Box Score
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - As the playoff race begins to heat up, the Bethel Royals and St. Catherine Wildcats entered tonight's game tied for sixth place in the conference standings. However, by night's end, it would be the Royals who would break the tie and go ahead of the Wildcats with a 71-54 win over the visiting Wildcats tonight at the Robertson Center gym.
The Royals never trailed in the game, and by the end of the first half, had built a 13 point lead at 36-23.
Autumn Beasley (Fr., Medina, Minn.) accounted for 14 of Bethel's first half points on 6-for-7 shooting, while
Annegret Nautsch (Sr., Everett, Wash.) had already earned her 10th double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
In the second half, Bethel kept the pressure on, and steadily added to their lead to go ahead by as many as 24 points with just two minutes remaining. During the last 20 minutes, it was
Kristen Wolters (Jr., St. Cloud, Minn.) turn to shine as she had 12 of her 14 points.
Taylor Sheley (Fr., Backus, Minn.) also added to the cause with nine points. Overall, Beasley finished as Bethel's high scorer with 17 points. Nautsch and Sheley were right behind her with 16 apiece. Nautsch also added seven blocks to her season total, as well as a game high four steals.
Laura Kalbfell of St. Catherine was the game's high scorer with 18 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field and 5-for-5 shooting from the free throw line. Megan Zillmer had 12 points as the only other Wildcat to post double figures.
As a team, the Wildcats made less than 28 percent of their shots from the field, but did make each of their 10 free throws. The Royals made half of their 14 three-point shots to improve their overall shooting percentage to 41 percent.
The win helps Bethel overtake St. Catherine in the conference standings with a 9-7 mark, and an overall record of 10-9. St. Catherine falls to 11-8 overall and 8-8 in the MIAC. The Royals are scheduled to head down Snelling Avenue to take on the Hamline Pipers this Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. showdown for their next game.
