Was over at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall on this Wednesday evening to catch this in-conference clash between visiting St. Ben's and host Augsburg; the last MIAC clash before the holiday break. I was very curious about this St. Ben's team and, from the looks of it, the future is definitely bright up in St. Joe.
It was the Blazers who got off to a good start in this one; jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead when senior guard Whitney Canton drained a "3" from the left wing at the 18:46 mark. After Auggie sophomore guard Abbey Luger was able to trim the Blazer lead to 7-5 with her score inside at the 15:07 mark, CSB then went on a 7-0 run fueled by a "3" from freshman reserve guard Mattie Lueck and freebies at the charity stripe by senior Hannah Hylla, junior Tish Alexander, plus a pair by Lueck as well. The Auggies were arguably ice cold from the perimeter in the first half (their 26.67% FG shooting reflected that) and it took a patented rainbow sky-scraping "3" from junior guard Jolene Blood at the 10:30 mark from the left wing to shake some of the cobwebs off of this group. The Blazers upped their lead to 23-14 after a jumper by Hylla at the 9:43 mark and a "3" by junior guard Brianna Barrett from the left wing at the 4:59 mark before the Auggies finally got untracked. Luger, seemingly everywhere on the court on this night, grabbed a rebound and got a putback at the 4:41 mark and freebies by freshman post Bridget Kopp and freshman forward Jessica Lillquist cut the lead to 23-20 by the 2:54 mark and the Auggies actually climbed to within one at 23-22 when Luger connected with a running jumper with 1:54 left before CSB finally salvaged what appeared to be a blown cushion when Alexander connected with a long "2" from the left corner with 1:22 left as the Blazers went into the locker room at the half leading only 25-22. Augsburg had to feel a little bit better about themselves despite being Frosty the Snowman from a shooting perspective as they out-rebounded and, from my perspective, out-physiced CSB in the first half.
I wasn't the only one who felt that way at the half and, as CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin explained to me after the game, he told his team at the break that they had to stop shying away from contact and had to get active on the boards. However he explained it to this young group, it worked. Despite both teams being plagued by turnovers in the early part of the second half, it was the Blazers who were able to keep their cool and respond. While junior Jill Tichy's turnaround jumper at the 17:31 mark enabled the Auggies to stay close, Augsburg's fortunes shifted when senior forward Brittany Zins was tagged with her fourth foul at the 16:58 forcing Augsburg Head Coach Bill McKee to bench his senior star early that really opened up things for the Blazers.
You couldn't help but notice the subtle change in the Blazers as they began their game-changing run. It started at the 13:44 mark when Canton made a strong drive along the right baseline and finished and got fouled in the process. Then it was Alexander, the junior who made that unbelievable Hail Mary shot with a scant second left on the clock under incredible duress that beat the UW-River Falls Black team in the summer league who shined again as the made a sweet reverse shot under the basket at the 12:32 mark. Withstanding a "3" from the Auggies Tichy at the 11:42 mark, Alexander stole the spotlight again with a steal and lay-up the other way at the 11:18 mark and Lueck was able to score a lay-up as well at the 10:50 mark. Barrett grabbed her own rebound and got a putback in transition at the 9:19 mark and then it was senior reserve Morgan Dale's "3" from the left wing at the 8:54 mark. Charity stripe work by Dale and Alexander helped complete what turned out to be a 21-4 run by the Blazers that upped their lead to 52-31 by the 6:54 mark which, for all intents and purposes, was the ball game.
That decisive run, however, didn't deter the host Auggies from making one last run. McKee, by this time, had no choice but to re-insert Zins back onto the floor and she responded in typical senior fashion by scoring inside on consecutive possessions at the 6:09 and 5:29 marks. A "3" by the sharp-shooting Tichy at the 4:59 mark and another one of those rainbow "3's" from Blood at the 4:12 mark plus a rebound and putback by Tichy at the 3:32 mark suddenly cut the Blazer lead down to eleven at 58-47 but that's as close as the Blazers would get. CSB played smart basketball in the home stretch; taking care of the rock and it allowed Canton, Barrett, and sophomore Jessica Fischer to consolidate the Blazer advantage at the charity stripe as CSB earned a huge road win; beating Augsburg by a final score of 64-49.
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