Made the run over to Augsburg’s Si Melby Hall and Ernie
Anderson Court for this 3:00 P.M. Saturday afternoon MIAC clash between host
Augsburg and visiting Gustavus Adolphus.
With the holiday break right around the corner, both squads would be
looking for a win to go into the Christmas hiatus on a positive note and to
improve their positioning in the MIAC standings as well. This would be my first look at the 2013-14
edition of the Gusties and naturally I was anxious to get a peek of them in action.
The opening minutes saw both team neck and neck as Auggie
senior forward Jill Tichy and Gustavus senior guard Julia Dysthe engage in a
three-point shooting contest that had the Auggies up 6-3 by the 18:20
mark. The Gusties would respond with a 9-0
push that had sophomore post Karina Schroeder; enroute to a big afternoon,
snaring an offensive rebound for a putback at the 18:06 mark. Dysthe, who excels with her defensive skills,
snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 17:21 mark and then senior forward Britta Rinke (seems
like it was just yesterday when she was a freshman) drilled a “3” from the
right wing at the 15:57 mark for a 10-6 Gustavus lead. Two free throws then by Schroeder after she
was fouled on an offensive rebound and putback attempt upped the advantage to
12-6 before Augsburg could respond. Sophomore
reserve guard Marie Fitzgerald knocked down two charity stripe shots after she
was fouled at the 12:19 mark and then the Ft. Atkinson, Wisconsin native nailed
a “3” from the right top area at the 11:40 mark that brought the Auggies to
within one at 12-11. Then junior guard
Abbey Luger who, much like Dysthe from GAC, has a knack for being all over the
place on defense, snared a steal and went the other way for a lay-up that had
Augsburg back out in front for the first time since the opening minutes by a
13-12 score at the 11:24 mark. But
little did Augsburg Head Coach Bill McKee know that this would not only be the
Auggies last lead of the day, it would also be the last FG the Auggies would
have the rest of the first half.
The Auggies simply went stone cold from both the
perimeter and charity stripe while Gustavus would embark on a 13-1 run to close
out the first half. The ever-creative
Dysthe connected on a lay-up at the 11:05 mark and then freshman reserve
forward Morgan Iverson snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 9:17 left
that made it an 18-13 game. A score in
the paint by Schroeder with 6:06 left and a free throw by diminutive senior
point guard Shelly Blaschko with 5:56 left made it a 21-13 game and soon had McKee
hollering for a timeout to halt this Gustie tidal wave. But it was more than just the Auggies
inability to put the ball in the hole.
The Gusties were also beginning to dominate the boards in this one on
both ends of the floor and were limiting Augsburg, for the most part, to a
one-and-done deal. Perhaps things could
have been a little different if the Auggies could have connected with
opportunites from the free throw line but both Fitzgerald and senior
sharpshooter Jolene Blood missed the front-end of three separate 1-and-1
opportunities that could have at least changed the complexion of the game. In any event, Schroeder would knock down two
freebies after getting hacked with 2:24 left and then consolidated the Gustie
advantage with a score in the paint with 1:42 left. The Auggies were finally able to get most of
the cobwebs wicked away from their basket when sophomore reserve post Bridget
Kopp was able to get one free throw to fall with 1:16 left but when halftime
arrived, Augsburg was staring at an eleven-point 25-14 deficit.
The Auggies looked to come out in the second half and get
right back in the thick of things and a “3” by Blood who got open on the left
top area at the 19:48 mark was at least a spark that could have got the Auggies
going again as it got the deficit under ten points. But the Gusties would have no part of letting
their hosts draw any closer as Gustavus as Dysthe proved to be a lethal weapon
for the black and gold-clad squad.
Dysthe, the former White Bear Lake standout, was on the receiving end of
a sweet give and go pass at the 19:28 mark that she converted for an easy
lay-up. A score in the paint by Rinke at
the 18:57 mark made it a 29-17 game and then Dysthe would twice stick a dagger
into the hopes of the Auggies: A short
jumper off the glass at the 18:23 mark that got her fouled along with the
ensuing freebie plus a lay-up at the 17:45 mark now had Gustavus up by sixteen
at 34-18. Schroeder, cleaning the glass
at both ends of the floor, muscled inside for a score at the 16:33 mark and then
Dysthe drilled a “3” from the right corner at the 15:03 mark that had the
Gusties up 41-23.
Luger would temporarily halt the Gustie assault when she
knocked down a jumper from the left wing at the 14:47 mark but that would be a
minor blip from a Gustie standpoint as Head Coach Laurie Kelly now had her team
employing a 2-3 zone that really stymied an already lethargic Augsburg attack
as their shooting was unpredictable at best.
Another score in the paint by Schroeder at the 13:16 mark that was
followed by a pull-up jumper from Dysthie in transition with 9:48 left had the
Gusties up by a 45-30 count. Tichy would
try and counter for Augsburg with scores but, again, they could never sustain
anything that allowed them to get back into things and seriously threaten. Still another score in the paint by Schroeder
with 7:34 left, free throws by Rinke with 5:37 left and yet another steal by
the magician Dysthe and a lay-up the other way with 4:46 left now had Gustavus
up by eighteen at 57-39. With the
outcome all but in the Gusties back pocket, Augsburg tried to make a last-gasp
effort to make things halfway close again.
Luger banged home a “3” from the top of the key with 2:46 left and then
made a tough drive along the left baseline for a finish with 1:58 left that cut
the Gustavus lead to 59-46. Kopp
connected with a jumper from the left elbow with 1:30 left that drew Augsburg
to within eleven at 59-48 but then Rinke finally extinguished any wisp of hope
the Auggies had left when she drilled a “3’ from the right wing with 1:08 left
and a 62-48 lead. Luger would hit one
more “3” from the top of the key with :46 left but then subsequently fouled out
of the game by being too aggressive on the Gusties in-bounds play. She must have uttered something unpleasant
towards the officials shortly thereafter as she was awarded a technical foul
for a not-so-great Christmas gift.
Dysthie would knock down the pair of freebies for the foul and then the
other pair for the technical and Gustavus would claim a solid 66-51 road win to
bring their record to 5-2 overrall (2-2 in the MIAC).
Augsburg Assistant Coach Joshua Hersch noted that the
Auggies, while now 3-4 overall and 0-4 in the MIAC, really had hoped to steal a
“W” today, their situation is not even close to desperate. “We talked about what a great opportunity we
have in front of us at the beginning of the New Year to get right back into the
thick of things.” And, by that logic, he
definitely has a point as the Auggies have already had dates with national
powerhouse UST in addition to both St. Olaf and Concordia. So don’t count them out just yet. Another item overlooked on this day was that
both squads were coming off of finals week (I STILL get shivers up my spine
when I think about my days of preparing for finals when I was a student at the
University of Iowa). Luger, whose
technical late more or less underlined a day of frustration for Augsburg noted
that the upcoming holiday break was a welcome chance to refresh and recharge
mentally after such a trying week although she sounded very determined to do
her part to help get the ship back upright for the Auggies. A very happy GAC contingent was reveling in
this important road win and rightfully so.
A check of the box score reveals what an incredibly huge day Schroeder had
as she recorded a double-double with 15
rebounds (3 offensive and 12 defensive) along with 23 points to boot. “She bucked up” GAC Assistant Coach Dan Wolfe
said. Even more amazing when you
consider that Schroeder had been battling with a bout of the flu but she looked
as strong as ever today. Dysthe finished
with 25 points but Kelly gushed with pride about Dysthe’s presence on
defense. “She plays off-ball defense so
well; getting into the passing lanes.”
Considering the Gusties really had only two days to prepare for this
contest due to finals week gave Kelly another reason to be so proud of her
group. “They work so hard in the
classroom” she said. Indeed, the Gusties
were recognized by the WBCA this last summer for having the top cumulative GPA in
the country at a 3.600. Just as
important, the Gusties showed why they should be one of the teams in the mix
for a MIAC playoff spot come February.
This squad, though dominated by underclassmen, is a more experienced
version this time around and if Schroeder can continue her domination on the
boards like she did today along with Dysthe’s uncanny ability to be in the
right place at the right time, this will be a squad that has the capability to
not only get into the MIAC playoffs but do some damage once there as well.
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