WISCONSIN DELLS, WIS.—The No. 19 Bethel University women's basketball team pushed their win streak to seven games following an 88-84 2OT victory over Coe on day two of the Just A Game Division III Tournament in Wisconsin Dells on Saturday afternoon.
The Royals move to 7-1, while the Kohawks fall to 8-3. It marked Bethel's first double overtime game since January 2, 2009, when they lost to Concordia (Minn.) 79-75 2OT at Robertson Center.
Bethel 88, Coe 84 2OT
A whopping 22 lead changes and 17 tied scores occurred in a contest where Coe led 19-18 after the opening 10:00, and took their largest advantage of the game at 33-22 with 3:24 left in the second quarter. The third quarter saw Bethel dominate Coe 20-10. This included a 10-0 run over the final 2:30 of the frame, which ended with Macey Littlefield's layup with 00:08 on the clock that put Bethel in front 46-44, their first lead since the first quarter.
Coe regained the lead, and grew it to seven points at 61-54 with 3:31 remaining in regulation. This ignited a Bethel squad that responded with a 9-2 run to close regulation. Elly Schmitz scored seven points in that run, which included a layup with 1:13 on the clock that knotted the game at 63-63 through regulation.
Eight-of-11 Bethel points in the first overtime occurred from the charity stripe. Macey Littlefield's two free throw makes with 00:15 on the clock gave the Royals a three-point, 74-71 cushion before Caydee Kirkham's three-pointer with 00:05 left tied the score at 74-74.
Double overtime belonged to Bethel, who never trailed by more than one point in the frame. Emily Erickson scored Bethel's final nine points of the contest, which included a three-pointer that put them in the driver's seat for good at 86-84 with 00:18 on the clock. Her free throw makes with 00:09 left iced the 88-84 2OT victory.
Five Royals finished in double figures as Elly Schmitz had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Royals, who finished .426 (26-of-61) shooting and .824 (28-of-34) from the free throw line. Erickson finished with 18 points, while Colette Duininck had a team-leading eight assists, and four steals to go with 11 points.
Macey Littlefield and Cally Peterson each had 14 and 13 points, respectively. They engineered a bench that outscored Coe 29-13.
Caydee Kirkham had a game-high 34 points and five assists to go with three steals for the Kohawks. Audrie Helmrichs added 21 points, while Taryn Kravig had 14 points and six assists. Kelly Knight led Coe with 10 boards.
The Royals will face Messiah in Kissimmee, Florida on Sunday, December 28 at 12 p.m. (ET).
