Made the easy drive over to Robertson Center in Arden Hills on the campus of Bethel University on this very pleasant late February evening to take in one of the MIAC Semifinal Playoff games taking place on this night - this one featuring visiting CSB which had knocked out Concordia two nights earlier up in Moorhead and number one-seeded Bethel. These two team had hooked up just this last weekend at this very same venue where the Royals emerged victorious 78-66 but the Bennies; fresh off their big win from two nights ago, were coming into this contest and hoping to upset the apple cart once more.
Bethel would grab an early 4-0 lead as fifth-year senior forward (and former Bennie) Lydia Hay would connect on a lay-up at the 9:46 mark of the opening period and junior combo guard/forward Rosalie Penke would follow suit less than a minute later at the 9:06 mark. The Royals would maintain this early four-point cushion at the 8:21 mark when lanky senior combo/guard forward Elly Schmitz slithered into the paint for a score to make it a 6-2 ballgame and Bethel would up its lead to six when fifth-year senior Anna Garfield connected on a lay-up at the 7:35 mark to make it 8-2 before the Bennies finally got things sorted out on the offensive end. Freshman point guard Lauren Arnold would make a nifty drive for a lay-up at the 6:52 mark and then junior guard Megan Morgan got into the act as she would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 5:56 mark and would make up for the missed attempt a bit later when she uncorked one of her trademark southpaw three-point bombs - this one from the left wing area at the 5:38 mark - that tied the game at eight a piece. The Royals regained the lead at 10-8 when sophomore reserve forward Emily Erickson connected on a lay-up at the 5:21 mark but right back came CSB. Arnold would make another daring drive into traffic for a pretty finish at the 5:01 mark to create a 10-10 tie. Bethel would answer the bell again as Erickson maneuvered into the paint for one score with 4:40 left and one free throw by Elly Schmitz after she was fouled with 3:52 left had the Royals up 13-10 but then the Bennies started inflicting more damage from behind the arc that helped them gain the upper hand down the stretch of this first period. Senior guard Sophia Jonas; one of the premier three-point slayers in the MIAC, unleashed one of her trademark bombs from the left wing area with 3:30 left to get this contest leveled at 13 and then junior reserve guard Megan Driste would drain a "3" of her own from the left corner with 1:27 left that now pushed CSB in front by a 16-15 count. With just under a minute remaining in this opening period, slender junior combo forward/post Kira Young would dart along the right baseline and get a tough finish with :58.5 left as the Bennies were now carrying an 18-15 advantage that closed out this back-and-forth first period.
Bethel would take the lead back early on in the second period as Penke made a hard drive into the lane and kissed the finish off the glass at the 9:39 mark and a short jumper off the glass by Erickson at the 8:57 mark had the Royals back out in front by a 19-18 count. Not to be outdone, CSB regained its earlier three-point edge as senior combo guard/forward Olivia Boily snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 8:07 mark to put the Bennies back out in front 20-19 and a pretty drive and lay-up by freshman reserve guard Tatum Findley at the 7:15 mark gave CSB a 22-19 edge and things certainly were looking on the up and up for the Bennies at this point. But no one inside Robertson Center - certainly not yours truly - could have possibly envisioned what would transpire the rest of the way in this second period as Bethel simply clamped down on defense and proceeded to put CSB in a vice grip as the Royals proceeded to rip off an incredible 31-0 run that would extend past the halftime break. The cruelly ironic thing for CSB is that this run would be sparked by the same Royals player who had burned them this last Saturday - sophomore reserve guard Macey Littlefield. The former Centennial standout started off this incredible run by burying a "3" from the left wing area at the 6:48 mark to tie the contest and then a score in the paint by sophomore reserve forward Cally Peterson at the 6:18 mark put Bethel out in front for good at 24-22. Littlefield would strike again on a lay-up at the 5:47 mark and when Elly Schmitz banged home a "3" from the right wing area at the 5:17 mark to make it 29-22 and Bennies Head Coach Mike Durbin knew his squad was in danger and quickly called for a halt to the action in hopes of making some quick fixes on the defensive end. Sadly for CSB, there were no quick fixes to be had as the Royals continued with this onslaught. Junior reserve forward Alli Born would bury a "3" from the left wing area with 4:28 left and a lay-up by Erickson with 3:51 left had Bethel up 34-22. Garfield would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled with 3:21 left and with 2:33 left, Elly Schmitz would snare an offensive rebound for a putback to make it 38-22. Then, when Peterson maneuvered into the paint for a score that stretched the lead to 40-22, CSB's Durbin likely knew his team was likely beyond the point of no return in this one and was forced to take a match to another timeout to get his team calmed down. But there was nothing that the Bennies could do to slow this Royals team down as Bethel closed out this second period with two more scores. Erickson would connect on a lay-up with :43 left and Elly Schmitz would do the same just before the clock expired with :00.7 left as Robertson Center was a raucous, noisy place with the Royals up 44-22.
Bethel would cap this run early on in the third period on back-to-back three-point bombs - one by Garfield from the right wing area at the 9:30 mark and the other by junior point guard Colette Duininck from the left corner at the 7:32 mark - that now had the Royals up 50-22 before CSB could finally end this miserable, Dust Bowl-like drought on a three-point bomb from Morgan from the right top area at the 7:14 mark. But the Bennies were going to need a lot more than that if they were going to have any chance of even thinking about getting back into this one and Bethel certainly wasn't being very cooperative on that front. Erickson would connect on a lay-up at the 6:55 mark and Duininck would bang home her second trey on this night - this one from the right corner at the 6:29 mark - as the Royals lead ballooned to thirty at 55-25. CSB would get a pair of scores to make a dent in this cushion as Boily would connect on a lay-up in transition at the 5:51 mark and Morgan would bully her way into the paint for a score at the 5:27 mark but again, these were just dents as Bethel unleashed more artillery. Erickson would knock down a pair of charity stripe shots after getting fouled at the 5:09 mark and Elly Schmitz would connect on a routine lay-up with 3:54 left that maintained this thirty-point cushion at 59-29. Hay would also add a pair of free throws after getting fouled with 2:23 left to make it 61-29 before the Bennies could make some more dents. Young would knock down a jumper from the right elbow area with 2:09 left and Findley would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 1:38 left. Arnold would also connect on a lay-up with 1:16 left but all this did was reduce the deficit to twenty-seven points and it was clear how this one going to go; especially when the Royals punctuated this third period on a short jumper in the lane by Hay with :52.3 left as Bethel was now enjoying a prohibitive 63-34 lead going into the fourth period.
CSB tried to offer up some more resistance early on in the fourth period as Young would unleash a three-point bomb from the right wing area at the 8:52 mark but down 65-37, there was simply no salvation coming for the Bennies as Bethel continued to pour it on. Penke would make a hard drive into the lane and get a tough, one-handed finish at the 8:32 mark and Elly Schmitz would get a routine score in the paint at the 7:55 mark to make it 69-39. Then Hay would bury a "3" from the right corner at the 7:27 mark and Garfield would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 6:53 mark that bulged the lead to 73-39 before CSB could get some more nibbles again. Findley would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 5:45 mark and Boily would get a pair of freebies to go down as well after getting fouled at the 5:28 mark. But down 73-42 at this point, that's all these scores were for the Bennies - nibbles - as this one had been out of reach for a long time. Still, CSB would labor on as Boily would get back-to-back offensive rebounds for putbacks - once with 4:53 left and again with 3:22 left before Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer and CSB's Durbin both got their reserves in to give them a few moments to shine in the home stretch. After the Royals' Erickson snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:21 left, Bennie sophomore reserve guard Emily Crandall would dart into the lane and get a finish off the glass with 1:32 left. Royals' senior reserve guard Elsie Broersma got a loud roar of approval from the home crowd when she connected with a lay-up with 1:18 left and CSB freshman reserve guard Alyssa Sadlovsky got a nice round of applause from the Bennie contingent when she connected on a lay-up with :48 left but when the final buzzer sounded, it was Bethel winning in a romp by a 79-50 count.
When I was finally able to catch up with CSB's Durbin afterward, all I was able to offer in consolation was that it seemed like his team simply ran into an avalanche in that critical second period when they were outscored 29-4 which was the ballgame right there. Durbin was quick to concur on the avalanche analogy and was also in agreement when I brought up Bethel's length up front that was tough to match up with. "They're just so long and so strong and we simply couldn't match that" he offered. And look, you knew this was going to be a tough matchup for the Bennies from the get-go and we got a preview of that this last Saturday when they fell to Bethel 78-66 in the regular season finale. Consider: After the long roadie up to Moorhead on Tuesday where they had to battle till the very end to hold off Concordia, make the equally long road trip back home and then basically had one day to prepare for Bethel, well, the odds were stacked against them in this one. And let's be honest here, too. It's hard for ANY team to try and replicate what Bethel does in games with its length and size and physicality in a practice setting. Once the Royals got up by double-digits, this one was essentially over. And the box score doesn't reveal anything terribly surprising other than the fact that Bethel pounded CSB on the boards as expected by a whopping 41-27 margin and the Royals also enjoyed a huge advantage in points in the paint at 48-26 as well as in bench points by a 32-11 margin. Again, the real story of this one was CSB getting blitzed by a 29-4 run in that decisive second period that was the difference. I do want to offer praise to the two seniors on this CSB squad - Jonas and Boily - who always gave it their all while on the floor. Durbin told me although he may have had to get on them a few times over the years on their focus, he never once had to get on them in terms of effort - it was always there and they'll obviously be missed. Sophia and Olivia - thanks for the memories.
Bethel's Herbrecthsmeyer obviously had several people he had to converse with afterward but I was also able to catch up with him as well after the smoke cleared from runaway win by his team. When I finally cornered him, I had to ask him - perhaps a bit tongue in cheek - as to why good things always seem to happen for his team when (Macey) Littlefield gets into the game. "She brings the energy.....She didn't bring the energy the first time she came in but she came back in.....And she's just so physical....And she makes things happen." Which we obviously saw with those two scores she made in the midway point of the second period which helped spark that huge run. I mentioned to Herbrechstmeyer as well that I thought his team looked better and more thorough in the short time span from this last Saturday to tonight's rematch with CSB. "Oh we did......On Saturday, we were playing for a conference (regular season) championship and we weren't the aggressor early on and we weren't able to do what we normally do until the third quarter, which was much like the second quarter tonight." I also asked Herbrechtsmeyer about how all this translates into Saturday afternoon's MIAC Championship Game (presumably against GAC). "We talked about that......This was a statement game; not St. Ben's but everybody we're going to play the rest of the way because we have Gustavus Saturday; assuming they win, and then also a statement for whomever we're playing in a week - somewhere - hopefully at home; with our strong NPI we should hopefully stay at home and be favored in those games." Despite the shocking loss his team suffered at home in the NCAA Tournament in the first round back in 2020, Herbrechtsmeyer talked about when he was a finalist for the coaching job at Bethel back in 1996 when that team won three NCAA Tournament games before falling to UST in the section finals that season. He bid his time; resurrecting the program at Cornell (Mount Vernon, IA) before finally getting the Bethel job back in 2002. It took some time for him and his staff to get this program growing and taking the necessary step-by-step process to get this program where it's been the last few years. As I pointed out to him, Rome wasn't built in a day either.
An incredibly balanced scoring attack by the Royals was another big difference in this game as - no surprise - Elly Schmitz not only a co-high scorer with 14 points but she also recorded a double-double with 13 rebounds as well. Erickson was also outstanding on this night as she shared the high-scoring honors with her 14 points. Hay was right behind with her 13 points and Garfield was her usually steady self in tallying 10 points. CSB meanwhile leaned heavily on Young (11 points) and Boily (10 points) for scoring production.
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