Had to hurry my butt over to Roseville after I got back from work and changed into something a bit more comfortable to catch this 5 P.M. inter-conference clash between Snelling Avenue tenants Hamline from the MIAC and host Northwestern of the UMAC. After fighting off traffic on I-94 I finally made my way into the Northwestern campus and got into the Ericksen Center and settled in at the 15:36 mark with Northwestern up 10-6. Just love those 5 P.M. starts.
It looked as if the Pipers were going to be right in the thick of things from what I first observed; especially when senior forward Cassidy Vogt drained a long "2" from the right corner at the 15:28 mark that brought the Pipers to within 10-8. Unfortunately for Hamline, it was also at this point where the wheels started to fall off as well as Northwestern simply went on a tear; a 13-0 run over nearly five minutes where it seemed like they simply could not miss. First, junior guard Mollie Sir drained one of her patented "3's" at the 15:12 mark and then freshman reserve Kim Campbell made a steal of cross-court pass by Hamline and went the other way for a lay-up at the 14:10 mark. After a jumper by freshman forward Ellie Werlein at the 13:01 mark, Sir again terrorized the Pipers with a "3" from the right top at the 12:21 mark and then sophomore backcourt compatriot Chanel Madson did the same from the same exact spot at the 11:50 mark that had the Pipers reeling.
After Hamline Head Coach Kerri Stockwell allowed her players to catch their collective breaths a bit the Pipers were able to make a bit of an inroad into the Northwestern advantage. Senior sharpshooter Steph Pilgrim drained one of her patented "3's" from the right corner at the 10:31 mark and then freshman reserve guard Emily Behrman banged home a "3" from the top of the key at the 9:25 mark that cut the Eagle lead down to 27-15 but a resurgent Northwestern team stepped on the gas again. Junior forward Jessica Fife muscled her way inside to score at the 9:05 mark and then snared an offensive rebound and got a putback at the 8:07 mark. Fife, on her way to a huge evening on this night, snuck inside again on the porous Piper "D" and finished at the 7:33 mark that upped the Eagle lead to seventeen at 33-16 and then it was Sir again striking fear into the hearts of the Pipers as she scored on a lay-up in transition with 6:38 left. After Hamline's Behrman was able to stop the bleeding somewhat with her jumper at the 6:20 mark, both teams then went into something of a drought before the Pipers were able to make some late dents before the halftime break: Speedy junior guard JeNaya Brown scored on a lay-up with 1:25 left and then it was sophomore Ms. Everything Jordan Sammons FINALLY getting untracked before the break with a jumper with :47 left and Pilgrim canned two free throws with just :02.1 left that once again brought the deficit back to twelve at 36-24 but Hamline was arguably doing it the hard way with seemingly little cohesiveness on offense and, worse yet, they were losing the battle on the boards as well. Something had to change if the Pipers were going to get back into this one.
After a VERY nice chat with former Piper greats Nikki Klinck and Steph Rice during the halftime break, the Pipers appeared to come out re-energized and re-focused as the second half got underway. And a big reason for that was that Sammons was becoming much more involved from a scoring standpoint. She started off the second half with a jumper at the 19:10 mark and then showcased her vast athleticism scoring off a steal at the 18:36 mark. Withstanding a "3" by Madson at the 18:15 mark and Fife scoring off an inbounds pass at the 16:51 mark, Vogt connected with a jumper at the 16:31 mark and then it was the Jordan Sammons show again as the drained a "3" from the right corner at the 16:08 mark and then finished a transition opportunity that suddenly cut the Northwestern lead down to 41-37 with 15:41 left; plenty of time to complete this comeback and Northwestern Head Coach Aaron Kahl had to call a time out to get his troops calmed down.
But the frustrating thing for Hamline on this night was that as quickly as they came alive, they died the same way. Just when it looked like they had finally put it together, they fizzled out in incredibly puzzling fashion. The Eagles began to right the ship as Fife was able to score in transition at the 14:55 mark and got fouled in the process and the ensuing charity stripe shot got the lead back up to seven. Madson was able to manuever inside for a score a bit later and, after withstanding Sammons' lay-up in transition at the 13:41 mark, Sir then drained another one of her "3's" at the 13:24 mark that got the lead back up to double digits at 49-39. Hamline would make another charge to try and get close again as sophomore reserve guard Rachel Usgaard connected with a jumper at the 11:45 mark and then it was Sammons again with a jumper in the lane at the 10:23 mark that cut the lead to 49-43. But again, they simply could not quite bring it back all the way and the chances at easy "bunny" shots that they blew had both Klinck and Rice doing collective face palms in the stands next to me. Northwestern, on the other hand, looked poised and confident; looking ready to close the deal on this one and that's exactly what they did coming down the stretch. And it was Fife and Madson offering up a 1-2 punch that was the difference-maker in the late stages that extinguished any hope Hamline may have had. Fife connected with a jumper at the 7:42 mark and sank two freebies after being fouled at the 6:21 mark. Madson gracefully went in for a lay-up at the 4:08 mark and then Fife was able to do the same with 3:23 left. Withstanding some last-gasp "3's" by both Pilgrim and senior guard Kara Poirier, Madson was able to maintain a safe cushion for the Eagles as she made a sweet drive and finish with 2:06 left and the final nail in the coffin for Hamline came with just under a minute left as Madson connected with a jumper as the shot clock was winding down that allowed the Eagles to come away with a well-earned 71-61 win over their MIAC opponents. Both teams now head into some downtime; getting ready for finals and the upcoming X-mas break before delving back into action.
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