Gustavus vs UST 12-3-11

After the wild affair at Hutton Arena, I then went back down Snelling and over Summit Avenue as well to St. Thomas to take in the much-anticipated nightcap between Gustavus and UST.  In my own mind, I was hoping that the Gusties were ready to step up and take early control of the conference race but, as was plainly evident, they simply don't have the spectacular talent that Ruth Sinn's Tommies do.

Still, this one would be close early on.  UST was trying to establish itself down low while GAC was using its strengths of speed, quickness and defense to force Tommie turnovers into easy baskets.  After senior Molly Geske's jumper at the 7:15 mark that gave the Gusties a 21-20 lead, UST then proceeded to go on the decisive 10-0 run over the course of less than four minutes that proved to be the cushion they would need to go on to victory.  The Gusties did manage to cut that lead to five points with just under a minute left when lanky junior post Abby Rothenbuehler connected with a jumper but timely baskets by reserve senior forward Haley Loesch and reserve senior post Sarah Smith once again pushed the lead back up to ten by the half by a count of 35-25.

Then, it was sophomore Taylor Young's turn to show off her stuff in the second half for the Tommies.  Two free throws at the 18:37 mark and then a drive and finish along with getting fouled at the 17:23 mark plus the ensuing charity stripe shot really set the tone the rest of the way.  Young would connect from behind the arc at the 14:08 mark and fellow senior MIAC three-point shooting Queen Ali Johnson's "3" at the 9:14 mark bulged the lead to 51-37.  The Gusties would be able to make a couple of small pushes in the second half but nothing that ever was able to threaten the UST stranglehold.  Geske did connect with a "3" from the left wing with 2:15 left to cut UST's advantage down to 61-54 as did junior Kelsey Florian with just .09.9 left but the Tommies were able to ice this one away from the free throw line as they won 69-60.  Despite the run that UST had in the first half, the Gusties still had opportunities but missed several short shots that could have been worth 10-12 points.  There will always be the officiating aspect and there was one truly HORRIBLE call on Rothenbuehler as she appeared to have scored and get fouled but was instead whistled for one herself that might have changed the complexion of the game somewhat.  In the end, GAC, if they want to entertain thoughts about winning the conference, has to find a way to STEP UP and MAKE big plays; especially when playing a team like UST which has arguably made GAC their little "you know what" over the last couple of seasons.