ST. PAUL, Minn. – Macalester College visited Bethel University for a prime time MIAC clash this evening. The Royals bested the Scots in the 73-50 battle. Mac drops to 1-16 overall and 0-11 in the MIAC, while Bethel rises to 14-4 and 9-2 in the MIAC — tied for the best record in the conference.
The Scots hopped out to an early lead behind buckets from junior guard
Sydnee Smith (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) and sophomore forward
Cady Davis (Minneapolis, Minn./Roosevelt), but after a scoreless opening three minutes, the Royals found their sea legs and took the lead right back. After a 10-2 Royal run, Davis answered with a personal 5-0 run. Bethel regained the lead to close the first quarter, but Macalester stayed in contact.
In the second quarter, the Scots fought to maintain that contact. When Bethel stretched its lead to nine early, the Scots kept their heads. Smith and first-year guard
Faith Accardo (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Oaks Christian) each hit three pointers to cut the lead down to two points. While Bethel managed to get the lead back to seven headed into the half, Macalester out-shot the Royals from three and the free throw line in the quarter to keep things close.
After a putback layup from senior forward
Ellie Corbett (Austin, Texas/James Bowie) to cut the lead to five, the Royals began to open up their largest lead of the game to that point as their defense tightened the screws on the Scots, forcing turnovers and long-range misses. Bethel went into the final period up 51-37.
The Royals got hot in the fourth quarter to put the game away, shooting 3-of-6 from three and 7-of-18 from the field.
Davis led Macalester with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Smith followed her with 14 points, seven rebounds (including three offensive) and two blocks. . Junior guard
Mary Daley (Cumberland, R.I./Bishop Feehan) notched seven points, four rebounds and two assists.
The women's basketball team returns to action at the Leonard Center on Saturday, Jan. 31 for a 1 p.m. matchup with St. Olaf College.
