Made my way over to the St. Paul-side of town on the eve
of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy
over to Wildcat Arena (aka Butler Center) on the campus of St. Catherine’s
University to catch another UMAC – MIAC clash as visiting Crown came in to take
on host St. Kate’s. The Wildcats had
returned from their trip out west where they lost two tough games to UC-Santa
Cruz and Puget Sound while the Storm had to absorb a pounding on their own home
floor the other night against visiting Augsburg so it would be interesting to
see which team was ready to come out to make amends for their earlier sins.
Surprisingly enough, it would be Crown that would come
out and set the tone early on while the Wildcats struggled with turnovers and
other mistakes on offense. Not to say
that the Storm themselves weren’t guilty themselves of the turnover bugaboo but
they were at least able to convert on more scoring opportunities early on. Freshman guard Da’Neisha Patterson was able
to maneuver inside for a score and got fouled in the process at the 18:46 mark and
made the obligatory freebie as well to get Crown out to a 3-0 lead. A jumper from the top area; just inside the
arc by freshman Taylor Dubberke and another foray inside by Patterson who
scored – and again was fouled by Wildcat sophomore sensation Gabby Zehrer not
only allowed her to sink another freebie to expand the Storm lead to 8-2 by the
16:26 mark but also sent Zehrer to the bench and had St. Kate’s Head Coach Sean
Pinkerton getting a bit hot under the collar as he shed his sport jacket. The ‘Cats, however, would respond as junior
forward Sarah Manning connected with a lay-up in transition at the 15:51 mark
and then senior guard Kristen Lee knocked down a “3” from the left top area at
the 14:10 mark that had St. Kate’s by a score of 9-8 and had Crown Head Coach Ryan
Chmielewski calling a halt to the action so he could get his troops
reassembled.
The Wildcats; heavy favorites in this match-up were
looking to put their opponent away early and cruise to an easy victory but the
visiting Storm was not about to go quietly in the night; at least yet
anyway. A “3” from the right corner by
freshman sensation LaShay Holt at the 12:46 mark expanded St. Kate’s lead to
12-8 but Crown would climb right back into the thick of things as freshman
forward Katie Hinkle calmly drained a “3” off the glass from the top of the key
at the 11:46 mark to slice the Wildcat lead to 12-11 and the Storm would hang
around within striking distance over the next five minutes as the Wildcats
continued to struggle with turnovers and poor shooting. This incredibly young Crown team with 15 freshmen, 2 sophomores, 2 juniors
and one senior would finally get its chance to reclaim the lead. Freshman guard Leah Breakfield banged home a “3”
from the top of the key at the 8:02 mark and then a jumper in the lane by
Hinkle with 6:55 left but the Storm back out in front by a score of 19-18. The Crown, however, arguably had some missed
opportunites of their own as both freshman reserve guard Alisa Warnes and
sophomore reserve guard Michelle Hyde missed pairs of freebies that could have
given the Storm some momentum. Even more
worrisome from a St. Kate’s standpoint was that Zehrer had also picked up her
third foul in the process and had to retreat to the bench for the remainder of
the first half. The ‘Cats, however,
would slowly right the ship and regain control of things against this pesky
Crown squad. Freshman reserve guard Liz
Ellens out of Sauk Centre; who had a very solid game on this night, connected
on a lay-up and was fouled as well and her free throw with 5:15 left put St.
Kate’s back into the lead for good on this night at 21-19. Sophomore reserve forward Shauna Horsch made
one freebie with 4:46 left then uncorked one of her high-arcing “3’s” from the
left corner with 4:22 left for a 25-20 Wildcat advantage. More free throws by Ellens and a key drive
into the lane and finish by Holt with 2:40 left enabled St. Kate’s to take a 31-23
lead into the locker room at halftime.
St. Kate’s had reason to worry again in the opening
moments of the second half when Dubberke made a hard drive into the paint for a
finish – and was promptly fouled by Zehrer who was tagged for her fourth which
quickly sent her back to the bench but the ‘Cats would stay calm and, once
again, slowly steady the ship. Manning
would snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 16:07 mark and then Holt
would connect with a short turnaround jumper at the 14:02 mark that gave St.
Kate’s its first double-digit lead at 35-25.
A “3” by Ellens at the 13:17 mark and a strong drive and finish by Horsch
with 12:37 left had the Storm hanging by a thread but they still kept the
deficit manageable as a drive along the left baseline and finish by Patterson and
two freebies from the charity stripe by Hinkle at the 10:40 mark had St. Kate’s
lead back down to 40-31 and, perhaps even more important, had Crown in the
bonus as well.
But, coming down the stretch, St. Kate’s speed and athleticism
was simply too much for the Storm to handle as the ‘Cats showed flashes of the
potential they have. Ellens connected
with a medium-range jumper with 10:26 left to get the ‘Cats back up to a
doubl-digit advantage while Holt wowed the home crowd with her exploits which
included snaring an offensive rebound for a putback with 8:45 left and then
stealing the ball from a Crown player like a thief in the night and going the
other way for an easy la-up at the 8:12 mark.
Junior reserve guard Jenna Mistler drained a “3” from the top of the key
with 7:26 left for a 52-35 Wildcat lead and there was no looking back. Consecutive scores by Manning in the span of
forty seconds; a short jumper by Kristen Lee with 4:16 left, a coast to coast
lay-up by Holt, and a strong drive by Zehrer; saddled with four fouls for a
finish opened things up as the ‘Cats cruised to an easy, if not pretty 76-50
win.
Afterward, Pinkerton, though happy with the win,
acknowledged without hesitation about the work his team has ahead of them. “We HAVE to get better!” Pinkerton stated
unabashedly. He pointed to the 26
turnovers his team committed on this night while shaking his head (Crown
committed 29 on this night to give you an idea of how mistake-plagued this game
truly was). I think those things can be
expected from a young team like St. Kate’s.
You’re going to have roller-coaster-like moments and establishing
consistency is not going to be an easy thing to do. Yet, when you allow yourself to see the
positives that you did see on this night, there is reason to be excited about
what the future holds for this squad and this program.
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