Was up at Anoka-Ramsey last night as they were hosting North Iowa Area Community College in a non-conference clash. It was a little weird not seeing long-time coach John Oertel leading the NIACC team as he retired after last season. Kelli Terrell now leads the program and has already notched some big wins against Riverland, Illinois Central Community College, and RCTC (Rochester).
Both teams would come out of the gate sluggish. Sophomore Brittany Robinson got NIACC on the board first at the 17:02 mark and it took Anoka-Ramsey almost two more minutes before freshman Maria Loughlin finally got the Rams even at 2-all with her drive and finish. NIACC would take one more early lead at the 14:58 mark when sophomore Jenna Morris scored inside for a 4-2 lead. Sophomore Jenessa Tesch gave the Golden Rams the lead for good, though, at the 13:19 mark when she scored inside.
The Golden Rams finally got things going offensively (after a good chewing-out session by Head Coach David DeWitt) when sophomore PG Allison Ballstadt snared a steal and went the other way for an uncontested lay-up to push the Anoka-Ramsey lead to 12-6. Sophomores Sadie Pittman and Morris tried to stem the tide with some timely buckets but the Golden Rams were able to build a double-digit lead by the 7:20 mark on sophomore Capreice Ogris' two free throws and a jumper by Ogris from the left corner by the 3:05 mark extended the lead to 28-13. Anoka-Ramsey's tough, in-your-face pressure defense was also causing a lot of problems for the visitors as well that helped the Golden Rams get on their usual run to let them build an almost insurmountable 34-15 halftime lead.
Except for some uncharacteristic turnovers by Anoka-Ramsey in the second half (much to the chagrin of DeWitt), not much changed. Sophomore Tamarra Shorter, arguably the best athlete on the team and strong sophomore post Tracy McGregor helped extend the Anoka-Ramsey lead to 40-17 and a steal and lay-up by freshman reserve Jacquie Lommen pushed things to 42-18 in favor of the home team. A "3" by Ogris at the 7:48 mark and Tesch's score inside a bit later gave the Golden Rams a 52-22 lead. Freshman Maria Loughlin showed off her three-point shooting skills when she swished one in from the top at the 6:54 mark. NIACC would be able to force some sloppy play down the stretch on the Golden Rams and, although Anoka-Ramsey did come out on top easily enough 58-34, it was not a pretty after-game speech by DeWitt according to what Ballstadt told me afterward. Understandably, the turnovers and sloppy play coming down the stretch are not typical of a DeWitt-coached team and this group has a lot of work to do if they want to entertain thoughts about repeating last year's national championship.
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