Pipers prove too much for shorthanded Royals
Bethel women’s basketball team loses fifth straight game with almost half the team watching from home due to quarantine.
By Kaden Lamb, writer
The Bethel Royals could have taken a van down Snelling Avenue to Hutton Arena for a MIAC competition with the Hamline Pipers. After three starters and three non-starters were quarantined for COVID-19 related issues earlier in the week, the Royals were left with only eight masked players in their huddle Wednesday night. Hamline defeated Bethel 68–75.
Pesky defense from fifth-year senior Bella Williams and freshman Courtney Nuest forced two early Hamline turnovers, leading the Royals to a 6–0 start. The Pipers responded with a run of their own, bringing the score to 6–11 in Hamline’s favor. Hamline junior Chan’el Anderson-Manning scored a layup to beat the buzzer at the end of the first quarter, putting the Pipers up by one, 17–18. In the final 10 seconds of the second quarter, Bethel’s Nuest swished a three-pointer, tying the game at 34–34. Both team’s defenses played a full court press for most of the first half, which exhausted the masked Royals and forced coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer to sub his players in and out of the game more frequently.
A sloppy third quarter for the Royals allowed Hamline to jump out to a 46–51 lead. In the second half, Williams and fellow fifth-year senior Makenna Pearson gathered the five players on the court into mini-huddles during short breaks to slow the game down and refocus the younger players.
“Hey, is there a timeout here or what?” frustrated Hamline coach Alex Focke shouted at the referees.
The Pipers held the lead for the entirety of the fourth quarter, leaving the final score Hamline 75, Bethel 68.
“We just have girls that are willing to throw everything out and leave everything on the floor. [We were] missing some of our key components… but a lot of these girls are able to play.” –Bella Williams, Bethel guard
Williams harassed the Hamline ball handlers all game, finishing with seven steals and getting her hands on a few passes to knock them off their routes. She picked up her fifth and final foul late in the fourth quarter, sitting her on the bench for just the second time all game. Because the team had so few players, Williams played for 37:31 of the 40-minute game. She said Coach Herbrechtsmeyer called the players earlier Wednesday, asking if they were ready to play the entire game.
“We just have girls that are willing to throw everything out and leave everything on the floor. [We were] missing some of our key components… but a lot of these girls are able to play,” Williams said.
One such teammate was Williams’ younger sister, freshman Olivia Williams, who made her career-first start and played just less than 30 minutes. The two had only played together once before, for 30 seconds in a high school game.
“It’s fun because she can take my criticism,” Bella Williams said. “She’s my best friend. She’s basically the reason I came back [for a fifth year].”
For the Royals, Nuest led the team in scoring with a career high 19 points. Pearson and freshman Hayden Glander joined the double-digits club with 16 and 14 points respectively.
For the Pipers, sophomore lefty Lydia Lecher was the game’s top scorer with 20 points. Senior Sophie Findell added 16, with seven from the free-throw line.
The Royals look to snap a five-game losing streak Saturday at St. Catherine University.
