Made the trek over to the St. Paul side of town on this cold January night to take in the St. Olaf - St. Kate's game from the Butler Center. St. Olaf, fresh off of its big home victory over Gustavus on Monday night was looking to regain some much-needed momentum for a late season playoff push while the host 'Cats were also coming off a win - 84-82 over Macalester for their first conference win of the season.
St. Kate's started off in a 2-3 zone "D" in hopes of neutralizing the Ole "bigs" - senior Erin Haglund, junior Elise Raney and sophomore Nikki Frogner but those hopes were quickly dashed. After two Haglund freebies to start things off at the 18:44 mark, freshman point guard Lauren Gutierrez made it 4-0 Oles with her jumper from the right wing at the 18:12 mark. Strong sophomore forward Sarina Baker tried to keep the 'Cats in things early on with her "3" from the left wing at the 17:47 mark but the Oles responded with a 14-1 run as St. Olaf dominated in the paint. Easy inside scores by the aforementioned "bigs" plus a lay-up in transition by sophomore reserve guard Maddie Ehrich and another "3" by Gutierrez from the right wing at the 1:06 mark highlighted the run.
Baker momentarily put a halt to the St. Olaf charge when she connected with a jumper near the top of the key at the 10:25 mark but perimeter shooting was pretty much all the 'Cats could do against a much bigger St. Olaf team that continued to have its way in the paint. After Raney canned two free throws after being fouled at the 10:02 mark, she snared an offensive rebound a minute later for a putback for a 22-6 St. Olaf lead. Freshman guard Shauna Horsch got some more points on the board for St. Kate's with her "3" from the left corner with 8:48 left but those points were far too few to stem the Ole avalanche. Senior guard Mackenzie Wolter was able to connect with a jumper from the right top with 8:33 left and then it was Raney again connecting with a shot off the glass at the 8:00 mark. Then it was another member of Head Coach Dave Stromme's "Colorado Connection"; the mad bomber from Colorado Springs, freshman Kim Cerjan who lit up things in the Butler Center with "3's" at the 6:26 and 5:58 marks that ballooned the Ole lead to 34-11. Consecutive inside scores by Frogner at the 4:53 and 4:28 marks made it 38-13 St. Olaf before junior guard Kristen Lee was able to cut into the Ole advantage with her "3" from the top of the key with 4:03 left. But easy inside scores by Ehrich, Cerjan and senior reserve forward Ashley Menzel got the Oles a 44-16 advantage before Lee was able to connect with one more "3" before the halftime break for the 'Cats. Clearly St. Kate's Head Coach Sean Pinkerton had to find a way to get something going down low and get his team more active on the boards.
To their credit, the 'Cats most definitely did come out re-energized and refocused as the second half began. More importantly, they showed a willingness to get more active on the boards despite the size disadvantage they faced. Baker was able to score inside at the 17:38 mark and then it was freshman Cynthia Cowan who drained a "3" from the right wing at the 16:46 mark. Then diminutive sophomore reserve guard Amanda Padilla was able to manuever inside with a drive and finish at the 15:21 mark. Still, they could not thwart the size factor that St. Olaf had and the Oles continued to use that to their advantage; even when Raney picked up her 3rd foul early in the second half. Yet another inside score by Frogner at the 16:02 mark plus two freebies by the former Providence Academy standout made it a 52-26 game. "3's" by the Front Range crew of Cerjan and Gutierrez made it a 60-30 Ole advantage by the 11:47 mark.
Pinkerton, by this point, was willing to do anything to help re-energize his team and after a somewhat controversial "no-call" Pinkerton took off his jacket after voicing his displeasure with the game officials and the 'Cats responded with a 7-0 run highlighted by a "3" by Horsch at the 10:17 mark that had Stromme call for a timeout to get his squad back on an even keel again. The 'Cats were still fighting, scratching and clawing for everything they could get, however. Horsch made a steal near mid-court and raced the other way for a lay-up with 9:14 left and Cowan was able to knock freebies down at the 8:42 and 8:16 marks but they never could get close enough to make the Oles sweat. Frogner scored inside again with 7:18 left and then Menzel was able to knock down a jumper from near the top with 6:29 left. Even as the foul advantage had St. Kate's in the double bonus by the 3:22 mark the Oles were still comfortably ahead as both Raney and Frogner continued their dominance in the paint. Stromme inserted his reserves with just a little over two minutes left and that allowed Mackenzie Wolter's younger sister, Afton, to drain a "3" with 2:00 left for a 76-49 advantage. Lee connected with a jumper for the 'Cats with 1:32 left and then Neumann drained one more "3" for the home team with :55 lead but the Oles were able to get out of the Twin Cities and back to Northfield on this bitterly cold night with an important 78-56 road win to keep their playoff hopes very much alive for the moment. Now they just have to find a way to stay healthy as this MIAC conference race gets crazier by the minute.
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