WISCONSIN DELLS, WIS.—The No. 19 Bethel University women's basketball team pushed their win streak to six games following a 63-57 victory over UW-La Crosse on day one of the Just A Game Division III Invitational in Wisconsin Dells on Friday night.
The Royals move to 6-1, while the Eagles fall to 6-4.
Bethel 63, UW-La Crosse 57
La Crosse never trailed throughout the opening quarter, where they out scored Bethel 19-15. The Royals committed nine turnovers in the second quarter, but their defense held the Eagles to .267 (4-of-15) shooting in the frame. Six Royals contributed points in a second quarter that saw seven of the game's 11 lead changes, which included Macey Littlefield's layup with 00:06 remaining that put her team in front 30-28 at halftime.
Bethel shot just 4-of-13 (.308) in the third quarter, but their  8-of-10 (.800) mark from the charity stripe kept them in the driver's seat at 47-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
The final 10:00 was deja vúÂ from the third quarter as both teams combined to shoot 10-of-35 (.286), which included a 3-of-13 (.231) figure from Bethel. The Royals' 10-of-11 mark from the free throw line in the fourth quarter included a 5-of-6 figure from Colette Duininck down the stretch, which iced a 63-57 victory.
Elly Schmitz had 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and four steals for Bethel. Nine of her points came from the charity stripe, where Bethel accumulated a 23-of-27 (.852) percentage. UW-La Crosse didn't attempt a free throw in the contest.
Duininck finished with 12 points, four assists, and seven rebounds. Littlefield came off the bench with 11 points, while Emily Erickson had 10 points.
Both teams were neck-and-neck in shooting as La Crosse had the slight .385 (25-of-65) - .383 (18-of-47) advantage. The Eagles were led by Jenna Welsch's 14 points off the bench, while Molly Janke had a team-leading 10 boards.
The Royals will face Coe on day two of the Just A Game Division III Invitational in Wisconsin Dells tomorrow, Saturday, December 20 at 3 p.m.
