Was over at Butler Center on the St. Kate's campus on this freezing Monday evening to take in the contest between visiting Hamline and host St. Kate's. Both teams have had their share of struggles this season but these match-ups between the Pipers and the Wildcats are always fun to take in and a lot of wild, weird and unpredictable things always seem to happen when these two teams meet up.
It would be the Pipers getting out to a quick 5-0 lead by the 17:42 mark behind a pull-up jumper from freshman guard Chloe Graves out of Denver, Colorado and a "3" from junior guard Mackenzie Lee that had St. Kate's Head Coach Sean Pinkerton calling a quick time-out to reassemble his troops. The Wildcats would slowly gather themselves and get a 7-5 lead by the 14:36 mark on a "3" from the left top area by senior guard/forward Kristen Lee. The Pipers would get a four-point 13-9 lead by the 11:14 mark when junior guard Jordan "Flash" Sammons snared a steal and streaked the other way for an easy lay-up but the 'Cats would come right back at knot the issue at 13-all with 7:23 left.
Hamline would go on another push over the course of the next three minutes to build a bit of a cushion but it wouldn't last long. Freshman reserve guard Erika Moede connected on a pull-up jumper in transition with 6:44 left and then it was speedy senior reserve guard Je'Naya Brown knocking down a "3" from the left wing area with 6:13 left that gave the Pipers a 19-13 lead. After the Wildcats freshman reserve guard Liz Ellens got an offensive rebound for a putback, Sammons got the lead back to six at 22-16 by drilling a "3" from the right wing area with 4:50 left. The lead would grow to seven at 25-18 on another Sammons "3"; this one from the top of the key with 4:02 left but the Wildcats battled back again. Ellens; the Sauk Centre native, banged home a "3" from the right wing with 2:43 left and then it was sophomore reserve guard Shauna Horsch with one of her patented high-arcing "3's"; this one from the same right wing spot that sliced the Hamline lead down to one at 25-24 with 1:56 left. Junior forward Rachel Usgaard knocked down two free throws after being fouled with 1:08 left and Sammons added two more points to her first half total on a foray into the paint for a finish with :36 left but St. Kate's was definitely in this one trailing only 29-25 going into the locker room at the half.
The beginning of the second half followed much of the same pattern as the first half; with Hamline flirting with taking an advantage and St. Kate's battling back. The Pipers built the lead to 31-25 on two free throws by sophomore guard Emily Behrman but the Wildcats would embark on a 6-0 push to tie things up at 31-all by the 16:18 mark. This time, however, St. Kate's would make a move and build an advantage. With the score tied at 34, freshman phenom LaShay Holt got a defensive rebound and promptly went coast to coast and finished down the lane at the 14:36 mark and followed that up with a "3" from the right wing at the 12:23 mark for a 41-34 Wildcat advantage. Hamline would counter with a Behrman lay-up in transition that cut the lead to three at 41-38 at the 11:13 mark but another cloud-scraping "3" from St. Kate's Horsch from the left top area put the 'Cats back up 44-38 at the 10:43 mark and a chance to possibly seize control.
Now it would be the Pipers turn to cool down the pressure-cooker and they set out to do just that. Trailing 45-40, Sammons connected with a short one-handed jumper with 9:54 left and then it was Mackenzie Lee draining a "3" from the left corner that tied things up at 45 a piece. Hamline would get a three-point 48-45 lead on a lay-up in transition by Brown that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory freebie. St. Kate's still had enough fight left in them that enabled them to grab one more small lead; thanks to a "3" from freshman guard Abby Torgerson and a score in the paint by Holt but then then a "3" by the Pipers Mackenzie Lee from the left wing with 5:41 left not only put Hamline back up for good at 53-52 but it also seemed to suck any real hope the Wildcats had of pulling this one off. A "3" by Moede from the left corner validated that notion and had the Pipers up by a count of 58-52 with 4:18 left. Moreover, the Wildcats struggled mightily from the charity stripe; squandering several attempts that without a doubt would have changed the complexion of this one down the stretch. The 'Cats could get no closer than four in the final minutes and Hamline headed back to the north side of St. Paul with a 66-58 victory in their back pocket.
Hamline Head Coach Kerri Stockwell thought her team stepped up defensively when they had to; getting a turnover here; a turnover there at critical points in the second half. She also heaped a ton of praise on her junior guard Mackenzie Lee who hit some huge three-pointers in the second half and finished with 14 points on the evening (Sammons 24 points led all scorers) . For the Pipers, it may have been only one win in a long season as they improve to 3-10 in the MIAC and 4-12 overall. On the other side of the coin, a disappointed Pinkerton and his assistant Tim Kjar pointed to one glaring stat: 7-21 from the free throw line. That simply won't get it done and won't win you ballgames and both freely admitted it. Such is the struggle with this young, scrappy St. Kate's team that has found its share of rough patches in the road this year. Despite the disappointment and frustration, Pinkerton and Kjar are working diligently on bringing this program up and I'm confident that they'll have the Wildcats on a new level in the not too distant future.
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