The nightcap on tap at Schoenecker Arena on this Friday night featured the home team; undefeated and second-ranked UST going up against upstart UM-Morris out of the UMAC; fresh off it's conference championship victory the weekend before. While the Tommies would be prohibitive favorites in this contest, I did want to see if UM-Morris could hang around and make things tough on the home team in this setting.
Arguably, the Cougars needed to get off to a solid start in this one and unfortunately for Head Coach Tim Grove's team, that simply didn't happen. Despite a short jumper off the glass by strong senior forward Emily Auch; who had that huge game against Northwestern in the UMAC Championship game last weekend, that cut an early UST lead down to 4-2 at the 17:00 mark, lanky 6'1" sophomore post Tori Holt had picked up two early fouls and that effectively put UM-Morris in a hole right away as they simply had no answer for Tommies in the paint. Senior point guard and MIAC POY Jen Dockter made a hard drive and connected with a short shot off the glass that got her fouled in the process and the ensuing freebie gave UST a 7-2 advantage at the 15:21 mark and fellow senior Maggie Weiers' score in the paint made it 9-2 at the 14:47 mark. Auch tried to counter again for her Cougar teammates with her score in the paint at the 14:28 mark but a lay-up by lefty senior reserve guard Hannah Hughes at the 14:12 mark and a "3" from the left corner by senior guard Katie Stone at the 13:34 mark now gave UST a ten-point cushion at 14-4. UM-Morris would recover somewhat and cut the deficit back to single digits on a lay-up by junior reserve guard Maja Coomes at the 13:08 mark and a "3" from the right top area by senior reserve forward Jessica Love at the 12:30 mark shaved UST's lead down to 16-9 but a 5-2 push by the Tommies that saw scores in the paint by senior reserve forward Alyssa (nothing vanilla) Favilla at the 11:05 mark and by Weiers as well at the 10:22 mark that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw got the UST lead back up to double digits again at 21-11. With 9:06 left, Weiers connected with a sweet turnaround jumper and got fouled again and the charity stripe shot by the New Prague native expanded the Tommie lead to 24-11 and the Cougars were finding out the hard way what it's like to play the second-ranked team in the country when they're clicking on all cylinders.
UM-Morris was still unwilling to buckle just yet, however. Two Auch free throws with 8:50 left along with a "3" from the top of key off the glass by senior guard Kendra Wycoff as the shot clock expired gave the Cougars gave the Cougars some much-needed spark and trimmed UST's lead back down to ten at 26-16 and a lay-up in transition on a 3-on-1 fast break by junior reserve guard Cori Becker with 4:38 injected more life into UM-Morris trailing 29-18. But a closing 14-5 Tommie run in the home stretch of the first half ended any hope UM-Morris may have had about staying close in this one. Scores by Weiers in the paint with 4:21 and 4:00 left and free throws by Favilla and fellow senior reserve guard Elaine Warner allowed UST to double-up the Cougars leading 36-18. Again, UM-Morris tried to counter as freshman reserve guard Bailey Nordean drilled a "3" from the top of the key with 2:27 left and Auch connected with a lay-up with 1:56 left as the Tommies lead was cut to 36-23 but a "3" by freshman reserve guard Maddie Wolkow from the left corner with 1:37 left and a drive and lay-up by Stone with :19 left expanded the UST lead to 41-23. With just :00.3 left, Wolkow was sent to the charity stripe where she dropped two freebies for a 43-23 Tommie lead at the half and UM-Morris was in a heap of trouble.
Weiers, who led the UST attack with her 16 first half points, helped the Tommies right out of the gate once the second half got underway with her score in the paint at the 19:26 mark. A sweet drive along the right baseline and reverse lay-up finish by senior guard Laura Margarit at the 17:28 drew an explosion from the large contingent of UST students in the stands and two free throws by senior forward Anna Smith; back in action with a brace around that injured left knee, now upped the Tommie lead to 49-23 at the 16:15 mark and the rout was now on. The Cougars still stubbornly refused to fly the white flag however and a "3" by junior guard Kayla Kraemer from the right wing area at the 15:18 mark and a Wycoff lay-up at the 13:51 mark along with a jumper from the left wing by sophomore reserve forward Jordan Halverson made incremental cuts into the UST advantage but they could never mount a sustained run that might have planted any seeds of doubt in the Tommies' minds. A steal in the backcourt and easy lay-up by the wily Dockter with 9:12 left and scores in the paint by Smith with 8:31 left and Favilla with 8:01 left made it 58-30 and a Smith jumper from the left elbow off the glass with 7:20 left allowed UST to double up UM-Morris again at a count of 60-30 and the Cougar's Grove clearly saw this one slipping away fast and called a timeout to try and help his frustrated squad settle down. But UST refused to let its foot off the glass pedal down the stretch. A steal in the backcourt and easy lay-up by Margarit with 6:08 left and a Dockter lay-up with 5:38 left ballooned the lead to 64-30 and Tommie Head Coach Ruth Sinn gradually inserted her reserves to close the deal. Lanky 6'3" sophomore reserve post Kaitlin Langer got into the paint for a score with 2:39 left and sophomore reserve guard Paige Gernes drove into the lane for a finish with 2:04 left. Junior reserve forward Mykenzie Spaulding's score in the paint with :29 left put the finishing touches on a resounding 70-31 UST win as the Tommies advanced to Saturday night's second round game against Luther on their home floor.
UM-Morris' Grove offered few excuses afterward and could only point out that it was a tough match-up for his squad; playing the second-ranked team in the country; saying that "UST is just outstanding on defense." Having Holt saddled with those two fouls early on hurt as well as Grove described his sophomore forward as being solid down low. "This is our third trip in six years (to the NCAA Tournament) and winning a game and advancing has to be the next step" he explained adding that "We have to break through." He also described his senior forward Auch as a "very determined athlete" who worked hard to help get her team into this position. A happy and composed Sinn talked about her team as a whole and what they've been able to accomplish with this magnificent 28-0 roll they've been on this season. She specifically pointed to the trip to Spain this last summer and how her team really began to understand its idendity and their collective roles. "They all have gifts on the floor" she offered and the cohesiveness and chemistry on this team is truly something special to watch. The other thing that stood out to me in this game is having Smith back in action after she appeared to be done for the year in the MIAC Championship Game a mere week ago. After missing last year with a knee injury she was going to do everything she could to help be a part of this great team and its amazing run and the Bloomington native gets my nod for the Jack Youngblood award (Youngblood, of course, is the LA Ram Hall of Famer who played in Super Bowl XIV with a broken leg) this year. Weiers pointed out how important it is to have Smith on the floor saying that "It's inspiring to have Anna on the floor and playing alongside her." Weiers, too, has endured her share of setbacks and injuries as well and she obviously has had a huge part of the Tommies' success story this season and felt that she's playing her best basketball of the year. If that's so, look out. UST, which last made the Final Four in 2012, may not only have the goods to get back there this time around but win the whole ball of wax as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment