Made my way down I-35 on this late snowy Saturday
afternoon after the St. Scholastica – Augsburg clash down to nearby Northfield
to take in this exciting IIAC-MIAC battle between visiting Coe out of good ol’ Cedar Rapids, Iowa (I know that town
like the back of my hand) and host Carleton.
I actually am somewhat familiar with Coe and some of their players but
Carleton has remained the great unknown in my mind and I really didn’t know
what to think about them – much less what to expect to them from on this
night. Afterward, however, I would come
away in a much-more different state of mind.
The visiting Kohawks arguably had a decisive edge in size
with their bigs and they sought to exploit that advantage early on as senior
forward Mackenzie Reed knocked down a jumper from near the right elbow at the
19:46 mark which was followed by an offensive rebound for a putback by fellow
senior forward Mary Halvorson at the 18:32 for a quick 4-0 lead. Carleton would tie things up at 4-all on
scores by freshman guard Claire Thallon as she snared a rebound for a putback
at the 18:35 mark and then snared a steal and took it the other way for a
lay-up at the 17:19 mark. Coe, however,
threatened to put the Knights in a hole afterward as the big, strong Kohawk
front line took center stage. Leading
8-6 at the 16:12 mark, Halvorson connected with a short jumper at the 14:43
mark and then reserve senior forward Lindsey Buckles muscled her way into the
paint for a score at the 13:19 mark. Carleton Head Coach (and former Knight player)
Cassie Kosiba saw things seemingly unravel for the Knights right then and there
and called a thirty-second time out to talk it over with her team but Reed
scored inside again for good measure at the 11:52 mark that had Coe up 14-6 and
the Kohawks were on the verge of opening up this one on the road in the big bad
MIAC.
It would take some time but the Knights would begin to
frustrate the Kohawks with their perimeter quickness off the dribble. After two free throws by senior reserve guard
Jessica Huang at the 11:30 mark, senior guard Jenny Ramey then drained a “3”
from the right corner with 10:47 left and then a drive and finish by Ramey with
9:36 left had the Knights within three at 16-13. The Knights would manage to take their first
lead as Thallon banged home a “3” from the left corner with 8:28 left and then flashy
junior guard Skylar Tsutsui made her first splash of the night draining a “3”
from the right top area with 8:01 left that now had Carleton out in front by a
score of 19-18. Coe would answer the
call, however, as sophomore reserve guard Jenna Power knocked down a “3” from
the left wing with 7:53 left then freshman guard Mickey Hansche maneuvered inside
for a score at the 7:25 mark. Halvorson
then once again bullied her way into the paint for a score with 6:42 left and
then Hansche delivered a “3” from the right wing that expanded the Kohawk lead
to 28-22. Now it was the Knights turn to
go on a run in the crazy, topsy-turvy affair.
Trailing 30-24, sophomore guard Michele Arima drilled a “3” from the
right corner with 4:38 left and then the Valencia, California native made like
a thief in the night as she snared a steal from Buckles and dashed the other
way for a lay-up. Then, sophomore Gabbi
Stienstra, relatively quiet up to this point, knocked down a “3” from the right
corner with 3:17 left that put the Knights back on top by a count of
32-30. Both sides would trade blows from
behind the arc in the last couple of minutes as the Knights were clinging to a
40-39 lead at the intermission.
Wild momentum swings would be the name of the game in the
second half as well but it would be the Knights who started out quickly coming
back out of the locker room. Senior
forward Emma Purfeerst made good on a lay-up in transition at the 18:51 mark
and then it was Stienstra cooly draining a “3” from the right wing at the 17:10
mark. Thallon then got a lay-up in
transition at the 16:10 mark for a 48-41 Carleton lead. But the Kohawks would not only answer the
Knights push but they would up the ante as well and they did it with their “bigs”
where they had a decided advantage. Two short
jumpers by Reed and Halvorson’s three successive scores in the paint now had
the Kohawks back up by a count of 53-48 and, by the midway point of the second
half anyway, it looked like it was going to be a happy bus ride back to Cedar
Rapids.
But it was also at this point that the Knights made a
statement about not only the outcome of this game but perhaps going into the
second part of the season as well. Just
as important, they were able to make a decisive comeback in a variety of ways
with several contributors as well.
Tsutsui drilled a “3” after she got free on the right top area and then
the junior from Northridge, California stunned the Kohawks (and West Gymnasium)
again with a “3” from the left wing on the ensuing Knight possession that had
Carleton back out in front by a 54-53
margin. Steinstra then showed her behind
the arc prowess as she knocked one down from the left corner with 9:05 left for
a 57-53 Knight lead. Coe would manage to
keep things close over the course of the the next five minutes as Halvorson and
Reed did damage down low but they could never again find that decisive spark at
the most critical stage of the game that might have tipped the scales in their
favor. Other than reserve senior guard
Brooke Wheelwright, the Kohawks would struggle with their perimeter production. Halvorson’s jumper with 4:57 left managed to
tie the issue at 64-all but the flame would begin to flicker after that. Purfeerst would score in transition and get
fouled in the process and the obligatory free throw would put the Knights back
out in front – this time for good – at 67-64 with 4:50 left. A lay-up by Arima with 4:24 left made it a
69-64 game and then Steinstra’s “3” from the right corner with 3:50 left
appeared to be the decisive dagger to the Kohawks that Head Coach Randi Peterson’s
team simply had no answer for. Tsutsui assured
the Kohawks of a long, miserable ride back to Cedar Rapids when she banged home
a “3” from the left corner with 2:47 left that made it a 77-68 game. Stienstra’s sweet running jumper across the
lane with :28 left provided the finishing touches as the Knights made the MIAC
proud on this Saturday evening by claiming a tough 82-72 win.
Kosiba was quite pleased with this win afterward (and
deservedly so). This is a program that
has been down for a while and no one really knew what to expect when she took
over after Tammy Metcalf-Filzen resigned some four years ago. Ever so slowly, the Knights have made
incremental improvement every year and, while not possessing a lot of size
(freshman reserve forward Molly Ross is the tallest at 5’10”), this is a team
that simply loves to get after it with a lot of hustle and desire. I really like the play of both Tsutsui and
her backcourt teammate Arima who can both beat you off the dribble and reign
terror from three-point land. Stienstra
and Ramey are fearless when they have to make forays into the paint in the land
of “bigs”. This is just a team that
plays incredibly smart and will not beat itself and, with them sitting at 4-3
overall and 2-2 in MIAC play, they have time to focus on finals and then relax
and recharge over the holidays before preparing to take on mighty UST after the
first of the year. In short, keep your
eye on this team as I have a strong suspicion that they have a very good chance
to crash the MIAC playoff party come February.
For Coe, despite Halvorson finishing with a career high 28 points on
this night, they now find themselves on the wrong end of a 2-5 record with
another game on the road this coming Tuesday night at Carthage in Kenosha,
Wisconsin. They are two years removed from
their last NCAA Tournament appearance when they lost a tough one to UST and
they haven’t been able to find their way back since. This year’s start has them facing an uphill
battle by the time the delve into IIAC play and I’d love to see them be able to
turn things around. They have the
seniors and the experience to do it. The
big question for the Kohawks, though, is do they have the senior leadership to lead the way?
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