After I left Hamline I was literally starving so I swung by McDonald's through the drive thru and hurried on over to Augsburg back on the MPLS side of town ( I HATE driving in STPAU) to catch what I could of the St. Olaf - Augsburg tilt. I grabbed a bottle of God's nector (a.k.a. Pepsi) to go with my impromptu meal and got settled in around the 4:14 mark with the Auggies up by a score of 15-11.
It became quite apparent that the Auggies were much sharper on this night and that the Oles, on the other hand, appeared to be going through the motions. After two freebies by senior PG Serenae Levine at the 3:56 mark, athletic sophomore Kendra Ware pushed the lead to 19-11 at the 3:05 mark with her jumper from the left wing. After a layup by freshman Sheridan Blanford that temporarily stopped the bleeding for the Oles, willowy junior forward Brittany Dyshaw cashed in on a lay-up for a 21-13 lead and padded that lead right before the half when freshman Abbey Luger made a steal and went in for a lay-up the other way that had to have had St. Olaf Head Coach Dave Stromme steaming in the locker room during the break.
The Auggies made a quick statement in their upset bid as the second half began. Dyshaw snared a rebound and got a putback and was fouled in the process and, although she missed the obligatory free throw, she did push the Auggie lead to 25-13 at the 19:17 mark. Levine then made a sweet move and finish on the ensuing possession for a 27-14 lead and senior guard Lexi Thompson did likewise at the 17:47 mark. Levine then pushed the Auggie lead up to 15 with her shot off the glass at the 16:37 before St. Olaf finally started to get untracked. After a free throw by freshman Nikki Frogner, junior guard Kirstee Rotty connected with a jumper along the baseline at the 14:11 mark and then Frogner made good on a lay-up at the 13:45 mark. Sophomore post Elise Raney then connected on a shot off the glass at the 13:31 mark that suddenly brought St. Olaf to within six at 32-26 and it LOOKED as if the Oles just might ply their way back into this one.
Trouble was, though, they needed to get permission from the Auggie's Levine (who obviously would have responded with a resounding "NO!" verbally) and she promptly decided that she was going to do whatever she had to do to help her team win - even if it meant taking over the game - which she did. She responded with back-to-back "3's" at the 13:06 and 12:31 marks that pushed the Auggie lead back up to double digits at 38-26. St. Olaf sophomore Brittany Weber did her best to give her team another push; she nailed a "3" from the right top at the 11:07 mark and then scored inside and was fouled in the process which, along with the obligatory freebie, cut the Auggie lead back down to 40-32. Another "3" by Weber cut the lead to seven at the 6:41 mark but Levine again responded from behind the arc at the left wing spot a bit later to bolster the home team. Another long "2" from Levine at the 3:37 mark along with a baseline power move by junior Brittany Zins kept the Oles at bay but the deal-sealer came when Thompson caught an alle-oop pass off an inbounds play and scored and was fouled in the process that allowed her to cash in from the charity stripe. Now down 53-41 the Oles had to foul to have any kind of hope and the Auggies knew it as they made several more trips to the charity stripe down the stretch. The Oles did make some last-gap efforts; Rottee connected with a running jumper with :45.7 left and Weber connected with another "3" from the left corner that sandwiched a lay-up by junior PG Mackenzie Wolter but Augsburg finished on this night, winning by a final score of 61-51.
It was a disappointed Ole squad and coaching staff afterward. Stromme didn't really want to talk too much afterward (who could blame him?). But Wolter was gracious enough to talk to me afterward. She said that they simply weren't ready on this night and it showed. They have a big test at home on Saturday against always-tough CSB and the guess here is that she'll have her teammates ready by Saturday afternoon.
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