ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Bethel University women's basketball team came up on the short end of a tightly contested 66-62 MIAC matchup at No. 4/5 St. Thomas Wednesday night.

Three different Royals netted double digits in the scoring column as the team dropped to 11-5 on the year and 5-4 in MIAC play. The Royals open a three-game home stand Saturday afternoon when Hamline University visits the Robertson Center. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. in Arden Hills.

Taite Anderson led the balanced attack for Bethel with 15 points and nine rebounds. Senior center Hannah Johnson poured in 14 points and nine rebounds while sophomore forward Makenna Pearson chipped in 12 points and four steals. Pearson scored eight of her 12 points in the second half.  Junior guard Haylee Barker registered six assists.

The Royals nearly overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth as Pearson knocked down a 3-pointer with 5:54 remaining to spark the run. BU chipped away at the free throw line before pulling within one as Taite Anderson fed Elizabeth Schwarz inside to make it 63-62 with 22 second remaining.

UST went to the free throw line making it a 3-point game as the Royals had one last opportunity to tie it. Pearson drew back on a corner three before driving to the lane where she was met by Kaia Porter of UST. Porter forced a turnover on the drive before calling timeout. On the inbound with two seconds remaining the Royals fouled Lucia Renikoff who hit one of two free throws to seal the 66-62 victory.

St. Thomas (15-1, 9-0 MIAC) edged out to a 20-16 lead after one quarter of play, The Royals flipped the script to outscore the hosts 20-15 in second to take a 36-35 lead into the intermission.

UST opened up the third quarter on an 11-4 run en route to holding the Royals to just seven third period points.

The Royals handled the ball well committing a season-low nine turnovers while forcing 21 on the Tommies.