Made my way over to venerable Hutton Arena armed with a Subway lunch on this frigid Valentines Day Saturday for this all-important match-up between visiting St. Olaf and host Hamline. This game would basically be an elimination game for that all-important sixth spot with the loser playing out the stretch and the winner still having a snowball's chance in hades. This was also Senior Day at Hamline as three seniors were going to be playing their last game at Hutton Arena. Sadly, Jordan Sammons, one of those seniors, was not dressed as she suffered a broken finger earlier in the month at Bethel and would be relegated to the bench as an unofficial assistant coach. The color pink was also prominently displayed on this day as well as the "Play For Kay" theme would be the mantra at several schools on this day.
The Pipers would grab a 2-0 lead at the 18:23 mark when sophomore guard Chelsey Bonsante connected with a jumper along the left baseline but that would be the only lead that the Pipers would enjoy on this day. Sharp-shooting Ole junior guard Afton Wolter banged home a "3" from the right wing area at the 17:02 mark and then strong sophomore forward Betsey Daly muscled into the paint for a score at the 16:11 mark. Junior point guard Lauren Gutierrez drained a "3" from the right top area at the 14:51 mark that gave St. Olaf an 8-2 lead and Hamline Head Coach Kerri Stockwell; sensing disaster early, called a quick timeout to assess the situation with her staff and team. Junior guard Emily Behrman's drive and jumper in the lane at the 14:37 mark cut the Ole lead to 8-4 but St. Olaf had no intentions of letting their foot off the gas pedal anytime soon. Free throws by reserve sophomore guard Kari Keogh and senior post Nikki Frogner upped the Ole lead to 11-4 by the 10:57 mark and a score in the paint by sophomore reserve post Molly Riedel with 9:03 left made it a 13-4 game. Another Wolter three-point bomb; this one from the left wing area with 8:17 left made it 16-6 and St. Olaf was on their way.
The main problem for Hamline on this day - certainly in the first half anyway - was that they were simply colder than a rock from the perimeter and when they tried to make forays into the paint, they couldn't finish there either. Ole Head Coach Dave Stromme had his team in a 1-2-2 zone defense and with the Pipers shooting blanks from outside, there was little need to stretch the defense that effectively plugged up the middle. This allowed the Oles to slow down the tempo of the game which they prefer and also gave them opportunities to exploit the smaller Hamline team while in their half-court sets. With 6:46 left, Gutierrez connected with a lay-up and got fouled in the process and, after another Piper timeout, she sank the obligatory free throw for a 19-6 St. Olaf lead. A Frogner score in the paint score in the paint with 5:46 left and a jumper from the top of the key off the glass by Riedel made it 23-11. Gutierrez uncorked a three-point bomb of her own from the top of the key with 2:37 left and the strong 5'8" Daly scored in the paint with 2:01 left for a 28-13 Ole lead. Riedel connected with a short jumper off the glass with 1:17 left and two more Keogh free throws with :40.9 left let St. Olaf take a commanding 32-15 lead into the locker room at the half. A quick check of the first half box score revealed the gory details for the Pipers: 4-25 shooting from FG range for 16% and a frightening 1-12 from three-point land for 8.3%. And the Oles pounded the boards as well with a 28-11 advantage in that count. That was a sure recipe for disaster and that's what this game was turning into for Hamline.
St. Olaf kept a heavy foot on the gas pedal once the second half got underway. Junior guard Woo Bandel made a hard drive along the left baseline for a finish at the 19:30 mark and Gutierrez connected with a lay-up at the 17:42 mark for a 36-15 Ole lead. Daly connected with a short shot at the 17:07 mark and then Gutierrez drained another "3" from the left top area that now had St. Olaf up 41-19. An exasperated Stockwell was compelled to call her first timeout of the second half but it would only delay the inevitable. Wolter connected with a lay-up at the 16:09 mark and then Daly unleashed a three-point bomb from the top of the key at the 14:33 mark for a 46-19 Ole lead and Stockwell took a match to another timeout.
This was just one of those days where seemingly everything was going right for St. Olaf and nothing was going right for the Pipers. A Daly lay-up at the 13:16 mark and a Keogh "3" from the left corner at the 12:36 mark along with a Wolter lay-up at the 11:12 mark bulged the lead to 53-19. Hamline could have arguably thrown in the towel right then and there but this Piper squad is a proud team and they were going to battle to the end, especially on senior day with their leader on the bench with a cast on her left hand and wrist. Sophomore guard Chloe Graves got two free throws to go down at the 10:43 mark and then slithered into the paint for a score with 9:38 left that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw. Freshman post Alex Peterson; who struggled mightily with her shooting in the first half, made a drive into the paint and finished with 8:56 mark. Though still trailing by 30-plus at this point, the Pipers continued to battle on and finally found some of their shooting touch down the stretch. Bonsante knocked down a short shot with 7:46 left and Graves connected on a lay-up in transition with 7:13 left. A jumper by Peterson from the top with 6:08 left and a Graves "3" from the left corner with 5:23 left along with a Bonsante free throw with 4:38 left helped chop some of the fat off the deficit. Graves was able to get another three-point bomb from the right wing area to go down with 3:34 left and added two free throws with 2:32 left. Bonsante dropped a three-point bomb with 2:11 left but the Oles had inflicted enough damage early on this contest that garnered them a cushy 72-47 victory once the final buzzer sounded.
A subdued Stockwell could only offer that it was simply "one of those days" for her squad and it had to be frustrating to think what might have been for them had Sammons not suffered that broken finger against Bethel. Sammons; who became Hamline's all-time scoring leader earlier this season has been one of the most electrifying players that the MIAC has seen in a long time and she will be missed. You simply cannot replace someone like Jordan Sammons - period. What she brought to the floor - not only with scoring ability but also with defense and the ability to wreak havoc on opponents with steals was fun to watch. On the flip side, this was by far and away the best performance by St. Olaf that I had seen in the last few years. While I think that getting that sixth spot is probably out of reach by this point, there is hope for the future down in Northfield. Don't be surprised if Stromme is able to reach into his Colorado pipeline to round up another group of Front Range ballers.
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