GAC vs Bethel 1-11-20

Made the relatively short drive over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University on this sunny but cold Saturday afternoon for yet another huge MIAC showdown as GAC made the trek up U.S. Highway 169 and the Union Pacific's Mankato Sub mainline to the Twin Cities to take on host Bethel in another Top-25 matchup.  The Gusties had come off a win at home against SMU on Wednesday night and were sporting a 7-0 conference record and were 11-1 overall while the Royals, of course, were coming off the thrilling win at Augsburg on Wednesday night and were 7-0 as well in conference play and a perfect 12-0 overall.  This would be my first look at the Gusties since their big win at UST back in December and their first "big" game in the conference since then.  And it would be important from a Bethel standpoint as well as they could ill-afford any emotional letdown after Wednesday night. 

GAC would draw first blood in this game when freshman sensation forward Caitlin Rorman connected with a lay-up at the 9:28 mark of the opening period but the Royals would respond with a 5-0 push.  Senior forward Taite Anderson would get one of her trademark tough scores in the paint at the 9:06 mark and draw a foul in the process and cash in on the obligatory free throw as well.  Junior forward Makenna Pearson would then connect with a lay-up to make it 5-2 at the 7:35 mark.  The Gusties would respond with a nice little push of their own as Rorman would connect with a lay-up in transition at the 6:58 mark and junior point guard Ava Gonsorowski made a pretty drive into the lane for a finish off the glass at the 6:32 mark to propel GAC back out in front by a 6-5 count.  Another Rorman lay-up in transition protected that two-point edge at 8-6 with 4:53 left and freshman reserve guard Maddy Rice made a big splash early on in this contest when she swished a "3" from the left wing area with 4:23 left and things were looking good for the Gusties at the moment anyway with an 11-7 lead.  But Bethel; as we all know too well, has faced bigger deficits than this in recent games and a four-point deficit in the first half was not going to faze them.  Pearson would knock down two free throws after getting fouled with 3:29 left and then the former Blaine standout would drain a "3" from the left top area with 2:35 left to shove the Royals back out in front by a 12-11 count.  Taite Anderson would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled as well with 1:52 left but GAC appeared to have steadied the ship when Gonsorowski connected with a pretty reverse lay-up underneath with 1:35 left to tie the game at 13 a piece.  It was here, however, where Bethel junior guard Bella Williams came up big for the home team as her score in the paint with 1:12 left gave the Royals the lead back at 15-13 and then with just :02 left in this first period, the Zimmerman native uncorked a dagger "3" from the left wing area that gave Bethel an 18-13 lead going into the second period. 

Ordinarily, a five-point deficit - even on the road - isn't that big of a deal and shouldn't have been for GAC and Head Coach Laurie Kelly had even tweaked her defense at the start of the second period; opting for a 1-2-2 zone defense in hopes of clogging up the middle.  The only problem was that the Royals got to cooking offensively and turned that five-point deficit into an even bigger hole.  A Pearson "3" from the right top area at the 9:11 mark ignited a key 8-0 run that really turned this game.  Freshman guard Kat Brown-Erdal made the Gusties pay in spades when she unloaded a "3" of her own from the right corner at the 8:30 mark and the former Jordan standout followed that up with a steal in the backcourt and an easy lay-up out of it that suddenly had the Bethel lead at 26-13 and the Gusties' Kelly was clamoring for a timeout as she tried to get her team calmed down.  That stoppage in play did seem to get this GAC team calmed down a bit as they were able to at least nibble into this deficit.  Freshman reserve guard Anna Sanders knocked down one free throw after getting fouled at the 8:10 mark and two more by willowy junior guard Marisa Gustafson at the 7:32 mark had the deficit down to ten points at 26-16.  Gonsorowksi, too, would knock down two charity stripe shots after she was fouled at the 6:29 mark but the Gusties needed a significant push to get back to within striking distance and that just wasn't happening as Bethel embarked on another push .  Sophomore reserve guard Tessah Anderson made a hard drive along the left baseline for a finish at the 6:07 mark and one free throw by freshman reserve forward Emma Schultz at the 5:19 mark increased the Royals lead to 32-18.  Junior reserve forward Elizabeth Schwarz would add one free throw as well at the 5:11 mark as well and with 4:17 left, Tessah Anderson came up big again as she connected with a short, turnaround jumper that grew Bethel's lead to seventeen points at 35-18 but perhaps the amazing thing about this push by the Royals is that their defense simply shut down the Gusties' half-court offense; not allowing a field goal until Rorman finally got into the paint for a score with 3:53 left.  Bethel certainly didn't have any intentions of letting up off the gas pedal anytime soon as one Taite Anderson free throw with 3:29 left and a "3" by Brown-Erdal from the left corner with 3:09 left now gave the Royals a nineteen-point cushion at 39-20.  Taite Anderson would knock down one free throw after getting foueld with 2:38 left that not only maintained the nineteen-point lead at 40-21 but GAC's position was even more precarious now as Rorman had collected her third foul as well.  The Gusties finally did start showing some signs of offensive life late in this second period as Rice would connect with a lay-up with 1:29 left and would add two free throws after getting fouled with :57.7 left that had the deficit down to fifteen at 40-25.  Gonsorowski would also add a free throw of her own with :10.6 left but GAC was still staring at that fifteen-point deficit down 41-26 as both teams headed to the locker room for the half.  Just to illustrate how good Bethel was on defense in the second period alone, the Gusties shot only 2-7 from FG range for 28.57%. 

It would only get worse for GAC once the third period got underway as the Royals embarked on a quick 7-0 push.  Taite Anderson connected with a short, one-handed shot at the 9:22 mark and a long offensive rebound by Brown-Erdal and lay-up off of that pushed the Bethel lead to 45-26.  Pearson would inflict more damage when she connected with a lay-up at the 7:26 mark and drew a foul in the process and her obligatory free throw gave the Royals their biggest lead of the day at 48-26.  Taite Anderson would increase that when she banged home a "3" from the left wing area at the 6:42 mark to make it 51-28 before the Gusties finally started showing some signs of life again.  Junior guard Alison Hinck knocked down two freebies after getting fouled at the 6:07 mark and two more by Rorman at the 5:11 mark at least had the deficit back within twenty down 51-32.  Gonsorowski would add a drive and finish with 4:27 left that reduced the deficit to seventeen at 51-34 but again GAC needed a significant run with stops if they were going to get back into this thing and it just wasn't happening.  The Royals would increase their cushion again as Schultz connected with a lay-up in transition with 3:53 left as would Taite Anderson with 3:00 left to make it 55-34 and one Taite Anderson free throw with 2:11 left made it 56-34.  A Schultz lay-up with 1:42 left maintained the twenty-two point lead at 58-36 and although the Gusties' Rice would knock down a a jumper from the left elbow with 1:09 left, GAC was still on the wrong end of a 59-38 score going into the fourth period. 

Bethel would increase their lead to 61-38 at the 8:50 mark of the fourth period when Taite Anderson connected with a routine lay-up before the Gusties finally came alive offensively and started showing what they're capable of when clicking on all cylinders.  A score in the paint by junior forward Paige Richert at the 8:32 mark got things going and although Richert would foul out a bit later at the 8:12 mark, GAC certainly wasn't waving the white flag.  Rorman would slither into the paint for one score at the 7:45 mark and would follow that up with a pretty, one-handed shot off the glass at the 7:25 mark that reduced the deficit down to seventeen at 61-44.  Gustafson unleashed a "3' from the right wing area at the 6:13 mark and a Rorman lay-up at the 5:35 mark had the deficit down to fourteen points at 63-49.  Eyebrows were raised amongst the partisan Bethel crowd when the Gusties' Rice drained a "3" from the right corner at the 5:03 mark that suddenly shrunk the deficit down to eleven points at 63-52.  Gustafson would add a lay-up with 4:04 left to keep GAC in that eleven-point range down 65-54 and again, had the Gusties not dug such a deep hole for themselves in that second period, this fourth period run could have been incredibly significant.  As it was, the Royals managed to steady the ship before any Bethel fans inside Robertson Center decided to break out the proverbial panic button.  Two scores in the paint by Schwarz - one with 3:48 left and another one with 3:05 left - upped the lead to fifteen at 69-54 and Taite Anderson would add even more insurance with a three-point bomb from the left top area with 2:11 left that made it 72-56.  Brown-Erdal would connect with a short jumper in the lane with 1:02 left for good measure and the Royals pocketed yet another conference win over another Top-25 opponent by a 74-58 margin. 

It was easy to see the satisfaction on Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer's face afterward when I congratulated him on his squad's latest conquest.  His team did what it had to do defensively; turning the screws on that kept the Gusties without a field goal for a significant stretch in that second period.  For the time being anyway, the only thing that was irking Herbrechtsmeyer was that his team didn't seem to be getting the respect it deserved nationally although you would think that, now with victories over both Augsburg and GAC in the same week, that perception would change significantly among other coaches in the nation although privately, Herbrechtsmeyer may wish his squad could fly "under the radar" a bit longer.  But the way this team is playing as of late, they're too good for that.  I was able to catch up with GAC Assistant Coach Dan Wolfe afterward who had to tip his hat to Bethel saying "They're seniors on a mission."  He did say, however, that the Gusties learned some things after they lost to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps over the Thanksgiving holiday out in California and they came back to beat both Hamline and get their first victory over UST in ten years in reeling off seven straight victories before today.  Now they'll need to do it again.  One big piece of the puzzle for the Gusties - junior guard Gabby Bowlin - suffered a fractured hand recently and could be out as long as 6-7 weeks and whether she'll be able to contribute before the season is done or not is uncertain at the moment.  A check of the final box score shows that Bethel had the advantage in the categories you would have expected them to have - a sizable 33-20 edge on the boards and a 36-28 edge in points in the paint.  Throw in a 14-4 edge in those all-important "second chance" points and its easy to see why Bethel dominated this game for the most part.  Perhaps the only other irritant for Herbrechtsmeyer and his staff were the 20 turnovers his squad was guilty of on this day.  The Royals shot 25-54 from FG range for 46.3% and were 7-20 from downtown for 35% - not great but all the other areas they excelled in more or less negated that.  Free throw shooting was a bit of a problem area for the Royals on this day as they finished 17-27 for 63%.  GAC meanwhile was 18-42 from FG range for 42.9% and were miserable from behind the arc on this day going 3-16 for a paltry 18.8%.  One bright note for Kelly and her staff:  The Gusties were pretty solid from the charity stripe going 19-22 for 86.4%.  Just a fabulous outing for Bethel's Taite Anderson as she led all scorers with her 25 points while Pearson added 14 points and Brown-Erdal was right behind with her 13 points.  Rorman paced GAC on this day with her 18 points while both Gonsorowski and Rice added 12 points.