ST. PAUL, Minn.—The Bethel University women's basketball team fell to a familiar cross-town foe tonight at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul by a final score of 48-55. The Eagles (3-3, 0-0 UMAC) gutted out the unpredicted W by edging the Royals (3-2, 0-0 MIAC), who were riding a three-game win-streak prior to tonight's contest, down the stretch. BU, who defeated No. 12 George Fox last Saturday, cruised to a 40-point win over the Eagles one year ago.
 
Northwestern's 2-3 zone caused significant issues for Bethel, as it mitigated the size of reigning MIAC Player of the Week, Hannah Johnson, and forced Bethel to shoot from the outside. As a result, Royals shot just 28.3 percent from the floor and 26.1 percent from outside the arc. Meanwhile, the Eagles converted 41.2 percent of their shot attempts, including 3-of-4 from long range.
 
BU led by three going into the half and utilized great defense to control the pace of play at the beginning of the second half, but UNW's Alex Peterson and Rio Landers helped the Eagles acquire a five-point lead with 3:15 remaining in the game and Northwestern never looked back.
 
Bethel outrebounded UNW 35-29, but the Eagles outscored the Royals 20-12 inside the paint. BU's Abby Miller led all scorers with 18 points on 4-of-10 shooting from downtown, while Amy Berglund led Northwestern with 17 points. Hannah Johnson composed her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks.
 
Bethel will look to rebound from this loss when they take on College of St. Benedict in their MIAC opener on Wednesday, December 2 at 3 p.m.