Arden Hills, Minn. - The wait is finally over! Following last season's historic season, the Bethel University women's basketball team returns to the hardwood opening up the 2021 season, not in easy fashion, traveling to St. Thoams Wednesday evening. Tip off inside Schoenecker Arena is set for 7 p.m. Coverage of tonight's game can be found on the Live Coverage page.

A reminder that no fans are allowed to attend winter indoor sports this season. Coverage of tonight's game can be found on the Live Coverage page.

STARTING FIVE
1)  It has been be 334  days since the Bethel University women's basketball team has last been on the hardwood for competition. The long wait ends as the Royals build off of last season's momentum that included a MIAC regular season and tournament championship, sixth NCAA Tournament appearance and a program-record 26 wins (26-2 overall, 19-1 MIAC).

2) The Royals have a void to fill losing a pair of starters in Taite Anderson and Haylee Barker to graduation. No need to hit the panic button because Bethel returns three starters in senior Makenna Pearson, senior Bella Williams and sophomore Kat Brown-Erdal. Seniors Elizabeth Schwarz and Michaela Craigan played key roles off the bench appearing in all 28 games. Other prominent factors off the bench were junior Erin Tupy and sophomore Emma Schultz. Bethel returns nine players form last year's roster with in-game experience.

3) The 2020-21 season looks a little different due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Royals schedule features two non-conference games at the moment and seven contests against MIAC opponents where BU will play four home games and three away. With no postseason MIAC tournament, this year's league winner will be based on the team achieving the best winning percentage while completing at least 51 percent of the schedule.

4) Defense wins championships. Last season BU was third in the nation with 499 steals at 17.8 takeaways per game and forced its opponents to turn it over an average 27.2 times a game. Over the last two seasons, the Royals have totaled 937 steals averaging 17.0 a game. Bethel gave up an average 55.9 points per game while scoring 74.5 itself (+18.6 margin).

5) Entering its 35th season in the NCAA era, Bethel holds a 471-397 (.543) all-time record. Under head coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer the Royals are 265-202 (.567) with a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Check out the full game notes for the matchup against St. Thomas at the link uptop.