Made my way over from Hopkins High School over to Si
Melby Hall around midday to catch the first Saturday of MIAC conference play as
the visting St. Olaf Oles came a ‘callin to host Augsburg. It was disheartening to see junior post Nikki
Frogner hobbling in on crutches as she suffered a season-ending knee injury at
Luther recently and now begins the long, agonizing period of recovery and rehab;
as the Oles were devasted with injuries last year. A pre-game discussion with always-congenial
Augsburg Assistant Coach Joshua Hersch gave me an idea of what Augsburg had to
do in this game to be successful; i.e., make enough three-point shots that
would stretch the Ole defense just enough to allow them to have some opportunities
in the paint as well.
Unfortunately for the host Auggies, though, it would be
St. Olaf that got out to a quick 9-0 lead in the opening minutes of the
contest; much to the delight of recent Ole greats Mackenzie Wolter, Erin
Haglund and Ashley Menzel who were in the stands to cheer on their former
teammates. The Auggies simply were
ice-cold from behind the arc early on and it wasn’t until the 15:18 mark when
lanky senior guard Jolene Blood drained one of her patented high-arcing “3’s”
that the Auggies were finally able to shake off some of the cobwebs. Still, St. Olaf was in command of this one as
they did damage down low with the twin tower duo of sophomore post Emily
Wahlberg and senior post Elise Raney giving the Oles that “high-low”
option. Mackenzie Wolter’s younger
sister, Afton, is slowly making a name for herself as a member of the Ole three-point
bombing squad as she drained one from the left wing at the 13:05 mark that had
St. Olaf up 17-5. A score inside by
Raney at the 11:35 mark had the Oles up 20-8 and they could have been on the
verge of blowing out the home team right then and there.
But this Augsburg team seems to have a knack for making
things interesting when you least expect it and they slowly forged their way
back right into the thick of things.
Another “3” from Blood; this one from the top of the key with 8:49 left got
the Auggies to within single digits at 20-11.
Both squads would endure a Dust Bowl-like scoring drought over the next
four minutes but this benefitted the Auggies coming down the stretch. Sophomore reserve post Bridget Kopp finally
got the cotton active again when she maneuvered inside for a score with 4:22
left that got Augsburg to within a touchdown at 20-13. Feisty junior guard Abbey Luger; always a
threat from the perimeter, knocked down a long “2” from the top with 3:14 left
and then senior guard/forward Jill Tichy, who struggled with her shooting touch
for much of the first half, finally got into the books with a lay-up with 1:29
left that got the Auggies to within five.
St. Olaf sophomore reserve guard Woo Bandel would knock down two charity
stripe shots with just :13.2 left before the half that got the Oles back up by
seven at 24-17 but considering how things stood early on, this was a damned
sight better for Augsburg Head Coach Bill McKee to make the necessary
adjustments during the break.
Augsburg looked to gain some immediate momentum coming
into the second half to try and consolidate their comeback bid. Tichy used her strong 5’10” frame in the
paint to snare an offensive rebound for a putback that once again the Auggies
to within five but it took a while before they could get into position to
possibly usurp control of this game from the Oles. A lay-up in transition by sophomore Jenna
Orth kept the Auggies close before the St. Olaf went on a 6-0 push. A score in the paint by Raney at the 17:08
mark coupled with an offensive rebound and putback by strong junior forward
Sheridan Blanford at the 16:18 mark along with a lay-up by sophomore Front
Range bomber Kim Cerjan made things a bit safer for the Oles for the time being
leading by a count of 34-23 at the 15:06
mark but the Auggies still had another run left in them. Tichy would connect with a jumper at the 14:01
mark and, after withstanding another “3” from Wolter and a score in the paint
from Raney, Blood went on a spree; knocking down a “3” from the left wing at
the 11:51 mark and then another “3” from the left top area at the 11:14
mark. Sophomore forward Jessica Lillquist,
who had been quiet up to this point, got into the paint for a score with 9:44
left. Then it was Tichy finally finding
her range from behind the arc in the left wing area with 9:05 left and then
Blood connected with a lay-up with 7:31 left that sliced the Ole lead to a
scant point at 44-43 and had St. Olaf Head Coach Dave Stromme burning a timeout
to find a way to solve this dilemma.
But just as Augsburg finally got oh so close, it faded
away for them in the same fashion. Free
throws by senior guard Brit Weber and Wolter that sandwiched a score in the
paint by Raney had the Oles back up by six at 49-43 with 3:43 left. St. Olaf had four consecutive dead-ball
turnovers but the Auggies were unable to capitalize on them. Cerjan made good on a rare drive and finish
with 1:53 left that was key in getting the Oles into position to ice the issue
from the charity stripe. Blood would
connect with a “3” with 1:35 left and another one with :38 left but neither one
could get the Auggies close enough that would change their strategy of having
to foul in order to preserve the clock.
The Oles would finally close out the deal; winning 64-55 and got St.
Olaf to 2-0 in conference play and 4-1 overall; a far-better start than last
year when things started to go downhill frightfully fast early on. Afterward, St. Olaf Assistant Mike Ludwig thought
that it was important for the Oles to stay true to what they were trying to do
defensively and, although things are looking up at the moment, he still acknowledged
that the team has to do many things better coming down the stretch in close
games to keep the beat going.
No comments:
Post a Comment