Was at Bethel yesterday afternoon as a sideline color analyst for Community Hoops along with announcer Tony Geer and fellow commentator Larry McKenzie (Holy Angels Head Coach) to do the St. Olaf - Bethel tilt; a game that had huge implications AFA conference standings plus playoff jockeying/home court advantage later on down the road. In this game, Bethel simply was as cold as ice from the perimeter and never really did get any rythm going offensively (the 25% FG shooting gives you an idea of how impotent the Royals truly were in this contest); and Taylor Sheley outside shooting prowess never was a huge factor in this game. For St. Olaf on the other hand, they had a standout performance from sophomore post Elise Raney who was a huge factor for the Oles hopes on this day as she scored 12 points along with nine rebounds and, just as important, four blocks. A key for the Oles was to get isolation on Raney down low that allowed her to do a lot of damage in the paint. The Royals did have their chances in this game; St. Olaf did not do a great job of taking care of the rock but Bethel was unable to capitalize on a lot of these opportunities as they missed several short shots and "bunnies" that could have drastically changed the complexion of this game. Still, this was a huge road win for the Oles that gets them into a third-place tie with the Royals; right behind both UST and GAC who are currently first and second, respectively. Having Raney back in the rotation is huge for St. Olaf as she can be such a great weapon offensively and also bolsters the already solid front line of Erin Haglund, Nikki Frogner, Ashley Menzel, and (C'mon) Eileen O'Donoghue.
Elsewhere, UST stayed perfect in the conference with their 49-41 home win over Augsburg, GAC easily took care of business at home against St. Kate's 75-52, Concordia held on at home for a badly-needed win against visiting Carleton 56-47, ever-improving CSB beat Hamline at home in St. Joe 71-57, and SMU got the win on the road; dumping slumping Macalester 65-59.
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