ST. PETER, Minn. – The Bethel University women's basketball team opened up the regular season with a pair of wins at the Gustavus Classic defeating Martin Luther College and Minnesota-Morris.

The Royals return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 20 for their home opener as they welcome the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for a non-conference tilt. Tipoff is set for 5:45 p.m.

Bethel 75, Minnesota-Morris 65
A strong defensive effort combined with hot shooting from the field led Bethel to a 2-0 start. Forcing 29 turnovers, the Royals tallied 32 points off turnovers to go along with a 50 percent shooting mark from the floor.

Junior Taite Anderson led the way with a game-high 27 points to go along with eight boards. Makenna Pearson added 12 points while Hannah Johnson and Haylee Barker each scored 10. Off the bench, Elizabeth Schwarz added eight points and four rebounds.

The Royals went into the break with a three-point lead following a back-and-forth first half with the Cougars.  Bethel opened up the game on a 10-4 run before the teams finished the first quarter even at 14.

Bethel pulled away in the third keeping the lead the entire second half. BU registered their largest lead at 15 after Anderson buried a three following a string of layups. The Royals never looked back from there as Schwarz knocked down a pair of free throws in the final minute to secure the win.

Bethel 99, Martin Luther 34
The Royals nearly hit the century mark in their season opener, defeating Martin Luther 99-34. Bethel allowed just 13 first half points before allowing 10 in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth.

All 15 Royals saw the floor while three earned double-digit scoring figures. Hannah Johnson led the way with 21 points and 12 rebounds while Makenna Pearson and Taite Anderson added 18 and 16 points respectively.

Bethel led in every offensive category, most notably holding a 38-3 margin on the points off turnovers and 48 points in the paint. The scoring was distributed evenly with 37 points from the Bethel bench where Elizabeth Schwarz led the reserves with nine points and five boards.

The Royals never looked back from their 19-0 run to open up the game. Bethel took a 49-13 lead into the break before continuing a high powered offense that produced 50 second half points.