Bethel vs Northwestern 11-29-17

Made my first visit over to Northwestern's Ericksen Center on this Wednesday evening to take in another MIAC - UMAC clash - this one involving Bethel which made the short hop over from Arden Hills and host Northwestern.  Both teams were coming off big wins coming into this contest - Bethel having knocked off highly-regarded and 12th-ranked George Fox out of the Northwest Conference at home this last Saturday and the Eagles having a huge offensive burst in their big win over at Macalester on Monday night.  The general consensus going into this game seemed to give a decided edge to the Royals but Northwestern may have finally "found itself"; so to speak after Monday night's win on the south side of St. Paul so all the elements were there for a very exciting early-season game.

The Eagles wasted little time going into their normal 2-3 "match-up" zone defense but Bethel still found cracks in it to grab an early lead.  One free throw by lanky junior post Hannah Johnson at the 9:07 mark and two more free throws by sophomore forward Taite Anderson at the 8:21 mark had the Royals up 3-0 and a three-point bomb from the right corner by senior sharp-shooting guard Jasmin Bretoi at the 7:06 mark made it a 6-2 ballgame.  Northwestern was able to gradually make up for the early deficit as junior guard Amy Berglund knocked down a short jumper at the 6:50 mark and a lay-up in transition by junior post Alex Peterson at the 6:19 mark knotted things up at 6 a piece.  Two Alex Peterson freebies with 4:28 left in the opening period again forged a tie at 8-all and the Eagles took their first lead of the contest with 3:35 left when senior reserve post Jessica Brown snared an offensive rebound for a putback that made it 10-8.  A lay-up by lanky sophomore forward Rio Landers had Northwestern up 12-10 but the Royals would tie the game when speedy senior point guard Abby Miller connected with a lay-up with :21 left to make it 12-all heading into the second period.

The Eagles would make a move in the early going of the second period as a short, turnaround jumper off the glass by Alex Peterson at the 8:59 mark and a pretty reverse lay-up by Berglund at the 8:29 mark had Northwestern out in front 16-14.  Berglund knocked down a jumper from the free throw line off the glass at the 6:50 mark and at the 5:56 mark Berglund; the Springfield, Virginia native struck again by draining a "3" from the left top area that suddenly propelled the Eagles to a 21-14 advantage and Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer called a halt to the action to talk about things with his squad.  That stoppage in play seemed to give the Royals a bit of new life as the slowly closed the gap.  Freshman reserve forward Lainie Cox connected with a short jumper off the glass with 4:35 left and then it was Miller throwing down a three-point dagger from the left corner with 3:23 left that got Bethel back to within a single possession trailing 21-19.  Another Miller three-point bomb from that same left corner with 2:30 left drew the Royals closer trailing 23-22 and Bethel regained the lead when sophomore reserve guard and former Maple Grove standout Haylee Barker connected with a lay-up with 2:04 left.  Two Johnson free throws with :54.3 left and two more by Miller with :13.4 left now gave the Royals a five-point edge at 28-23 although Northwestern's Zimpel closed the gap to three points with her lay-up with just :01 left on the clock but the Royals seemed to have a bit of an edge up 28-25 going into the locker room at the half.  A check of the first half box score seemed to point the edge to Bethel as well as they held a 16-11 edge in the rebounding department and had fewer turnovers than the Eagles (11 for Northwestern, 8 for Bethel) as well.  Northwestern shot decidedly better, however, as they were 11-23 from FG range for 47.8% and Bethel was only 3-13 from behind the arc for a paltry 23.1% which seemed to indicate that either Bethel was settling for shots they shouldn't have necessarily settled for or that Northwestern's 2-3 "match-up" zone was having the intended effect of bottling things up down low. 

The Royals looked to get an early jump on things in the opening minutes of the third period as another Miller "3" from the right corner at the 9:01 mark and a score in the paint by Johnson at the 6:59 mark gave Bethel an eight-point 33-25 lead and the Eagles could have been in some big trouble right then and there.  But this resourceful Northwestern team refused to break out the panic button as many other teams would have been tempted to and instead slowly battled back.  Alex Peterson knocked down a jumper from the left wing area at the 6:28 mark to spark a 6-0 Eagle push.  Berglund connected with a jumper from the right top area just inside the arc at the 5:51 mark and fellow junior guard Taryn Tumbleson; who was relatively quiet in the first half, snared a steal in the backcourt and got a jumper in the lane to drop with 4:58 left that got Northwestern back to within a single possession trailing 33-31.  The Royals managed to get a little more breathing room as Miller drained yet another trey - this one from the right corner again with 4:34 left - that pushed Bethel's lead to five at 36-31 but that would not deter the Eagles.  One Landers free throw with 4:12 left and a "3" by Zimpel from the left wing area with 3:53 left closed the gap to a scant point at 36-35.  Northwestern again took a brief lead when Tumbleson made a hard drive and finished with a lay-up with 1:01 left and although the Royals regained the lead on a jumper along the right baseline by Cox with :41 left, there was now a ton of uncertainty going into the fourth period that had to make the Bethel contingent very uneasy going into the fourth and final period.

Johnson would connect on a pretty one-handed turnaround shot at the 9:46 mark that gave the Royals a 40-37 lead but Northwestern would quickly counter and seize the momentum for good.  Alex Peterson muscled into the lane for a score at the 8:27 mark and a Berglund jumper from the right elbow area put the Eagles back out in front for good at 41-40 at the 7:27 mark.  Zimpel was the recipient of a pretty back-door pass that resulted in a lay-up at the 6:23 mark and two Brown freebies at the 5:20 mark now had Northwestern up four at 45-41.  Bethel was still certainly in this thing but the Eagles did a fantastic job of bottling up Johnson and Anderson down low and the Royals were simply bogged down on offense.  With 3:35 left, Bethel was now in the danger zone as the Eagles' Landers drained a three-point dagger from the left top area that pushed Northwestern's lead to 48-41 but the Royals now found a new sense of urgency and got back into single-possession range as Johnson made good on a one-handed jumper in the lane with 3:17 left and Bretoi; who was kept in check for the most part in this contest, finally found her groove again with a "3" from the left corner that cut the Eagles lead down to 48-46.  Alex Peterson would miss an easy lay-up in transition but made up for that a bit later with a short jumper off the glass with 2:22 left that gave Northwestern a bit more breathing room with a 50-46 lead.  The Eagles got a huge stop on Bethel's next possession when a Johnson lay-up attempt was foiled and the Royals' hopes for a comeback sank further into the abyss when Anderson was unable to connect on two charity stripe shots after getting fouled with 1:07 left.  Northwestern Head Coach Aaron Kahl called a thirty-second timeout with :58.2 left to set up his squad's plan of attack with that four-point pad and with :49.7 left, Tumbleson was able to get one free throw to go down that increased the Eagles lead to 51-46.  Herbrechtsmeyer called a timeout shortly thereafter as Bethel's hopes were now very slim indeed and that last lifeline for the Royals died when Northwestern's Berglund snared a huge steal on the ensuing Bethel possession that, for all intents and purposes, pretty much put a bow tie on this one for the Eagles.  Berglund dropped two free throws with :30.7 left after getting fouled as did Tumbleson with just :06.7 left and although Royal senior guard Angie Kirchoff got a pull-up jumper to go down with :01.4 left, it would not change the outcome as Northwestern pulled off its likely biggest win in program history with a 55-48 upset of highly-regarded MIAC powerhouse Bethel.

Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer was not in much of a mood to talk about things afterward other than "We have to get to work" when he came down from the locker room after what was likely a long, long postgame chat with his squad.  A check of the final box score probably gave Herbrechtsmeyer and his staff many reasons to wince afterward and although the Royals did win the rebounding battle by a 35-29 count, that was more than offset by the 17 turnovers that Bethel was guilty of on this night.  Two more items that likely gave Herbrechtsmeyer fits on this night:  Northwestern had 19 points off of those Royal turnovers and the Eagles had a 20-12 advantage on points in the paint and for a Bethel team which prides itself on its defense, this especially had to be troublesome.  While I don't think this loss is the end of the world for Bethel, it does in a way minimize that win over George Fox this last weekend and more importantly, the Royals need to hunker down and regroup as the immediate future requires that.  The upcoming MIAC schedule contains no laughers as Bethel must go on the road to CSB on Saturday followed by a trip up U.S. Highway 10 and the BNSF's Staples Sub mainline to Moorhead to face Concordia two nights later.  Two nights after that, it's a hop across town to face UST and then the following weekend is a trip down the River and the CP Rail River Sub mainline to Winona and a date with SMU.  Whatever is ailing Bethel, they've GOT to find a fix NOW and Herbrechtsmeyer and his staff are no doubt fully aware of that.  Their margin for error has significantly dwindled after this loss and it's not even December yet.  Meanwhile on the Northwestern side, Kahl was all smiles afterward as the Eagles have likely recorded their best week in the program's history - smacking Macalester on Monday night and now this huge, huge win over powerhouse Bethel.  Even more important when you consider how Northwestern stumbled out of the gate; losing at St. Kate's and then getting thumped by Carleton in Northfield before Thanksgiving.  I was hesitant after the Macalester game but now, after this win, I think it's safe to say that Northwestern has turned 21.  Kahl made mention of the fact that his squad wasn't able to have good, full practices early on this season as the Eagles were forced to relocate away from Ericksen Center due to the Northwestern volleyball team hosting regionals recently.  Injuries have taken their toll as well but these latest wins would seem to indicate that the Eagles may have finally turned the corner and not a moment too soon as a big roadie with WIAC opponent UW-Eau Claire is in the offing on Saturday night before Northwestern dives into UMAC play.  Berglund led the way for Northwestern on this night with her 17 points but perhaps even more important is that the Eagles have been able to get Alex Peterson involved on the offensive front as well and she responded with 14 points.  For Bethel, the Royals were led by Miller with 18 points and Johnson had 13 points.