MINNEAPOLIS-- The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team (18-7 overall, 13-1) used an electric fourth quarter to pull off a 67-61 win over North Central (21-4, 10-4) Saturday afternoon. The win concluded regular season play and gave Bethany a share of its third consecutive UMAC regular season championship.
After one quarter, the Vikings led 17-7 thanks in part to a pair of triples by junior Taryn Christensen (South Sioux City, Neb.) and strong defensive play.
Early in the frame, senior Hanna Geistfeld (Truman, Minn.) broke the single-season rebounds record with her third of the game and 324th this season. The record was previously held by Jessica Merseth (2006-07).
Bethany was held scoreless through the first four minutes of the second quarter, and it struggled to get much going with Geistfeld sitting on the bench with two fouls. This allowed NCU to take a 27-25 lead at the half.
Freshman Haley Meyer (Centerville, S.D.) had four of BLC's nine made field goals prior to the intermission and led the team with eight points.
A late 11-0 third-quarter run by the Rams gave them a 47-39 lead heading into the contest's final 10 minutes.
A quick 14-7 burst that included two treys by sophomore Ashanti Boykin (St. Paul, Minn.) brought the Vikings to within one with six minutes to play, 53-52. Later, the Vikings reclaimed the lead on a triple by junior Ashley Schindele (Kimball, Minn.) to make it 60-59 with two minutes remaining. North Central briefly went ahead, but a Geistfeld bucket from point blank range made it 62-61, in favor of the Vikings. After a defensive stop, made free throw and offensive rebound for BLC, Meyer sealed the game with a jumper from the right wing.
Meyer tallied a team-high 17 points in the contest.
Geistfeld finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, good for her 19th double double of the season.
Boykin scored 11 points and dished out a team-high five assists.
Freshman Alexis Cloyd (Garden City, Minn.) also had 11 points on the day.
Bethany will host either Northland College or Crown College Tuesday night to open the UMAC Tournament.
