UST vs St. Kate's Synopsis 12-7-13

After St. Olaf’s victory over Augsburg, I battled my way over I-94 and the ridiculously poor St. Paul streets over to St. Kate’s Butler Center to catch what I could of the 3:00 P.M. clash between UST and host St. Kate’s.  I arrived at halftime with the Tommies comfortably up by a score of 44-20.

 

Despite the Tommies overwhelming superiority from a size and athletic standpoint, the Wildcats never backed down and kept fighting throughout the second half.  Sophomore guard Gabby Zehrer’s drive and finish at the 19:52 mark along with a foray into the paint by freshman guard Abby Torgerson out of Anoka showed that the Wildcats had spirit at least, if not the guns to make a run at UST.  A turnaround jumper by senior guard/forward Kristen Lee and a drive into the lane and finish by the fearless Torgerson made things interesting but the Tommies had no intention of ever letting their hosts get close.  Senior post Maggie Weiers connected with a short jumper at the 14:58 mark and then fellow senior Taylor Young did the same at the 14:32 mark for a 55-27 bulge.  Zehrer would try and counter for St. Kate’s with a “3’ at the 13:58 mark but then Weiers would score down low at the 13:37 mark and then senior guard Kelly Brandenburg; arguably the most under-appreciated player in the MIAC, wowed the crowd at Butler Center as she came out of literally nowhere to snare a rebound in the air for a putback (probably something that she practices on a routine basis) at the 12:31 mark that made it a 59-30 game.  One of the more interesting moments in the game came when St. Kate’s freshman guard/forward Kennedy Jennings went down the court in transition with the ball with UST’s Young guarding her.  Jennings, eerily similar to the All-American Young in size and style, was unable to connect with the lay-up but Zehrer was right there for a rebound and putback.  I think that moment you were able to catch a glimpse, perhaps, of what the present is and what the future could possibly be.

 

The Tommies kept that same margin coming down the stretch that allowed UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn to substitute liberally in the last few minutes that gave the younger players such as freshman Paige Gernes and sophomore Courtney Pahl a chance to get some valuable playing time.  But veterans such as junior guard Laura Margarit, junior forward Elaine Warner, and junior forward Alyssa Favilla were kept in long enough to keep the young ones on track.  UST would close the deal by a final count of 80-49 but Sinn was not willing to rest on the team’s laurels just yet.  She emphasized that there were a couple of lapse moments in the second half that her squad cannot afford in the long-run if they want to realize their season’s goals.  I brought up that key buzzword of “consistency” that she used with me a couple of years ago and Sinn was quick to concur that that is a critical element of her team’s continued success; not only in conference play but beyond as well.