Took to those wonderful St. Paul streets on this mid-day
Saturday to work my way over to Anderson Athletic Complex to catch two old
rivals – host UST and visiting CSB. We
all know where the Tommies are on the food chain but this Blazer team is
looking to make a move upward back to the elite ranks where they have been for
so many seasons. This CSB team does have
talent; albeit young talent so the big question on this day is would they be
ready to stand up to the mighty UST juggernaut?
I was fortunate on this day to be joined by St. Kate’s
Head Coach Sean Pinkerton who did a wonderful job of breaking some things down
for me and giving me an idea of what to look for during the game. But neither of us could have forseen the
demolition that was about to take place – certainly in the first half
anyway. Things started off innocently
enough as UST all-world senior Taylor Young knocked down two free throws after
being fouled at the 18:24 mark but things quickly started going downhill for
the Blazers after that. A running jumper
by surprising sophomore Katie Stone at the 17:59 mark followed by a score in
the paint by senior post Maggie Weiers had the Tommies up 6-0 by the 15:49
mark. But this UST squad would not be
satisfied with simply that. They
employed a suffocating full-court press that completely befuddled the red-clad
Blazers and forced them to commit several turnovers in the process which played
right into the Tommies hands for the ensuing first-half massacre. Junior forward Anna Smith then knocked down a
“3” from the top of the key at the 15:18 mark and CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin
had seen enough to know it was time to burn a time out.
Unfortunately for the Blazers, whatever Durbin could tell
them didn’t help much. Not only was CSB
having difficulty just getting the ball up the floor but, once across the
timeline, they simply could not get anything established inside and any ill-advised
foray into the brutal world of the purple Tommies was fraught with
disaster. Even worse was that their
perimeter shooting was utterly frightful in the first half to boot. Young connected with a jumper from the left
top at the 13:25 mark and then senior guard Kelly Brandenburg, who was on the
receiving end of a simply beautiful pass in transition from Stone, finished
with a lay-up that not only wowed the crowd at the new Schoenecker Arena but
had both Pinkerton and myself simply shaking our heads in amazement. Three consecutive scores by Weiers within the
span of a minute had the Tommies up by three touchdowns at 21-0 before Blazer
senior guard Brianna Barrett finally got CSB on the board with a “3” from the
right wing with 8:28 left. A drive along
the right baseline for a finish by fellow senior forward Morgan Dale cut the deficit
to sixteen at 21-5 but the Tommies were not done yet. Another “3” from Smith from the right wing
area as the shot clock was expiring with 4:43 left along with a lay-up from Weiers
in transition with 3:30 left after a block on the other end made it a 28-5
ballgame. Blazer senior guard Tish
Alexander tried to counter with a “3” with 3:06 left but the Tommies would go
on another short run; highlighted by reserve junior forward Elaine Warner’s offensive
rebound and putback with just :02 left to make it a 36-10 game for UST at
halftime. A quick check of the first
half box score gives you an idea of how bad it really was. The Tommies simply pounded CSB on the boards
by a 27-11 count (OUCH!) and the Blazers shot a Roseanne Barr-like 3-25 from FG
range for 12% and an equally hideous 2-11 from behind the arc for 18.2%. Yikes.
In all seriousness, I think the big thing that must have weighed heavily
on Durbin’s mind at the half was that the Blazers were simply intimidated by
the Tommies and they needed to find a way to get over that.
To their credit, I think whatever Durbin told them at the
half had some effect as the Blazers put up a much better fight in the second
half. With UST safely out in front by a
41-10 count, Alexander nailed a “3” from the left top area at the 16:18
mark. Then sophomore forward Mattie
Lueck, who had a very solid second half, connected with a short jumper at the
14:36 mark and then connected with a “3” from the right wing area at the 14:04
mark that cut the Tommie lead to 43-20. Lueck
then made good on a lay-up attempt at the 13:14 mark and got fouled in the
process and made good on the obligatory freebie. Another “3” from Alexander from the right
corner at the 12:28 mark plus a score inside by Lueck had the deficit cut down
to a much more respectable twenty points at 48-28. Lueck then banged home a “3” from the left
top area with 5:28 left and then junior reserve forward Elena Koch knocked down
a mid-range jumper with 5:01 left that kept the deficit at twenty at 53-33 and
had an unhappy UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn calling a timeout for a talk with her
squad.
The Tommies, however, would not be denied on this day
after the great first half they had when they looked like a team that could win
a natty. A score in the paint with 4:12
left by Smith who has made tremendous strides since first coming to UST after a
stellar HS career at Bloomington Jefferson and an offensive rebound by junior
reserve forward Hannah Hughes of her own miss for a lay-up with 2:54 left upped
the Tommie lead to 58-33. Sinn gave her
bench an opportunity to get in on the action late and this gave freshman
reserve forward Kelsey Frey a chance to get into the books with her jumper in
the lane with :40 left that allowed UST to claim a resounding 60-36 victory.
Afterward, I asked Sinn if she was happy with where her
team is right now going into the holiday break.
“Defenisvely, yes!” she replied but she was quick to point out that
there’s still a lot to clean up on the offensive end. She alluded to the recent schedule that has
had the Tommies playing games with maybe only a day or two of practice in
between that has not given them an opportunity to work on that consistency
issue we’ve discussed before. “We’re
still throwing the ball around way too much” she admitted but that’s something
that she hopes to work on before their next game after the first of the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment