MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Bethel University women's basketball team traveled to Concordia College over the weekend for a highly contested MIAC midseason matchup.  The Royals (10-7, 6-4 MIAC) had won four of their last five conference games, but ultimately fell to the Cobbers (11-6, 7-3 MIAC) 60-64 on Saturday afternoon.

The Royals began the game on a 7-0 run forcing a quick timeout by Concordia, but the Cobbers responded with nine straight points behind the efforts of Crystal Amundson and Jenna Januschka.  From that point on, the game included 11 ties and eight lead changes as both teams fought to the wire.  Concordia's largest lead was seven points in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter and while the Royals cut it to a one-possession deficit with under a minute left, the Cobbers held on for the victory.

Kalli Zimmerman had a banner day for the Royals, leading all scorers with 24 points.  She also finished with four rebounds, four steals, two assists and a block in 29 minutes of play.  Fellow upperclassman Rachel Parupsky also put in 20 points and snatched 8 rebounds for Bethel in the loss.

The contest was incredibly tight across the board with the only significant advantage coming to the Cobbers in the assist category in which they led 15-4.  Neither team had any fastbreak points and each squad netted 26 points of the bench.
For Concordia, senior forward Olivia Johnson led the way with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.  Fellow frontcourt teammate Jenna Januschka also tallied 14 points and nine rebounds, while Amundson came off the bench to lead the team with 17 points in just 15 minutes played.

The Royals will now look ahead to Wednesday's home matchup against Gustavus before they go back on the road for three consecutive games.  Bethel now sits in sixth place in the MIAC standings, but lies just one game behind the third spot as several teams are tied amidst the midseason chaos.  Wednesday night's contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff in the Robertson Center.