After watching Macalester finish off Bethel I hopped back into my car and headed back over to the Minneapolis side of town to Augsburg as they were hosting St. Kate's in one of the 3:00 P.M. matchups of the day. I got in there at halftime with St. Kate's holding a slim 32-29 lead in what appeared to be a very tight first half.
After sophomore Brittany Dyshaw's bucket at the 17:30 mark pulled the host Auggies to within one, it then seemed to become a three-point shooting contest. Wildcat freshman Kristen Lee drained one from the right corner at the 16:52 but Auggie sophomore newcomer Brittany Zins did the same from the left corner that once again narrowed the Wildcat lead to one at 35-34 at 16:11. Less than a minute later, Zins again struck from behind the perimeter that tied things at 37-all. St. Kate's was then able to forge ahead again thanks to seniors Laura Kalbfell and Sonja Ellingson but the Auggies refused to back down. Sophomore Tracee Schrank drained a "3" from the right wing at the 11:44 mark and after Ellingson responded with a shot inside for St. Kate's Schrank struck again for the Auggies behind the arc that cut the Wildcat lead to five.
Auggie junior Lexi Thompson tied things at 50-all when teammate Serenae Levine spotted Thompson cherry-picking around the half-court area on a fast break. St. Kate's resorted to going to a 2-3 zone after Zins' 3-point barrage from the outside. Moreover, Augsburg was getting very aggressive on defense with their trapping schemes that often caught the Wildcats flat-footed. After Levine got Augsburg in front with two foul shots at the 7:52 mark, the issue would be very close; very tight coming down the stretch. The big moment seemd to come with just :55 seconds remaining with the score tied at 61-all when Kalbfell, trying to make a strong move down low was called for the offensive foul; much to the chagrin of the St. Kate's side. Augsburg made key free throw shots when they counted that got them a 64-61 lead that would prove to be the final margin. St. Kate's would get one more crack to try and send it into overtime on their last possession as Lee narrowly missed making an NBA-range three with four seconds left.
No comments:
Post a Comment