ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – A strong offense went hand-in-hand with an up-tempo defense as the No. 5-ranked Bethel University women's basketball team cruised to an 82-57 victory over Concordia College Wednesday evening inside the Robertson Center.
It was the sixth time this season that the Royals have forced 30 or more turnovers in a contest while improving to 20-0 on the season and 15-0 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play. BU starts a tough three-game road stretch Saturday at Saint Mary's with a 3 p.m. tip off.
Senior
Taite Anderson did her normal thing with a 20 point, 10 rebound double-double effort which propelled her into second on the Royals all-time scoring list with 1,541 career points. Junior
Elizabeth Schwarz was productive with 17 points in just over 14 minutes of action while grabbing five boards during that span.
Haylee Barker finished with 11 points and five steals while
Makenna Pearson had a season-high six assists and matched a career-high five steals.
The Royals dominated a first half track meet that saw Schwarz score 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting. A strong opening period where the Royals finished on an 11-0 run complimented their usual strong press that Concordia's guards struggled with.
Forcing 15 first-half turnovers and shooting 60.6 percent compared to the Cobbers 37.9 percent, BU took a comfortable 54-30 lead into the break.
The margin widened to 30-plus in the third quarter where BU garnered its largest lead at 76-37. Concordia outscored the Royals in the fourth, but the damage had already been done.
BU had strong production from its bench with 34 points while scoring over half of its points in the paint with 44.
