The Saturday night stop on this seemingly two-day marathon was back over at UST's Anderson Athletic Complex and Schoenecker Arena for the NCAA second-round game featuring Luther out of the IIAC which knocked off St. Norbert on Friday night taking on host and second-ranked UST which easily dispatched UM-Morris in the nightcap Friday night. While one may have thought that the Tommies would have their way in this battle, my gut told me that the Norse might be able to give UST all they could handle on this night but the way they did it was a surprise even to me.
Luther once again had a strong student section on hand for this battle and, to make things even more interesting, so did the homestanding Tommies as their group of zanies were packed right next to the Luther contingent to help make things interesting off the court as well. As expected, things were tight in the opening minutes of this one. UST senior post Maggie Weiers' score in the paint at the 19:43 mark that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw made it 3-0 but willowy Norse sharpshooting sophomore guard Anna Madrigal knotted things up at three a piece with her bomb from the right wing at the 18:46 mark; picking up right where she left off from Friday night. Luther would hold small leads of 5-3 and 7-5 and then forge a 9-7 advantage at the 16:24 mark when sophomore reserve forward Solveig Nelson connected with a jumper from the left corner. The Tommies would step things up, however, and go on a 9-0 spree that had the Norse on their heels early. Junior guard Katie Stone drained a "3" from the left wing at the 15:08 mark and senior forward Anna Smith; still wearing that brace on her left knee, knocked down a jumper from the right elbow area at the 13:57 mark for a 12-9 UST lead. A drive and finish by senior guard Jen Dockter at the 13:30 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by senior guard Laura Margarit who has a knack for being in the right place at the right time gave the Tommies a 16-9 lead. In the process, however, Weiers picked up two early fouls and UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn, not wanting to take any chances with her senior post, had to sit her for a spell. Luther could have been in a heap of trouble right then and there but this resourceful Norse team found a way to stave off potential early disaster. Junior guard Kylie Romeo made a drive into the lane and finished as the shot clock expired at the 12:05 mark and then Madrigal found the magic again from behind the arc; this one coming from the left corner at the 10:20 mark that cut the Tommie lead to 16-14. Dockter did connect with a short pull-up jumper for UST with 9:42 left for an 18-14 advantage but she also picked up her second foul a short time later with 9:27 left so now Sinn faced the prospect of having two of her best players with early foul trouble.
Dockter's pull-up jumper was the start of another 9-0 push, however, and a score in the paint by senior reserve forward Elaine Warner with 9:00 left and then Dockter, with those aforementioned two fouls, went coast-to-coast for a finish with 8:01 left and got fouled in the process as well and her free throw made it 23-14. A drive and lay-up by freshman reserve guard Maddie Wolkow with 6:53 left finished the run and had the Tommies up 25-14 and, even more disconcerting for Luther was that junior point guard Moran Lonning was tagged up with her second foul by this point as well. Still, the Norse were able to dig deep and climb their way right back into the thick of things again. Two Madrigal freebies with 6:22 left not only cut into the deficit but also had Luther in the bonus as well. Lonning; with those two fouls, found her touch from behind the arc as she uncorked a "3" from the left wing with 6:13 left and a score in the paint by senior guard Meagan Koepnick with 5:32 left completed a 7-0 Norse push that whittled the UST lead down to 25-21. The Tommies would finish the first half strong, however, with a 10-5 run. Two Dockter charity stripe shots with 5:20 left and a sweet give-and-go play to Margarit who finished with 3:08 left made it 29-23. Smith knocked down two freebies with 2:47 left and even though Madrigal was able to get free for a "3" for the Norse with 2:08 left, a score in the paint by Margarit with 1:56 left and a finish in the paint as well by Warner with 1:23 left gave UST a 35-26 halftime advantage. The Tommies owned the boards in the first half with a 22-16 advantage and their defense which has a way of getting on you and staying on you limited Luther to a paltry 9-32 from FG range for 28.1%. If it hadn't been for those Madrigal treys, the blue-clad Norse would have been in some serious doo-doo by this point.
Worry had to abound for UST's Sinn at the 19:29 mark of the second half when Weiers was tagged with her third foul but Luther Head Coach Amanda Bailey had to have had the same exact thoughts when her point guard, Lonning, got nabbed with her third foul at the 19:00 mark. In any event, things seemed to deteriorate quickly for the Norse as the Tommies went on an 13-4 blitz. One score in the paint by senior reserve forward Alyssa (nothing vanilla) Favilla at the 18:37 mark and another one at the 17:06 mark that also got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw made it a 42-28 ballgame and a Smith drive and finish at the 15:44 mark and a Dockter drive and lay-up at the 15:10 mark made it 46-30 Tommies. A pretty Weiers turnaround jumper at the 14:26 mark gave UST its largest lead of the night at 48-30 and a Weiers drive across the lane and lay-up at the 13:42 mark maintained that eighteen point advantage. Luther's hopes could have arguably died right then and there but one thing the crowd on hand on this night learned about this Norse team under the helm of one-time NCAA Division III POY Bailey during her days at UW-Stevens Point is that this team simply doesn't know the meaning of quit and will just somehow find a way to battle back in the face of adversity. And so it was as Luther embarked on a quick 7-0 spurt that helped change things around. Romeo sank two freebies after being fouled in a transition attempt at the 12:12 mark and Madrigal connected with a jumper along the right baseline at the 11:50 mark that slimmed the Tommie advantage down to 50-36. At the 11:11 mark, Romeo drilled a "3" from the left wing that cut further into the Tommie cushion and made it a 50-39 ballgame and UST's Sinn immediately saw the tide turning and quickly called a timeout to try and put a stop to it.
The Norse's lofty ambitions to try and climb their way back into this one appeared to take a serious hit when Koepnick was tagged with her fourth foul on the evening with 9:42 left and Bailey could ill-afford to lose the services one of her star seniors at this stage. Still, a lay-up by Romeo with 8:12 left led to another UST timeout - and sliced the Tommie lead down to ten at 51-41. Luther was also giving UST a strong dose of its own medicine now as well as the Norse were unleashing their full- and half-court press/trapping defense that was causing all sorts of problems for the Tommies. Koepnick, riding those four fouls, got a lay-up after a steal in the backcourt with 6:31 left and a Koepnick jumper from the free throw line with 6:01 left not only sent the Luther student section into a frenzy, it also whittled UST's lead down to 51-45 with a ton of time left. Even worse for the Tommies now was that those usually reliable perimeter shooters (Stone, Dockter and Smith) suddenly weren't finding the range either that might have somewhat offset the frantic Norse comeback bid. A thirty-second timeout called by Sinn seemed to stem the tide for a bit as Stone was able to connect on a drive and finish with 5:40 left but Weiers got slapped with her fourth foul with 4:55 left. Still, two Smith free throws with 4:20 left and a Weiers lay-up with 3:21 left pushed the lead back up to ten at 57-47 and seemingly had UST back in the safe range again.
But just when the Tommies thought they could start breathing easy again, things almost went totally kablooey for UST in the home stretch. With 1:34 left, Weiers was called for her fifth and final foul on a controversial decision by the officials where she appeared to set a clean pick that got the best of a Luther player. That sequence of events seemed to spark one last frantic push by the Norse who were far from finished in this one. Two Koepnick jumpers from the free throw line - one with 1:24 left and another one with :58 left - made it a two-possession game at 57-51. A frenetic Norse defense forced a rare Dockter turnover with :48 left which led to a Koepnick jumper from the right elbow area with :40 left. UST's Smith got sent to the line with :31.3 left but her front-end attempt missed its mark. Warner was there for the offensive rebound, however, and she quickly got the ball to Stone who was immediately fouled and she sank two critical free throws with :26.7 left for a 59-53 Tommie lead. Still, Luther was not finished. A Koepnick offensive rebound for a putback with :17 left trimmed UST's lead down to 59-55 and another dose of frantic heavy pressure defense by the Norse forced yet another turnover and with :08 left Koepnick somehow connected with a one-handed turnaround jumper that not only caused the Luther student section and bench to explode but also cut the Tommie lead down to a scant 59-57 count. UST's Sinn called a timeout to set up the ensuing in-bounds play when they could have panicked and been a victim of a five-second call. Margarit somehow got the ball inbounded to Smith who was immediately fouled. Smith's front-end attempt clanged off the rim and you could hear the collective groans from the UST contingent. Smith's second attempt, however, was true and it was now a 60-57 game. One last chance for Luther and Bailey called a timeout with :03.1 left to try and set-up a play to get someone free behind the arc. The Norse got the ball inbounded and they desperately tried to find someone open from three-point land. Romeo got the ball with the last couple of ticks but the UST defense swarmed on her like angry bees and all Romeo could do was launch up a prayer that was partially deflected by Dockter that preserved the Tommie victory - and moved UST into the Sweet Sixteen.
As you can imagine, emotions were running high after this incredibly exciting finish and I had to wait a bit for things to calm down somewhat before I made my way back into the concourse of Schoenecker Arena. I was finally able to get a moment with Luther's Bailey who was incredibly proud of her team although the disappointment of losing such a great game was clearly written on her face. She talked about her seniors and how heartbroken she felt for them to have it end like this. She glowingly spoke of Koepnick and her heroics in those final frantic minutes calling her "one tough competitor." Still, for a Luther team that has endured its shares of ups and downs over the last few years, this is a gigantic step forward and with several veteran juniors returning next year for their senior season along with an infusion on hungry young players, this is a program that is definitely on their way up and will almost certainly do big things in IIAC play next year. After a lengthy delay, Dockter, Sinn and Margarit were finally in the makeshift media room where they answered an assortment of questions. I aksed both Dockter and Sinn (Dockter was in the room before Sinn and Margarit showed up) if there was ever a sense of panic or doom that may have set in when Luther made their big runs. Dockter: "We knew it was going to be a game of runs" she said but also pointed out that the seniors on this team have been through so much together and she knew their experience would be huge in a situation like this. Sinn also debunked the notion of panic. "We were trying to find a solution" she said. I tend to agree with that notion from where I was sitting as I never saw an ounce of panic on that squad. She did admit that she felt her squad took way too many perimeter shots in that critical home stretch when instead they should have been working to get the ball inside. Even though the Tommies owned the glass in this game by a 47-34 count, turnovers - 18 of them to be exact - had to make Sinn cringe a bit. I also asked Margarit about what it's like to have to do the unglamorous jobs; i.e., diving for loose balls, getting rebounds, scoring in the paint in the midst of traffic. She replied enthusiastically (perhaps half-jokingly) "That's the fun stuff, right?!" After a round of good laughter, she talked about how that mentality was instilled in her early on in her career at UST. "Our practices are tough" she said and it's easy to see where she gets that toughness to do the dirty work that not many like to do. So now it's onto the Sweet 16 for the Tommies where they'll head to Kentucky on the campus of Thomas More where they'll take on perennial powerhouse Hope for a chance to advance to the Elite 8. Presumably, hopefully, UST learned a few lessons on this night and maybe, just maybe, this was the game they needed to get them prepared after the cakewalk against UM-Morris in the first round. They have the capability to win it all for sure but it will be interesting to see how they do against top-notch competition the rest of the way.
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