ARDEN HILLS, Minn.—The No. 4 Bethel women's basketball team fell to No. 5 Saint Mary's in a nail-biter to end their season. The Royals (18-8, 13-5 MIAC) mounted an epic comeback to take the lead with 2:13 left in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals' (16-10, 10-8 MIAC) Brandi Blattner made two clutch buckets to seal the game and knock BU out of the playoffs.
 
The first half was very evenly played between both teams, as one would expect with a four and five seed matchup. Blattner tallied 14 first half points for SMU, but she wouldn't be outdone by BU's Hannah Johnson, who also put up 14 points in the opening half. Neither team shot it particularly well in the first as Bethel shot 40 percent compared to Saint Mary's 36.4 percent. As the dust settled, SMU had a slight lead going into the break with a first half score of 31-29.


 
Hannah Johnson came out of the second half with a defensive mindset and had five blocks in the second half alone. Blattner still carried the Cardinals, though, finishing the second half with 13 points and the game with 27. The two teams shot identically from the field in the second, each shooting 34.6 percent, proving just how evenly matched these two teams were.
 
The Royals took the lead in the third quarter, but thanks to an SMU 8-2 scoring run, Bethel found themselves down by five going into the final quarter.
 
BU got down by eight early in the fourth quarter but battled back to take a two-point advantage with nearly two minutes remaining in the game. The Royals couldn't come up with the plays down the stretch, however, and fell in the end.
 
The Royals had a 12-3 points off turnovers advantage as well as an 11-0 bench scoring advantage over SMU. Hannah Johnson finished the game with 20 points, 17 rebounds, four assists, and six blocks. BU's Taite Anderson also added 13 points, two assists, two blocks, and a steal.
 
The Bethel women's basketball season comes to a close and the Royals say good bye to six players graduating this May.