Ahhh...running late with this post as well. Nothing like trying to keep up with stuff when you've got to get your beauty sleep as well!
Anyway, Tuesday evening (11-16) I traveled over to Roseville as Northwestern of the UMAC hosted MIAC (and nearby) foe Hamline. This was an intriguing contest as it pitted two coaches making their debuts at their new schools - Aaron Kahl at Northwestern and Kerri Stockwell at Hamline. Also interesting was that it was a game where a former Hamline player (Kristin Sczublewski) now finds herself in a Northwestern uniform after transferring there over the summer.
Admittedly, Northwestern would be playing this game with one hand tied behind their back (for a lack of a better phrase) so to speak as standout Katie DeWitt was in street clothes and would not be playing this game (more on that later). Without DeWitt in the game, Northwestern is simply not the same team and it became more and more apparent that they would struggle some without her. Hamline would build up leads of 8-4 and 10-5 at the midway mark. Hamline was far from flawless, however, as turnovers would plague them in the first half. Also, senior standout PG Nikki Klinck picked up two quick fouls early on that prompted Stockwell to sit Klinck for the rest of the 1st half .
Hamline had the edge for most of the 1st half and, perhaps encouraging for Stockwell, was the emergence of junior forward/post Stephanie Rice and freshman Je'Naya Brown at the PG spot for Klinck. Rice showed her versatility by hitting a "3" at the 8:13 mark that gave the Pipers a 13-7 lead and Brown showed off her flashiness and speed on several occasions. That girl has incredible leaping ability as well for someone who's only 5'2". Still, Northwestern was able to scrap together a small run that got them to within one at 17-18 although Hamline did get a "3" right before the half to stretch the lead to 21-17. I thought that Northwestern was very fortunate to be within four of Hamline at the break as it was quite obvious that Hamline is a much quicker and more athletic team than a DeWitt-less Northwestern and the Eagles had to work very hard for every scoring opportunity they got.
For the second half, Stockwell installed Klinck back into the line-up and she responded by scoring right away for the Pipers that, along with a Kara Poirer 3-pointer, ignited a 7-0 Hamline run that found them up 28-17 at the 15:50 mark. Despite a nice drive and finish from the Eagles Sczublewski, Poirer of Hamline quickly answered with another "3" that got the Pipers to 31-19 from which Northwestern could never recover. Even worse for Northwestern was at the 9:30 mark when Eagle junior post Megan Myhre was on the bench for a spell that forced Kahl to stick willowy senior forward Allison Johnson on Hamline post Mary Wilkowski - a bad matchup that Wilkowski was able to exploit as Hamline stretched their lead to 14 at 40-26. Strangely quiet for Hamline for almost the entire game until (finally) the 5:53 mark was sharp-shooter Jackie Kelly as she drained a long "3" from the left side and a 43-29 Piper lead. Northwestern would make one last charge; highlighted by freshman phenom Mollie Sir's 3-pointer that got the Eagles to within 36-43 but Hamline would be able to close this one out with a 10-point cushion as they prevailed 52-42.
It will be interesting to see how Hamline adjusts to Stockwell's new system. She did retain assistant Angel Leon from the MY-K regime but I'm sure the atmosphere will be very different this season at Hutton Arena. I think she's got enough returning talent (Wilkowski, Klinck, Kelly as senior leaders) and an interesting mix of newcomers (particularly Brown) that can make the Pipers a dangerous team at least and certainly capable of being in the mix for that 6th playoff spot in the MIAC. But they've got to keep the main cogs healthy and injury-free to do that. As far as Northwestern, they'll have Katie DeWitt back for Friday's contest against North Central. Turns out that she apparently had to sit out this game (although Kahl didn't elaborate as to the "why"). They're certainly a team that, with a healthy DeWitt, can compete for a UMAC title.
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