ARDEN HILLS, MINN.—The No. 22 Bethel University women's basketball team prevailed with a 70-69 victory over St. Mary's (Minn.) at Robertson Center Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
The Royals improve to 9-3, 4-1 MIAC, while the Cardinals fall to 10-2, 4-1 MIAC.
Bethel 70, Saint Mary's (Minn.) 69
The opening half was a tale of two quarters. The Royals' strong start consisted of a .471 (8-of-17) field goal percentage and a 21-6 lead after 10:00, where they held the Cardinals to a dismal .186 (3-of-16) field goal percentage. That 15-point advantage shrunk to four as Saint Mary's responded with a .572 (8-of-14) field goal percentage, and a 26-15 second quarter en route to a 36-32 halftime score.
After each team dominated a quarter throughout the opening 20:00, both teams played even basketball in the third quarter. Saint Mary's' stellar .700 (7-of-10) field goal percentage and 3-of-3 clip from the three-point line highlighted their 22-20 edge in the third frame, which narrowed Bethel's lead to 56-54 heading into the final 10:00.
The fourth quarter resulted in four of the game's five lead changes and eight points from Emily Erickson, which included her game-winning layup with 1:15 remaining that iced a 70-69 victory for the Royals.
Erickson paced Bethel with 19 points on a stellar 8-of-11 shooting clip. Cally Peterson nailed 4-of-7 three pointers, which highlighted her 18-point performance. Peterson also had five assists, two blocks, and one steal in the contest. Colette Duininck was all over the stat sheet with a team-best six steals and seven assists. Duininck and Rosalie Penke each had eight points, while Macey Littlefield came off the bench with 10 points. Alli Born paced Bethel with six rebounds, and had five steals.
The Cardinals got a game-high 30 points from Brianna Nusbaum on 11-of-22 shooting. Ayla Olson had a double double 15 rebounds and 18 points.Â
Bethel finished .455 (25-of-55) shooting and .450 (9-of-20) from the three-point line.
The Royals will host Carleton at Robertson Center Gym on Saturday, January 10 at 1 p.m.
