ARDEN HLLS, Minn. – Sophomore guard Kat Brown-Erdal cashed in from downtown with a career-high 30 points as the Bethel University women's basketball captured its first win of the season defeating Saint Mary's 81-67.

Saint Mary's (1-1) led for a majority of the first half while the Royals tied it on four occasions. Bethel (1-1) picked up its first lead of the game with 4:12 remaining in the first half. It was at that point Brown-Erdal picked up steam going from 0-for-4 behind the arc to hitting all of her next four attempts.

Closing out the second quarter on a 9-0 run, BU took a 38-27 lead into the locker room.

Makenna Pearson added long range distance scoring 11 of her 13 points in the second half which pushed the Royals lead to 57-38. Full court pressure by the pesky BU defense sped up the Saint Mary's offense forcing them into 10 second half turnovers.

Bethel led by as many as 21, but Saint Mary's gave themselves a little life going 19-of-22 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes. Thankfully the Royals were just as successful at the charity stripe shooting a perfect 15-for-15.

Diving into the record books you have to go back all the way to November 11, 2015 for the last time BU went perfect at the line. They went 11-for-11 in a 91-49 win at Principia.

On the boards, Bethel dominated out rebounding the Cardinals by a 34-19 margin. In the lane, BU had 38 points in the paint compared to SMU's 24.

Michaela Craigan added 11 points while Elizabeth Schwarz dropped in nine points and seven rebounds. Bella Williams evened out the stat line with six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

MIAC play continues next Wednesday, Feb. 10 with the Royals traveling to Gustavus Adolphus. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Story provided by Austin Lagesse, Bethel University Assistant Sports Information Director