Arden Hills, Minn. (uwrfsports.com) – In a comeback effort, the UW-River Falls women's basketball team fell to the Bethel Royals 89-85 after coming back from seven points down late in the game to force overtime.

THE RUNDOWN
Final Score: UW-River Falls: 85, Bethel University 89
Location: Robertson Center Gym, Arden Hills, Minnesota
Record: UWRF: 2-2, Bethel University 3-1
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• UW-River Falls would control the first five minutes of the ball game with the six the first eight points for UWRF coming from junior forward Taylor Karge. The Falcons would lead 8-4 with 5:37 to go in the first quarter.
• Bethel would take their first lead with 4:14 to go in the first quarter on a three pointer from Jasmin Bretoi.
• Neither would lead by more than three points for the remainder of the first quarter, and a layup by Karge with four seconds left would send the game to the second quarter all knotted up at 18.
• In the second quarter, neither team could establish a substantial lead. The lead was never above three points for either team and the lead was exchanged seven times and the game was tied four different times.
• Senior guard Brynn Liljander would sink a jumper with just three seconds left in the quarter to send the ball game to halftime tied 37-37.
• In the half, the leading scorer was Karge with 10 points on 5-7 shooting. Liljander added eight points, including 4-4 from the free throw line and two steals. Messman had a solid first half with seven points on 2-3 shooting from the floor and two steals, one block, and two rebounds.
• River Falls would take control of the game early in the third quarter. To start the half, the Falcons went on an 8-1 run with Karge and Taylor Paulsrud scoring all eight for UWRF. The Falcons led 45-38 with 7:52 to go in the third quarter.  
• The Royals would match the Falcons run with a 7-0 run in just two minutes to tie the game at 45.
• The two teams would go back and forth for the remainder of the third quarter, but late three pointers by the Royals and free throws would give them a two-point cushion heading into the final quarter.  
• In the fourth quarter, the Falcons would not lead until eight seconds left in the game on a jumper from Liljander which put UWRF up 76-75. Up until that point, the Royals had stretched their lead to nine points with 5:05 to go in the game. The Royals had sank four threes in the fourth quarter alone to build up their lead.
• After the Liljander jump shot to take the lead, both teams called a 30 second timeout. On the ensuing Bethel possession, Kalli Zimmermann was fouled and was sent to the line to shoot two free throws. She would make the frontend to tie the game, but miss the next and Liljander would secure the defensive rebound and call a timeout with six seconds to go in the game.
• Liljander would put a shot up with one second to go, but to no avail and the game would head to extra time.
• Bethel would take the first lead of overtime on free throws from Zimmermann and would not trail in overtime to secure the victory over the visiting Falcons.

 
IN-DEPTH LOOK

• Karge would finish with a game-high 21 points on 10-18 shooting. She added four rebounds, two assists, and two blocks to her totals.
• Messman would match her solid first half with a better second half. She finished with 15 points on 4-8 shooting and collected a team-high seven rebounds, which matches her career high. Messman would also dish out a game-high five assists as well.
• Ali Clark established her career high with 15 points off the bench. She converted six of her nine shots from the floor.
• Liljander would be the third Falcons starter in double-figures with 10 points. She snagged three steals and registered a block as well.
• As a team, UW-River Falls shot 31-67 (46.3 percent) from the floor. UWRF was 2-8 (25 percent) from the three point line and connected on 21-25 (84 percent) from the charity stripe.  

THE OPPOSITION

• In the win, the Royals shot 25-57 (43.9 percent) from the floor and connected on 11 threes on 22 attempts in the game.
• Bethel had four players in double figures. Their leading scorer was Zimmermann off the bench with 20 points on 6-11 shooting. She also was 8-13 from the free throw line.
• Taite Anderson scored 19 points, Angie Kirchoff scored 14 as the top scorers for Bethel. Jasmin Bretoi was the final player in double-figures with 12 points on 4-8 shooting all off three point shots.
• Bethel won the rebound battle over UW-River Falls 43-34.

 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Falcons will have their first game at home against Viterbo University on November 29 at 6 p.m. during a double-header in the opening of the final season at Karges Arena.