ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Bethel University women's basketball held St. Catherine to a mere 26.4 percent from the floor en route to a 63-49 victory Saturday afternoon in St. Paul.
 
In its first MIAC win of the season, BU dominated the game inside holding a 38-16 edge on points in the paint. The Royals edged out the Wildcats on the boards 38-30.
 
A season-high 18 points from Makenna Pearson led the squad along with Courtney Nuest's 18 points, which she capped out with 10 rebound for her first career double-double. Hayden Glander added 11 points and five rebounds.
 
Bethel (2-5, 1-3 MIAC) put in a strong defensive third quarter holding the Wildcats to nine points on 2-of-13 shooting and no trips to the charity stripe. This came after allowing a lone field goal in the opening quarter, despite St. Catherine (3-4, 2-2 MIAC) scoring its first 13 points from the line.
 
A quick offensive start for Bethel sparked an early 13-5 lead before allowing that lone field goal in the first just before the buzzer.
 
Bethel shot 51.9 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes while holding the Wildcats to 21.4 percent and just 1-of-10 from behind the arc. The Royals largest lead of the first half came at nine, before taking a 32-26 advantage into the break.
 
The lead reached double digits with a second chance opportunity from Pearson three minutes into the third. St. Kate's pulled as close as seven on three occasions in the fourth before BU held the Wildcats scoreless through the final 2:31.
 
Returning to the Robertson Center on Wednesday night, the Royals host Concordia at 5:45 p.m.