Los Angeles Rams

Los Angeles Rams

Sunday, January 14, 2018

GAC vs Bethel 1-13-18


Made my way back over to Robertson Center on this sunny but frigid Saturday afternoon to take in the big MIAC clash between visiting GAC and host Bethel.  The Gusties were coming into this big showdown on a four-game win streak that included a big home win against SMU on Wednesday night while the Royals were riding a six-game win streak and, like the Gusties, enjoyed a big home win on Wednesday night as well against Augsburg.  This game would be crucial for both teams in their efforts to keep pace with MIAC co-leaders CSB and UST and a loss today would put the loser in a bad spot.  I got settled into Robertson Center early during the men's game which started at 1:00 P.M. and was definitely looking forward to this one.

It would be the Royals getting off to a good start in the early moments of the opening period on two scores from forward Taite Anderson - a "3" from the left wing at the 9:11 mark and a lay-up at the 8:43 mark - to build a 5-0 lead.  GAC senior guard Mikayla Miller would get her team on the board with her jumper from the left wing area at the 8:29 mark but one free throw by Bethel senior guard Abby Miller at the 7:54 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by willowy junior post Hannah Johnson had the Royals up 8-4 at the 6:57 mark.  A short turnaround jumper in the lane by sophomore reserve guard Haylee Barker at the 5:50 mark maintained Bethel's four-point edge at 10-6 before the Gusties could string together a 6-0 push to poke their nose out in front.  Senior forward Miranda Rice dropped two free throws after getting fouled at the 5:30 mark and a Rice lay-up with 4:02 left knotted things up at 10 a piece.  Junior guard Justine Lee connected with a lay-up in transition with 2:49 left to give GAC its first lead of the afternoon at 12-10.  The Royals would tie the game on a jumper along the right baseline by freshman reserve forward Lainie Cox with 2:24 left and after GAC junior forward Kendall Thompson gave her team the lead back on her score in the paint with 2:10 left, Bethel would come right back on a Johnson lay-up with :37 left.  The Gusties would get a 17-14 lead when junior reserve guard Brooke Lemke connected with a lay-up and drew a foul in the process and the ensuing "and one" by the former Delano standout had GAC up 17-14 but the Royals would close the gap to one point on two free throws by Abby Miller with :23 left.  Not to be outdone, GAC would take a 19-16 lead with just :05 left in the opening period when surprising freshman point guard Ava Gonsorowski connected with a lay-up.

Both squads surprisingly went stone cold in the first three minutes of the second period but once the lids came off of both baskets, the Gusties tried desperately to hold onto their three point lead.  Bethel's Johnson got her team back to a one-point deficit with a lay-up at the 6:53 mark but two free throws by GAC's Rice at the 6:21 mark re-established the Gustie three-point edge at 21-18 and a Lee lay-up at the 5:53 mark maintained it at 23-20.  A jumper from the left elbow area by senior reserve forward Emee Udo with 3:57 left had GAC out in front 25-22 but here the Royals were able to finally turn the table a bit.  Abby Miller made a hard drive into traffic for a finish with 3:47 left and a score in the paint by Johnson with 2:38 left now had Bethel up 26-25.  One Lemke free throw with 1:26 left allowed the Gusties to tie the game at 26 a piece and both teams traded one more score before the halftime break.  Taite Anderson got into the paint for a Bethel score with :48 left but two free throws by the Gusties' Mikayla Miller with :27.7 left had both teams deadlocked at 28-all when the halftime buzzer sounded.  A quick check of the first half box score reveals that neither team was setting the world on fire with their shooting which likely had something to do with how well each team was playing defense so far.  The Royals were 12-33 for for 36.4% from FG range and 1-6 from behind the arc for 16.7%.  GAC wasn't any better shooting 10-29 for 34.5% from FG range and 0-3 from behind the arc.  Turnovers were nearly identical as Bethel had seven and GAC had six and perhaps the only real positive for the Royals was that they had the edge in rebounding by a 24-19 count.

Things would stay incredibly tight for much of the third period as well.  Bethel senior guard Angie Kirchoff knocked down a jumper from the right elbow area to put her squad up 30-28 but the Gusties would forge a tie on an offensive rebound and putback by Thompson at the 8:45 mark.  Both teams "bigs" would grab the spotlight next as the Royals' Johnson connect on a short, turnaround jumper off the glass at the 8:22 mark and two scores by the Gusties' Rice - a short jumper at the 7:58 mark and an offensive rebound and putback at the 7:13 mark - allowed GAC to poke its nose back out in front by a 34-32 count.  The Royals would counter on one free throw by Taite Anderson at the 6:33 mark and a Johnson score in the paint at the 6:01 mark to grab a 35-34 lead but right back came GAC as Rice was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback of her own miss at the 5:01 mark for a 36-35 Gustie lead.  It was here, however, where it appeared that the Royals might have been in a position to make a move.  Taite Anderson knocked down two free throws after getting fouled with 4:37 left to allow Bethel to retake the lead and a Johnson lay-up with 4:18 left increased Bethel's lead to 39-36.  A Johnson score in the paint with 3:47 left suddenly had the Royals up by five at 41-36 and considering how tight things had been for the most part, it could have easily caused some panic on the GAC side.  But this experienced Gustie team would respond with an 8-2 push.  Lee made a hard drive and finish with 3:32 left that also drew a foul and the obligatory free throw by by former Dawson-Boyd standout reduced the deficit to two points at 41-39.  Two more Lee free throws with 3:15 left quickly tied things up again at 41 a piece and a Mikayla Miller score in the paint with 2:44 left maintained the tie at 43-all.  One Gonsorowski freebie with 1:57 left had GAC out in front by a 44-43 count before the Royals attempted to turn the table one more time.  Taite Anderson knocked down two free throws with 1:39 left to put Bethel back out in front 45-44 but the Gusties would retain that delicate, one-point edge on a Mikayla Miller lay-up in transition with :17 left to make it a 46-45 game but the former Goodhue standout had also collected her third foul with just under a minute left so there was a collective uncertainty on both sides going into the fourth period.

GAC looked primed and ready to make a decisive move in the opening minutes of the fourth period as two Thompson free throws at the 9:08 mark and a Rice lay-up at the 8:45 mark suddenly had the Gusties in decent shape up five at 50-45.  A Mikayla Miller lay-up at the 7:36 mark maintained GAC's five-point lead at 52-47 and although the Royals reduced the deficit to four on one free throw by Taite Anderson at the 7:21 mark, Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer called a timeout as he had absolutely no intention of letting this game get away from his team at perhaps the most critical juncture.  That stoppage in play turned out to be huge for his squad as they responded.  Abby Miller knocked down two free throws at the 6:15 mark and an Abby Miller lay-up in transition at the 5:46 mark had this one knotted at 52-all and, even worse from a Gustie standpoint was that Rice; GAC's driving force down low, was saddled with her fourth foul with 4:49 left.  Gustie Head Coach Laurie Kelly felt compelled to call a timeout to reassess the situation and although Rice; carrying those four fouls was able to forge a 54-all deadlock with her lay-up with 2:52 left, the momentum would soon swing Bethel's way for good.  And it would be Abby Miller; the former Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted standout, delivering two staggering blows from behind the arc in the left corner:  one with 2:30 left and another with 1:55 left that now had the Royals up 60-54.  What made GAC's situation even more perilous was that Rice had fouled out on a somewhat questionable call with 2:13 left and without the former Forest Lake standout patrolling things down low, the Gusties were now vulnerable in the paint.  An Abby Miller drive into the lane and finish with :57 left in regulation now had Bethel up 62-55 and two free throws by senior guard Jasmin Bretoi with :39.5 left maintained the seven-point advantage at 64-57.  Herbrechtsmeyer would call a timeout to cover all the angles for his squad and when Abby Miller knocked down two free throws with :36.8 left to get the Royals lead to 66-58, GAC looked completely dead in the water.  But Mikayla Miller was not about to let this game go without a few heroics on her front.  After a missed three-point attempt by Lemke, Bethel's Taite Anderson was fouled on the defensive rebound and two free throws then and there would have likely sealed this one for good.  But the former White Bear Lake standout was unable to get either attempt to go down and so now the Gusties' Mikayla Miller tried to single-handedly bring her team back.  With :08.7 left, Miller got free in the right wing area and banged home a three-point bomb that cut GAC's deficit down to five points at 66-61.  On the ensuing Bethel possession, the Royals appeared to be in position to simply run the clock out but an untimely turnover gave GAC an Mikayla Miller one more desperation shot.  With just :01.6 left, the former Goodhue star unleashed another three-point bomb from the same right wing area that now had the Gusties back within a single possession trailing 66-64.  Kelly would call another timeout in hopes of setting up her squad to get another turnover but it was not to be as Bethel ran out the clock to hang on for a thrilling 66-64 victory.

A relieved Herbrechtsmeyer afterward gave a lot of credit to his team's defensive efforts - a Bethel trademark - for getting this big win today.  Herbrechtsmeyer admitted that his team simply needed this win today to keep alive their chances at winning the MIAC regular season title and, more importantly, to keep the NCAA Tournament chances alive as well.  Herbrechtsmeyer took the position that his squad likely has three different paths to get back into the Big Dance this season:  (1) Win the MIAC regular season title, (2) Win 21-22 games and take their chances as they did a year ago or (3) Get the automatic bid by winning the MIAC Championship Game.  I'm just guessing that if Herbrechtsmeyer had his way, he'd probably take the latter to avoid any drama as his team went through last year when they got snubbed.  Also, I couldn't possibly leave out the bright performance by Bethel's Abby Miller coming up huge for her team in the last two minutes with those two huge three point bombs that really turned this one around.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, a disappointed Kelly lamented afterward that her squad simply wasn't able to step up when it needed to in those last few crucial minutes.  Throw in that questionable foul that sent Rice to the bench with 2:13 left in the game and you only add to the frustration she was feeling.  Kelly pointed to two main factors that she felt cost her squad today:  Missed lay-ups and missed free throws and in close games such as this against a quality opponent, those things usually come back to bite you.  Indeed, GAC shot 18-24 from the charity stripe for the game for 75% and in a close game such as this, that's just not enough to get the job done and you can bet that Kelly and her staff are going to be making sure that the Gusties clean things up in practice this next week.  Abby Miller's 21 points led the way for the Royals on this day and again, those last two three point bombs she hit in the last two minutes were a game-changer.  Another bright spot for Bethel on this day was that they had not one but two players with "double-doubles" on this day:  Johnson with 16 points and 16 rebounds and Taite Anderson with 13 points and 12 rebounds.  GAC's Rice; despite fouling out on this day, was simply huge for team with a "double-double" of her own - 20 points and 17 rebounds.  Mikayla Miller had 16 points with six of those coming in the last ten seconds while Lee added 11 points.  Likely another item that Kelly and her staff while find hard to swallow was that the Gusties were outrebounded on this day by a 42-36 count.  Interestingly enough, GAC did hold a 15-8 edge in points off of turnovers and a 14-7 edge in those "second-chance" points. 

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