Made my way over to UST's Anderson Athletic Center on this cold, overcast January Saturday to take in the highly-anticipated contest between visiting Concordia and host UST. The Cobbers were coming into this game on a bit of a roll; with three straight wins including big home wins over both SMU and Bethel while the Tommies have been in the process of setting the world ablaze with an unblemished record and, save for a late November contest against UW-Stevens Point, haven't really been seriously challenged in any game so far. Still, Concordia has always managed to play UST tough, particularly in the Tommies own crib and you had to think that if a sliver of a chance existed for the Cobbers, today might be it.
That typically stingy Tommie defense made life absolutely miserable for Concordia in the games first six minutes; completely stuffing the Cobbers with any offensive foray they dared to try and forcing several turnovers that led to easy UST points. After the Tommies had established a 5-0 lead on a score in the paint by senior guard Laura Margarit plus a short shot off the glass by senior post Maggie Weiers and one Weiers free throw by the 17:15 mark, senior forward Anna Smith came out of nowhere like a thief in the night to steal a Concordia inbounds pass and dash the other way for a lay-up at the 16:45 mark. Weiers connected with a short shot off the glass at the 16:18 mark and then junior guard Katie Stone connected with a lay-up at the 15:27 mark and then drained a "3" from the left corner at the 14:38 mark for a 14-2 UST lead and Cobber Head Coach Jessica Rahman knew full and well that she needed a timeout for her team to get them settled down. Concordia was finally able to settle down a bit as senior forward Erin Januschka was able to get into the paint for a score but they still could make any inroads on the deficit just yet as Tommie senior point guard Jen (Is there a doctor in the house?) Dockter drained a "3" from the top of the key at the 12:35 mark for a 17-4 UST lead.
The Tommies looked as if they were in prime position to blow out yet another opponent from the get-go but one thing you must remember about Concordia is that they are incredibly well-coached thanks to Rahman and they can be very resourceful when the chips are down. And the Cobbers proceeded to right the ship when things looked bleak. Senior guard Alley Fisher connected with a jumper in the lane at the 10:42 mark and then knocked down two freebies with 8:51 left to get the deficit back into single-digit range trailing 17-8. A score in the paint by Tommie senior reserve forward Elaine Warner with 8:17 left and a "3" from the top of the key by Stone with 7:42 left upped the lead to double-digits again at 22-8 but Concordia went right back to work. Sophomore guard Greta Walsh drilled a "3" from the right corner with 6:58 left and junior forward Olivia Johnson; wearing that makeshift cast on her left wrist, banged home a "3" from the left top area with 6:12 left that got the Cobbers back to within single digits trailing 22-14. Two Johnson free throws with 5:32 left and a "3" by sophomore reserve guard Emma Peterson from the right top area with 4:37 left suddenly brought Concordia to within five trailing 24-19. Much to the chagrin of UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn, the Cobbers got into the bonus with just over four minutes left and then sophomore reserve forward Mikayla Forness connected with a lay-up and got fouled in the process and the obligatory free throw now brought Concordia to within two trailing 25-23. With 2:23 left, junior guard Hannah Jeske tied the score at 25-all with her offensive rebound and putback and Sinn had seen enough to know she needed to burn a timeout to talk to her squad. That break in the action helped offset that 17-3 Cobber burst as the Tommies went on a 6-0 run to end the first half. Dockter got into the paint for a score with 1:55 left and then lanky sophomore reserve post Kaitlin Langer scored in the paint as well with :56 left. With :23.9 left, Warner connected with a lay-up that gave UST their 31-25 lead at the half but, all things considered, Concordia was in far better shape at this point than what they were in in the first few minutes. Now the question would be if they could stay close and pull off the upset as they had a year ago.
The Cobbers definitely got off on a high note once the second half got underway as Jeske; not necessarily known for her three-point prowess, drained one from the left corner after UST made the mistake of leaving her wide open at the 18:26 mark that brought Concordia back to within three trailing 31-28. A score in the paint by Erin Januschka at the 16:43 mark kept the Cobbers within that three-point range trailing 33-30 but just when you thought that maybe things might start go going Concordia's way in this one, the wheels suddenly came off and the Tommies were more than happy to pounce on the opportunity. Weiers scored in the paint and got fouled in the process and her freebie pushed the lead back to six at 36-30 at the 16:31 mark. Lefty senior reserve guard Hannah Hughes uncorked a "3" from the left corner at the 14:41 mark and a lay-up by Weiers at the 13:40 mark now had UST back up by nine and Rahman, sensing things were suddenly slipping away for her Cobbers, called a timeout to try and stop this Tommie onslaught. But UST showed no signs of slowing down. Two quick scores in the paint by Weiers at the 12:03 and 11:45 marks along with another "3" from the southpaw Hughes at the 10:57 mark now had the Tommies up by fourteen at 48-34 and, to make matters worse for Concordia, Erin Januschka got saddled with her third foul at the 10:21 mark and Rahman had no choice but to burn yet another timeout to try and keep the Cobber ark from sinking.
But things just seemed to go from bad to worse for Concordia as UST was starting to cruise. Langer connected with a lay-up with 8:42 left and then Smith drained a "3" from the right corner with 7:22 left for a 53-34 Tommie advantage. With 6:08 left, the Cobbers let Smith have another look from behind the arc at the right wing area and she took full advantage of the situation to drill another one for a twenty-point cushion at 56-36. The Tommies would maintain this cushion down the stretch and extinguish any hope Concordia may have had of a miracle comeback on this day. Stone connected with a jumper along the left baseline with 3:52 left and another Weiers score in the paint with 3:20 left and a Dockter lay-up with 2:38 left had UST safely up 66-45. Lay-ups by Hughes and Dockter with 1:18 and :34.3 left respectively put the finishing touches on as the Tommies exorcised last year's demons at home against the Cobbers and recorded an easy 74-48 victory.
A disappointed Rahman afterward had to praise the adjustments that UST made at halftime that seemed to shut down her squad offensively for much of the second half. At the same time, she wasn't willing to let this one keep her or her squad from going back to work and fixing things that need to get fixed. "We had some stretches where we played very well defensively and had some stretches where we didn't" she lamented. Sinn meanwhile was very pleased with the victory although as expected, she had to make that halftime speech to her squad about the fouling issue. "We still foul too much!" she said and you can bet the Tommies will be hearing about that in practice this next week. I asked her what this win means in terms of going forward. "We just have to keep getting better and stay healthy" she quickly replied. She really emphasized the "staying healthy" issue and rightfully so as injuries likely played a big part in UST's eventual demise in the NCAA Tournament the last couple of seasons. You have to think that, with the way they're playing now that the sky is the limit for this squad and if they stay healthy, they very well might be the best team out there in DIII.
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