ST. PAUL, Minn. – Sophomore guard
Kendal Cox scored a career-high 19 points as the Bethel University women's basketball team bounced back with an emphatic 61-53 win at St. Catherine Monday evening.
All nine Royals that saw action hit the scoring column as Bethel shot 41.2 percent from the field. BU held the rebounding edge 34-27 with 14 of those boards coming on the offensive end. Those second chance opportunities turned into 16 points.
The victory improves Bethel to 7-5 on the year and sit atop the MIAC standings with a 7-2 mark.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
• Returning to the lineup,
Hayden Glander gave BU their first lead of the night with 4:52 left in the first after laying one up off the glass.
• St. Kate's went back in front leading by as many as seven until Cox knocked down her lone three of the game pulling BU within 19-17 after the opening 10 minutes.
• The Royals overcame a three-minute scoring drought in the second tying it at 24-24 with 4:38 left.
• Bethel got to the line late in the quarter building a 34-29 halftime lead large in part to a 75 percent free throw mark (12-of-16) in the first half.
• BU forced SCU into 14 first-half turnovers while the Wildcats shot 45.8 percent from the field compared to Bethel's 37 percent.
Second Half
• Cox came out with the hot hand scoring BU's first nine-points of the half expanding the lead to 43-34 midway through the third.
•
Elly Schmitz, a transfer at the break from Sioux Falls, knocked down one of Bethel's four threes on the night giving BU its largest lead of the night at 52-38.
• The Royals' lead remained in double digits for a majority of the fourth despite only shooting 4-of-8 in the final 10 minutes.
• In the meantime, BU played shutdown defense holding SCU to 26.7 percent (4-of-15).
KEY PERFORMERS
• Cox's career mark came on 7-of-11 shooting with six boards, four on the offensive end, and six steals.
• Off the bench
Colette Duininck contributed nine points while going 4-of-6 from the charity stripe.
•
Courtney Nuest added eight points and four steals while
Anna Garfield chipped in seven points with 10 rebounds and four assists.
UP NEXT
The Royals return to the Robertson Center Wednesday evening hosting Saint Mary's at 7 p.m.
