Was over at the Leonard Center earlier this afternoon to take in this interesting match-up between visiting Bethel making their way down Snelling Avenue to host Macalester. Both teams have been struggling this season and, even though this wasn't the premier game in the conference today this didn't take away from the fact that both teams and programs have a lot of pride and have not packed it in by any stretch.
I could tell that Bethel, for whatever reason, just seemed to have a lot of energy and intensity during the warm-ups and this translated positively for the Royals in the opening minutes as Macalester struggled mightily in their half-court offense. While Bethel was not exactly lighting it up early on either, they did bolt out to a 4-0 lead as fellow seniors Kelly Swenson and Kristi Nye-Studanski lead the way. Macalester took it's first - and only lead of the day after junior post Veronika Jakubovie scored inside at the 14:54 mark and fellow junior guard Carmen Whitehead's "3" from the left wing at the 14:13 mark for a 5-4 advantage. But Bethel seized control from that point. Freshman post Rachel Parupsky scored inside at the 10:41 mark just as the shot clock was about to expire. Then it was junior guard Katelyn Vavra's turn to steal the spotlight as she knocked down "3's" at the 10:15 and 8:11 marks that suddenly upped the Bethel lead to 15-7 before the Scots temporarily slowed them down as junior guard Emma Leyden knocked down a "3" from the right wing with 7:52 mark. But right back came the Bethel seniors; Nye-Studanski and Swenson to put more hurt on the home team. Nye-Studanski knocked down one shot from the charity stripe after being fouled and then it was Swenson, the athletic senior from Dawson banging home a "3" from the left wing with 6:13 left that had Macalester Head Coach Ellen Thompson calling for a timeout down 19-10.
But the Royals were not going to let up on the gas pedal just yet. After a Jakubovie turnaround hook shot with 5:25 left cut the Bethel lead to 20-12, it was the ever-improving Parupsky that got the lead back up to double digits with two free throws with 4:36 left and then a score inside with 3:56 left that made it a 24-12 ballgame. Then it was Vavra again with just 1:22 left making a sweet drive along the left baseline and finishing off the glass for a 26-13 Bethel lead. Macalester cut the lead back down to ten at the half with a drive and finish from senior point guard Kyanna Jones plus a free throw be Leyden with just :07 left but Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer had to be pleased with what he saw in the first half up 26-16. Now the question would become for this young team, could they finish in the second half?
Early on in the second half, that answer appeared to be an emphatic "yes". Nye-Studanski started off the second half with a running lay-up at the 18:37 mark. Macalester did briefly cut the Royal lead back down to single digits when Jakubovie scored inside at the 16:45 mark and Jones used her speed to drive inside and finish at the 16:17 mark. However, Bethel freshman guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz would make the Scots aware of her newfound three-point prowess as she drained one from the right wing at the 15:47 mark (and got one before at the 17:35 mark as well). Sophomore reserve post Lindy Parker grabbed an offensive rebound and got a putback at the 13:56 mark and then it was freshman reserve guard Hannah Niewald getting her name in the books by connecting with a jumper in the lane at the 12:35 mark. Then it was Parupsky doing the same with 11:55 left that bulged the Royal lead to 40-24 and capped a 9-2 run.
Macalester, by this time, had upped their defensive pressure and it finally began paying some dividends for them. They also finally found some rythm offensively and started to make a dent in the Bethel lead. After Jakubovie scored inside at the 11:28 mark it was the sweet shooting freshman from Sparta, Wisconsin Erin Murray who finally got untracked as she connected with a jumper from the left corner at the 10:59 mark and then manuevered inside for a score at the 9:12 mark that cut the Bethel lead down to ten at 40-30. Freshman reserve post Abby Purfeerst was able to score inside with 8:36 left and then it was Murray again knocking down a trey from the left top that cut the Bethel lead down to single digits once again at 42-35 and gave the Scots reason for hope. But this young Bethel team was not going to be denied on this day. Schultz got a lay-up in transition with 6:24 left and freebies by both Swenson and Parupsky got the lead back up to double digits at 48-37 with 4:28 left. The Scots would make one more push, however, that got the deficit down to single digits one more time. Leyden scored on a lay-up in transition with 3:49 left and then Purfeerst scored inside and was fouled in the process and, with the obligatory charity stripe shot, cut the Bethel lead down to 50-42. Both Purfeerst and Leyden put a brief scare into the Royals with scores that cut the Bethel lead down to six at 52-46 with just 1:03 left but Bethel refused to hit the panic button. Vavra knocked down two critical free throws with just :28.2 left after being fouled and the freshman Niewald got one freebie as well with thirteen ticks left on the clock as the Royals scored a cherished road win by a final score of 55-48.
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