UW-River Falls vs Bethel 11-20-18

Tuesday evening on this Thanksgiving week found me over at Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University as the host Royals were getting set to host a key non-conference clash with UW-River Falls out of the WIAC.  Bethel had come off of an impressive showing at the Gustavus Classic the previous weekend as they handily defeated both Martin Luther and UM-Morris while the Falcons were coming into this contest with a so-so 3-3 record; their most previous outing being a heartbreaking loss at home to another MIAC team, St. Kate's.  Still, there was no reason to believe that this couldn't  be a very good, very close game given that the Falcons had already knocked off GAC in their season opener at home 73-67.

Indeed, UW-River Falls got off to a very solid start in this contest; building a 6-0 lead in the first few finutes as the Royals struggled offensively.  Freshman guard Jenna Zeman got things started for the Falcons with a lay-up at the 8:55 mark of the opening period and a drive into the lane and finish by strong junior guard Lori Wardynski at the 8:08 mark built the UW-River Falls lead to 4-0.  The Falcons capped this opening burst on an offensive rebound for a putback by senior post Madelyn O'Brien at the 7:11 mark before Bethel could finally get untracked to launch a 6-0 run of their own.  Sophomore forward Makenna Pearson's "3" from the right wing area cut the deficit in half at the 6:37 mark and one free throw after a steal by sophomore guard Danielle Williams at the 5:47 mark reduced the deficit down to two points at 6-4.  Willowy senior post Hannah Johnson's score in the paint with 4:34 left tied the game at six a piece and a lay-up by sophomore reserve forward Elizabeth Schwarz with 3:53 left kept the game tied at 8-all.  The Royals finally poked their nose out in front when junior point guard and former Maple Grove standout Haylee Barker made a hard drive into the lane for a finish with 3:17 left and a 10-8 advantage.  Right back came UW-River Falls, however, as strong junior forward Crystal Pearson connected with a lay-up and was fouled in the process and her "and one" propelled the Falcons back out in front by an 11-10 count.  That lead expanded when savvy senior forward Taylor Paulsrud drained a "3" from the right corner with 1:12 left that made it 14-10 but Bethel was able to climb back to a one-point game when freshman reserve guard Tessa Anderson banged home a "3" from the right wing area with :57 left that made it 14-13 as the game morphed into the second period.

The Falcons managed to hold the upper hand for the first five minutes of the second half.  Paulsrud dropped two charity stripe shots after getting fouled at the 9:04 mark and a Crystal Pearson lay-up at the 8:32 mark helped keep the UW-River Falls lead at three points at 18-15.  The Royals managed to poke their nose out in front momentarily as Johnson connected with a lay-up at the 7:27 mark and Williams was able to snare a steal of an inbounds pass and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 7:05 mark for a 19-18 Bethel lead but that lead was short-lived as the Falcons came right back to take it away.  Paulsrud struck again from three-point land at the 6:39 mark - this one coming from the right top area to give UW-River Falls a 21-19 lead and reserve junior guard Jane Lindstrom made a drive into the lane for a finish at the 5:41 mark to get the Falcon lead to four points at 23-19 and things at that point seemed pretty good for the visitors from the other side of the St. Croix River.  But the Royals calmly righted the ship and slowly set forth to take the reigns of this game.  A Johnson score in the paint narrowed the deficit down to two points at 23-21 and further complicating the situation for UW-River Falls was that Wardynski soon hobbled over to the Falcon bench with an apparent injury and would not return.  Barker came alive on defense for Bethel as she snared a steal and whizzed the other way for a lay-up at the 5:15 mark to tie the contest at 23 a piece and then Schwarz muscled into the paint for a score with 4:53 left and was fouled in the process and her obligatory free throw pushed the Royals out in front 26-23.  UW-River Falls tried to take the momentum back as a Lindstrom score in the paint with 4:43 left and a Crystal Pearson "3" from the top of the key with 4:02 left had the Falcons back out in front 28-26 but that advantage did not last long as the Royals ended the period with an 8-1 burst.  Johnson connected with a lay-up with 3:43 left to tie the game and two Williams free throws with 3:08 left pushed Bethel back out in front 30-28.  Then Barker made a drive and finished it with a pretty left-handed lay-up with deft touch with 2:43 left.  Two Johnson free throws with 1:44 left had the Royals up 34-28 before UW-River Falls could get one more point on the board in the form of a charity stripe shot by freshman reserve forward Brianna Leahy with 1:03 left.  That finished up the scoring for the first half but it was clear by now that Bethel had managed to grab control of the contest as both teams headed off to the locker room for the halftime break.  A check of the first half box score reveals a pretty close game as both teams shot reasonably well from FG range - UW-River Falls shooting 10-25 for 40% and Bethel going 13-29 for 44.8%.  The Falcons were hot behind the arc, too, going 6-7 for 85.7% compared Bethel's 6-11 for 54.5%.  Rebounding was close as well with Bethel holding an 18-16 edge there but what likely caught UW-River Falls first-year Head Coach Derek Staley's eyes at the halftime break was that the Falcons shot only 3-10 from the charity stripe for a measly 30%; thus leaving a significant amount of points on the table.

UW-River Falls managed to pull close again in the opening minutes of the third period as O'Brien connected with a lay-up at the 9:46 mark to get the Falcons back in single-possession range again down 34-31 and a short jumper by Paulsrud at the 9:20 mark cut the deficit to a single point at 34-33.  Bethel junior forward Taite Anderson; held scoreless in the first half, decided it was time to show up in the third period as she muscled into the paint for one score at the 8:57 mark and dropped one free throw at the 8:29 mark for a 37-33 Royal lead.  UW-River Falls would again close to one point when Zeman unleashed a "3" from the left wing area at the 7:41 mark but the Royals' Taite Anderson would not be denied when her team needed her.  A Taite Anderson lay-up at the 6:57 mark sparked an 8-0 Bethel run that really helped change the complexion of this one.  At the 5:42 mark, Taite Anderson muscled into the paint again for a score to push the Royals lead to five at 41-36 and a Taite Anderson lay-up at the 5:18 mark now made it a 43-36 ballgame.  Then Makenna Pearson connected with a lay-up with 4:52 left to get the lead to nine at 45-36 and UW-River Falls' Staley knew full and well this one was starting to get away from his team and he called for a halt to the action to get his troops reorganized.  But even that stoppage in play did not deter the Royals from expanding their lead as they went on a 6-0 run to end the third period and complicating the situation for the Falcons was that Crystal Pearson got saddled with her third foul with 4:09 left.  Bethel took its cue from there as one score in the paint by Taite Anderson with 3:54 left and another one by Schwarz with 2:36 left now had the Royals up double-digits at 49-36 and a Johnson lay-up with just :31 left in the third period pushed UW-River Falls to the brink as the Falcons were now down 51-36.

UW-River Falls tried desperately to cut into this cushion in the early moments of the fourth period as Leahy connected with a lay-up at the 9:39 mark and a hard drive into the lane and a finish off the glass by Zeman at the 8:57 mark got the deficit down to eleven at 51-40.  One Zeman free throw at the 8:12 mark kept the deficit at eleven points at 52-41 and a three-point bomb by Paulsrud who connected from the top of the key at the 7:41 mark offered a wisp of hope with the deficit at ten points at 54-44.  However, any momentum that the Falcons may have had at this point promptly went flying out the window when Wardynski; who had just committed an untimely turnover, apparently uttered something not appreciated by the officials and was slapped with a technical foul at the 7:00 mark.  Bethel's Johnson sank the two obligatory free throws to get the lead back to twelve points at 56-44 and a bit later Johnson would use her 6'1" frame to gracefully slither into the paint for a score that made it 58-44.  Taite Anderson would do the same as well with 4:56 left to make it 60-44 and this 6-0 push effectively ended any hopes UW-River Falls may have had.  Paulsrud would strike for the Falcons with her steal and lay-up the other way with 3:20 left but UW-River Falls could never threaten again.  Williams would sink two insurance free throws with :49.9 left and the Royals bagged an important 62-47 non-conference win. 

I caught up with Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer after the game and I gave him the three impressions I took away from this contest:  (1) Taite Anderson has definitely upped the level of her game from last year.  Herbrechtsmeyer - "Taite's probably playing her best basketball right now."  (2) I really thought Bethel turned up the defensive heat a notch or two beginning at the midway point of the second period.  Herbrechtsmeyer - "We were able to extend the floor with our defense to get some turnovers."  (3) If there was one fly in the ointment from this win, it was probably free throw shooting.  "Herbrechtsmeyer - "That's definitely an area we need to clean up.....We let UM-Morris hang around more than we should have in our last game with poor free throw shooting.  We've got to clean that up."  Probably the other thing that likely irked Herbrechtsmeyer afterward was that his squad got outrebounded by UW-River Falls on this night by a 38-35 count but that small advantage was likely negated by the fact that the Falcons were guilty of 32 turnovers on this night; many of them the product of the tough trademark Bethel defense.  The fact that the Falcons also shot only 17-47 from FG range for the game for 36.2% says a lot about how well Bethel played defensively on this night and you know it will only get better as the season progresses.  UW-River Falls had only two players in double figures on this night - Paulsrud with 15 points and Crystal Pearson with 11 points.  The Royals were paced by Hannah Johnson's 18 points while Taite Anderson was right behind with 16 points.  One more important stat to point out - Bethel had a sizable edge in those all-important points in the paint (thanks to both Johnson and Taite Anderson) by a 44-22 count.