Augsburg vs Bethel 2-19-20

Made the relatively quick run over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University on this bitterly cold Wednesday night for this massive late regular season game that featured visiting Augsburg going up against host Bethel.  All you had to do was to glance at the MIAC standings and regional rankings to see how huge this game truly was.  The Auggies were solidly in second place with a 16-2 conference record and 20-3 overall while the Royals were 17-1 in MIAC play and 22-1 overall.  I got settled into Robertson Center plenty early with some food from Arby's and God's Nectar (aka Pepsi) to wash it down and am glad I did because this place would be as packed and electric as I've never seen this venue before.

Bethel would grab the upper hand early in this game as senior forward Taite Anderson's offensive rebound and putback got the Royals on the board first at the 9:17 mark of the opening period and a short jumper off the glass by junior forward Makenna Pearson at the 8:33 mark gave the Royals a 4-2 advantage.  The Auggies would snatch the lead at 5-4 when senior guard Tamira McLemore nailed a "3" from the top of the key at the 8:16 mark but Bethel would respond with a 7-0 push thanks largely to Pearson.  The former Blaine standout would first connect with a lay-up off of an inbounds pass at the 7:57 mark and a short time later would drain a "3" from the top of the key at the 7:34 mark to make it 9-5.  Taite Anderson would also snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 6:29 mark to make it 11-5 before Augsburg could finally put together a run of their own.  Senior forward Camryn Speese would make a hard drive for a finish at the 6:06 mark and a jumper from the left elbow area by junior forward Jazmyn Solseth at the 5:26 mark had the Auggies back to within a single possession down 11-9.  A short jumper in the lane by sophomore reserve forward Jen Masello with 4:33 left kept Augsburg in that two-point range down 13-11 but the Royals would manage a bit more breathing space down the stretch of this first period.  Pearson would drain her second trey of this ballgame from the top of the key with 4:01 left and a score in the paint by Taite Anderson with 2:38 left had Bethel up 18-11.  The Auggies would try and close the gap again as Speese would make a hard drive for a finish off of an inbounds pass with 2:22 left and then sophomore reserve guard Selena Lor would snare a steal and dash the other way for a lay-up that again had Augsburg back in single possession range down 18-15 but the Royals' Taite Anderson; showing how much versatility she has, drained a "3" from the right corner with :48 left as Bethel carried a 21-15 lead into the second period.

The Royals achieved their largest lead thus far when junior guard Bella Williams made a hard drive for a finish at the 9:39 mark but Augsburg again quickly closed back to within a single possession.  Senior reserve guard K'aezha Wubben knocked down two free throws after getting fouled in a transition opportunity at the 8:33 mark and fellow senior guard Aiza Wilson drained her first trey of this game from the right wing area at the 8:17 mark to slash the deficit down to three at 23-20.  Bethel looked to be off and running again when Pearson buried her third "3" of this contest; this one coming from the right wing area at the 8:05 mark but the Auggies finally found the gear they had been looking for from the outset of this game and embarked on a surprising 11-0 run.  Wubben would first knock down two free throws after getting fouled at the 7:39 mark and would follow that up later with a lay-up in transition at the 7:05 mark to reduce the deficit down to two at 26-24.  At the 6:41 mark, Wubben would strike again with a drive along the right baseline for a finish that knotted this game at 26-all and a McLemore jumper from the left elbow area at the 6:02 mark pushed Augsburg out in front at 28-26.  McLemore would cap this run with her three-point bomb from the right wing area at the 5:35 mark to stretch the Auggie lead to 31-26 before Bethel could regroup and find itself again.  One free throw by junior reserve forward Elizabeth Schwarz at the 5:10 mark cut the deficit down to four points and with 4:00 left, Taite Anderson would again strut her stuff as she went coast-to-coast for a lay-up and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" shrunk the deficit down to a scant point at 31-30.  Another huge Taite Anderson play in the form of a drive along the right baseline for a finish with 2:37 left kept the Royals in that one-point range down 33-32 and a Taite Anderson score in the paint off of an inbounds pass with 2:01 left nudged Bethel back out in front 34-33.  Pearson would then strike gold from behind the arc again with her three-point bomb from the left wing area with 1:33 left to make it a 37-33 ballgame and this 10-2 Royals run had Auggie Head Coach Ted Riverso concerned enough to call a timeout to get his squad regrouped.  Still, Bethel was able to up its lead to 39-33 thanks to two free throws by sophomore reserve guard Sydney Blandin with :33 left before Augsburg's McLemore could get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with just :07.6 left.  Still, after seeing the run they had midway through this second period go for naught, it had to be a little bit of an uncomfortable feeling for Augsburg as both squads headed back to their respective locker rooms for the halftime break.  A check of the first half box score shows why Augsburg's Riverso and his staff had to be concerned during the halftime break.  Bethel owned the glass in the first half with a sizable 24-15 edge in rebounds and although Bethel did have 14 turnovers to Augsburg's nine, the Auggies were able to convert only 11 points off of those turnovers.  Bethel also was enjoying a 20-14 edge in points in the paint thus far and a 6-4 edge in those all-important "second chance" points.  Augsburg didn't shoot that great either from FG range going 13-31 for 41.9% and the Auggies were only 3-13 from downtown for 23.1%.  Bethel meanwhile shot better going 15-32 for 46.9% from FG range and was 5-8 from behind the arc (thanks largely to Pearson) for 62.5%.  One more stat that stands out to me:  Bethel had a 14-3 edge in bench points which would seem to indicate that Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer had more chess pieces to play with at this juncture and his player rotation was thus far paying dividends.

The Auggies at least got off on the right foot once the third period began as a score in the paint by Solseth at the 9:41 mark got Augsburg back to within a single possession down 39-36 but Solseth would pick up her third foul of this game a bit later at the 9:20 mark.  Wubben's two charity stripe shots at the 8:24 mark kept Augsburg in that three-point range down 41-38 but Speese would get hit with her third foul of this contest at the 7:56 mark.  As a result, the Auggies' Riverso was forced to make some line-up changes for preservation purposes for both Solseth and Speese and that perhaps may have opened up the dooor, so to speak, for Bethel as they launched a game-changing 8-0 run that had Robertson Center rocking.  Pearson would drop one free throw after getting fouled at the 7:55 mark and would drop two more freebies after getting fouled again at the 7:35 mark that not only extended the Royals lead to six at 44-38 but suddenly Bethel was now in the bonus as well.  The real kicker came when Taite Anderson was fouled with 4:27 left.  She would get the front-end to go down but the back-end attempt wouldn't cooperate.  That didn't seem to faze the former White Bear Lake standout at all as she was able to grab the offensive rebound of the missed free throw attempt and get a putback of it with 4:24 left that stretched the Royals lead to nine at 47-38.  Less than thirty seconds later, junior reserve guard Michaela Craigan would connect with a lay-up to give Bethel its first double-digit lead of this game at 49-38 and with a raucous student section and an Augsburg team that appeared to be wilting at perhaps the most critical juncture, the Auggies' Riverso was left with little choice but to take a match to a timeout.  But that stoppage in play didn't prevent the Royals from smelling blood as they were quick to move in for the kill.  Two Taite Anderson scores - a lay-up with 3:10 left and a score in the paint with 2:42 left - pushed Bethel's lead to 53-39 and a lay-up in transition by Craigan with :53 left had the lead at fifteen points at 55-40.  Even more damage was inflicted when Williams would snare a steal and race the other way for an easy lay-up with :29 left to make it 57-40 and although the Auggies stopped a little bit of the bleeding with :16.9 left in the third period on a free throw by senior point guard Ari Jones, Augsburg had a lot of ground to make up down 57-41 and the pressure defense that the Royals were employing was making any comeback attempt in a hostile environment on the road a daunting proposition at best.

Genuine concern swirled on the Bethel side at the 9:36 mark of the fourth period when Pearson took an inadvertent shot to the face but when she was able to get off the floor under her own power, the Royals didn't seem to miss a beat.  Sophomore reserve guard Tessah Anderson would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 9:35 mark and a lay-up by senior point guard Haylee Barker now had Bethel up 60-41.  And the Auggies seemed to slip further and further into the abyss as Solseth would foul out at the 7:42 mark and less than ten seconds later, Speese would collect her fourth foul of this game leaving her on the brink.  Augsburg did try to find some offensive production as Wilson would connect with a lay-up at the 6:23 mark and two Wubben free throws at the 5:49 mark had the deficit down to sixteen points at 62-46 but bringing this one all the way back by now was a forgone conclusion as the Royals now went into the process of closing this one out.  Schwarz would connect with a lay-up in transition at the 5:09 mark to make it 64-46 and one free throw by Williams with 4:51 left along with a Barker lay-up in transition with 3:45 left made it 67-48.  Augsburg would make one last attempt to cut into this cushion as McLemore would get two free throws to go down with 3:25 left and Jones would sink one freebie after getting fouled with 2:43 left and Wilson would uncork a "3" from the left corner with 2:15 left.  In this case, however, it was way too little, way too late.  Bethel's Tatie Anderson would sink two free throws with 1:55 left and Blandin would add a lay-up with 1:13 left for insurance as the Royals clinched their first regular season MIAC title since 1994 - and the number-one seed in the MIAC Playoffs as well - with a convincing 71-55 triumph. 

As I was finally able to weave around the madness of Robertson Center in the aftermath and catch up with Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer to offer my congratulations.  I mentioned to him that while maybe his team wasn't necessarily the 1985 Chicago Bears, the pressure defense his squad employed on this night sure made it seem like it at times.  Augsburg was simply taken out of its kind of game and shut down offensively in that third period as they were held to just one (!) field goal.  "It was fun" Herbrechtsmeyer said.  What can you say about  Taite Anderson?  Simply dominant at times on both ends of the floor and her ability to take over a game is something to watch.  But here's an even bigger positive for Bethel - she's getting a lot of help on both ends of the floor as well as everyone is stepping up from other starters to players off the bench.  If Bethel can continue playing defense like this, they can definitely go far.  Meanwhile, nothing short of a big setback for Augsburg and while they'll easily hang onto the second spot, their collective ego took a big hit tonight.  To give you an idea of how effective Bethel's defense was tonight, consider this:  The Auggies were held to 16-57 for 28.1% from FG range and an icy 4-24 from downtown for 16.7%.  Even worse was that Augsburg left a lot of points on the table going only 19-30 from the charity stripe for 63.3% and that's a figure that Riverso and his staff know all too well that needs to be much better.  Bethel simply hammered the Auggies on the boards on this night by a 48-34 count and although the Royals suffered 26 turnovers on this night, Augsburg was only able to get 12 points off of those turnovers.  Bethel also enjoyed a whopping 38-18 edge in points in the paint.  No surprise then that it was Taite Anderson's 25 points leading all scorers on this night along with 12 rebounds for a "double-double" while Pearson wasn't far behind with 23 points with much of her damage being inflicted from behind the arc.  McLemore led Augsburg on this night with her 13 points while Wubben added 12.