WHEATON, Ill.—Bethel University's memorable run in the 2014-15 women's basketball season has come to a close, as the Royals fell to Hope College 63-75 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Friday evening. BU was whistled for 13 fouls in the second half and was unable to overcome a 32-44 rebounding disadvantage throughout the game, which eventually led to the postseason loss.

"I'm sad, not because we lost, but because the journey is over," lamented head women's basketball coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer. "We have an amazing group in this locker room that worked tremendously hard throughout the entire season and I'm disappointed we will not be playing tomorrow night."


 
Despite the defeat BU celebrates a second-consecutive 20-plus-win season, as Bethel closed out the year with a 21-7 record overall. Their at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship was the first in nearly 20 years and the Royals completed their regular and postseason campaign with 13 wins in the final 15 games.

Bethel's 12-point loss was not indicative of the entire game, as the Royals trailed by just five points with 11:32 left in the game. Hannah Niewald fouled out with 9:07 left and Rachel Parupsky the same with 5:31, making the path to overcome the Flying Dutch that much more challenging.

"Once those two fouled out it certainly became a lot more difficult," commented guard Sydney Schultz. "But we continued to keep our focus on being defensively sound. That was what we wanted to excel at throughout the entire night."

Defense became trickier, that's for sure. Hope shot 48.1 percent from the floor in the final frame and went 3-of-4 from outside the 3-point arc. Meanwhile, Bethel shot 38 percent in the final period and was 2-of-5 from downtown.

The Royals finished the game shooting 40 percent from the floor and 83.3 percent from the free throw line, but the Flying Dutch's 17-8 advantage in offensive boards paid huge dividends down the stretch. Hope used that margin to outscore BU 15-2 in second chance points. They also outscored Bethel off the bench 22-12.

Kalli Zimmermann finished as the team's leading scorer, as the sophomore scored 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and swiped three steals in 34 minutes played. Although disappointed after the game, Zimmermann was thankful for the opportunity to be invited to the NCAA Tournament.

"We had an incredible season and this was a great accomplishment," said Zimmermann. "Waiting until the final team was called made everything that much more awesome, but all-in-all this was an exciting experience.

Hannah Niewald and Sydney Schultz too scored in double figures, as they put up 11 and 10 points, respectively. Schultz ripped down seven rebounds, while Niewald totaled four and three assists. Angie Kirchoff had a nice contribution off the bench, scoring eight points on 4-of-10 shooting.

Hope's Maura McAfee and Rebekah Llorens had an exceptional performance for the Flying Dutch. Each contributed a double-double, as McAfee posted 22 points and 11 rebounds and Llorens finished with 18 and 10.

The memorable Royals' season comes to a close following Friday night's loss. A 41-14 record over the last two years has Bethel hungry for its third consecutive 20-win season in the upcoming campaign. BU will say goodbye to Lindy Parker and Kailey Eid, however, as the two will be graduating this spring. Those two, along with the rest of this team, can forever say they were a part of the Bethel team that returned to the NCAA Tournament.