BOX SCORE
MINNEAPOLIS – Despite holding the Auggies to 30 percent shooting for the game and owning the halftime lead, Bethel University's women's basketball team fell to Augsburg College 55-52 Wednesday evening. The MIAC battle showcased two of the top talents in the conference between Bethel's
Taylor Sheley (Sr., Backus, Minn.) and Brittany Zins of Augsburg, and it was Zins that walked away with the win behind her 27-point, nine rebound effort.
In the first period BU shot 39 percent from the floor – one of the main contributors to its lead throughout the majority of the frame. Not only did the Royals shoot well, but they also executed their defensive game plan exceptionally well, holding the hosting Auggies to 20 percent from the floor. Lay-ups from
Kiah Dahlquist (Fr., St. Cloud, Minn.) and Sheley gave the Royals a three-point lead at the 10- and seven-minute mark – its largest lead of the game. Augsburg rattled off a 7-2 run that gave them the slight advantage until
Micaella Petrich (So., Rosemount, Minn.) and
Leslie Handzus (Fr., Lakefield, Minn.) each added a pair to give the 25-23 lead throughout the opening 20 minutes.
The Royals benefited from an 8-5 advantage in bench points, yet couldn't control the Augsburg defense that forced Bethel into 13 turnovers, leading to a 14-4 disadvantage in points-off-turnovers.
Taylor Sheley led BU in the first half with 11 points and four rebounds, while Dahlquist added six ticks.
The second period gave way to a 10-2 Augsburg run that jolted the Auggies ahead 33-27 within the first five minutes of the frame. BU then played from behind the remainder of the game, trailing by as many as six up until the nine-minute mark. It was then that Bethel composed a 9-2 run capped by an
Alicia Montbriand (Jr., Alexandria, Minn.) “and-one” that evened the game at 42. Montbriand followed up the three-point play with another three-point play, this time from downtown, giving BU another three-point lead with 6:45 remaining. The two teams maintained a balanced thread back-and-forth the rest of the way, yet it was a Brittany Zins that finished the game with six of her team's last seven points, sinking the Royals in the end 55-52.
Augsburg made vast improvements in the second half, finishing the frame 50 percent from the floor, including a fifty percent mark from beyond the three-point arc. Zins tallied 15 in the second period, while the Royals only mustered 27 points in the period. BU's leading scorer, Sheley, was held scoreless in the second period, yet
Alicia Montbriand gave an outstanding effort, finishing the 20-minute segment five-of-six from the floor for 14 points. BU committed 11 more turnovers that proved critical, as the Auggies capitalized on 13 points off turnovers.
Montbriand finished the game as the team's leading scorer with 14 points, going three-for-four from downtown with six rebounds and an assist. Sheley ended the contest with 11 points, all in the first half, grabbing six boards, blocking two shots and dishing out an assist. Dahlquist also composed a quiet eight points on four-of-five shooting from the floor, to go along with her five rebounds.
The Royals look to kick its second losing-streak of the season when hosting Macalester at home Saturday in the Robertson Center Gym. Saturday's 1 p.m. matinee is the first of two, as the men play one another following the women's contest.
