Moorhead, Minn. – The 2011-12 Bethel University women's basketball season came to a close Tuesday night as the Royals fell in an excruciatingly close 55-50 contest to Concordia College. BU held a lead early in the second half, but a 15-4 Cobber run with 17 minutes left gave the home team the margin necessary to secure the playoff win. Bethel didn't help itself with its shooting percentage throughout the night, as the Royals finished with a 27.9 mark from the floor.

Strong defense was scripted throughout the first half as the two teams combined for 14 points in the opening eight minutes. Bethel held its largest lead of the game at the 10:51 mark when owning a 12-6 advantage. BU remained in control until the final 11 seconds of the frame when Concordia managed to hit a couple of baskets, which allowed the Cobbers to hit the mid-way point with a two-point lead.
 
After one period Taylor Sheley (Sr., Backus, Minn.) led all players with 10 points and four rebounds. The Royals shot just 30 percent, but remained close enough to strike at any point on the Cobbers. One of the major contributions to this effort was a 21-14 rebounding advantage in which BU had rebounded nine offensive boards compared to Concordia's two. This also allowed BU to outduel CC 6-0 in second-chance points. Kiah Dahlquist (Fr., St. Cloud, Minn.) was a large reason why BU held the rebounding advantage it did, as she finished the game with five points and 10 rebounds, including six offensive.

In the second period the home team completely turned the tides and utilized its ability to outrebound Bethel 26-18. This uneven stat allowed the Cobbers to outscore the Royals 31-28 in the second period and also helped assure a 10-5 advantage in second-chance points within the frame. Bethel's final lead of the game came with just over 16 minutes remaining in the second half as Kristi Nye (Jr., Brentwood, Tenn.) hit a free-throw to help the Royals own a 33-32 advantage. Concordia unloaded an 11-4 run over the next eight minutes though, which put the Cob's in control. BU narrowed the gap to two points with 31 ticks on the clock on the heels of a 5-0 run poured in by Sheley, but Erika Jossart buried a pair of free throws three seconds later that made the comeback win unattainable. Jossart's free throws contributed to a 14-of-14 effort from the charity stripe for Concordia Tuesday night.
 
Taylor Sheley finished the night with 16 points, seven rebounds, and two steals. The senior out of Backus, Minn. ends her illustrious four-year career on a sour note, but goes down with the second-most points in a single season with 503 points, just eight points behind Allison Rostberg. Kristi Nye finished the Tuesday affair with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

With the win Concordia will now travel to St. Peter, Minn. to play Gustavus Adolphus College Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. Elsewhere around the league, Saint Mary's recorded an upset victory over St. Olaf tonight in Northfield 55-52.