DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After seeing its 10-point lead vanish in the fourth quarter, the Bethel University women's basketball team buckled down in overtime defeating St. Vincent 64-59.
Two free throws from
Macey Littlefield put the Royals up 46-36 with 3:45 to go. A 16-6 run by the Bearcats from that point, including six in the final 27 seconds, forced overtime with the teams knotted up at 52.
In overtime a nice defensive play by Littfield with a block and then a steal led to a three ball from
Colette Duininck that made it 60-52 with 1:49 to go. The Bearcats hit a three with 31 seconds to go making it 62-59 before the Royals put it away at the free throw line.
A tough shooting performance in the opening quarter saw only four field goals for the Royals, but they only trailed 12-9 at the first break. The defense picked up in the second as the Bearcats went on a near three-and-a-half-minute scoring drought. A three from
Anna Garfield gave the Royals a 26-21 lead at the break.
Elly Schmitz led all scorers with 19 points and 11 rebounds for her first career double-double. Duininck added 12 points while
Emily Erickson had 10. Garfield finished with eight points, four steals, one block and 10 rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Royals, now 5-5 on the year, head back to the Land of 10,000 Lakes where they hit the hardwood on Saturday, Dec. 30 at nationally-ranked Gustavus Adolphus in non-conference action. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. in St. Peter.
