MIAC Quarterfinal Playoff Game - St. Scholastica vs Bethel 2-24-26

Bethel's Emily Erickson's 25 points on this night helped the Royals bag a big MIAC Quarterfinal Playoff win and advance into Semifinal action on Thursday night. 

Made a quick run over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University on this early Tuesday evening to take in one of the two MIAC Quarterfinal Playoff games happening on this night - this particular one between visiting St. Scholastica and host Bethel.  The Saints had enjoyed the period between late January and early February that saw them win five out of six games but the home stretch of the regular season had not been kind to them as they went up against three of the top teams in the conference and went 0-3 in the process and they knew full and well that they'd have their work cut out for them on this night with another top tier opponent.  The Royals meanwhile had righted the ship after the shocking home loss to Hamline 2-11 and closed out the regular season on a three-game win streak and seemed to have a bit of a head of steam coming into the MIAC Playoffs.  Robertson Center was rocking before tip-off as both schools had a large and very vocal student section ready to make a ruckus.

And both teams definitely gave their respective student sections reasons to erupt in the early moments of the opening period.  Bethel would strike first as senior point guard Colette Duininck would find a gap and use a burst of speed to connect on a lay-up at the 9:41 mark and a short time later, the Saints would counter as strong sophomore guard Ava Haus got a short pull-up jumper to go down at the 8:57 mark that leveled the contest.  But St. Scholastica couldn't have possibly prepared for the avalanche that they would soon run into as the Royals ripped off a 19-2 blitz.  Duininck would drain a "3" from the right top area at the 8:36 mark to start this run and two free throws by junior forward Emily Erickson after she was fouled at the 7:31 mark had Bethel up 7-2.  A short time later, senior combo guard/forward Ali Born would bury a "3" from the left wing area that expanded the lead to 10-2 and Saints Head Coach Jason Schmitz; immediately sensing that his squad was running into a brick wall, called a thirty-second timeout to try and avert disaster.  But the Royals with their pressure defense and trapping, weren't in any kind of mood to let their opponent off the hook so easily as they continued with this initial onslaught.  Erickson would bang home a "3" from the right top area at the 5:47 mark that made it a 13-4 ballgame and then sophomore reserve guard Alaina Bonacquista got in on the fun with a lay-up with 4:44 left.  Fifth-year All-American senior reserve forward Elly Schmitz would connect on a lay-up with 4:13 left that made it 17-4 and senior combo guard/forward Rosalie Penke would join in on the fun as well with a tough drive and finish with 3:40 left to make it 19-4.  Lanky junior forward Cally Peterson would cap this initial burst with a lay-up in transition with 3:02 left that pushed the lead to 21-4 before St. Scholastica could put a band-aid on the bleeding on one free throw by junior reserve guard Gabby Voigt after she was fouled behind the arc with 2:39 left.  The Saints would add another small amount to their ledger when willowy junior forward Kloey Lind was able to slither into the paint for a score with 1:59 left but then Bethel was able to close out this first period on a 5-2 burst.  Bonacquista would drain a "3" from the right corner area with 1:43 left and Peterson would snare an offensive rebound for a putback with :45.2 left that put the Royals up 26-7.  St. Scholastica would get some small solace on a short jumper in the lane by Lind with :13.2 left but trailing 26-9, this was the exact opposite of where the Saints wanted to find themselves at this particular juncture.

And things certainly didn't get any better for St. Scholastica once the second period got underway as they had to absorb a 6-1 push by the home team from the outset.  Erickson would muscle into the paint for a score at the 9:11 mark and then the Royals would quickly force a turnover in the backcourt that allowed Duininck to cash in on an easy lay-up at the 9:01 mark that now had Bethel up 30-9.  Then Peterson would get a score in the paint at the 8:40 mark that upped the lead to 32-9 before the Saints could brush off the cobwebs forming on their basket on a three-point bomb by Haus from the top of the key at the 7:20 mark.  St. Scholastica would also get a lay-up from Lind at the 6:44 mark but the Saints simply were not able to string together a number of scores that might have somehow changed the complexion of this contest and instead they had to weather a 14-0 run by Bethel to close out this second period.  Peterson would yank an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback at the 5:45 mark to start this latest push and she would follow this feat up a short time later with a routine score in the paint with 4:52 left that had the Royals up 38-15.  Then Erickson would connect on a lay-up with 3:56 left and would follow that up with a pair of freebies after getting fouled with 3:34 left that made it a 42-15 game.  Exacerbating the situation for the visitors from Duluth, Lind picked up her second foul of the evening with 2:49 left but St. Scholastica's Jason Schmitz had little choice but to roll the dice here with the way this game was going.  And the Royals weren't letting up either as Erickson would get a routine score in the paint with 2:29 left and then Elly Schmitz would connect on a lay-up with 1:52 left that stretched Bethel's lead to 46-15 and the Saints' Jason Schmitz had little choice but to take a match to another thirty-second timeout to try and stop the massive bleeding but even that tactic wasn't working.  To make matters worse, Lind would collect her third foul of the evening and this time she was quickly yanked back to the pine for preservation purposes.  With :39.7 left, the Royals' Elly Schmitz would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled to put a bow tie on this latest run as Bethel took a hefty 48-15 lead into the locker room at the halftime break while the Saints looked dazed and frazzled as they retreated to their safe space.  

St. Scholastica tried to put a positive spin on things at the beginning of the third period as Haus would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 9:34 mark and the former STMA standout would also connect on a lay-up in transition at the 8:44 mark but in between these two scores, the Saints' Lind had also collected her fourth foul of the night and the Saints' Jason Schmitz wasted little time in yanking the former Pine City standout back to the bench.  Bethel meanwhile didn't waste anytime either capitalizing on this latest setback for its opponent as they went on an 8-2 push that created an even wider gap.  Erickson would first knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 8:13 mark as would Duininck after she was fouled at the 7:52 mark that had the Royals up 52-21.  Erickson would come through again at the 7:31 mark with some flair as she connected on a short, turnaround jumper and then Elly Schmitz would cap this latest burst with an offensive rebound for a putback at the 6:13 mark that now had the Royals up by five touchdowns at 56-21.  St. Scholastica was able to take a bit of a bite off of this massive deficit as senior guard Jackie Johnson would bury a "3" from the right top area at the 6:03 mark and Haus would add a pair of free throws after getting fouled in a transition opportunity with 4:47 left but down 56-26, the idea of coming back in this one had long since gone out the window.  And Bethel would add more to its total as Elly Schmitz got one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 4:34 left and a pretty drive and finish by Penke with 3:48 left made it a 59-26 game before the Saints could take some more nibbles.  Sophomore guard Evie Schmitz would get a pair of free throws to go down after getting fouled with 3:44 left as would Haus after she was fouled with 3:10 left.  Evie Schmitz would get one more freebie to go down after getting fouled with 2:34 left and then a jumper from the free throw line area by sophomore reserve forward Kate Toewe with 2:01 left bit into the deficit more down 59-33.  With 1:07 left, Haus would bang home a "3" from the right corner area as the shot clock was expiring and with :30.9 left, Evie Schmitz would get another pair of charity stripe shots to go down after getting fouled.  Then with just :06 left on the clock, Johnson would unleash a three-point bomb from the left wing area so even though this 15-6 run by St. Scholastica was impressive in its own right given how this contest had unfolded, they were still looking at an almost impossible position down 65-41 as this one morphed into the fourth period.

And the Royals ensured that their opponent would remain in an impossible situation once the fourth period commenced as they went on a 14-2 blitz.  Erickson would start this last major run of the night with consecutive scores - a short, turnaround jumper in the lane at the 9:39 mark and a lay-up at the 9:05 mark - the latter in which former Chisago Lakes standout notched the 1,000th point of her collegiate career which got a standing ovation from not only her team but also from the partisan Bethel crowd as well.  But this latest run would continue on as a lay-up by Peterson at the 8:36 mark and a lay-up by Erickson a short time later at the 8:08 mark made it a 73-41 game.  Elly Schmitz would get in on the fun as well as she would get a score in the paint at the 6:38 mark and then knock down a pair of free throws a short time later at the 6:03 mark that made it 77-43.  Born would cap this last big blitz by Bethel with a lay-up in transition at the 5:40 mark before the Saints could patch up the massive bleeding on a three-point bomb by Haus at the 5:19 mark that "reduced" the Royals lead to 79-46.  But Bethel was still far from satisfied on this night as Penke would unleash a three-point bomb from the left wing area at the 5:02 mark and sophomore reserve point guard Kenzie Lundeen would get a three-point play the old-fashioned way with a lay-up in transition that also drew a foul with the obligatory "and one" with 4:27 left that made it an 85-46 game.  With the game now securely in the bag, both Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer and the Saint's Jason Schmitz gradually got their reserves into the game to close this one out.  Three of St. Scholastica's main chain gang did get their moments down the stretch as Haus would connect on a lay-up with 4:13 left and Johnson would get a feather in her cap with a pretty three-point bomb from the left corner are with 3:33 left.  With 2:59 left, Lind would  connect on a lay-up in transition and with 1:44 left, Toewe would connect on a short, turnaround jumper.  Saints sophomore reserve gaurd Paxyn Rendahl would knock down a short jumper in the lane with :59 left and Bethel freshman reserve guard Erin Kaluza would get a pair of free throws to go down as the Royals advanced to the semifinals of the MIAC Playoffs with an 87-57 romp.

Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer had several people he had to talk to immediately afterward but I was able to eventually catch up with him and got his thoughts on this latest conquest and how they were able to get it done on this night.  Specifically, I first mentioned that I really wasn't quite sure what to expect from his team on this night - particularly on the offensive end.  "Our offense can come and go but you've seen us play enough over the years to know that we hang our hat on our defense.....What I was pleased with was our evolution from when Elly (Schmitz) got hurt and what that did to our defense and how we needed to change and evolve a little bit.  I kind of expected this because Elly isn't 100% and she won't be and she's playing on a torn knee right now so the bottom line is that everybody else needs to be a little more 'locked in' and a little more steady in the things we ask them to do when we changed a little bit.  And this was a perfect execution of a game plan" he said.  Herbrechtsmeyer added, "When our 'D' is good, our offense kinda takes care of itself."  Herbrechtsmeyer also noted that he's been working for months now trying to get his squad "maxed out" on the defensive end and let the offensive end take care of itself and I think you saw that play out almost perfectly on this night.  And Herbrechtsmeyer also noted how Erickson has really stepped up after the injury to Elly Schmitz and from the times I've seen her since the first of the year, she's definitely done just that and the fact that Erickson notched her 1,000th point of her college career - as a junior no less - is a testament to the hard work she's had to put in and why the Royals are in the position that they are right now.  

Meanwhile it was definitely a rough night at the OK Corral for this young and somewhat inexperienced St. Scholastica team but Jason Schmitz was still very upbeat about what his squad did this season and tried to explain what went wrong for his squad on this night.  "Well, we couldn't buy a bucket early and we missed a lot of shots and you could tell we were pressing a little bit......We hadn't been in this situation before as a staff or for a program for that matter.....First MIAC Tournament....Just...a lot of shots didn't go."  I asked Jason Schmitz what this season was like for him to watch this young team grow as a unit and enjoy some high moments along the way and he was quick to talk about what Johnson, as the lone senior on this team, meant to this squad in terms of leadership and how she stuck with this program when the Saints were first navigating their way as new members of the MIAC (and Jackie Johnson, THANK YOU for the memories).  But more than anything, Jason Schmitz was just proud of this team and how they recorded the most victories for this program since the 2013-14 season and getting to their first MIAC Playoff appearance with hopefully many more appearances in the years to come.  And he's also very excited about the new players he has coming in next season as well so keep your eyes on this team and this program.

You don't really have to spend too much time glancing at the box score on this one in this type of a game but it's easy to see that when you're enjoying a 49-25 edge on the boards as Bethel did on this night along with a whopping 50-16 advantage in points in the paint, you get a pretty clear idea of how things unraveled for St. Scholastica on this night.  And the Royals enjoyed a 27-7 edge in bench points.  It was simply a matter of a tournament-tested and experienced team taking a younger and less experienced team to the cleaners on this night and those things are going to happen every now and then.  But this St. Scholastica team will learn from this experience and they're slowly laying the groundwork to be a competitive team in a very tough MIAC.

And it really was a splendid night for Bethel's Erickson as her 25 points led all scorers and she just missed out on a "double double" with nine rebounds.  Ditto for both Peterson as she tallied 14 nights and had eight rebounds and Elly Schmitz who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.  Haus led the way for St. Scholastica on this night with her 21 points while Johnson finished up her college career with a fine showing of 13 points.