SMU vs Bethel 1-4-20

Made the easy drive over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University on this relatively pleasant early January afternoon for my first MIAC women's game of 2020 featuring SMU and host Bethel.  The 2019-20 season thus far has been a struggle for the Cardinals as they were coming into this game with a 1-3 MIAC record and 1-8 overall while the Royals were unblemished and coming off convincing wins down in Naples, Florida against both Vassar and Salisbury and were ranked #25 in the D3Hoops.com rankings.  Naturally, everything would point to Bethel being the heavy favorite but, as always, you have to play the game.

Things would be tight in the early going of the opening period.  After Bethel freshman guard Kat Brown-Erdal put the home team up 2-0 on her jumper from the top of the key at the 8:40 mark, the Cardinals came right back less than a minute later to tie things up on a lay-up by junior guard Hallie Schmeling at the 8:11 mark.  The Royals claimed a 4-2 advantage on a score in the paint by senior point guard Haylee Barker but SMU would respond when junior guard Claire Patterson got to the charity stripe after getting fouled at the 6:12 mark and the former Stillwater Pony knocked down both free throw attempts to tie the score so, for the moment anyway, things were looking okay for the Cardinal faithful.  At least until the Royals decided to go on an 11-2 run over the next three minutes anyway.  Senior forward Taite Anderson started this run with a "3" from the top of the key at the 5:10 mark and one free throw by junior guard Bella Williams who was fouled in a transition opportunity with 4:53 left pushed Bethel's lead to 8-4.  Freshman reserve forward Emma Schultz would drain a "3" from the left corner with 4:36 left and a tough lay-up off of an inbounds pass by Williams with 3:54 left had the Royals up 13-6.  Junior forward Makenna Pearson's drive along the left baseline and finish with 3:00 left increased the lead to 15-6 and SMU Head Coach David Foley; worried that this one might get away from his team early on, called a timeout in hopes of cooling of their suddenly hot host.  To their credit, the Cardinals managed to shrink the deficit a bit as a score in the paint by junior reserve forward Rachel Kedl with 2:47 left and a "3" from the left corner by sophomore guard Shayley Vesel with 1:18 left had the deficit down to six at 17-11 before the Royals could find their groove again.  Brown-Erdal knocked down two charity stripe shots after getting fouled with :52.2 left and a Taite Anderson lay-up with :31 left gave Bethel their first double-digit lead of the afternoon at 21-11.  The Cardinals managed to crawl back into single-digit range again when sophomore reserve forward Jada Biermeier got into the paint for a score with :13 left in this first period but it plain to see that SMU had a lot of work in front of it.

One of the changes that the Cardinals' Foley made was changing to a 2-3 "match-up" zone defense in hopes of clogging up the middle.  While that change didn't necessarily "slow" Bethel down any, SMU did show some more punch on offense in the second period than they did the first.  The Royals re-established their ten-point lead at 23-13 when Taite Anderson muscled into the paint for a score at the 9:11 mark and although the Cardinals' Vesel would unleash a "3" from the top of the key at the 8:44 mark, Bethel's Brown-Erdal returned the favor at the 8:18 mark with her three-point bomb from the left corner to make it 26-16.  The Royals would grow the lead to 28-16 on a score in the paint by Williams at the 7:45 mark before SMU could start making inroads again.  Sophomore guard Brooklyn Paulson would drain a "3" from the left wing area at the 7:23 mark and then Vesel would connect with a short shot off of an inbounds pass and draw a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" at the 6:36 mark had the Cardinals back in single-digit range again down 31-22.  At the 5:50 mark, Vesel struck again from downtown as she drained a bomb from the left top area that suddenly shrunk the deficit to six points at 31-25.  That got the attention of Bethel as they went back to work to try and widen this gap.  One Taite Anderson free throw at the 5:32 mark coupled with a lay-up in transition by Barker at the 5:12 mark got the lead back to nine at 34-25 but this pesky SMU team refused to go away.  Vesel continued to wow the crowd on hand with her short, turnaround jumper with 3:53 left and then Paulson would bang home a "3" from the left wing area with 3:19 left that now had the Cardinals back well within striking distance down 34-30.  The Royals finally managed to dig in their collective heels at this point and establish some more breathing room.  Junior reserve forward Elizabeth Schwarz muscled into the paint for one score with 3:01 left and a short jumper by Barker in the lane with 2:14 left got Bethel's lead back to eight points at 38-30.  Another score in the paint by Schwarz with 1:37 left maintained the eight-point lead but the Royals made a ghastly mistake right before the halftime buzzer when SMU junior reserve forward Maggie Robertson was fouled well behind the arc trying to put up a desperation shot.  The Orland Park, Illinois native got two of the three free throw attempts to go down so the Cardinals were definitely in much, much better shape going into the locker room at the half down six at 40-34.

Things initially appeared hopeful for SMU in the early moments of the third period when Schmeling; the Onalaska, Wisconsin native, connected with a short jumper off the glass at the 9:18 mark that cut the deficit back down to four points at 40-36 but the Cardinals were then treated to the trademark Bethel defense that barely gives you room to even breathe; much less dribble and set up your offense.  A "3" from the top of the key by the Royals' Brown-Erdal at the 7:04 mark sparked a 21-4 explosion by Bethel that put this one out of reach for good.  Barker would follow-up with a short jumper off the glass at the 5:48 mark and a Taite Anderson score in the paint at the 5:09 mark had the Royals up 47-38.  With 4:39 left, Taite Anderson would strike again - this time with a "3" from the left corner - to make it 50-38 and once again SMU's Foley was clamoring for a timeout but in this third period, the Peter Principle was applying to his Cardinal team as the Royals continued with the onslaught.  Barker would snare one of her trademark steals near mid-court and dash the other way for a lay-up with 3:49 left and a drive into the lane and finish off the glass by Schultz with 2:10 left grew the lead to 54-38.  Williams would then snare a steal and dash the other way for a lay-up with :56 left and then Taite Anderson would cap off this third period run first by snaring an offensive rebound for a putback with :30 left and with just :00.2 left before the buzzer sounded ending this period, Taite Anderson drilled a "3" from the top of the key off of the glass to give Bethel a comfy 61-40 lead going into the fourth period.

And the Royals certainly didn't appear to be stepping off the gas pedal anytime soon once the fourth period got going.  Taite Anderson scored on a pretty give-and-go lay-up at the 8:40 mark and a Brown-Erdal "3" from the right wing area at the 7:27 mark expanded Bethel's lead to 66-43.  Junior reserve guard Michaela Craigan connected with a lay-up in transition at the 6:55 mark and a Schwarz lay-up at the 5:48 mark made it 70-47 before the Cardinals finally started showing some signs of offensive life again.  Patterson would get into the paint for one score at the 5:31 mark and would add one free throw after getting fouled with 4:48 left.  Schmeling would uncork a pretty "3" from the left top area with 4:15 left and a Paulson drive into the lane for a finish with 3:38 left had the deficit down to seventeen at 72-55.  Two late scores by Vesel - a "3" from the right corner with 2:57 left and a steal and lay-up the other way with 2:30 left - reduced the deficit down to fourteen at 74-60 but that's as close as SMU was going to get.  The Royals put the bow tie on this latest win as Taite Anderson would snare an offensive rebound for a putback and draw a foul in the process and her obligatory free throw got the lead back up to 77-60 and sophomore reserve guard and younger sister Tessah Anderson knocked down two free throws after getting fouled with :42.9 left as Bethel remained undefeated with a 78-62 triumph.

Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer was in agreement with me when I mentioned that maybe his squad didn't necessarily play their best today at all times but there was little question at the potential they showed when they turned up the heat on defense in that third period that, for all intents and purposes, basically stifled the Cardinals as they could do little offensively.  Barker, too, was just so impressive in that third period as she personally wreaked havoc on the SMU backcourt; causing numerous turnovers and getting steals.  Given the current state of affairs in the MIAC right now, I think one could make the argument that the Royals seem to have the inside track to their first conference regular season and playoff title since the Clinton administration but Herbrechtsmeyer and his staff are all too well aware of looking ahead and knowing that a lot of work remains ahead of them; most notably this coming Wednesday night when the Royals make the jaunt over to Augsburg.  "It's a huge game" Herbrechtsmeyer said when I brought up the subject although he downplayed the revenge factor considering how the Royals lost all three contests to the Auggies last season.  Over on the SMU side, Foley was in quick agreement when I asked him about how things went south for his squad in that crucial third period.  "You just can't turn the ball over like that" he was quick to say.  The puzzling thing about this Cardinal team is that there's a ton of talent on this squad.  But, at the same time, I think it's safe to say that they miss the graduated Brandi Blattner a lot more than they're willing to admit and it's incredibly difficult to try and replace a player like her who could do so much on both ends of the floor.  At first glance, the final box score reveals some rather deceiving numbers.  For example, it shows that SMU actually outrebounded the Royals by a 27-24 count and that the Cardinals did a very good job from the charity stripe going 13-15 for 86.7% which ain't bad.  But, when you dive deeper into those box score numbers, it's easy to see while Foley and the team likely had a not so pleasant trip back down U.S. Highway 61 and the Canadian Pacific Railway River Sub mainline back to Winona.  SMU was guilty of 28 turnovers on this day (it seemed like more than that) and the Royals took full advantage of that getting 35 points off of those untimely turnovers.  Points in the paint was likely another area that made Foley reach for the Rolaids on that trip back down the River as the Royals had a 42-24 advantage on that front.  And Bethel had 12 "second chance" points compared to zilch for the Cardinals.  Plus the Royals had a 13-4 advantage in fast break points.  Considering that the game was still relatively close at the halftime break, those things will just do you in.  Another solid, solid game from Taite Anderson who continues to bear most of the burden down low these days as she just missed finishing with a "double-double" with 25 points and nine rebounds.  Brown-Erdal; the promising freshman, contributed 13 points on this day while Barker added 10 points in addition to those eight steals she personally snared.  Vesel shouldered the bulk of the offensive work for SMU on this day as she tallied 23 points while Paulson was the only other player in double figures with her 10 points.