Made my way down U.S. Highway 61 and the CP Rail River Sub mainline that parallel the Mighty Mississippi to the beautiful city of Winona on this dreary, cold, snowy Saturday to take in the much-anticipated MIAC Championship Game between visiting #3 seed UST and host #1 seed SMU. This would be the Cardinals first-ever appearance on this stage and their journey to this point has been one helluva fun ride to say the least. For the Tommies, this trip to the title game is old hat for them as this is their fifth straight appearance in the game with all the marbles on the line. UST, coming off a convincing semifinal win over Concordia up in Moorhead on Thursday night, was coming in to this contest with a full head of steam and even though they were favored in this contest, they would have to overcome a raucous SMU contingent on hand at the SMU Gymnasium on this afternoon as this place was PACKED with red and vociferous as well. I honestly have not felt this same kind of electricity in the stands at a MIAC Championship Game since the '03 final that pitted GAC against Carleton in Northfield. It was ON!! Props to all the SMU fans and students who showed up for this one and made your presence felt. That's what makes attending something like this so fun and special.
The Cardinals looked like destiny's darlings early on in this one as they game out of the gate with a fire and passion that fueled the red-clad SMU fans packed in the stands. Strong 5'9" sophomore guard Shelby Auseth snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 19:27 mark for a 2-0 Cardinal lead that had the SMU fans roaring. A score in the paint by senior post Courtney Euerle at the 18:52 mark and a lay-up by junior guard Sara Schoenthaler on a pretty give-and-go pass upped the Cardinals advantage to 6-2 by the 18:07 mark. A "3" by UST senior All-American Taylor Young from the left corner got the Tommies to within one at the 16:49 mark but a score in the paint by Auseth at the 16:49 mark and a lay-up by Euerle in transition at the 16:29 mark now had SMU up by a 10-5 count that fueled the passion of the home crowd. UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn, not liking the look of this, called a thirty second timeout to get her squad calmed down.
The short break seemed to have the desired effect that Sinn was seeking as the Tommies collected themselves and got right back into the thick of things. A short turnaround jumper by Young at the 16:15 mark and a jumper from the left corner by senior post Maggie Weiers brought the Tommies to within one trailing 10-9 at the 15:13 mark. A free throw by junior reserve guard Jen Dockter; who has made an amazing recovery from a knee injury suffered this last summer, knotted the issue at 10-all at the 14:30 mark and then lanky freshman reserve post Kaitlin Langer gave the Tommies their first lead of the afternoon when she connected on a lay-up in transition at the 14:06 mark. SMU Head Coach Mandy Pearson, sensing that the Tommies were usurping control of this one, called a timeout of her own to get her squad settled down. The Cardinals would recover after the break and both teams would play a seeming cat-and-mouse affair over the course of the next seven minutes where neither side could gain more than a two-point advantage and saw four tie scores as well. The pace of this one from the get-go was furious and yours truly had trouble at times keeping up with all the action while writing. In any case, after SMU regained the lead on a lay-up by Euerle at the 11:56 mark for a 16-14 advantage, UST's Dockter unleashed a "3" from the left wing as the shot clock was getting ready to expire at the 11:23 mark to put the Tommies back out in front 17-16. Now it was the Cardinals turn to regain the lead as Schoenthaler; the strong 5'10" junior from White Bear Lake, uncorked a "3" of her own from the left wing right at the 11:00 mark to put SMU back out in front 19-17. UST scores by both Young and Weiers had the Tommies back out to a 21-19 advantage with 9:51 left but a lay-up by SMU's Euerle with 9:31 left and a coast-to-coast lay-up by sophomore point guard Bridget Pethke, who was quietly carved a niche for herself at that all-important spot, put the Cardinals back out in front by a 23-21 count and the SMU crowd roared with delight. UST would climb right back on scores by Langer and sophomore point guard Katie Stone to grab a 25-23 advantage with 8:23 left but then SMU senior guard Darcey Rice; quiet up until this point, let loose with a "3" from the right wing to put the Cardinals back out in front once again at 26-25.
The first turning point in this one seemed to come after Rice's trey. Dockter connected on a lay-up to put the Tommies back out in front (this time for good) with 7:40 left and a sweet pull-up jumper in the lane by Stone upped the lead to 29-26. A Stone freebie a bit later and a jumper from senior guard Kelly Brandenburg; the unsung heroine of the conference with 5:59 left, expanded the Tommie advantage to 32-26. Pearson; fearful of seeing this one get away from her squad early, called another timeout to get her squad calmed down again but the Tommies had now set a new tone for this one and seemed to gain a second wind as well. SMU's Auseth did connect on a strong drive and finish with 5:42 left but then UST junior guard Laura Margarit knocked down a jumper from the right corner just inside the arc with 5:19 left for a 34-28 advantage. SMU junior reserve guard Octavia Brown out of Broadview, Illinois tried to counter when she knocked down a "3" with 5:04 left that brought the Cardinals back to within three at 34-31 but they couldn't seemed to find that one spurt that might get them even with UST again. Even more worrisome was the fact that now UST was beginning to show that full-court press/trapping that wreaked havoc on the Cobbers the other night in Moorhead. To their credit, the Cardinals refused to back down but they now seemed to be out of rhythm offensively and just couldn't find that one spark. Free throws by Weiers with 3:34 left and a "3" from Brandenburg from the left corner upped the Tommie advantage to 38-31 before SMU's Euerle was sent to the line after getting fouled to knock down freebies with :54.5 left to cut into the deficit to make it a 38-33 game going into the locker room at the half. Certainly not an insurmountable deficit by any means but the complexion of this one had definitely taken a turn.
The Cardinals hoped to quickly regain the momentum once the second half got underway and a score in the paint by Euerle at the 18:30 mark was certainly a step in the right direction as it got SMU back to within three at 38-35. But what would become the main theme of the second half began to unfold as each time SMU threatened to get neck-and-neck with the Tommies, UST would always have an answer. A sweet reverse lay-up under the basket by Brandenburg with 17:46 left and a drive and short jumper by Young off the glass at the 16:20 mark had the Tommies back up by seven at 43-36. Euerle tried to counter for SMU with a lay-up that got her fouled at the 15:54 mark but she couldn't put down the ensuing freebie. A jumper by Young with 15:46 left upped the Tommie advantage to 45-38 but SMU would try to counter again. A score in the paint by freshman reserve forward Mariam Awoniyi at the 15:36 mark and two scores by freshman reserve point guard Emma Schaefer - a "3" from the right top area at the 12:31 mark and a jumper from the left baseline at the 11:54 mark - would bring the Cardinals to within three each time but again, UST would always have an answer. Perhaps even more frustrating from an SMU standpoint was that the missed opportunities were clearly starting to have an effect and the shots that were either ill-advised or seemed to roll off the rim or rattle out were not helping matters either. UST's Young knocked down a jumper in the lane with 11:35 mark for a 51-46 Tommie lead and then Dockter made a reverse lay-up look routine at the 11:12 mark for a 53-46 UST advantage and SMU's Pearson called a timeout; hoping to find some answers to these mounting problems.
But the Tommies would slowly increase their advantage as the Cardinals frustrations mounted as they simply couldn't seem to get the lid off of their basket at the most critical times. A sweet move and finish by Brandenburg with 9:37 left upped the Purple's advantage to nine at 55-46 and a Brandenburg lay-up with 7:27 left gave the Tommies a double-digit cushion at 59-48. SMU's Rice drained a "3" from the top of the key with 7:03 left got the deficit back to within single digits again but, as I mentioned, they just couldn't......quite....seem to find that one spark that might have allowed them to get on a sustained run that could have drastically changed the complexion of this one coming down the stretch. A drive and lay-up off of an inbounds pass by Brown with 5:13 left and a score in the paint by Euerle allowed SMU to climb to within six trailing 61-55 with 4:28 left but a patient UST team would take their time on each offensive possession and, with time now becoming a factor, SMU had no choice but to foul and, far too often they were sending either Brandenburg, Weiers or Dockter to the line as they consolidated on the advantage at the charity stripe. The Cardinals, in a last-ditch attempt, also brought full-court pressure to no avail. UST was in the double-bonus with :50.3 left and Young knocked down two more free throw attempts after getting fouled as the Tommies claimed yet another MIAC Championship by a final score of 71-58.
After the awards ceremony and the cutting down of the net by the victorious UST team, a happy and elated Sinn was gracious enough to give me a few moments to reflect on the win and what it meant for the UST program and team. I asked her about how hard it was to have to do this from the #3 spot; going up to Moorhead on Thursday to play Concordia, coming back to practice at home for one day, and then turning around to go down the River to Winona for the MIAC Championship game. Sinn replied that it was important for her squad to "Focus on the here and now...". She also emphasized that by "playing together and enjoying the competition, they couldn't fail" And, they sure didn't. From my vantage point, I simply couldn't help but marvel at how the Tommies showed composure and calm when the SMU team was coming at them full-bore early on and a loud and raucous SMU fan base could have made their life utterly miserable. But, when you have the experience and confidence that this UST team has and when you've been in these situations so many times before as this Tommie team has, there's no doubt that these elements all factored in the UST victory on this day. Now the Tommies can relax and enjoy the respite for a bit with the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament in their back pocket. Meanwhile, a disappointed but upbeat Pearson reflected on this game with the theme that I had suspected - missed shots and opportunities. But she refused to let the disappointment get the better of her or her squad. "I told them, 'Don't be sad' ". More importantly, she pointed to the road ahead as she emphasized that "We want to play again!". They'll definitely get that chance come Monday when the NCAA Tournament pairings are announced. A quick look at the box score reveals some numbers that stand out in this one: The Cardinals struggled mightily from behind the arc in this one; going 5-20 for 25% and going 5-11 from the charity stripe for 45.5% didn't help matters. Another area of concern for SMU in this one was rebounding as the Tommies owned the boards here by a startling 39-26 advantage. Overall FG shooting was another item that stood out like a sore thumb as the Cardinals shot only 24-62 for 38.7%. But, as I said before, this just seemed to be one of those days where it simply wasn't happening for SMU when they needed good things to happen. I think a lot of it points to that experience factor that I mentioned earlier as well. To their credit, the Cardinals showed amazing poise whenever UST showed that full-court press/trapping that simply overwhelmed Concordia on Thursday night and I thought they handled it just fine. My own take on this is that if the Cardinals can get to another MIAC Championship game, they'll probably win it as they've got a great young core of players. The good news is that now, they're a lock for the Big Dance and that they'll learn from this disappointment. Should they get a favorable draw, they've definitely got a shot at making a run.
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