Made my way over to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall on this cold January Monday night (my birthday no less:) ) for this important MIAC clash between visiting first-place SMU and host Augsburg. The Cardinals have been on a roll lately; mowing down everything in sight. The Auggies meanwhile got off to a good start after a rough finish to 2013 but they dropped their latest contest over at Bethel on Saturday. This would be the second test against one of the upper-echelon teams in the conference and one they would want very dearly to come out on top.
SMU would jump out to a 6-2 lead by the 16:38 mark thanks to a "3" from junior guard Sara Schoenthaler and a score in the paint by senior post Courtney Euerle plus a free throw from sophomore point guard Bridget Pethke but the Auggies would eventually pull even. A jumper by senior guard/forward Jill Tichy from the left corner at the 16:14 mark and a pretty drive along the left baseline and finish underneath by sophomore forward Jessica Lillquist tied the issue at six by the 15:30 mark. Augsburg grabbed a brief lead shortly thereafter when Lillquist connected with a lay-up and got fouled in the process but a score in the paint by freshman reserve forward Mariam Awoniyi and a Schoenthaler free throw had the Cardinals back up by the slimmest of margins at 9-8 by the 12:33 mark.
SMU finally got a flow going offensively and it would be Euerle; the Litchfield native, doing a lot of the damage. Back to back lay-ups at the 12:02 and 10:52 marks expanded the Cardinal advantage to 13-8 but Euerle was just getting started. She followed that up with back to back scores in the paint with 9:47 and 7:46 left that doubled up the Auggies at 20-10. Reserve freshman guard Emma Schaefer got into the paint with her 5'6" frame to tally a basket and then she showed that she's even more comfortable from behind the arc as she drilled a "3" from the left wing with 4:30 left for a 23-12 SMU lead. Augsburg sophomore guard Marie Fitzgerald temporarily stopped the bleeding with her "3" with 4:17 left but a drive and finish by Schaefer with 3:20 left and a lay-up by Pethke with 2:44 left had the Cardinals up 27-16 and momentum clearly on their side. Euerle added two shots from the charity stripe with 1:28 left and a Schoenthaler score in the paint with :56 left enabled SMU to take a firm - if not commanding - grip on this one at the half by a count of 31-20. A quick check of the first half box score revealed a couple of telling numbers - a 17-11 edge by SMU in total rebounds and a chilly 30% shooting from the field by the Auggies. Certainly those two numbers would have to change if the Auggies were still going to entertain hopes of pulling off a gigantic upset.
A score in the paint by Lillquist at the 19:35 mark got the Auggies off on the right foot but they were still struggling mightily from behind the three-point line. Senior guard Jolene Blood had an open look early on and sophomore guard Jenna Orth missed an easy lay-up as well adding to the Auggie frustrations. SMU, meanwhile, was able to keep Augsburg at bay as senior guard Darcey Rice got into the paint for a score at the 16:41 mark and junior reserve guard Octavia Brown connected with a jumper from the left side of the basket at the 13:57 mark. Schaefer, on her way to a solid night scoring-wise, knocked down a "3" from the right top area at the 13:52 mark that kept the cushion in double digits at 38-26.
Augsburg finally started showing signs of life offensively just before the midway point of the second half thanks to Fitzgerald as she banged home back to back treys - at the 13:26 and 12:52 marks that whittled the SMU advantage down to 38-31. SMU Head Coach Mandy Pearson; perhaps hoping to nip any Augsburg attempt at a comeback in the bud, called a thirty second timeout to talk about things with her team but the Cardinals came out of that surprisingly lackadaisical. Both Pethke and Schaefer committed careless turnovers off the bat and the Auggies seemed ready to pounce on the opportunity. Orth connected with a short jumper in the lane at the 11:18 mark. Tichy then banged home a "3" from the top of the key at the 10:08 mark that cut into the SMU lead further at 41-36. Sophomore reserve post Bridget Kopp then made her presence felt - a score in the paint with 8:09 left plus a jumper from the left elbow area with 7:07 left cut the Cardinal advantage to a scant point at 41-40. SMU would counter with a lay-up by Euerle but two free throws by Tichy with 5:52 left and a Lillquist score in the paint with 5:00 left tied things up at 44-all. Augsburg then completed this little magical 20-6 carpet ride-run when a short jumper off the glass by Lillquist put the Auggies ahead 46-44 with 4:22 left.
I don't know what it is about this SMU team but they seemingly have one uncanny knack for doing whatever it is they have to do when the chips are down and things look bleak. And it would be the senior post; Euerle, coming through in the clutch for the Cardinals down the stretch. She dropped two free throws after getting fouled with 3:18 left that tied things at 46-all and followed that up with two scores down low - one with 1:51 left and another on a sweet give-and-go pass from Awoniyi that put SMU back up for good at 50-48 with 1:04 left . Augsburg had one more golden opportunity to try and tie the game again but a Schoenthaler steal of an errant Auggie pass helped seal the deal for the Cardinals. She was immediately fouled and knocked down both free throws for a 52-48 lead with :36.3 left. Rice and Schaefer were each able to knock down one charity stripe shot. With hope all but gone with the last few final ticks, Augsburg's Fitzgerald let loose with a heave from the half-court area that banged home but this one, despite the heroics, would be too little too late and SMU was able to heave a sigh of relief with the 54-51 victory.
A disappointed Augsburg Assistant Coach Joshua Hersch tried to cast as much positive light on a downer of a situation as he could. "We were flat and didn't have much energy in the first half" he lamented afterward. Both he and Head Coach Bill McKee challenged the squad to show up in the second half with energy, fight and passion. "I think we did that", he said. Arguably, there were some missed opportunities for the Auggies in this one; opportunities that could have, at the very least, changed the complexion of things down the stretch. But Hersch refused to be pessimistic about the big picture. "We're still very much in this thing and we know it." Certainly the long-term is clouded somewhat with junior point guard Abbey Luger being out with an injury and the target for her return uncertain. But with GAC seemingly faltering at the moment and St. Olaf being unpredictable at best certainly the Auggies have a shot. But, at the same time, they'll have to make the most of their opportunities as well.
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