Was over at Macalester's Leonard Center late Wednesday afternoon to catch the scrimmage between host Macalester and visiting Anoka-Ramsey; a match-up that you don't get to see on a regular basis. For the visiting Golden Rams - at least on this day anyway - it's probably just as well..
First off, it was quite obvious that Anoka-Ramsey was operating a bit short-handed again. While Maria Loughlin was there supporting her teammates with the left knee heavily wrapped and bandaged after suffering that ACL injury back in September on the first day of practice, Cami Bauer and Tasha Ambrose were also in street clothes and I don't know for sure if they were possibly injured or not. In any event, things did not start off well for the Golden Rams as Head Coach David DeWitt called a timeout at the 19:27 mark; obviously unhappy about something. The Scots, meanwhile, pounced early and often on their junior college opponents. Junior post Veronika Jakubovie connected with a short jumper in the lane at the 18:57 mark and senior point guard Kyanna Jones scored on a lay-up at the 18:09 mark. Junior guard Carmen Whitehead connected with a lay-up of her own in transition at the 17:52 mark and another Macalester score at the 17:00 mark ballooned the score to 8-0 before Anoka-Ramsey sophomore Kelli Schramm finally stopped the bleeding for a bit with her jumper along the left baseline at the 16:32 mark. Schramm would connect with a "3" from the top at the 14:28 mark but that was after Jones had made two steals for easy lay-ups the other way for Macalester. Sophomore Erika Weimann connected with a jumper at the 14:05 mark for a 14-5 Macalester lead.
It would only get worse for the Golden Rams and part of that reason was the emergence of Whitehead as a "go to" player for the Scots; something they desperately need with the graduated Rene twins (Jessica and Shannon who were both in attendance to root their old teammates on). She connected with a short jumper at the 10:55 mark and then knocked down another jumper at the 9:15 mark. A finish in transition by Whitehead at the 8:29 mark and then a score inside at the 6:18 mark helped to open up a big lead for the Scots at 27-9; a situation that Anoka-Ramsey does not find themselves in very often. Scores by freshman Erin Murray, sophomore Annie Drabot and freshman reserve post Abby Purfeerst made it 32-9 by the three minute intermission break.
Whitehead picked up right where she left off as the second half got underway as she made a steal and finished with a lay-up the other way at the 18:57 mark which resulted in another quick time-out by a VERY unhappy David DeWitt. Schramm tried to get her Anoka-Ramsey teammates going with her sweet turnaround move and shot at the 18:26 mark but another jumper by Whitehead at the 17:34 mark and a "3" by the junior who hails from Greeley, Colorado inflated the Macalester lead to 43-11 by the 16:37 mark. Schramm connected with a jumper at the 15:45 mark but she simply was not getting much help from a scoring standpoint from her teammates; particularly freshman Nicole Schaub, a three-point shooting machine who wreaked havoc during her high school days at Park Center. Schaub simply did not have a very good outing on this day as she would get open for three point tries but simply couldn't get much to go down although she did get a rebound and putback at the 12:49 mark. Macalester, however, simply couldn't miss on this day it seemed. Junior Taylor Pike drained a "3" from the top at the 9:32 mark and the Murray connected with a "3" from the right corner at the 6:58 mark. Junior Kathryn Medinger added her own "3" right before the final buzzer of the regular session for a 63-27 blowout win.
The Golden Rams and Scots also played an extra 20 minute session with running time after the 10:00 mark. Guess who got things started off for Macalester here? Whitehead, of course, as she banged down a "3" from the right wing at the 17:53 mark. A lay-up by Pike at the 17:04 mark and another one by Whitehead in transition at the 16:31 mark gave Macalester a touchdown lead at 7-0 before Schaub FINALLY connected from behind the arc at the 14:46 mark. But, like before, the Golden Rams simply could not get close enough to threaten the hosts. Two scores by Drabot - a jumper at the 10:21 mark and a steal and lay-up at the 10:08 mark quickly pushed the Macalester lead to 13-4. Schramm made a sweet reverse lay-up at the 7:46 mark but two more consecutive scores by Drabot coming down the stretch would give the Scots the cushion they needed. A late "3" by Anoka-Ramsey sophomore Tacita Gonzalez got the Golden Rams to double digits but Macalester won the extra session easily as well by a final score of 20-11.
I think it's probably a bit too early to make any assumptions about how Macalester might fare this year. Clearly they're not the same team they were last year without the Rene Sisters. It is nice to see how Whitehead is emerging as a real scoring threat for this squad and if she can be consistent the Scots can definitely be a dangerous team. I'm a little worried about Anoka-Ramsey at the moment, however. They still look horribly out of sorts on offense and they've simply GOT to find a way to all get on the same page. Moreover, they've GOT to find a way to stay healthy as well with Loughlin out for the season (she does plan to return next year). Right now, Schramm seems to be the only consistent scoring threat for this team and DeWitt needs others to step up. Hopefully they'll find the answers they need - soon - as they're slated to be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this weekend for two games against Madison and Milwaukee Tech.
No comments:
Post a Comment