ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College women's basketball team dropped an MIAC contest to Bethel University, 82-59 Friday night in the Leonard Center. The Scots are now 5-4 overall and 1-3 in conference play, while the Royals improve to 8-1, 4-0 MIAC.

Bethel used a 14-3 run over the final 6:30 of the first quarter to take a commanding 23-8 lead after 10 minutes of play. The lead grew to as many as 22 points before the Royals took a 43-23 advantage into the halftime break. Bethel shot 56.7 percent compared to 40.0 percent for Macalester while forcing 12 Scots turnovers.

The visitors stayed in control into the third quarter, pushing the lead to as many as 28 points before Macalester finished the period with a 16-6 run to make the score 60-42. Junior guard Vivi Gregorich (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) hit a three and had seven points in the run, while first year guard Tyana Loiselle (Bloomer, Wis./Chippewa Falls) also added a three-pointer. First year guard Holly Hull (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley NW) opened the fourth quarter with a basket to cut the deficit to 16, 60-44. But that's as close as the Scots would get, as Bethel led by as many as 31 points in closing out the 82-59 win.

Junior center Regan Fruh (Helena, Mont./Helena) led Macalester with 13 points to go with five rebounds, while Gregorich tallied 11 points, two assists and two steals. Loiselle finished with nine points, two assists and two steals, with junior forward Leah Gray (San Rafael, Calif./Branson School) grabbing a team-high six rebounds. Bethel's Kalli Zimmermann led all players with 22 points and 11 boards.

The Scots return to action on Dec. 19 with a home non-conference game against Northland College, beginning at 2:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.