SMU vs Bethel 2-6-19

Made my way once again over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University on this cold, snowy early February evening battling not only a Super Bowl hangover but the residual effects of a cold that I've been battling the last week and a half to take in this important late regular season game between visiting SMU which made its way up the CP Rail River Sub mainline and U.S. Highway 61 to take on host Bethel.  The Cardinals were in something of a slump coming into this contest having dropped their last two regular season games while the Royals righted the ship by beating St. Kate's on the road last Saturday.  This looked like a relatively easy win for Bethel at home but SMU is full of talent and you never want to take them lightly; especially considering it was this same Cardinal team that came up here a year ago during the MIAC playoffs and ruined the Royals' season. 

SMU, in fact, got off to a decent start in this one; building a 4-2 lead with senior forward Brandi Blattner leading the way with a short shot at the 9:19 mark of the opening period and a short shot off the glass at the 8:13 mark.  The Royals would tie the game on a lay-up by willowy senior post Hannah Johnson at the 7:53 mark but the Cardinals would poke their nose out in front again when freshman guard Brooklyn Paulson knocked down two free throws after getting fouled at the 7:43 mark.  Bethel, however, would not stay on the wrong side of the ledger for long as they went on an 11-0 burst.  Sophomore forward Makenna Pearson knocked down a jumper along the left baseline at the 7:19 mark to tie the game and a "3" from the right wing area by junior forward Taite Anderson at the 6:43 mark had the Royals up 9-6.  Two free throws by sophomore reserve forward Elizabeth Schwarz at the 6:02 mark expanded that lead to five points at 11-6 and then Taite Anderson found the range again behind the arc as she drained a "3" from the left wing area at the 5:26 mark to make it 14-6.  One Taite Anderson free throw at the 5:12 mark completed this early run before SMU could put a stop to this bleeding on two Blattner free throws with 4:52 left.  But things were still looking pretty dire for the Cardinals when Bethel's Taite Anderson made a drive into the lane for a finish with 3:58 left to make it 17-8.  Fortunately for SMU, they caught a bit of fire down the stretch of this first period.  Sophomore post Abby Winter got into the paint for a score with 3:18 left and sophomore reserve guard Isabel Bettag came in and made a big splash for the Cardinals.  She made a drive for a finish with 2:24 left and after a foiled Bethel possession, she followed that up with a jumper along the left baseline with 2:00 left that had the deficit down to five points at 19-14.  With :53 left in this opening period, Bettag would drain a "3" from the left top area that reduced the deficit down to four points at 21-17 and although the Royals would get a bit more breathing room when Pearson banged home a "3" from the right top area with :33 left, SMU senior guard Kirsten Keefe connected with a lay-up with just :04 left that had the Cardinals back in business once again down 24-19 going into the second period. 

This little comeback attempt by SMU was certainly no fluke and a "3" from the left wing area by Paulson at the 8:47 mark of the second period suddenly had the Cardinals back within a single possession down 24-22 and a short jumper from the left side by Blattner at the 6:49 mark tied this game at 24-all.  Bethel would get its nose out in front again but they wouldn't be able to open up much in the way of breathing room - at least for a while anyway.  Johnson maneuvered into the paint for a score at the 6:29 mark that also drew a foul and the former Duluth East standout got the obligatory free throw to go down to give the Royals a 27-24 lead.  A Taite Anderson lay-up at the 5:21 mark maintained the three-point edge at 29-26 as would a Schwarz score in the paint with 4:50 left.  SMU, however, would get back-to-back scores to reclaim the lead for the first time since the early moments of the game when Blattner's score in the paint with 3:41 left and a pretty coast-to-coast lay-up by sophomore guard Claire Patterson with 3:06 left put the Cardinals up 32-31 that had the Bethel contingent inside Robertson Center squirming a bit.  The Royals, however, quickly put those fears to rest as they closed out this second period with a 13-2 blitz that not only gave them the separation they had been looking for but also greatly changed the complexion of this ballgame as well.  A Taite Anderson lay-up with 2:53 left started this assault and a Taite Anderson score in the paint had Bethel up 35-34.  Sophomore reserve guard Michaela Craigan's lay-up with 2:09 left grew the lead to three points at 37-34 and then the Royals got their trademark defense turning up the heat as well.  Pearson was able to connect with a lay-up in transition after a steal with 1:48 left to make it 39-34 and a worried SMU Head Coach David Foley called a timeout in hopes avoiding a late second period collapse.  But not even this stoppage in play could cool off the Royals as Craigan would make a hard drive for a lay-up with 1:22 left and with just :02 before the halftime buzzer, Pearson would nail a dagger "3" from the top of the key that suddenly had Bethel up 44-34 as the teams retreated to the locker room for the halftime break.  A check of the first half box score shows that the Cardinals shot decently from FG range; going 14-27 for 51.9% but that was bettered by the Royals as they were 18-32 for 56.3%.  Throw in the fact that the Cardinals were getting pounded on the boards thus far by an 18-9 count and were already down by ten points on the scoreboard as it was, SMU's Foley and his staff had to have known they were likely looking at another long night. 

The Cardinals' Patterson would knock down a short jumper from the right side at the 9:18 mark of the third period that drew SMU back to within single digit-range down 44-36 but a 6-0 Royal push courtesy of Johnson put the visitors from Winona in an even tougher spot.  Johnson first connected with a pretty, one-handed shot off of an inbounds pass at the 8:55 mark to get the lead back to ten at 46-36 and followed that up with a lay-up that got the lead to twelve at 48-36.  The Cardinals' Foley would call for another timeout to try and make some quick adjustments but Bethel's Johnson would only make matters worse when she snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 6:50 mark to make it 50-36.  SMU's hopes got a bit of a boost when Blattner made a hard drive for a finish at the 6:32 mark and drew a foul in the process and the obligatory free throw by the former Dover-Eyota standout reduced the deficit to eleven points at 50-39.  But getting things back into single digit-range again was quickly proving to be a bridge too far for the Cardinals as Bethel kept turning up the heat on defense which led to easy scores on the other end.  Junior point guard Haylee Barker connected with a lay-up at the 5:51 mark and two scores by Schwarz - a lay-up at the 5:04 mark and a score in the paint with 4:40 left - had the Royals up 56-40.  SMU again tried to cut into this growing cushion as sophomore reserve guard Hallie Schmeling connected with a short jumper in the lane with 4:13 left and Keefe would add one charity stripe shot with 3:44 left but this was answered by the Royals in the form of a 5-0 push.  Craigan would get fouled behind the arc with 2:38 left and got two free throws to go down out of the deal to make it 58-43 and one Johnson free throw with 2:13 left and a Johnson one-handed shot in the lane with 2:07 left got the lead to eighteen at 61-43.  The Cardinals again attempted to cut into this widening margin as Blattner got two free throws to go down with 1:51 left and a Winter score in the paint with 1:26 left had the deficit down to fourteen but Bethel would widen things out once more before the end of this third period.  One Schwarz free throw with :29.9 left and a routine Johnson score in the paint with just :02 left had the Royals in fantastic shape up 64-47. 

Bethel's lead grew to twenty points when Barker dropped a three-point bomb from the top of the key at the 9:45 mark of the fourth period but the Cardinals would make one last attempt to draw close again.  Blattner would drop one free throw at the 9:29 mark and would drain a "3" from the right wing area at the 7:53 mark to get the deficit down to sixteen points at 67-51.  Winter would also connect with a lay-up at the 7:22 mark that drew a foul in the process and her obligatory free throw no had the deficit down to fifteen points at 69-54.  Realistically, however, the prospects of bringing this one back all the way were bleak by this time and the Royals made sure those prospects never came to fruition.  Two free throws by Pearson at the 7:14 mark and two more by Johnson at the 6:23 mark got the lead back to nineteen points at 73-54 and a jumper from the free throw line by Pearson at the 5:47 mark got the lead to 75-54.  SMU tried to respond to all this as Paulson nailed a "3" from the right corner with 4:31 left but that would only make a slight dent in this sizable cushion that Bethel now enjoyed.  Taite Anderson would make a drive and finish with 3:55 left and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" made it 80-59 and Royals' Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer now saw an opportunity to start slowly inserting his reserves for the closing minutes as did the Cardinals' Foley.  One free throw by Bethel freshman reserve forward Megan Boegel with 2:08 left made it 81-59 and SMU freshman reserve post Jeni Giefer would get two free throws of her own with 1:49 left and Cardinal freshman reserve forward Jada Biermeier would get a score in the paint with 1:24 left.  Royals' freshman reserve guard Allison Eide drained a "3" from the right wing with 1:10 left and SMU's Biermeier would answer with an offensive rebound for a putback with :58 left.  Back came Bethel as Boegel would get into the paint for a score with :14 left and SMU would get one last score as sophomore reserve guard Caily Landers connected with a lay-up with :07 left but when the final buzzer sounded, the Royals had pocketed a comfortable 86-68 win.

After taking some good-natured ribbing from Herbrechtsmeyer on the Super Bowl, he immediately started gushing about what a great defender his junior point guard, Barker, really is.  And with good reason.  Barker finished this game with "only" five points and no steals but she does many other things that simply don't show up in the box score; such as forcing an opposing player to make a bad decision with her incredibly tough on-ball defense or scrambling for a loose ball.  In my mind, there's no better on-ball defender than Barker in the MIAC and maybe the entire upper-Midwest.  And even though sophomore guard Bella Williams didn't score on this night, she did start for the Royals and she's slowly but surely regaining full strength again after a tough bout with the flu a week ago.  Bethel finished this night with a sizable edge on the boards at 37-27 and forced 14 steals on this night as well.  The Royals also had a sizable advantage in points in the paint at 44-32 and had a 10-6 advantage in those all-important "second chance" points.  SMU's Foley and his staff no doubt had to wince a little when they saw that the Cardinals were guilty of 18 turnovers on this night and also shot only 24-59 from FG range for 40.7%; cooling off in the second half.  Indeed, it was a balanced scoring attack by Bethel that paved the way to victory on this night as Taite Anderson's 22 points led all scorers while both Pearson and Johnson tallied 18 points a piece and Schwarz would finish with 11 points.  Blattner was the only SMU player in double figures with her 21 points on this night.