Made the short run over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University on this sunny but bitterly cold December day to take in a highly-anticipated inter-conference clash between visiting UW-River Falls and host Bethel. Despite a rocky first half of the season, the Falcons were coming into this particular contest on a four-game win streak; their latest victim being Edgewood in Mad-town this last Wednesday while the Royals were coming into this game on a five-game win streak after dropping the season opener at UW-Stout. This game would be a contrast of styles with the up-tempo and freewheeling offensive style of UW-River Falls and a defensive-minded Bethel team so you knew it was going to be interesting to see which style would ultimately prevail on this day.
The Royals would jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first minute of the opening period thanks to junior forward Emily Erickson as she would first knock a pair of free throws down after getting fouled at the 9:19 mark and would connect on a lay-up in transition after a steal at the 9:03 mark. But Bethel's man-to-man "D" still didn't faze the Falcons as they responded with an 8-0 run. Slender freshman forward Emily Anderson would start this run off with a three-point bomb from the left corner area at the 8:53 mark and senior sharp-shooting guard Zoey Buchan would follow suit from that same left corner area a short time later at the 8:18 mark to put UW-River Falls up 6-4. Fifth-year senior reserve forward Olivia Boily would finish off this early run by snaring an offensive rebound for a putback at the 7:39 mark to make it an 8-4 game before Bethel could find some answers. Erickson again answered the bell for the Royals as she would drain a "3" from the right wing area at the 6:43 mark that cut the deficit to one at 8-7 and then Bethel would push ahead at 9-8 after junior reserve forward Cally Peterson sank a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 6:06 mark. Then the Falcons would nudge ahead at 10-9 when junior point guard Savannah Leopold used a burst of speed to dart into the lane for a tough lay-up at the 5:52 mark. But that didn't last long as the Royals would come right back and assume a 12-10 lead on a three-point bomb by willowy senior forward Ali Born from the left wing area at the 5:39 mark. UW-River Falls would get the contest leveled at 12-all when junior reserve guard Braelyn Beiler connected on a jumper from the left top area just inside the arc at the 5:08 mark but right back came Bethel as fifth-year senior forward Elly Schmitz got a tough lay-up to go down with 4:47 left to make it a 14-12 game. It took the Falcons a bit but Buchan would come up big for UW-River Falls in the last two minutes as she would drain her second trey of this contest - this one coming from the right top area with 1:59 left - and would also connect with perfect touch on a jumper from the right elbow area with :18.2 left that had UW-River Falls in good shape with a 17-14 advantage.
The Falcons' Buchan would picked up where she left off once the second period got underway as the Johnston, IA native would connect on a lay-up in transition at the 9:24 mark that now had them up 19-14. Bethel would close to within a single possession when Schmitz nailed a "3" from the top of the key - off the glass no less - at the 9:04 mark but right back came UW-River Falls' Buchan as she would unleash more terror from behind the arc with a bomb from the left corner area again that restored the Falcons five-point edge at 22-17. The Royals would then close to a single point thanks to senior point guard Colette Duininck as she would first connect on a lay-up at the 7:24 mark and then would get a pair of free throws to go down after getting fouled at the 6:07 mark. But UW-River Falls would control the tempo of this one down the stretch that upped their breathing room. Buchan would strike again at the 5:39 mark as she would dart through traffic and connect on a lay-up that also drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" not only grew the Falcons lead to four at 25-21 but now UW-River Falls was in the bonus as well. With 3:40 left, freshman reserve guard Madisyn Berggren came through in a big way as she would bury a "3" from the left wing area that gave the Falcons their largest lead yet at 28-21. A pretty drive and lay-up by Buchan with 2:40 left along with one free throw by Anderson after she was fouled with 2:24 left maintained the seven-point edge at 31-24. Although Bethel was able to cut into the deficit with 2:08 left when Schmitz made a drive along the right baseline for a finish with 2:08 left, the Royals struggled to finish around the rim for most of the second period and worse yet, they had found no solutions for containing the Falcons' Buchan so UW-River Falls had to feel pretty good about themselves as they took a 31-26 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Falcons would get their lead to six at 32-26 when Buchan got one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 9:42 mark of the third period and then Bethel's immediate fortunes appeared to take another hit when senior combo guard/forward Rosalie Penke went down with an injury at the 8:55 mark. Fortunately for the Royals, Penke was able to get up and walk back to the bench okay and that seemed to restore some much-needed energy for the Royals as they battled their way back into this contest. Duininck would drain a "3" from the left wing area at the 8:26 mark and two free throws by Born after she was fouled at the 6:57 mark cut the deficit down to one at 32-31. Worse yet for UW-River Falls, Leopold would get whistled for her third foul of this contest and Falcons Head Coach Shelby Lyman wasn't taking any chances with one of her starters and she quickly yanked her to the pine for preservation purposes. But UW-River Falls found some salvation as Buchan would uncork yet another three-point bomb from the left corner area at the 6:02 mark and two free throws by Boily after she was fouled with 4:54 left restored the earlier six-point edge at 37-31. Hanging on to this cushion, however, proved problematic as Bethel quickly erased this deficit. Junior reserve guard Macey Littlefield would bang home a "3" from the right corner area with 4:41 left and a little more than a minute later, Erickson got a three-point play the old-fashioned way as she would connect on a lay-up that also drew a foul and her obligatory "and one" with 3:38 left had this contest on even terms again 37. UW-River Falls would push ahead again when Beiler got a pair of free throws to go down after getting fouled with 2:54 left but the Royals would soon get this game tied again at 39-all when Schmitz got a pair of charity stripe shots to go down after getting fouled with 2:16 left. Worse yet for the Falcons, senior post Jocelyn Plonski had to retreat to the bench with three fouls. With 1:47 left, Bethel's Duininck got a pair of free throws to go down after getting fouled that pushed the Royals back out in front for the first time since near the midway point of the first period. But that wouldn't last long as UW-River Falls' Leopold; carrying those three fouls, buried a "3" from the top of the key with 1:29 left to put the Falcons back on top 42-41. Leopold would also get a pair of free throws to go down after getting fouled with :43.3 left that would have the Falcons up 44-42 but a tough score in the paint by Bethel's Erickson had this contest knotted again at 44 a piece so off we went to the fourth period with the issue still unresolved.
The Royals took the upper hand in the early moments of the fourth period as Born would sink a pair of freebies after getting fouled at the 9:40 mark but UW-River Falls would answer on their subsequent possession as Boily knocked down a jumper from the right elbow area at the 9:14 mark to level this game again at 48 a piece. Less than a minute later, Bethel would take the lead back as Schmitz got into the paint for a score at the 8:17 mark but then the Falcons would come down on their subsequent possession and take the lead away as Anderson would deliver a three-point bomb from the left top area at the 7:55 mark to make it a 49-48 game. UW-River Falls' Lyman would then call for a timeout to set up strategy for the home stretch but unfortunately for the Falcons, it also gave Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer and his staff an opportunity to chart their course as well and it was here where the Royals embarked on a key 6-0 push that really changed the complexion of this game. Schmitz would start this key push with a routine score in the paint at the 7:25 mark and Erickson would follow suit at the 6:42 mark that had Bethel up 52-49. The Falcons would come up empty on their subsequent possession and then the Royals extended their lead to 54-49 when Duininck got the outlet pass off of a defensive rebound and then raced the other way for a lay-up at the 6:20 mark. That forced UW-River Falls' Lyman to take a match to a thirty-second timeout in hopes of finding a quick fix. To their credit, the Falcons were able to close within a single possession when Anderson connected on a lay-up at the 6:02 mark but Bethel would proceed to put its opponent in another bad spot with two key scores. Erickson would connect on a lay-up at the 5:07 mark and then less than a minute later, Born would unleash a killer "3" from the top of the key with 4:18 left that now had the Royals up by eight at 59-51 and once again UW-River Falls' Lyman had to resort to using one of her remaining timeouts in hopes of stopping the bleeding. The Falcons would cut the deficit down to six when Anderson connected on a lay-up with 4:04 left but then Bethel would establish a ten-point cushion as Schmitz would first get a score in the paint off of an inbounds pass with 3:44 left and with 2:22 left, Born would connect on a short one-handed shot off the glass that had the Royals up 63-53. UW-River Falls would then get the deficit cut to six as Berggren would connect on a lay-up with 2:10 left as would Anderson with 1:46 left that shrunk the Royals lead to 63-57 but the Falcons would never see this game get back to a single possession again as Bethel proceeded to put the finishing touches on this game. Erickson would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled with 1:37 left and with :31.4 left, Duininck would get an inbounds pass from the half-court area and race in for a lay-up that had the Royals up 67-59. There was one last flicker of hope for UW-River Falls when Leopold buried a "3" from the left top area that cut the deficit to five at 67-62 but Bethel got the job done at the charity stripe for final closure. Duininck would get a pair of free throws to go down with :14.8 left as would Penke with :09.4 left. The Falcons would get one last hurrah when Berggren buried a "3" from the left wing area but two free throws by Bethel's Duininck after she was fouled with :01.8 left gave the Royals a hard-earned 73-67 victory.
When I caught up with Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer afterward, he told me that they had to make some adjustments at the halftime break in hopes of at least slowing down UW-River Falls' Buchan whom I had unofficially with 18 points in that first half. The fact that Buchan was held to six points in the second half should tell you that whatever adjustments were made at the half by Herbrechtsmeyer and his staff worked out okay. One thing I found out about the Royals is that they can go deeper than what you think as not only Littlefield and Peterson were contributors on this day but sophomore reserve guard Alaina Bonacquista and freshman reserve guard Jada Otoo got minutes in this game as well. And let's not forget about another fifth-year senior on this Royals team; Lexi Schermann who's also there as well. I have to think that at some point, she'll get some opportunities to contribute. With finals coming up this week at Bethel, its going to be a challenging week as they must also prepare for two big games at Wisconsin Dells this next weekend - the first contest on Friday night against another WIAC contender, UW-La Crosse and the second on Saturday against ARC favorite Coe so the Royals have little time to celebrate this latest win.
The big shocker for me was learning that UW-River Falls has had not one, not two but THREE players lost for the season thus far with ACL injuries (and possibly a fourth as I was told afterward by a parent of one of the Falcon players). As someone who has followed the women's basketball scene - especially at the DIII level for a long time now - that's just unimaginable if not downright unfair. Yet we saw a very resilient Falcon team on this day get themselves into position to steal a massive win on the road only to falter down the stretch to a deeper, more physical team. In fact, if you look at the games that UW-River Falls has played already, you'll only see one game where they were defeated decisively (against Hope back on 11-8) so you have to heap a ton of praise on the Falcons' Lyman and her staff for keeping this team focused and getting the most out of them. And UW-River Falls has a big opportunity to make amends this next Saturday when Augsburg pays a visit before they delve into WIAC play after the first of the year.
It's a little weird when you look at the final box score for this one because it's a mixed bag and some of the numbers seem a little deceiving. To be sure, the Royals did have a 40-34 advantage on the boards but in actuality, it was the Falcons who did a better job cleaning the glass in the first half. The Royals shot marginally better from FG range going 21-52 for 40.4% and shot 6-17 from downtown for 35.3% while the Falcons went 23-65 from FG range for 35.4% and 10-35 from behind the arc for 28.6%. Both teams were solid from the charity stripe on this day - Bethel going 25-28 for 89.3% and UW-River Falls going 11-13 for 84.6% although there's obviously a discrepancy in how many times each team got to the line. The Royals were guilty of 16 turnovers compared to 12 for the Falcons and UW-River Falls did a significantly better job cashing in at the bank off of those turnovers than Bethel did (17-8). And the Falcons also had a decisive edge in bench points at 18-9 but some of that was because of what I described earlier with all the injuries the Falcons have suffered thus far. I think the one item that really helped pave the way for Bethel on this day is that they had a whopping advantage in points in the paint at 30-20. We know that UW-River Falls loves more of an up-tempo game and they're definitely not shy from behind the arc. I do think that they are a bit too reliant on the three-point shot at times and when they're not falling, you've got to have a Plan B to fall back on. To me, that's the challenge that the Falcons have to find an answer for going forward.
The other thing that benefitted the Royals on this day was an incredibly balanced scoring attack. Erickson led the way with her 18 points but right behind was Duininck with her 17 points which, with her in the point guard spot and also being arguably one of the top two or three on-ball defenders in the MIAC, shows you how valuable she is to this team. And what can you say about Schmitz, a second-team preseason All-American and her 15 points and eight rebounds? And almost forgotten on this day was Born who collected a "double-double" with her 12 points and 10 rebounds. She's the player who does the hard, unappreciated work who's deserving of the recognition. Meanwhile, it was quite the day for UW-River Falls' Buchan as she easily led the Falcons attack and also led all scorers with her 24 points and lit up Robertson Center from downtown going 4-5 on this day. Anderson had a solid day as well as she tallied 15 points while Leopold finished with 10 points.
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