MINNEAPOLIS—On the heels of Saturday's dominant 80-60 win at No. 9-ranked St. Thomas, Bethel dropped a close midweek MIAC matchup at Augsburg Wednesday evening by a final score of 56-58. The Royals (8-6, 4-3 MIAC), who never trailed the entire game, had a five-point advantage with 2:50 remaining in the game, but a 7-0 run for the Auggies (8-6, 3-4 MIAC) to close out the the contest—including a layup for five seconds remaining—sent BU home empty-handed.

Bethel finished the night with a 28-22 advantage in points in the paint and a 17-11 margin in bench points. But where Augsburg made up for their deficiencies was in points off turnovers, where they owned the Royals 15-6. BU finished the night with 19 turnovers, opposed to the Auggies, who had just 14.

The Royals shot 42.2 percent from the floor on 19-of-45 shooting, but made just 3-of-15 from downtown (20.0 percent). Hannah Niewald led the team in scoring with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting in 22 minutes played. Molly O'Toole added nine points, while Shanni Moorse finished with eight points and six rebounds. Kalli Zimmermann stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and two steals.

Maria Loughlin led Augsburg with 23 points in 38 minutes played.

Bethel returns home for a men's and women's doubleheader Saturday afternoon against Hamline University. The Royals take on the Pipers in game two that day, which is scheduled for approximately 3 p.m.