GAC vs Bethel 2-13-19

Made my way over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University on this Wednesday night to take in this next-to-last regular season game as GAC made its way up U.S. Highway 169 and the Union Pacific's Mankato Sub portion of the "Omaha Route" mainline to the Twin Cities to take on host Bethel.  This would be my first (and likely only) look at the Gusties this season and even though they've managed to lock up a spot in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs again for the nineteenth straight time, this has been a trying season for the team and Head Coach Laurie Kelly and her staff as they were coming into this game with a 10-6 record in the conference and 13-10 overall after making a fabulous run to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last season.  This is a new-look team this year for the most part with a lot of youth and inexperience.  The Royals meanwhile had won their last three games and a win tonight would guarantee them the third spot in the MIAC Playoffs next week.

It took just a bit for both teams to feel each other out as defense, turnovers and errors took center stage in the first two minutes of the opening period.  Royal junior point guard Haylee Barker got the home team on the board first with a lay-up at the 8:00 mark and that lead expanded to 4-0 when fellow junior forward Taite Anderson connected with a lay-up in transition at the 7:35 mark.  GAC would cut the deficit to two points as sophomore guard Gabby Bowlin connected with a lay-up at the 7:07 mark and the Gusties would stay in that two-point range at 6-4 when senior forward Kendall Thompson connected with a lay-up of her own at the 6:11 mark.  Barker would push Bethel's lead to four points again when she dropped two free throws after getting fouled at the 5:57 mark to make it 8-4 and a jumper from the left elbow area by freshman reserve guard Tessah Anderson with 4:56 left maintained the four-point edge at 10-6.  GAC was able to crawl back to within a single possession on one free throw by senior guard Justine Lee with 4:19 left that made it 10-7 but the trademark pressure defense which is a Bethel trademark began to wear on the Gusties and that gave the Royals their first chance to get some separation.  Sophomore forward Makenna Pearson's jumper from the free throw line area with 4:06 left was the start of a 14-0 Bethel run that drastically changed the complexion of this game.  Willowy senior post Hannah Johnson would get a good look from behind the arc at the right top area and made the Gusties pay in spades with a bomb with 2:05 left and one Johnson free throw with 1:12 left had the Royals up by nine at 16-7.  That lead expanded to 18-7 when sophomore forward Elizabeth Schwarz made a drive for a finish with just :14 left as Bethel headed into the second period in very good shape.

GAC's Kelly tried switching things up on defense at the start of the second period by going to a 1-2-2 zone on defense but that tactic certainly didn't seem to faze the Royals any.  Pearson got her first three-point bomb of the night to go down at the 8:28 mark from the right corner and one Johnson freebie after the former Duluth East standout was fouled at the 7:54 mark had Bethel up 22-7.  Freshman reserve guard Allison Eide snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 6:45 mark to grow the lead to 24-7 and the Gusties' Kelly had seen enough to know that a full timeout was warranted.  GAC finally ended their extended drought a bit later at the 5:17 mark on two free throws by sophomore reserve guard Maddie Wagner and a "3" from the right top area by senior forward Kendall Thompson with 4:03 left reduced the deficit to fourteen points at 26-12 but the Gusties still had a lot of making up to do at this point and defensively they weren't doing themselves any favors either.  Bethel junior forward Taite Anderson would make a hard drive for a finish with 3:18 left and would also drop one free throw after getting fouled with 3:01 left to get the lead up to 29-12 and perhaps the only real fly in the ointment for the Royals at this point was that Pearson had collected her second foul with 2:21 left and had to come out.  GAC sophomore point guard Ava Gonsorowski would get two more point for her team with her drive and finish with 1:54 left but the Gusties never could seem to sustain anything in this first half.  Bethel's Taite Anderson would strike again with 1:13 left on a lay-up that drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" got the lead to 32-14 and one more free throw by Schwarz with :40.2 allowed the Royals to take a comfy 33-14 lead with them into the locker room at the half.  A check of the first half box score readily reveals the woes that the Gusties were encountering thus far.  Getting beaten on the boards by a 19-12 count was one thing but 16 first half turnovers had to make Kelly and Assistant Coach Dan Wolfe cringe.  Throw in the fact that GAC shot only 5-23 from FG range for an icy 21.7% and weren't a whole lot better from behind the arc either going 1-4 for 25% spoke volumes.  Bethel on the other hand shot a decent 12-26 for 46.2% from FG range and although they didn't necessarily set the world on fire from three-point land going 2-6 for 33.3%, it was their defense - as usual - setting the tone for this game.

GAC's situation only became more complicated in the opening moments of the third period when Lee collected her fourth foul of the night at the 9:32 mark and had to sit for a spell.  The Gusties tried desperately to cut into the already sizable cushion as Thompson would sink two free throws after getting fouled at the 9:04 mark and a score in the paint by sophomore post Paige Richert at the 8:18 mark kept GAC in the twenty-point range down 38-18 put another push by the Royals put the visitors from St. Peter in an even tougher spot.  One Barker charity stripe shot after she was fouled at the 8:05 mark and a score in the paint by Tessah Anderson at the 7:30 mark got Bethel up 41-18 and a score in the paint by Johnson at the 7:07 mark pushed the lead to 43-18 and the Gusties' Kelly had no choice but to take a match to a timeout as this one was clearly getting away from her squad for good.  But that still didn't stop Bethel from increasing its lead as two scores by Johnson - a short turnaround jumper in the lane at the 5:24 mark and a lay-up with 4:05 left - bulged the lead to 47-18.  Then it was two lay-ups from Pearson - one with 2:44 left and one in transition with 2:12 left - that ballooned the lead to 51-20 and once again GAC's Kelly was clamoring for a timeout.  To their credit, the Gusties seemed to come out with a renewed determination from this latest stoppage in play as Thompson would make a drive for a lay-up with 1:16 left and free throws - one by Bowline with :55.t left and two more by Gonsorowski with :23 left reduced the deficit to twenty-eight at 53-25 but Bethel would add to the pad just before the end of the third period when Pearson inflicted more damage with a three-point bomb from the top of the key with just :03 left to make it 56-25. 

GAC tried to lift the spirits of the likely glum Gustie supporters in the stands once the fourth period got underway as Maddie Wagner collected a baseball pass from Thompson to score on a lay-up in transition at the 9:21 mark.  Richert would get a score in the paint at the 8:01 mark and a short, turnaround jumper by 6'5" freshman reserve post Betsy Schoenrock at the 6:29 mark along with two Thompson free throws at the 5:49 mark all contributed to the Gustie effort.  The problem was, however, that GAC still found themselves down by almost thirty at 61-33 and all comeback attempts had long gone out the window in this one.  And the Royals hadn't shown any signs of letting their foot off of the gas pedal either.  Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer had slowly started inserting his reserves in by this point but they wanted to get a piece of the pie, too.  Freshman reserve guard Erin Tupy did her part by sinking two three-point bombs in the span of a little more than thirty-seconds - one from the left wing area at the 5:32 mark and another one from the right wing area with 4:58 left - that pushed the Royals lead to 67-35.  GAC still managed to make a valiant push down the home stretch to make a noticeable dent in this large cushion.  Bowlin dropped two free throws with 3:45 left after getting fouled and an offensive rebound for a putback by Schoenrock with 2:32 left got the deficit down to twenty-eight at 67-39 and a steal and lay-up the other way by the wily Lee with 2:20 left had the gap down to twenty-six at 67-41.  Lee would drop two free throws as well after getting fouled with 2:01 left and a Schoenrock score in the paint with 1:13 left had the deficit down to twenty-three at 68-45.  Sophomore reserve guard Hailey Sorenson dropped one free throw after getting fouled with :37 left and Lee would also get a lay-up in transition with :10 left but when the final buzzer sounded, the Royals still had a comfortable 68-48 victory. 

I caught up with a pleased Herbrechtsmeyer afterward who told me that "We wanted to send a message with our pressure defense tonight" and, given the 27 Gustie turnovers along with the 14 steals they got as well, I would tend to say - "Message delivered".  The defense that is this squad's identity is the best in the MIAC, IMHO, and the way they play it always gives them a chance when they get into big games - particularly next week in the MIAC Playoffs.  This team is definitely starting to play their best basketball at exactly the right time and they can find so many different ways to attack you.  Meanwhile, on the GAC side, they do have a spot locked up in the MIAC Playoffs as well but this is a vastly, vastly different team than what we saw the last couple of years when players like Mikayla Miller, Miranda Rice and Hannah Howard were leading the way for the Gusties that saw them make the NCAA Tournament twice; including last year's fabulous run to the Sweet Sixteen.  This is a team that simply looked lost at times on this night and they just don't seem to have that one "go to" person now that they enjoyed the last few seasons.  It will be interesting to see how the 6'5" Schoenrock develops as a player and once she gets stronger and a bit more experience under her belt, she'll be a force to be reckoned with.  This is a team that has talent for sure and Kelly told me afterward that she anticipates a great crop of recruits coming in.  As I told her when I spoke with her, "The tree will grow again.  But, it'll be a different tree."  Bethel had three players in double figures for scoring as both Taite Anderson and Pearson led the way with their 14 points and Johnson just missed out on a "double-double" with her 13 points and nine rebounds.  Thompson was the only player for GAC in double figures with her 11 points.  The Gusties managed to close the gap a bit on the boards but were still outrebounded on this night by a 33-27 count and it was just a miserable night of shooting as they were 15-50 from FG range for 30% and an ice-cold 1-9 from downtown for 11.1%.  Yikes.  Another number that has to come up for the Gusties for next week's MIAC Playoffs:  Their free throw shooting as they were 17-28 for 60.7 on this night and that will not get the job done in the post-season.  Bethel shot well on this night going 25-52 for 48.1% from FG range and weren't terrible from behind the arc going 6-14 for 42.9%.  Free throw shooting is still something that concerns me with this team at times as they were only 12-20 for 60%.  Again, this is something that MUST improve going forward.  Another important note:  Bethel had a decided edge in points in the paint by a 38-26 margin.