Box Score

ST. PAUL – The Bethel University's women's basketball squad began the 2012-13 season with a road trip to Concordia University—just a few miles away—as the Royals faced the Division II foe Golden Bears at the Gangelhoff Center Thursday evening. Bethel built a large deficit early, and despite hanging with its opponent in the second half, was unable to defeat its opponent—falling 55-37.
 
The Golden Bears established a dominating 25-10 first half lead over the Royals at the midway point, as Concordia started the contest on a 13-2 run. A trio of captains scored Bethel's first six points, including a layup by Kristi Nye Studanski (Sr., Brentwood, Tenn.), a pair of free-throws by Katelyn Vavra (Jr., Askov, Minn.), and a jumper by Kelly Swenson (Sr., Dawson, Minn.).
 
BU pushed its score to 10 points before the game's intermission, but made great halftime adjustments, as the Royals finished the second half with 27 points. Bethel's highlight in the second period came at the 10-minute mark when the Royals went on a 9-4 run closing the gap to 40-23, but it wasn't enough as Concordia went on to close out the game with the 55-37 victory.
 
Bethel got an incredible performance from its bench throughout the 40 minutes of play, as BU outscored the Golden Bears 22-9 in bench points. Leading the way for Head Coach Jon Herbechtsmeyer on the bench was Katelyn Vavra, who finished the game 4-for-10 with 13 points. Vavra also went a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe, grabbed two rebounds, and sniped two steals.
 
Aiding Vavra and the BU offense was Kristi Nye Studanski, who finished with nine points on 4-of-13 shooting, along with five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Kelly Swenson also put up five points while hauling down 12 rebounds.
 
Anika Whiting led the Golden Bears with a double-double performance, tallying 18 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Royals return to the hardwood in two weeks, when they travel to Moorhead, Minn. to face Concordia College in the first conference game of the season.