Bethel vs UST 1-4-17

My first stop in calendar year 2017 was over at Schoenecker Arena on the campus of UST on this bitterly cold Wednesday night for a huge showdown between visiting Bethel and host UST.  The Royals were coming into this contest on the heels of a tough loss over at a holiday tournament in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin against nationally-ranked UW-Oshkosh and now had to follow that game up with another nationally-ranked powerhouse - in-conference rival UST.

One thing that Tommie Head Coach Ruth Sinn and her squad seem to take pride in is getting off to a fast start and immediately putting their opponent between a rock and a hard place and that's exactly what UST did in the first five minutes of the opening period.  Reliable junior guard/forward Lauren Fischer started things with her lay-up at the 8:44 mark and equally-reliable senior guard Paige Gernes snuck inside for a score at the 7:12 mark for a 4-0 Tommie lead.  Bethel missed a couple of easy lay-ups in the opening minutes as well which only added fuel to the early UST fire.  Senior guard Gabby Zehrer made a hard drive into the lane for a finish that also drew a foul and the former Totino-Grace standout's ensuing free throw pushed the lead to a touchdown at 7-0.  Then it was a jumper from near the free throw line by fellow senior post Kaitlin Langer at the 5:08 mark that capped this opening 9-0 start before a befuddled Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer called a thirty-second timeout to get his squad calmed down a bit.  That short stoppage in play definitely did calm any opening jitters Bethel may have had as they responded with an 8-3 burst.  Sophomore reserve post Hannah Johnson nailed a "3" from the top of the key with 3:47 left to get the Royals going and two scores by junior reserve guard Jasmin Bretoi - a "3" from the left corner with 2:52 left and a lay-up with 2:27 left - closed the gap to four points at 12-8.  But the frustrating thing for Bethel on this night was that no matter how hard they tried to close the gap, it seemed like they were treading water and getting nowhere.  The Tommies were able to push the lead back up to six points on two scores by Gernes - a drive and lay-up with 2:07 left and a score in the paint with 1:35 left that had UST up 16-10.  Another Bretoi three-point bomb from the left corner in a transition opportunity brought the Royals to within a single possession trailing 16-13 but two Zehrer freebies with :25.6 left in the opening period got the Tommie lead to five again at 18-13.  Still, considering the fact that Bethel weathered that opening 9-0 blitz, they had to be feeling a little better about themselves trailing by only five going into the second period.

Despite a Gernes lay-up at the 9:14 mark of the second period, the Royals still managed to stay within striking distance in that four-to-five point range in the opening moments.  Junior guard Angie Kirchoff nailed a "3" from the left corner at the 8:50 mark and a lay-up in transition after a steal by junior guard Abby Miller at the 7:49 mark kept Bethel well within reach trailing 23-18.  But a 10-3 Tommie push opened up some more breathing space for the home team.  Fischer knocked down her third trey of the evening - this one coming from the top of the key at the 7:37 mark and then Langer made one of her patented sweet moves in the paint to get a reverse lay-up and draw a foul in the process and the Stillwater native's ensuing freebie pushed UST's lead to ten at 29-19.  Two more Langer scores - one in the paint at the 5:06 mark and a lay-up with 3:56 left - had the Tommies up by double-digits at 33-21 and again Bethel was back at Square One.  The Royals did manage to trim a bit of fat off the deficit down the stretch before intermission.  Two free throws by senior forward Kalli Zimmerman with 3:37 left (her first points of the night) and two more by sophomore reserve guard Hannah Simpson with 1:57 left got Bethel back to within single-digits again trailing 33-25 and, despite a Gernes lay-up with 1:40 left, one Abby Miller charity stripe shot with 1:23 left before the halftime break kept the Royals reasonably close trailing 35-26 going into the locker room at the half. The first half box score could not have been pleasing to Herbrechtsmeyer as it showed UST owning a decisive advantage on the boards by a 22-14 count along with 11 first half turnovers as well.  While Bethel did do some damage from behind the arc, they also arguably left some points on the table as well when it came to free throw shooting as they shot only 66.7%.

The Royals hopes momentarily brightened early on in the third period when UST's Fischer was saddled with her third foul at the 9:37 mark and freshman forward Taite Anderson was able to get one free throw to go down at the 8:28 mark that slimmed the deficit down to eight points at 35-27.  Bethel would manage to at least stay in that range over the next two minutes.  Anderson dropped a three-point bomb from the top of the key at the 7:45 mark and also snared an offensive rebound and putback at the 7:16 mark that kept the Royals in the thick of things trailing 41-32.  Abby Miller's "3" from the left wing area at the 6:17 mark again kept things reasonably close as Bethel trailed by eight at 43-35.  The bad thing, however, was that although things seemed to be finally clicking a bit offensively, they just weren't gaining much ground and an ensuing 10-0 Tommie run sure didn't help matters.  Zehrer uncorked a "3" from the top of the key at the 5:52 mark and followed that up with a drive and finish in transition at the 5:35 mark that pushed the lead up to 48-35.  Bethel took another hit when Zimmerman was tagged for her third foul at the 5:22 mark and two Langer charity stripe shots with 4:39 left pushed UST's lead to 50-35.  Junior guard Maddie Wolkow's "3" from the left wing area with 4:25 left put the Tommies up 53-35 to complete this run.  Abby Miller temporarily stopped the bleeding for the Royals when she snuck into the paint for a score with 3:57 left but then UST sophomore reserve guard Lucia Renikoff found the range from three-point land from the right top area with 3:22 left in the period for a nineteen-point lead at 56-37.  Bethel was able to slow the Tommie drive late in the period on a Zimmerman score in the paint with 2:28 left and an Abby Miller lay-up in transition with just :04 left but, trailing 58-41, the Royals hopes appeared dim at best.

Zimmerman was able to help Bethel shave some more points off of the deficit with her two free throws at the 9:29 mark of the fourth period but by now the former Champlin Park standout had picked up her fourth foul as well so she was treading on thin ice.  Still, the Royals were able to slyly whittle away at the UST cushion.  Senior guard Shanni Moorse maneuvered into the paint for a score at the 8:56 mark as did Anderson at the 7:34 mark that trimmed UST's lead down to thirteen at 60-47. Johnson got into the paint for one score at the 6:12 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by Anderson at the 5:36 mark drew the Royals closer trailing 63-51.  Johnson dropped one free throw with 4:58 left as did Moorse with 4:21 left that got Bethel back in the ten-point range trailing 63-53 and the Royals dodged a bullet when UST's Langer uncharacteristically missed two charity stripe shots of her own with 3:58 left.  The Tommies saw their lead shrink further when Anderson made good on a drive and finish with 3:39 left and Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer, sensing a lifeline available, called a timeout to set up strategy with the Royals back in single-digit range again trailing 63-55. Moorse was able to sink one freebie on the next Bethel possession and although Fischer was able to do the same on the next Tommie possession with 2:52 left, UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn definitely did not like the way things were unfolding at this juncture and she called a thirty-second timeout to discuss things with her squad.  Still, Bethel was able to draw a bit closer as Johnson connected with a short shot off the glass with 2:36 left that had things tantalizingly close at 64-58 before the Tommies were finally able to apply the brakes to keep things from crashing out of control.  Langer connected with a critical score in the paint with 2:15 left and two Langer free throws with 1:47 left got the lead back up to ten at 68-58.  Johnson was able to connecte with a lay-up for the Royals with 1:29 left that temporarily got the deficit back down to eight again at 68-60 but now time was becoming a major factor as well and, as such, Bethel could only foul in an effort to preserve clock.  Gernes dropped one free throw with 1:03 left and two more by Fischer with :37 left for insurance got the lead back to eleven at 71-60.  Johnson was able to get one last score for the Royals when she scored in the paint off of an inbounds pass with :04 left but once again Bethel found themselves on the short end of the stick against a rated opponent by a 71-62 count.

A disappointed but upbeat Herbrechtsmeyer confided to me afterward that he told his squad that each game is a puzzle.  He told them that " 'We didn't lose.  We just ran out of time.' "  I think it's a fair description as the Royals were certainly in the thick of things in this one but just weren't able to find a way out when they needed it.  But more alarming was the status of Zimmerman who went down in the second half with an apparent injury to a knee that has troubled her before.  "She tweaked it" Herbrechtsmeyer said afterward and they won't know the extent of the injury until after an MRI is presumably performed.  Hopefully it's nothing too serious and hopefully she'll be back in action again soon as that would be a big loss for the Royals with her on the bench injured.  Add to that the fact that Royals are in the midst of one of their toughest stretches of the season with GAC slated to come calling on the Robertson Center next Wednesday.  UST's Sinn, while happy with the win, was quick to heap a ton of praise on the Royals.  "They're a great team" she said.  As for her squad, Sinn noted that they have to be consistent with their intensity in games "but that's something we can work on in practice."  The Tommies had a pretty balanced attack offensively with four players in double figures on this night.  Langer in particular had an outstanding night with her "double-double" of 24 points and twelve rebounds while Fischer added 14 points and Zehrer and Gernes had 12 and 11 points, respectively.  Johnson, the former Duluth East standout, lead the way for Bethel on this night with her "double-double" of 16 points and 11 rebounds while Anderson added 13 points and Abby Miller chipped in with her 10 points.  UST owned the glass on this night by a 44-33 count and shot a decent 50% from three-point land.  Bethel didn't shoot badly from either FG-range or three-point land but a shaky 12-20 from the charity stripe for only 60% did not help their cause.