Was over in Roseville this A.M. to catch the Saturday scrimmage between visiting St. Olaf and host Northwestern; a neat MIAC - UMAC clash that I'd like to see more often. As the teams were warming up there were a few notable Oles in the walking wounded category: sophomore Sheridan Blanford, of course, still rehabbing from the ACL injury over the summer, junior Britt Weber in the final stages (hopefully, anyway) of her ACL rehab, senior Ashley Menzel; recovering from a quadriceps pull, but now also senior starting PG Mackenzie Wolter out with a herniated disc which could be a big blow for the Oles hopes of contending for the MIAC title. The Eagles were not without their injured players either; most notably sophomore post Jacki Smith recovering from a foot injury although Head Coach Aaron Kahl hopes that she'll be at full strength again sometime after the first of the year.
In the first twenty minute scrimmage, sophomore swing forward Maddie Ehrich got it going early for the Oles as she helped put her team up 4-0 with a short jumper at the 19:29 mark and a drive inside with a finish at the 19:00 mark. Junior forward/post Jessica Fife got the Eagles on the board at the 15:53 mark but St. Olaf was able to open up some breathing room thanks to sophomore post Nikki Frogner with free throws at the 15:06 mark and then scores at the 14:37 and 13:55 marks for an 11-2 St. Olaf lead. Freshman Ellie Werlein did get a couple of points for Northwestern in the form of free throws at the 13:55 and 13:15 marks but the Eagles were having a difficult time in coping with a tall St. Olaf front line that was really making life miserable for Fife and her ability to manuever with the ball after posting up.
But St. Olaf wasn't exactly error-free on offense in this first scrimmage either as they arguably looked all over the place and not on the same page although reserve freshman PG Lauren Gutierrez was doing her darndest to make things run as smoothly as possible. Still, the Oles were in a scoring drought for nearly five minutes from the 11:14 mark to the 6:26 mark when freshman Zoe Hansen finally dusted the cobwebs off the rim with her jumper that made it a 16-6 game. Freshman Courtney Cunard responded for Northwestern with a "3" from the right corner at the 5:24 mark to cut the deficit to seven points at 16-9 but junior post Elise Raney's rebound and putback at the 5:03 mark and freshman Kim Cerjan's steal and lay-up the other way stabilized the Ole advantage. Junior Mollie Sir's "3" from the top at the 2:53 mark and junior guard Kaia Larson's "3" from the right wing with 1:06 left threatened to bring the Eagles close again but St. Olaf was able to close out the first scrimmage with a rather unimpressive 22-17 win.
After regrouping in the intermission period (and some talking to by Head Coach Dave Stromme), the Oles made amends for the error-filled 1st scrimmage. With St. Olaf holding an 8-5 lead at the 17:33 mark, they proceeded to go on a 20-0 run over a period of roughly eleven minutes with Raney, Ehrich, and Frogner leading the way. Junior forward Hannah Holm finally stopped the bleeding for the Eagles with her "3" from the left top at the 7:59 mark but St. Olaf was firmly in control of this second scrimmage utlizing their size and ability to get into transition after turnovers as well. After another Sir "3" for Northwestern at the 6:46 mark, St. Olaf proceeded to go on a 12-0 run over the final minutes with seniors Erin Haglund, Kirstee Rotty, and (C'mon) Eileen O'Donoghue all contributing with scores to come out with a convincing 42-14 victory.
The third scrimmage of 20 minutes featured running time to speed things up but it didn't change St. Olaf's newfound confidence as they seemed to pick up right where they left off from the second scrimmage. After a back and forth tussle the first few minutes, Ole freshman Molly Dietrich banged home a "3" from the right top at the 13:06 mark that gave St. Olaf a 7-6 lead that they would never relinquish. An inside score by Raney at the 12:30 mark upped the Ole lead to 9-6 but the real show stealer of this third scrimmage for St. Olaf was Mackenzie Wolter's younger sister; freshman guard Afton Wolter who lit up the Ericksen Center with her three-point shooting prowess with bombs at the 6:53, 5:27, and 2:00 minute marks. Another "3" by freshman Katie Myhre plus a steal and lay-up the other way with :25 left and another Afton Wolter score just before the buzzer paced the Oles to a 30-13 win.
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