WINONA, Minn. – A third quarter push in which the Bethel University women's basketball team outscored Saint Mary's 21-10, led the Royals to their third straight conference victory. Tack on domination inside the paint, where Bethel held a 34-22 advantage, and BU came away with a 65-51 victory.
 
Playing in her first game since Nov. 12, Kat Brown-Erdal led all scorers with a season-high 18 points and added three steals. Freshman Hayden Glander had her best performance of the year with a career-high 17 points and seven rebounds.
 
Bella Williams dished out seven assists and collected four steals. Courtney Nuest compiled an even stat line of eight points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.
 
With 10 first-half points from Brown-Erdal and a 7-3 run to close out the second quarter, Bethel went into the locker room deadlocked at 27 all with the Cardinals.
 
The intermission didn't slow down the Royals defense, or offense for that matter. SMU's scoring drought carried into the third where BU opened on an 8-0 run with a handful of transition buckets, the Royals finished with 19 fast break points.
 
A bucket in the lane from Glander at the 2:09 mark in the third pushed Bethel's lead to 46-35.
 
Saint Mary's pulled it within nine early in the fourth, but the Royals denied them getting any closer than that. Bethel did its fourth quarter damage from the charity stripe knocking down nine of 11 free throws.
 
The Royals offensive display in the final 30 minutes put its sluggish start in the rearview mirror. They trailed by no more than five despite shooting 31 percent in the opening quarter.
 
Bethel takes a 4-5 overall record and 3-3 MIAC mark into the holiday break. The Royals return to the hardwood January 5 traveling to Saint Benedict.