ARDEN HILLS Minn. – The Bethel University women's basketball team saw its 2023-24 season come to an end Tuesday night following a 72-69 loss to Saint Benedict in the MIAC quarterfinals.
The fifth-seeded Bennies outscored the Royals 23-14 in the third quarter while knocking down four threes for the difference maker. The fourth-seeded Royals shot 44.1 percent compared to the Bennies 54.2 percent and held a 37-26 edge on the boards.
The Royals finish the year 15-11 overall.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
• Bethel opened the game on an 8-0 run through the opening 3:30 of the game.
• The Royals defense held the Bennies to four field goals and a 1-of-6 mark behind the arc. BU themselves shot 38.9 percent taking a 17-10 advantage into the second quarter.
• Neither team had a run bigger than four points in a tightly contested second.
• Bethel was held to four points in the final four minutes and held CSB to a pair of free throws and a layup.
• Shooting 43.3 percent in the first half, the Royals took a 30-27 lead into the locker room.
Second Half
• The Bennies came out of the break with the hot hand shooting 9-of-10 in the third. That included a perfect 4-for-4 mark behind the arc.
• Bethel faced its first deficit of the night with 5:52 to go in the third as a CSB three put them ahead 39-38. The Royals were kept off the scoreboard the final 2:58 while the Bennies hit consecutive three putting BU down 50-44 after three.
• Trailing by 13 with 5:46 to go,
Elly Schmitz fueled a BU 12-2 run by dropping eight in the process and putting the Royals within 64-61 with 1:43 to go.
• Free throws put CSB back up by six before
Anna Garfield got a layup making it 70-66 and
Elly Schmitz got a steal on the inbound. Garfield then knocked down a three with 0.6 remaining making it a one-point game.
• The Royals fouled on the inbound but with 0.2 seconds left CSB hit both free throws.
KEY PERFORMERS
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Elly Schmitz finished the night tying a career-high 25 points while adding nine boards, three assists, two steals and two blocks.
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Anna Garfield finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
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Emily Erickson in 30 minutes of action dropped 15 points to go along with seven boards.
