GAC vs Bethel 1-11-17

Made the short run over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University to take in yet another huge MIAC showdown involving the Royals - this time against visiting GAC which made the trek up U.S. Highway 169 and Union Pacific's "Omaha Route" mainline undefeated at 13-0 overall and 6-0 in the MIAC.  Bethel; coming off of a split last week including a tough loss over at undefeated UST, was not only looking for a big signature win but also a way to stay in play for the MIAC regular season title and this game was about as close to a "must win" for the Royals as could possibly be.

The Gusties got off to a fairly fast start in the opening minutes of the game as junior point guard Mikayla Miller snared the opening tip and was off to the races for an easy lay-up at the 9:55 mark and a drive and finish by senior forward Hannah Howard at the 9:17 mark had GAC up 4-0.  The Royals responded quickly however as junior guard Angie Kirchoff knocked down a jumper from the right elbow area at the 8:10 mark and then speedy junior guard Abby Miller connected with a lay-up in transition at the 7:46 mark that also drew a foul and sent the former Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted standout to the line for the obligatory free throw that gave Bethel a 5-4 advantage.  Both sides would trade one-point leads over the next three and a half minutes and with the Gusties holding an 8-7 lead, Bethel sophomore reserve guard Hannah Simpson connected with a lay-up with 4:09 left in the opening period for a 9-8 Royals lead and that lead grew to four points when junior reserve sharp-shooting guard Jasmin Bretoi buried a "3" from the top of the key with 3:30 left that made it 12-8 and GAC Head Coach Laurie Kelly; a bit alarmed at this development, called a timeout to make adjustments.  And while a four-point deficit is hardly insurmountable, it was becoming clear in this contest early on that each possession; nee, each play, would be critical.  Sophomore reserve guard Brooke Lemke's lay-up with 1:28 left narrowed the deficit to two points for the Gusties at 12-10 but Bethel's Bretoi put GAC into an even bigger hole with her second trey of the evening; this one coming from the left top area with 1:10 left for a 15-10 advantage.  The Gusties would come right back though on two scores by junior forward Miranda Rice - one in the paint with :54 left and an offensive rebound and putback with :27 left that narrowed the gap to a scant point at 15-14.  The Royals would grab a 17-14 advantage on a jumper in the lane by senior forward Shanni Moorse with just :03 left but the back-and-forth nature of this one early on and the intensity displayed by both sides made it clear that this one was going to be a barn-burner.

Two scores early in the second period by GAC sophomore guard Justine Lee - a lay-up at the 9:39 mark and a lay-up in transition at the 7:59 mark - eventually had things knotted up at 18 a piece but here the Royals made their first decisive move of the game in the form of an 11-2 run.  One Moorse freebie at the 7:40 mark and a "3" from the left wing by Abby Miller at the 7:09 mark had Bethel out in front 22-18 and a pretty one-handed shot off the glass by slender sophomore post Hannah Johnson at the 6:19 mark upped that lead to 24-18.  The Gusties momentarily stopped some of the bleeding on Rice's score in the paint but Bethel refused to let up on the accelerator.  Two more scores by Abby Miller - a lay-up at the 5:03 mark and a three-point bomb from the right wing area with 4:09 left - now had the Royals up 29-20.  In past years, this is where GAC would normally have fell over like a house of cards while its opponent continued the onslaught.  This time around, however, a hungry and experienced Gustie squad stood firm, hunkered down and battled right back in the form of a 12-2 run of their own.  Two lay-ups by senior forward Hannah Howard - one with 3:49 left and another one with 2:38 left - trimmed the deficit down to seven at 31-24 and a "3" by Lee from the right top area with 2:02 left drew GAC closer trailing 31-27.  Howard knocked down two charity stripe shots after getting fouled in a transition opportunity after her steal with 1:43 left and then it was Lee reigning terror from three-point land again - this one from the top of the key with 1:13 left - that now had the Gusties out in front 32-31.  Bethel would close out the first half on one free throw by freshman forward Taite Anderson with :44.2 left and yet another three-point dagger from Bretoi - her third of the evening (and first half) from the left corner with :23 left that allowed the Royals to take a 35-32 lead going into the locker room at the half.  A check of the first half box score reveals that Bethel shot a pretty good 57.1% clip from FG range and a red-hot 71.4% from behind the arc - thanks to the efforts of both Bretoi and Abby Miller.  The Royals also held a 17-11 advantage on the boards but also more turnovers at 13-6.  Most importantly for GAC, they had weathered the elements (the 11-2 run which was responded to) and five blocked shots and, being down by only a single possession on the road in a hostile environment, they had to be encouraged.

Bethel again attempted to open up a bit of distance on its opponent as Kirchoff knocked down a jumper from the left elbow at the 9:21 mark and a Taite Anderson score in the paint at the 8:40 mark had the Royals up by five at 39-34.  Again, GAC would respond with a 5-0 push.  Mikayla Miller; held in check for the most part in the first half, got back in the groove in the second half as her lay-up at the 8:23 mark narrowed the deficit to a single possession at 39-36 and a Howard drive into the lane and finish at the 7:48 mark drew the Gusties even closer trailing 39-38.  One Rice freebie at the 5:33 mark knotted the score at 39 a piece but Rice also picked up her third foul a bit later with 4:56 left which had to be troublesome for Kelly and her staff.  A short Mikayla Miller shot with 4:20 left kept things tied up at 41 a piece but another Bethel push ensued.  Johnson snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 3:31 left and the former Duluth East standout slithered into the paint for another score with 1:51 left for a 45-41 Royal lead and GAC's Kelly wasted no time in taking a match to a timeout down by four points in such a tight contest.  That stoppage in play seemed to rekindle a Gustie fire as they again responded.  Mikayla Miller muscled into the paint for a score with 1:30 left and a lay-up by Lee with :53 left in the third period tied the issue again at 45 a piece.  Two Abby Miller free throws with :48.3 left allowed Bethel to take a 47-45 edge going into the fourth period and you could just tell Robertson Center was totally on edge.

The Royals would try once more to get some separation in the early moments of the fourth and final period.  With the game tied at 47, Kirchoff unleashed a "3" from the left top area at the 9:12 mark and two Taite Anderson free throws at the 8:30 mark had Bethel up 51-47.  Right back came the Gusties as Mikayla Miller sank two charity stripe shots of her own at the 7:42 mark and a lay-up by Rice at the 7:03 mark had this game knotted up once again at 51 a piece.  But Rice got saddled with her fourth foul of the contest at the 6:33 mark and Kelly had no choice but to yank her primary threat down low to preserve her for the final crucial minutes of the contest.  GAC, however, would not buckle when they were perhaps most vulnerable with Rice riding the pine with those four fouls and they dug in and prevented any Royal run.  And Rice's replacement for the time being; sophomore youngster forward Kendall Thompson, came in and did just fine.  The former Holy Family standout's lay-up at the 5:20 mark gave the Gusties their first lead at 53-51 since the midway point of the first period.  After a foiled Bethel possession, Lee was able to snare a steal and dash from coast-to-coast for a lay-up that pushed the GAC lead to 55-51 and Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer now had cause for real concern that this one was suddenly slipping away from his squad at the most crucial moment and he called an immediate timeout to try and rectify the situation.  To their credit, Bethel was able to come back and forge a 55-all deadlock on two Abby Miller free throws with 3:28 left and a score in the paint by Taite Anderson with 2:42 left but, with things hanging in the balance, the Gusties relied on arguably their best weapon; the one person that would give you the best chance to make something big happen.  And that would be the Goodhue native Mikayla Miller who made perhaps one of the best moves I've seen in a long time; splitting through traffic for an incredibly tough lay-up with 1:30 left that drew a foul and her "and one" had GAC back up 58-55 and it would be a lead they would never relinquish.  The Royals would trim that lead down to one point on two Taite Anderson free throws with :44.2 left and, after another Bethel timeout, the Gusties got the ball to Rice on their ensuing possession and she responded with a delicate touch in the lane with a short jumper with :21 left to expand that lead to three points at 60-57.  The Royals still had plenty of time and opportunity and with :09 left, Kirchoff was sent to the free throw line to try and draw Bethel back to a single point.  But Kirchoff was only able to get the back-end of the two shot opportunity to go down and, now nursing a two-point advantage, Kelly called a timeout to set up strategy to protect it. The Royals wound up fouling Howard with :05.6 left and, with tremendous pressure on her shoulders, the former Cretin-Derham Hall standout calmly sank both attempts to make it a two-possession game at 62-58.  Herbrechtsmeyer called another timeout but the Royals were clearly in desperation mode by this point.  Bretoi tried launching up a desperation "3" with scant time left on the clock but it was harmlessly off the mark and GAC not only claimed an incredibly hard-fought 62-58 victory but eclipsed the start of the '02-'03 team by getting to 14-0 for the first time in school history.

For Bethel, another incredibly crushing defeat as they fall to 10-4 overall and 5-2 in the MIAC.  Even more heartbreaking is that senior forward Kalli Zimmerman is now out for the year with an apparent ACL injury that she suffered a week ago in the loss at UST.  The Royals had a lot of good players step up tonight in her absence but Herbrechtsmeyer remarked after that "It's a vacuum".  As disappointing as this was from a Bethel standpoint, it's still not the end of the world.  It's dangerous to prognosticate games on paper but it's certainly possible that the Royals could run the table the rest of the way during the regular season and end up with 21 wins and then roll the dice in the MIAC playoffs so there's still plenty of hope there.  Meanwhile, on the GAC side there was jubilation and parents and fans clapped and cheered loudly when the Gustie players emerged from a happy locker room back onto the floor at Robertson Center.  And rightly so.  Assistant Coach Dan Wolfe said "That was a war" when I met up with him and he was quick to praise Bethel and freshman sensation Taite Anderson whom he said was "probably the best newcomer we've ever faced."  And while everything looks to point to a February 1 showdown with unbeaten UST, Wolfe was quick to pooh-pooh the notion that the Gusties are looking ahead; noting that each game beforehand is going to be a battle.  I also got to speak with Kelly afterward and I mentioned to her that I thought that her squad has made tremendous strides defensively.  She was in quick agreement and added that it's enabled her team to get into transition opportunities quicker and easier than in previous years.  One of the things that helped the Gusties on this great night was an incredibly balanced scoring attack.  Both Mikayla Miller and Rice led the way with 15 points while Lee and Howard were right behind with their 14 points.  The Royals did have a big advantage on the boards at 39-23 but also suffered 23 turnovers compared to only 10 for GAC which hurt their cause.  Bethel was led by Abby Miller's 15 points while Kirchoff was the only other scorer in double figures with her 12 points.  Another big factor in this contest was points off of turnovers and here the Gusties had a big advantage at 27-7.  Points in the point went GAC's way as well with a 46-22 advantage there.