ST. PAUL—Bethel University's women's basketball team had a memorable regular- and post-season, no doubt. But unfortunately for the Royals, Saturday was not their day. The University of St. Thomas outrebounded Bethel 52-27 en route to a 65-51 victory over Bethel in the 2015 MIAC Championship game.
 
The title game appearance was the first for BU in program history, but St. Thomas showed why they have now won four straight. Not only did they outrebound the Royals, but they also limited Bethel to 33 percent shooting and 25.0 percent from downtown. Bethel again struggled at the free throw line, shooting just 56.5 percent for the game.
 
Despite the 14-point defeat, the Royals were still in it with two minutes left in the game. That says a lot considering St. Thomas closed out the first half on a 15-4 run and opened the second half with the same sequence. Trailing by 23 with 12:39 left in the game, Bethel went on a 13-0 run over the next five minutes to trim the margin to 10 with 7:22 left. Kalli Zimmermann then hit a layup with 1:50 on the clock that brought it to eight, but BU was unable to come any closer in the final 90 seconds.
 
Much of Bethel's success throughout the game came because of defense. The Royals forced St. Thomas into 20 turnovers, opposed to BU's 14. That helped Bethel amass a 17-12 total in points scored off of turnovers. But UST's offensive rebounds (22) proved to be the difference down the stretch.

"We certainly had our chances to score and simply couldn't execute," said head coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer. "I hopeful that we proved to the selection committee we belong in the NCAA Tournament."

Bethel's two star post players really shined in the Saturday afternoon matinee, scoring nearly 80 percent of the team's final tally. Kalli Zimmermann led all scorers with 21 points, three rebounds, and three steals. Rachel Parupsky also hit the 20-point pinnacle, as she finished with 20 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.
 
The Tommies were led by Jenna Dockter and Maggie Weiers. Dockter scored 18 and grabbed four boards, while Weiers tallied 14 points and 19 rebounds.

The Royals will wait until Monday afternoon to hear the results of the NCAA selection show. Bethel hopes to be one of 20 at-large teams welcomed into the 64-team tournament. The selection show airs online at ncaa.com at 1:30 p.m.