Was down at St. Peter for this monumental clash between first place St. Thomas and nipping-on-their-heels second place Gustavus Adolphus. This was a tough day for me as I had received word at 7:30 in the A.M. while I was getting ready that my father who was 93 and had been in the nursing home back in my hometown of Edgewood, Iowa had passed away peacefully in his sleep around 1:00 A.M. There was no question that I was going to go down to the game; I wasn't going to miss this game and my Dad would have never wanted me to sit at home and mope. He would have wanted me to be there (and probably would have wanted to be there himself if he would have been of sound mind).
In my mind, this was an absolute "must" game for the Gusties. This was a chance for them to make a real statement - that they are indeed title contenders and that they weren't going to let themselves get pushed around by the Tommies anymore. But predictably, it was the Tommies who hit first and hit hard as the purple-clad UST gals bolted out to a 16-5 lead by the 11:10 mark with Sarah Smith, Anna Smith, Kelly Brandenburg, and Maggie Weiers doing much of the damage. To make matters worse for GAC, starting junior post Abby Rothenbuehler picked up two quick fouls in the process; both of them committed in more frustration than anything else. Still, the Gusties would find a way to claw back into this one - momentarily anyway. Senior PG Colleen Ruane (who has easily established herself as the best PG in the conference, hands down) sneaked inside to score at the 10:41 mark and after two freebies by sophomore forward Eli Benz, Ruane craftily snared the ball away on a steal from the Tommies and raced the other way for an uncontested lay-up that cut the deficit to a scant 16-13 margin.
But just when the home crowd (and the Gusties themselves) THOUGHT they were right back in it, the Tommies put the pedal to the metal once again. Willowy blonde senior sharpshooter Ali Johnson (who is simply deadly when "on") cashed in on a "3" from the left corner at the 9:20 mark. Then Weiers, after sinking two free throws, made a pretty shot off the glass a bit later and then sophomore sensation Taylor Young (my pick for MIAC MVP) knocked down a "3" from the right wing at the 5:12 mark. Less than a minute later, Young hit a jumper as the shot clock expired. The Gusties still managed to keep things relatively close; not letting the Tommies expand things beyond ten points and had the UST lead whittled down to five points when Rothenbuehler scored off the glass with just over a minute remaining in the first half. But those last sixty seconds before the halftime break were just enough to kill any chances the Gusties may have had. Sarah Smith scored inside and was fouled in the process and cashed in on the obligatory freebie with :44.1 left. Then Weiers was fouled in transition and cashed in on her two free throws with just :18.7 left. The dagger came JUST before the buzzer when Brandenburg nailed a jumper in transition as the Tommies went into the locker room whooping and hollering and holding a 37-26 lead while the Gusties were left in a daze wondering what the hell just hit them.
Gustavus Head Coach Mickey Haller had to have implore to her team that they needed to get out fast in the second half and senior off-guard Ava Perry tried to light the spark to do that as she banged home one of her patented flat "3's" to start off the second half. Rothenbuehler was able to score inside at the 16:40 mark and then Ruane scored on a drive and finish at the 14:41 mark. Junior Kelsey (Flo) Florian scored inside at the 12:21 mark that cut the UST lead down to 45-40. The margin stayed right around the 5-to-7 point range for the next few minutes and had it down to five points again at the 7:13 mark when Benz put down two freebies after being fouled. Reserve sophomore Julia Dysthie out of White Bear Lake gave the Black and Gold one last wisp of supreme hope when she hit a "3" from the right top with 5:58 left that cut the Tommie lead to 51-47. But that was as close as the Gusties would get. Junior guard Kellie Ring responded with a "3" of her own from the exact same spot as Dysthie's that pushed the Tommie lead to 54-47. Coming down the stretch, it was simply too much Young and Weiers doing their stuff inside that got them numerous trips to the charity stripe as they knew GAC had to foul. The Tommies were able to pad an eleven point lead into twenty in the waning minutes from the charity stripe and scored a convincing 72-52 win that left no doubt in the minds of onlookers as to who the best team in the MIAC is - and who's second best.
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