Made my way over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University once again on this overcast early February Saturday to take in the contest between visiting SMU which bounded up US Highway 61 and the Canadian Pacific Kansas City River Sub mainline to the Cities to take on host Bethel. The Cardinals were coming into this game on a rare two-game win streak. But, more importantly, they were coming off of easily their biggest win of the season thus far as they had knocked off GAC this last Wednesday night back home in Winona. The Royals had seemingly righted the ship as well after the loss at Augsburg as they were also riding a two-game winning streak coming into this game. More importantly, they were also fighting for seeding position in the upcoming MIAC playoffs as one of the top four teams so while this one might appear as an easy "W" on paper, Bethel certainly couldn't approach this game with that mindset.
Surprisingly, it would be SMU grabbing the upper hand early on this contest. Junior guard Ashley Streveler would get things going with her three-point bomb from the left wing area at the 9:32 mark of the opening period and one free throw by sophomore post Katelyn Cruze after she was fouled at the 9:01 mark had the Cardinals up 4-0. Bethel finally broke its early game offensive slump as freshman forward Hayden Glander connected with a lay-up at the 8:49 mark that drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" had the deficit down to a scant point. But the Royals continued to misfire on several opportunities over the next few minutes and this effectively opened up the door for SMU to hang onto its lead. Senior reserve forward Jada Biermeier would connect with a lay-up at the 6:21 mark to make it a 6-3 game and a jumper by Streveler from the right elbow area with 3:31 left maintained that three-point edge at 8-5. Bethel was able to find some semblance of offense again as a score in the paint by freshman guard Courtney Nuest with 3:10 left sliced the deficit back down to one again at 8-7 and the Royals finally poked their nose out in front at 9-8 when fifth-year senior guard Makenna Pearson made a hard drive into the lane for a finish with 2:28 left. Curiously, Bethel was unable to hold onto this lead for long as the Cardinals came right back. Freshman reserve guard Maggie Newhouse would connect with a lay-up with 1:20 left to push SMU back out in front 10-9 and one Biermeier free throw after she was fouled with 1:05 left made it 11-9. With just :15.4 left in this first period, the Cardinals got another positive as senior guard Brooklyn Paulson snagged an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback as SMU found themselves up 13-10 and the Bethel faithful inside Robertson Center on this early Saturday afternoon had every reason to feel a bit uneasy at the moment.
Naturally, the Cardinals were hoping to keep the positive vibes from this last Wednesday night's huge upset win over GAC going into this contest but they would soon find out life is much more difficult on the road than it is at home in the MIAC. Bethel would get this game tied at 13 when slender junior reserve guard Kat Brown-Erdal drained a "3" from the left top area at the 8:19 mark of the second period and one Glander free throw after she was fouled at the 7:43 mark pushed the Royals ahead 14-13. That lead would expand to three when Brown-Erdal connected with a lay-up at the 6:42 mark but there would still be problems for Bethel to overcome as both Pearson and junior reserve forward Emma Schultz would collect their second fouls of the ballgame and had to retreat to the bench. As such, SMU was able to trim the deficit to a scant point at 16-15 when freshman guard Izzy Goettelman made a nifty drive for a finish at the 5:56 mark. It was here, however, where this contest turned on a dime as the Royals turned up their trademark defensive heat and closed this second period on a 12-1 run. Sophomore guard Anna Garfield; quiet up until this moment, got this key run going with her lay-up at the 5:25 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by Nuest with 4:57 left had Bethel up by five at 20-15. Garfield would repeat her earlier feat with another lay-up with 4:30 left and a short, turnaround jumper by senior reserve forward Megan Boegel with 3:51 left pushed the lead to 24-15 and Cardinals Head Coach David Foley clearly saw this one getting away from his team and called a timeout in hopes of stemming the tide. But the Royals would continue this push with back-to-back scores by freshman reserve guard Kendal Cox - a score in the paint with 2:49 left and a tough drive along the left baseline for a finish with 2:19 left - to stretch the lead to 28-15. SMU would finally stop some of the bleeding with sophomore guard Macey Petron got sent to the charity stripe with :51.7 left after getting fouled and got one free throw to go down but a relatively close game suddenly had turned into a double-digit deficit for the Cardinals as both teams headed for the locker room at the halftime break.
Despite the fact that Bethel's Pearson would collect her third foul of the afternoon at the 9:49 mark of the third period and had to retreat to the bench (again), it still didn't prevent the Royals from stretching out their double-digit lead even more. Schultz would snare a steal and race the other way for a lay-up at the 8:39 mark to make it 30-16 and although SMU's Streveler would bang home her second trey of the afternoon from the left top area at the 8:18 mark to narrow the gap a bit, the Cardinals were unable to keep up with the Bethel onslaught. Glander would muscle into the paint for one score at the 8:05 mark and Nuest's steal at the halfcourt line and subsequent lay-up the other way at the 7:28 mark got the Royals' lead to 34-19. Then Cox would connect with a lay-up in transition at the 6:48 mark and a score in the paint by Boegel at the 5:27 mark made it 38-19 and once again SMU's Foley had to take a match to a timeout in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. Still, the Royals would continue on as Garfield was able to connect on a short jumper from the right side with 3:26 left and two more scores by Cox - a jumper from the left elbow with 2:29 left and a lay-up in transition with 1:35 left - increased Bethel's lead to 44-19 before the Cardinals finally broke their extended drought on an offensive rebound and putback by Cruze with 1:16 left. The Royals would add two more scores before this third period was mercifully over for SMU as Nuest would slither into the paint for one score with :58 left and one free throw by Glander after she was fouled with :31.7 left left little doubt as to how this one was going to turn out with Bethel now up 47-21.
Whether it was for "style" points or just a very efficient offensive performance by the Royals in the fourth period can be left for debate but Bethel certainly did not let its collective foot off the gas pedal. Glander would unleash a three-point bomb from the left wing area at the 9:06 mark to make it 50-21 and she would also show her versatility with a drive and finish at the 8:11 mark to make it 52-23. At the 7:16 mark, Glander would strike again from downtown with a bomb from the left wing off the glass and on the subsequent SMU possession, Nuest would snare a steal in the backcourt and get a lay-up out of it that would also draw a foul and her ensuing "and one" at the 7:03 mark ballooned the lead to 58-24. Cardinals reserve freshman guard/forward Aubree Kranz would connect on a drive and finish at the 6:52 mark to try and patch up the massive hemorrhaging to no avail. Bethel's Brown-Erdal would connect on a very sleek lay-up in transition to make it 60-26 and with such a comfortable cushion, Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer was now able to insert more and more of his reserves and they were able to put on a show as well. Freshman reserve forward Lydia Hagstrom would knock down one free throw after getting fouled with 4:13 left and then freshman reserve guard/forward Lauren Johnson would drain a "3" from the top of the key with 3:12 left to make it 64-26. Hagstrom would also connect with a lay-up with 2:34 left and with 2:01 left, Johnson would delight the crowd (and the Bethel bench) with her second trey from the top of the key. Freshman reserve guard Autmn Earney would also get two late scores as well - a jumper along the right baseline with :31 left and an offensive rebound and putback in transition with just :19 left as the Royals rolled to a resounding 73-29 victory.
I was able to catch up with Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer who admitted that his squad didn't get off to the kind of start he had hoped for but he was really pleased with how his squad performed when they turned up the heat with their trademark defense. I did mention to him that perhaps the only item that concerned me a bit was that there were still some missed opportunities once they were able to create turnovers but Herbrechtsmeyer felt that his squad still has to learn how to control the intensity once they transition from defense to offense and that they're getting better at that. Interestingly enough, Herbrechtsmeyer admitted that the misfortunes of COVID-19 has, in an odd sort of way, allowed his younger and reserve players an opportunity to really grow which in turn has enabled them to step right in and provide quality minutes when they've had to. We've been seeing that with players such as Cox, Schultz, and Boegel. This very well could pay huge dividends for the Royals once the MIAC Playoffs begin. I also asked about Brown-Erdal and how she's been recovering from her setbacks with injuries. Herbrechtsmeyer felt that she's now been able to make significant strides on both ends of the floor where; perhaps a week ago, maybe she wasn't at full strength on the defensive end.......When I was finally able to catch up with SMU's Foley afterward, he mentioned that their (Bethel's) defense just locked them down after an encouraging first period but he still felt that the win over GAC on Wednesday night was a huge thing for his squad and they're hoping that they can build off of that.
Interestingly enough, Bethel only out-rebounded SMU by one at 38-37 but beyond that, the numbers were just terrible for SMU - and a lot of that was because of the defensive heat administered by the Royals. Consider: the Cardinals shot 11-53 from FG range for 20.8% and were just 3-14 from downtown for 21.4%. It doesn't end there. SMU was guilty of 34 turnovers on this day compared to just 12 for Bethel and then you throw in the fact that Bethel had a huge advantage in points in the paint at 46-14 along with whopping advantages in points off of turnovers (30-6) and bench points (37-13) and it's easy to see how this game transpired. Another solid day for Glander as she tallied 16 points to lead all scorers; including going 2-3 from downtown. Both Nuest and Cox would finish with 11 points to help lead a well-balanced scoring attack for Bethel. SMU was led by Streveler as she finished with eight points.
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