Was down in Northfield last night to catch the scrimmage between Northwestern and up-and-coming St. Olaf that proved to be very entertaining to watch. The Oles still have some injury issues they're dealing with - Elise Raney dislocated her knee (again) and likely won't return until sometime next month and Maddie Ehrich is still going through rehab following the ACL injury she suffered this last summer. Northwestern is going through the growing pains any young team would at the early stages of the season.
In the first scrimmage, both teams were quite even from a scoring standpoint as St. Olaf took a while to get untracked offensively. Erin Haglund got the Oles on the board first with a shot off the glass at the 18:38 mark but Northwestern's Mollie Sir came right back on the ensuing possession to tie things up at 2-all. Things would would stay very tight until the 15"43 mark when the Eagles were able to make a bit of a move. Senior Kristin Sczublewski put the Eagles up by one with a free throw and a 10-9 lead. Sir then connected with a jumper at the 14:23 mark. Freshman Chanel Madson hit a jumper at the 13:45 mark for a 14-11 lead then then hit one free throw a bit later to up the lead by one. The Eagles then banged home a "3" at the 12:32 mark for an 18-11 lead before the Oles finally woke up. Haglund hit a short jumper at the 12:19 mark and then junior PG Mackenzie Wolter then drove in for a lay-up and got fouled in the process and her obligatory free throw shot cut Northwestern's lead to 18-16. Junior Ashley Menzel tied the issue at 18 with her jumper along the left baseline at the 11:14 mark and then fellow junior Eileen O'Donoghue got a rebound and putback at the 10:44 mark for a 20-18 lead that the Oles would never relinquish. St. Olaf would have their way down low against an inexperienced Northwestern front line that enabled the Oles to go on a 23-9 run the rest of the way for the final margin of 43-29.
The second scrimmage was simply all St. Olaf as they continued their domination in the paint against a young Northwestern front line. Haglund and Menzel quickly got the Oles to a 4-0 lead in this one and O'Donoghue nailed a "3" at the 16:12 mark to help set the tone. The Oles were up 10-0 before Sczublewski finally connected for the Eagles at the 15:11 mark. Wolter than craftily split the Northwestern 2-3 zone defense with a drive and finish and got the freebie as well. Sophomore Addy Bates and junior Kirstee Rotty each connected with "3's" to balloon the lead to 19-4. But the person who stood out to me in this one was St. Olaf freshman Sheridan Blanford out of Aurora, Colorado. She showed what a monster she can be on the boards and she used her 5'11" frame to eat a ton of glass in this one. Sczublewski would never let her Eagle teammates quit but the Oles cruised to a 44-22 victory in this second 20-minute stanza.
The third scrimmage, also 20 minutes, differed from the first two as this featured running time to help speed things along. And, unlike the second scrimmage, this one would be a nail-biter. St. Olaf would build a 10-5 lead by the 14:49 mark but Northwestern sophomore Becca Kendrick showed what a slayer she can be behind the arc as she nailed a "3" with 13:42 left that cut the Oles lead to 10-8. The Oles would be able to build the lead back up to 17-10 when Menzel connected with a hook shot at the 8:41 mark but the Eagles then made their run fueled by a "3" from freshman Ashley Arneson at the 3:46 mark. With St. Olaf clinging to a 20-17 lead late, Arneson then drilled a "3" from the left wing with just 1:06 left to tie things up at 20-all. With just :09 left on the clock, the Oles, on their last possession got a layup for the final margin of 22-20.
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