Saturday was an incredibly busy day from watching all the hoops on TV that included UCLA vs USC along with the Iowa Girls State Tournament but did manage to watch the MIAC action on this day as well.
In their very last game in the MIAC as a DIII opponent, UST traveled across town to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University to take on host Bethel in the 2:00 P.M. slot and came away with a 67-54 victory. The Tommies had a 12-7 lead after one period and enjoyed a 29-21 advantage at the halftime break. After struggling offensively in the first half, the Royals finally came out swinging in the third period. After trailing 34-27 early in the third period, Bethel was finally able to close the gap to a single possession down 34-32 after senior forward Elizabeth Schwarz connected with a lay-up at the 6:21 mark. But just when the Royals seemed primed to get this one tied up and possibly poke their nose out in front, things started falling apart for them again as UST would embark on an 8-2 push to grow its lead to 42-34 thanks to a timely "3" by sophomore forward Abby Mackenthun with 4:04 left in the third period. Bethel would attempt another comeback bid early in the fourth period and when sophomore guard Kat Brown-Erdal connected with a lay-up at the 9:45 mark that drew a foul with the resulting "and one" the Royals certainly seemed to have a new lease on life again down by a scant point at 44-43. Once again, however, Bethel would be turned back at the critical juncture as the Tommies started putting this one away for good. Junior post Brynne Rolland would knock down a pair of freebies after getting fouled at the 9:30 mark and a jumper by senior guard Noelle tomes at the 9:02 mark along with a back-breaking "3" by senior forward Kaia Porter at the 8:25 mark gave UST breathing room again up by six at 51-45 and the Royals never could get over the hump down the stretch as the Tommies ended their DIII and MIAC tenure with the victory. And what a day it was for two of the seniors on this UST team - Porter and Tomes - as they led the way with their 20 and 19 points, respectively. Freshman guard Katelyn Stanley played a key role as well with her 11 rebounds on this day as well. Bethel meanwhile relied heavily on Schwarz as she led all scorers on this day with her 23 points while fellow senior guard Makenna Pearson finished with 13 points. UST did have a 30-23 advantage on the boards thanks in large part to Stanley's heroics and a stingy Tommie defense held Bethel in check as the Royals were 20-58 from FG range for 34.5% and 3-18 from downtown for 16.7%.
The real surprise came in the 4:00 P.M. slot as an unheralded and winless Augsburg team traveled up to St Joe and pulled off a huge upset by knocking off host CSB 59-51. The Auggies started off hot on this day; grabbing an 18-11 lead after one period and although the Bennies were able to close the gap a bit by the halftime break down 26-22, they just looked flat on this day. They were still very much in the thick of things down a single possession at 37-34 going into the fourth period, they could never find that one spark that might have given them a huge boost to propel them over the top. Auggie freshman guard Kalena Myers was sensational on this day with her 18 points while both junior forward Jen Masello and fellow junior guard Selena Lor tallied 11 points on this day to pace the Augsburg attack. Senior forward Maddie Schmitz again led the way for CSB on this day with 23 points to lead all scorers while freshman guard Carla Meyer had 10 points. Inevitably, CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin will quickly point to his teams 24 turnovers on this day that proved to be fatal in the end. That stat alone effectively wiped out the huge 42-26 advantage the Bennies had on the boards. Throw in 19-51 shooting from FG range for 37.3% and 3-16 from behind the arc for 18.8% and it's easy to see how CSB came up short.
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