MIAC Championship Game - Augsburg vs Bethel 2-29-20

Made the relatively short run over to Robertson Center on this sunny and pleasant leap Saturday for the Main Event in MIAC Women's Basketball - the MIAC Championship Game with Augsburg coming in to take on host Bethel.  I arrived early but already Robertson Center was filling up; particularly on the Bethel Student Section side which forced me to the upper level in the media area which was probably just as well.  By the time tip-off time neared, Robertson Center was absolutely rocking - and rightfully so.  This game would be the first time since 2009 that had someone other than UST or Carleton in it and both Augsburg and Bethel fans were understandably excited.  Both teams came into this game looking to be "locks" for the upcoming NCAA Tournament but considering what happened to the Auggies last year, neither side wanted to take any chances and get the automatic bid with the win.

Auggie Head Coach Ted Riverso and his staff likely remembered all too well of the Stalingrad-esque disaster they endured when Augsburg was over here a mere week and a half ago and knew all too well that they needed to get off to a much better start this time around with the stakes so high.  And the Auggies did exactly that as a drive and finish by senior guard Tamira McLemore at the 9:44 mark of the first period drew first blood and two free throws by fellow senior forward Camryn Speese at the 8:15 mark gave Augsburg a 3-1 lead.  Two free throws by McLemore after she was fouled at the 6:08 mark and a lay-up by sophomore reserve post Jen Masello at the 5:27 mark gave the Auggies a five-point cushion at 8-3.  Bethel climbed back to within a single possession when slender freshman guard Kat Brown-Erdal knocked down a jumper along the right baseline with 4:22 left but Augsburg was making a concerted effort to attack the rim early and it paid dividends for them.  Senior reserve guard K'aezha Wubben got one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 3:59 left and two more by junior forward Jazmyn Solseth with 3:28 left had the Auggies up 11-5.  The Royals would again close back to within a single possession when Brown-Erdal drained a "3" from the right corner with 3:16 left and one free throw by junior forward Elizabeth Schwarz with 2:10 left had the deficit down to two points at 11-9.  With 1:57 left, Bethel would assume its first lead of the afternoon when senior forward Taite Anderson made a three-point play the old-fashioned way by connecting on a lay-up and drawing a foul in the process and sinking the obligatory free throw that came with it.  But that small lead didn't last long as the Auggies closed out this opening period with a 7-0 push.  Solseth connected with a short shot with 1:06 left to put Augsburg back out in front 13-12 and a three-point bomb by McLemore from the left wing area with :40 left upped that lead to 16-12.  With just :17 left in this opening period, McLemore would strike again with a lay-up in transition as the Auggies carried an 18-12 advantage going into the second period. 

Augsburg would stretch that lead to eight points early on in the second period when Solseth; continuing to be aggressive in taking the ball to the hole, got sent to the foul stripe at the 9:45 mark and the former St. Croix Lutheran standout knocked down both free throws to make it a 20-12 game and a Solseth lay-up at the 8:16 mark maintained that eight-point edge at 22-14.  The Royals managed to tighten things up a bit thanks to Schwarz as her score in the paint at the 7:49 mark and her lay-up in transition at the 7:27 mark shrunk the deficit in half down 22-18.  But it didn't take long for the Auggies to build that advantage back up to eight points again and it would be freshman reserve forward Jaley Coplin inflicting the damage.  Her hard drive along the left baseline and finish at the 7:14 mark and two free throws at the 5:28 mark re-established the breathing room that they had earlier with a 26-18 lead.  Bethel would flirt with comeback attempts as freshman reserve forward Emma Schultz connected with a lay-up at the 5:11 mark to get the deficit back down to six at 26-20 and one Schwarz freebie after she was fouled with 3:32 left kept the Royals in that six-point range down 27-21.  Augsburg's Solseth would get her team's lead back to eight when she connected with a tough short jumper in the lane off the glass with 2:55 left but then the Royals would finally get things clicking at a very opportune time.  A score in the paint by Schwarz with 2:31 left again got the deficit narrowed down to six at 29-23 and then junior reserve guard Michaela Craigan; like a thief in the night, snared a steal and raced the other way for a lay-up with 2:10 left that tightened things up more at 29-25 and the Auggies' Riverso; not at all liking these recent developments, called a timeout in hopes of killing off the sudden momentum the home team was getting.  But Bethel would end this second period with a 6-2 push that got this one leveled.  Sophomore reserve guard Tessah Anderson got into the paint for one score with 1:23 left and senior point guard Haylee Barker connected with a lay-up with :40.3 left that drew a foul in the process and although the former Maple Grove standout couldn't get the ensuing "and one" to go down, the deficit was now reduced to two points at 31-29.  That little problem was taken care of right before the halftime buzzer when Schultz connected with a lay-up with :04.1 left as both teams headed to their respective locker rooms with this thing now deadlocked at 31 a piece.  The first half box score shows some interesting numbers - one being that Augsburg committed only four turnovers compared to Bethel's 12 and the Auggies were able to generate 10 points off of those turnovers.  But Riverso and his staff likely had to cringe a little when they looked at the rebounding front which showed that Bethel had a sizable edge on the boards so far by a 24-14 count and that the Royals enjoyed a 22-14 edge in points in the paint.  Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer and his staff likely had cause for concern as well as the Royals left a lot of points on the table from the charity stripe going 4-12 for 33.3% compared to Augsburg's 14-18 for 77.8%. 

Things would grow a bit more precarious for the Auggies once the third period got underway as Speese was tagged with her third foul of the afternoon right off the bat at the 9:48 mark but Riverso decided to roll the dice here and keep her on the floor for the time being.  Bethel nudged ahead when junior forward Makenna Pearson was fouled behind the arc at the 9:27 mark and got two free throws to go down with the deal to make it a 33-31 ballgame.  Augsburg would recover just enough, however, to get back into the lead as senior point guard Ari Jones nailed a "3" from the left wing area at the 8:44 mark and a lay-up in transition by Speese at the 8:20 mark had the Auggies up 36-33.  At the 8:09 mark, McLemore was hit with her third foul of the day but Augsburg still kept plugging away and managed to at least maintain its edge.  Speese knocked down a pair of free throws at the 7:56 mark to keep the lead at three points at 38-35 and a Solseth lay-up off of an inbounds pass at the 7:11 mark did as well at 40-37.  The Auggies got even more breathing room when Solseth connected with a lay-up at the 5:26 mark to get the spread to five points at 42-37.  Despite Bethel's Pearson getting slapped with her fourth foul of the day with 3:18 left, the Royals were still able to get this deficit shrunk again.  Brown-Erdal made a daring steal and raced the other way for a lay-up with 3:05 left and a Taite Anderson lay-up in transition with 2:43 left suddenly slashed the deficit down to a scant point at 42-41.  Alarmed by this latest development, Augsburg set out on another push to increase their safety net.  One Solseth free throw with 2:35 left and a tough offensive rebound and putback by Masello with 2:08 left got the lead to four at 45-41 and a three-point bomb from the left wing area by Jones from the left wing area with 1:29 left got the lead to six at 48-42.  But just as they had before the halftime break, the Royals got this game leveled again with a quick 6-0 run.  Two Barker free throws after she was fouled with :58.1 left and a Brown-Erdal lay-up in transition after a steal with :35 left got the deficit down to two at 48-46 and then Schwarz would muscle her way into the paint for a score with just :02 left as things were most definitely up in the air now with this game tied at 48.

The Auggies looked like they had regained the edge in the early moments of the fourth period as one Masello free throw at the 9:06 mark and a score in the paint by Speese at the 8:26 mark had Augsburg up 51-48.  Plus the fact that Bethel's Taite Anderson had to retreat to the pine after picking up her fourth foul of the afternoon as well during this sequence certainly made it seem like the needle was pointing the Auggies' way.  But the Royals had vastly different ideas and they moved quickly to get this game tied again.  Schwarz was able to get a score in the paint off of an inbounds pass at the 8:12 mark and was fouled in the process and her ensuing "and one" knotted this game again at 51 a piece and now Augsburg's Speese had to retreat to the bench after picking up her fourth foul as well.  One Barker free throw at the 8:02 mark pushed Bethel ahead at 52-51 and although the Auggies would take it back a short while later on two Jones freebies at the 7:48 mark, it was becoming more and more evident that momentum was clearly resting with the Royals.  That became even more evident when Pearson unleashed a "3" from the right top area at the 7:30 mark to push Bethel out in front again at 55-53 and sparked a key 7-2 run.  Barker would make a hard drive for a finish at the 6:08 mark and a tough score in the paint by Schwarz at the 5:20 mark now had the Royals up 59-55.  To their credit, the Auggies would get this game knotted as McLemore would make a hard drive for a finish at the 5:07 mark and a Speese lay-up with 4:16 left had this one leveled again at 59-all.  But a key moment that may have signaled Augsburg's demise in such a tight, close contest came a bit later with 3:40 left when Speese was sent to the foul line.  Both free throw attempts went awry and that seemed to leave the door wide open for Bethel to establish just enough space to pave the way to ultimate victory.  Brown-Erdal connected with a lay-up with 3:21 left and a Taite Anderson lay-up in transition with 2:44 left not only had the Bethel student section exploding but more importantly, it put the Royals up by four at 63-59.  That lead would soon expand to six with 2:26 left when Pearson was sent to the charity stripe and the former Blaine standout got both attempts to go down to make it 65-59 and now the Auggies were truly in trouble.  To their credit, Augsburg was able to crawl back to within a single possession as Speese was able to make a hard drive for a finish with 2:15 left that also drew a foul in the process but couldn't connect on the obligatory free throw.  With 1:40 left, Solseth knocked down a short jumper in the lane to trim the deficit down to two points at 65-63 but the Auggies never could poke their nose out in front again.  Bethel's Taite Anderson got into the paint for an important score with 1:15 left to push the lead to four at 67-63 and one Taite Anderson free throw with :26.5 left kept the spread at four points at 68-64.  Augsburg's Riverso would subsequently call a timeout to set up a play and with :19.5 left, the Auggies tightened things up when McLemore connected with a lay-up that cut the deficit down to two points at 68-66.  But now Augsburg had to foul to preserve clock as well.  Bethel's Barker would get sent to the line where she dropped two free throws after getting fouled with :17.5 left to make it 70-66.  The Auggies' Riverso called another timeout to set something up and Speese was able to get a score in the paint off of an inbounds pass with :13.6 left that again cut the deficit to two points at 70-68.  The Royals' Herbrechtsmeyer would call a timeout of his own to make sure everyone was on the same page with strategy.  With :11.3 left. Augsburg was forced to foul again and that sent Barker to the line once more and the pressure didn't faze her one bit as she calmly knocked down both attempts to make it 72-68 and ended any hopes the Auggies may have had about keeping this a one-possession game.  Bethel hounded the Auggies on the periemeter on their last possession and although Augsburg's Wubben would get one last score with an offensive rebound for a putback with :04.3 left, it would be Bethel claiming their first MIAC Championship Game title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as the students rushed the floor to celebrate the 72-70 victory. 

The bedlam that followed on the floor afterward with the celebration and the cutting down of the net by the victorious Royals delayed me in getting to talk to some of the key figures in this game but I did eventually catch up with Herbrechtsmeyer shortly before he had to get on the ladder.  "Wooooo!" he said in half relief, half celebration.  "What a great game and great atmosphere......Our student section was great and the Augsburg student section was great."  Herbrechtsmeyer was quick to give Augsburg a lot of credit for coming in with a solid game plan and holding the upper hand for most of the contest but when the chips were down, the Royals found a way.  I also was able to catch Bethel's Barker afterward as well.  "We never got down on each other....We kept saying 'We're good, we're good' in the huddles and kept playing defense."  And truly Bethel's defense on this day came to the forefront when it had to.  When you glance at the final box score on this one, you'll see right away that Bethel had the huge edge on the boards by a 38-26 count but I think just as important was a stat that often gets overlooked and that is bench points where the Royals enjoyed a 27-17 advantage.  Bethel also enjoyed a 44-38 edge in points in the paint and a 14-7 edge in those all-important "second chance points".  Now, Augsburg had less turnovers than Bethel did on this day with the Royals turning it over 18 times to the Auggies 15 times.  But, the Royals also got more points off of those turnovers than Augsburg did by an 18-16 count.  I had mentioned in my MIAC Playoff Preview that Augsburg's shaky free throw shooting could be a factor in this whole thing and, as sure as a bear does its thing in the woods, it reared its ugly head to be sure.  On this day, Augsburg was 21-31 from the charity stripe for 67.7% and that's simply not going to get the job done in a close game.  But let's drill down deeper into this.  I would argue that it wasn't so much all of the missed free throws.  Rather, it was WHEN they missed them that proved to be costly.  I pointed out Speese's two missed attempts with 3:40 left and that one "and one" she had with 1:40 left.  And not to place the blame squarely on one player or pile on her on here which is not my objective at all (God knows there's enough blame to pass around), the bottom line is that you've gotta make those free throws in a close game when things are hanging in the balance and it could have at least changed the complexion of things had they been able to cash in more.  And, to be sure, Bethel wasn't setting the world on fire with their free throw shooting either as the Royals were 20-33 for 60.6% (and Herbrechtsmeyer will be the first to tell you that that number needs to get much better) but they had enough to make up for that in other areas.  And Augsburg actually shot better from FG range than Bethel did as the Auggies were 23-49 for 46.9% while the Royals were 25-61 for 41%.  Neither team shot the lights out from behind the arc either as Augsburg was 3-12 for a straight 25% and Bethel was 2-10 for 20%.......The real surprise for most on this Saturday afternoon was that it was a bench player; Schwarz, who would just have a monster day leading the way for Bethel with her 17 points.  Brown-Erdal wasn't far behind with her 15 points and both Taite Anderson and Barker; hounded by the Auggies all day, still finished with 11 points.  Augsburg's Solseth had a solid day as well as she finished this day with 17 points to lead the Auggie attack while both Speese and McLemore finished with 14 points a piece. 

I think it's interesting to point out that I've watched this Bethel program take baby steps from when Herbrechtsmeyer first assumed the position as Head Coach back in the mid-2000s.  The ascension has been slow but sure; getting their first winning record in the 2008-09 season and repeating that in both 2011 and 2012 and putting themselves into position for the MIAC playoffs.  In 2015, they took the next step in getting to the MIAC Championship Game and although losing to eventual champion UST, they got their very first bid to the NCAA Tournament.  The Royals kept knocking on the door over the next four years and now finally in 2020, they've taken the next step in winning the MIAC regular season title and taking their very first MIAC Championship Game title as well.  Congratulations to the Bethel Royals!