but I do think that this squad has taken a huge step forward. Let's see what they do with it.
Meanwhile, for Bethel, exactly where do you go from here? All those high hopes and expectations have long since flown out the window and now the Royals suddenly find themselves fighting for their playoff lives with a 6-5 conference record and 10-8 overall. I think the really scary aspect of all this - from my view anyway - is that I really, truly don't know where to point the finger for this mess. I can't fault just one or two players nor can I specifically place the onus on Herbrechtsmeyer and his experienced-laden staff who know their X's and O's. I just don't know. I really don't. And when you look at their remaining schedule things definitely do not get any easier down the stretch. A roadie at CSB on Saturday as well as back-to-back home games with both SMU and UST in February await and it's not out of the realm of possibility that the Royals could be on the outside looking in once the regular season concludes on February 20.
So it comes as no shock that Mikayla Miller led all scorers on this night with her 17 points followed closely by Lee's 16 points and followed by Rice with her 10 points. Parupsky and Schultz led Bethel in the losing effort with 13 points a piece while Niewald, Zimmerman and O'Toole each added 8 points. Again, the one glaring stat that will undoubtedly have Herbrechtsmeyer reaching for the Tylenol PM for the next few nights was the rebounding - in the form of a 52-38 advantage for the Gusties. And, as I mentioned before, the Gusties didn't shoot that great on this night but with the huge advantage on the boards, they really didn't have to.
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