Concordia vs Bethel 1-24-26

What a day it was for Bethel's Emily Erickson as her 23 points helped the Royals get a huge win at home against Concordia.

 Made the relatively quick run over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University on this sunny but bitterly cold January day to take in this heavyweight bout between two teams with MIAC title hopes between visiting Concordia and host Bethel.  After losing a tough roadie at SMU two weekends ago, the Cobbers had since reeled off three straight wins - including Wednesday night's visit at Macalester.  After last Saturday's shocking loss to St. Scholastica up in Duluth, the Royals got things turned around on Wednesday night with a big win up at St. Joe against CSB.  With the top half of the MIAC in a jumbled up mess with a smattering of teams fighting for first and second place, every game from here on out would be crucial to not only regular season and MIAC Playoff hopes but for NCAA Tournament hopes as well and you knew these two teams could make this game a real slugfest.

The Cobbers would jump out to a 4-0 lead out of the gates in the opening period as strong sophomore forward Maya Metcalf would use a burst of speed to drive in for a lay-up at the 9:48 mark and a short time later at the 8:59 mark, senior guard Molly Musland was able to grab an offensive rebound and knock down a short jumper from the left side.  Bethel would waste little time in getting this game leveled as senior combo guard/forward Rosalie Penke would connect on a lay-up at the 8:40 mark and then junior forward Emily Erickson would maneuver into the paint for a score at the 7:52 mark.  Concordia would take a one-point lead when junior forward Genevieve Gruba got one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 7:38 mark but then the Royals would assume a 6-5 advantage when junior forward Cally Peterson muscled into the paint for a score at the 6:29 mark.  The Cobbers would take the lead right back at 7-6 when Metcalf knocked down a pair of freebies after getting fouled at the 5:24 mark but Bethel would get this game deadlocked again at seven a piece when sophomore reserve guard Alaina Bonacquista got one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 5:17 mark.  The Royals would push ahead at 9-7 when Erickson was able to grab an offensive rebound for a putback with 4:43 left but that was wiped away a short time later by Concordia as senior point guard Taylor Safranski would drain a "3" from the left corner area with 4:20 left that had the Cobbers up 10-9.  Then Bethel would unleash a 6-0 push as Erickson would get into the paint for a score with 3:51 left that also drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" got the Royals back out in front 12-10.  That lead would increase to 15-10 when senior point guard Colette Duininck buried a "3" from the left top area with 1:44 left and the partisan Bethel faithful inside Robertson Center had the joint rocking.  But that sequence failed to deter Concordia as Metcalf would bang home a "3" from the left top area with :47.5 left and with just :05.7 left, speedy freshman reserve guard Kaitlyn Rohloff would get by defenders and connect on a lay-up that also drew a foul and the former Hancock standout would cash in on the "and one" that closed out this unpredictable back-and-forth battle with the Cobbers holding a slim 16-15 advantage.  

The late first period push that Concordia had spilled over into the early stages of the second period as Metcalf connected on a jumper along the left baseline at the 9:36 mark and when Gruba connected on a lay-up at the 8:46 mark, the Cobbers had suddenly forged a five-point lead at 20-15.  Unfortunately for Concordia, that didn't last long as the Royals not only unleashed a 6-0 spurt, they also got back an important piece that had been missing from their lineup since the first of the year - fifth-year senior sensation forward Elly Schmitz - and the former Hermantown standout quickly got her team out of a troublesome spot as she would first snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 8:20 mark and a short time later at the 7:50 mark she would make a nifty spin move and connect on a tough lay-up that got the deficit down to a scant point at 20-19.  Bethel would get themselves back into the lead at 21-20 when Erickson knocked down a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 7:17 mark.  The Cobbers would manage to take the lead back at the 6:57 mark when Gruba got a pair of free throws to go down but Concordia was unable to hold onto this 22-21 advantage as the Royals went on a 5-0 push.  Erickson would get into the paint for a score at the 6:38 mark that also drew a foul and she would cash-in on the "and one" and then Bonacquista would snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 5:25 mark that now had Bethel up 26-22.  Now it was the Cobbers turn to be put in a bit of a rough patch but they calmly responded thanks to Metcalf.  The West Fargo, ND native would first connect on a short, one-handed shot off the glass at the 5:09 mark and a short time later she would connect on a jumper from the left wing area just inside the arc with 4:22 left that had this game leveled again at 26 a piece.  Again the Royals responded as senior combo guard/forward Ali Born drained a "3" from the left top area with 4:00 left to make it a 29-26 ballgame and a score in the paint by Erickson with 2:43 left maintained the three-point edge at 31-28.  Bethel would manage to get more breathing room thanks to Erickson as she was able to knock down a short, one-handed jumper in the lane with :53.8 left to make it 33-28 and although Concordia was able to cut one point off of the deficit on one free throw by lanky sophomore reserve forward Kaia Gack after she was fouled with :30.2 left, the Royals seemed to have the momentum going into the locker room at the half with a 33-29 advantage.  

The Cobbers went right back to work at the beginning of the third period as two free throws by Metcalf after she was fouled at the 9:17 mark and a lay-up by Gruba at the 8:26 mark quickly got this game dead-even again at 33 a piece.  Bethel would re-take the lead at 35-33 when Penke got into the paint for a score at the 7:58 mark but a short time later Concordia would forge ahead 36-35 when Musland buried a "3" from the left corner area at the 7:45 mark and Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer; not at all liking how the opponent was getting off to a hot start, called a thirty-second timeout to re-assess the situation.  Still, the Cobbers upped their lead to four at 39-35 when Safranski; the former Fargo Davies standout, drained a "3" from the left top area at the 7:09 mark.  Bethel would cut the deficit to one when junior reserve guard Macey Littlefield banged home a "3" from the left corner area at the 6:52 mark but Concordia would mange to rebuild the four-point advantage as Metcalf would make a hard drive for a lay-up at the 6:36 mark and one free throw by senior guard Taya Jeffrey after she was fouled at the 6:06 mark gave the Cobbers a 42-38 advantage.  But this lead would quickly evaporate as the Royals finished off this third period with a key 9-1 run.  Peterson would start this run by getting one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 5:21 mark and with 3:42 left, Littlefield would snare an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback that had the deficit down to one at 42-41.  A short time later with 3:07 left, Bethel would retake the lead once again as Peterson would make a hard drive for a finish and with 2:20 left, Penke would unleash a three-point bomb from the right top area that now had the Royals up by four at 46-42.  Then, with just :00.1 left in this third period, sophomore reserve guard Kenzie Lundeen would get fouled and the former Redwood Falls standout would get one free throw out of the deal to go down to make it a 47-43 ballgame and the momentum that had been with Concordia a short time ago was now clearly with Bethel. 

The Cobbers were able to pull back to within a single possession early in the fourth period down 47-44 when Jeffrey got one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 8:15 mark but then Concordia proceeded to go into a funk offensively where they couldn't even buy a bucket which opened the door for the Royals to increase their advantage.  Erickson would slither into the paint for a score at the 7:13 mark that also drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" pushed Bethel's lead to six at 50-44.  Then Schmitz would strike again at the 5:56 mark for a drive and lay-up that stretched the Royals lead to eight at 52-44.  The Cobbers finally ended their extended dry stretch at the 5:06 mark when Metcalf buried a "3" from the left top area that cut the deficit down to five at 52-47.  Concordia Head Coach Kim Wagers would then call a timeout to set up strategy for the home stretch.  The Royals would get their lead to 53-47 when Lundeen got one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 4:38 left but the Cobbers would make one last bid to get this game evened up.  Gruba would use a burst of speed to connect on a lay-up with 3:29 left that cut the deficit back down to four at 53-49 and a short time later, Gruba would get sent to the charity stripe after getting fouled with 2:36 left but the Enderlin, ND native could only get the back-end attempt to cooperate but Concordia was at least back to within a single possession down 53-50.  Another opportunity was presented to the Cobbers with 1:52 left when Jeffrey got to the free throw line after getting fouled but Jeffrey; the former Albert Lea standout, could only cash in on the back-end attempt that cut the deficit to two at 53-51.  Concordia would get a reprieve when Bethel came up empty on their next possession and with 1:12 left in regulation, Metcalf got a reasonably good look behind the arc from the left top area but her attempt bounced off the front end and the Royals grabbed the rebound; snuffing out another opportunity.  And Bethel would make its opponent pay for that miss as Littlefield would race in for a lay-up with :46.7 left making it a two-possession game at 55-51.  The Cobbers' Wagers would call another timeout but Concordia's fate would be sealed for good when Gruba was unable to get either free throw attempt to go down after getting fouled with :19.7 left .  The Royals' Erickson would sink a pair of insurance free throws after getting fouled with :15.7 left and would repeat that feat after getting fouled with :08.7 left to make it a 59-51 ballgame.  Concordia would get one last hurrah when Musland connected on a lay-up with :01.8 left but it would be too little, too late and Bethel snagged a huge home conquest with a 59-53 victory.

I mentioned to Concordia's Wagers afterward about all the times I've heard different coaches say "Every possession matters" after a tough game.  And that free throws matters as well.  Wagers was quick to agree on that assessment and that certainly shows up in the box score on this one.  You'll see that rebounds were pretty even with the Cobbers holding a slight 34-33 advantage.  But some of those red flag items I pointed out for Concordia from their game on Wednesday night showed up today like a sore thumb.  While I think one could stomach the fact that Concordia did have a few more turnovers than Bethel did at 13-9, what hurts is that Bethel got 14 points off of those Cobber turnovers compared to just six points for the Cobbers off of Royals turnovers.  But that's just scratching the surface.  You peel back the onion further and here is where things start to get ugly for Concordia.  The Cobbers got torn up in the paint again as Bethel had a 32-16 edge in points in the paint.  And Bethel had a decided edge in bench points at 18-4.  The Royals did have an advantage in those all-important "second chance" points at nine to five but what really hurt the Cobbers on this day was the fact that they shot 14-25 from the charity stripe for a straight 56%.  Let me say that again - 14-25 for 56%.  Again, for a team that has always had free throw shooting as one of its hallmark strengths, this had better get addressed - and soon.  The last thing you want as a team is to have this aspect bring you down - especially in an important conference game - much less in an NCAA Tournament setting.  And going 17-48 from FG range for 35.4% certainly didn't help either but here I think you simply have to tip your hat to Bethel and the way they play defense.  They just have a way of making you very uncomfortable on the offensive end and they make you pay dearly for any mistake.  And it's not like the Royals shot the lights out here either - they didn't.  But their defense more than made up for any offensive inefficiencies on this day.  

And even though it was very good to see Bethel's All-American Schmitz back in action - even in a reserve role on this day, it was the Royals' Erickson who easily stole the show on this day with her 23 points that led all scorers.  Concordia's Metcalf had a stellar day as well with her "double-double" of  21 points and 14 rebounds.  Gruba had a solid day as well as she finished with 10 points.