Los Angeles Rams

Los Angeles Rams

Monday, November 9, 2015

CSB vs Northwestern Scrimmage 11-6-15

Made my way on I-694 over to Roseville and the University of Northwestern campus to take in this intriguing Friday night scrimmage pitting visiting CSB against host Northwestern.  This would be my first look at the Blazers in this brand new season who are looking for big things after enduring two straight disappointing 12-13 seasons.  While I got a close-up view of the Eagles last week Friday at their practice, I was also anxious to see them in an actual game situation to see how all the moving parts worked.

In the first ten-minute scrimmage, Northwestern showed off its 2-3 match-up zone that Head Coach Aaron Kahl steadfastly believes in from the get-go but that didn't seem to faze the Blazers in the opening act.  With 9:05 left, junior guard Annie Dittberner drilled a "3" from the right corner for a 3-0 CSB lead.  The Eagles were able to reduce the deficit down to one in the early going when sophomore guard Amy Berglund; who sat out last year with an injury, connected with a lay-up in transition with 8:30 left.  But CSB was able to go right back to work.  Sophomore forward/post Chelsey Guetter got fouled down low with 7:52 left and was able to sink one of two freebies.  With 7:41 left, Guetter again was in the paint trying to score where she was fouled again.  She was able to sink the first free throw for a 5-2 Blazer advantage but the second one rimmed out.  But there to rebound for CSB was sophomore post Kate Banovetz who was able to make the most of the situation and got a putback with 7:35 left for a 7-2 Blazer lead.  To their credit, however, Northwestern was able to battle right back and make things tight the rest of the way.  Senior forward/post Regan Cooper got into the paint for a score with 7:20 left and then junior sharpshooting guard Tiffany Stubbs drained a "3" from the top of the key with 6:35 left that suddenly knotted things at seven a piece.  The Eagles grabbed their first lead of the evening shortly thereafter when Berglund connected with a jumper along the left baseline with 5:55 left.  Northwestern was able to increase the lead to three points at 14-11 when Stubbs hit another "3" with 1:57 left but CSB soon responded.  Sophomore guard Morgan Merritt knocked down a "3" of her own from the left wing area that tied the game at 14-all.  The Eagles took one last lead in this one at 16-14 on a score with 1:30 left but Dittberner found the range again from behind the arc in that right corner area with just :10 left and the final tally I had for this first scrimmage was 17-16 CSB.

In the second ten-minute scrimmage, the Eagles were able to turn the table and get the best of the Blazers as they bolted out to an 11-2 advantage.  Stubbs' jumper along the left baseline with 9:45 left and Berglund's jumper from the right corner with 8:15 left made it 4-0 Northwestern and then it was Stubbs' "3" from the left top area with 7:29 left that made it 7-2 Eagles.  Cooper's score in the paint with 5:29 left and then junior Emily VanLith snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 4:43 left for that 11-2 lead.  CSB stopped the bleeding momentarily on a steal and lay-up the other way by freshman Grace Wolhowe but junior Rachel Hart's jumper along the left baseline with 2:54 left and Berglund's jumper from the top of the key just inside the arc with 2:32 left along with two more Cooper scores - a short jumper in the lane with 2:02 left and an offensive rebound and putback of a miss with 1:05 left - stretched the lead to 19-4.  Guetter was able to connect on a drive and finish with :24 left but Northwestern won this second scrimmage handily by a 19-6 count.

Northwestern Head Coach threw a bit of a wrinkle in the third scrimmage as he had his team divert from its normal 2-3 match-up zone into a rare man-to-man showing.  CSB did jump out to an early 4-0 lead on two scores by lanky 6'3" sophomore post Niki Fokken -  a score in the paint with 9:24 left and a jumper along the left baseline with 8:01 left.  The Eagles would soon right the ship, however, as a score in the paint by by sophomore post Jesse Rademacher and a Berglund lay-up knotted things up at 4-all.  One Rademacher freebie with 5:11 left and a Stubbs "3" from the left wing with 4:35 left made it 8-4 Northwestern and the Eagles completed the 10-0 run on a Cooper lay-up with 3:29 left.  Fokken got the Blazers on the board again with her score in the paint with 3:09 left but then Northwestern went on an 8-0 burst.  VanLith connected with a jumper from the right wing with 2:13 left and then the Eagles did more damage from three-point land.  Stubbs drained yet another one from the left wing with 1:44 left and then sophomore guard Andrea Zimpel drilled one from the right wing area with 1:01 left that sealed the deal for an 18-6 advantage.  Wolhowe did get a "3" to go down with :31 left that cut the deficit back into single-digit range for the Blazers and Banovetz' score in the paint with :14 left drew CSB closer but a pair of free throws by senior guard Kim Campbell made the final count in this one 20-11 in favor of Northwestern.

In the fourth scrimmage, Campbell, who had been relatively quiet in the first three scrimmages, made her presence felt early on as the former Bloomington Kennedy standout connected with a lay-up in transition with 9:09 left and then connected with another lay-up with 8:07 left as the shot clock was expiring for a 4-0 Eagle lead.  Dittberner got CSB on the board with her "3" from the left wing with 7:21 left but then Stubbs was able to answer for Northwestern with her three-point bomb from the right wing with 7:04 left.  The three-point fest continued as willowy Blazer junior guard Alison Newton found the range from the left top area that cut the Eagle lead down to 7-6 with 6:24 left.  Dittberner gave CSB an 8-7 lead with her lay-up after a Northwestern turnover with 4:21 left but a Campbell "3" from the right wing with 3:43 gave the Eagles the lead back at 10-8 and a score in the paint by sophomore guard Jessica Cole upped the advantage to 12-8.  A Merritt "3" from the right top area with 1:28 left got the Blazers close again trailing 12-11 but an offensive rebound and putback by Rademacher with :34 left provided insurance as Northwestern won the fourth scrimmage by a 14-11 count.

After the Blazers and Eagles did a couple of one-minute scrimmages simulating last-second scenarios, both teams did one more ten-minute scrimmage with the newbies taking center stage that featured running time as well to speed things along.  Scoring in this one came at a premium early on as gaffes and numerous turnovers were the order of the evening in the nightcap.  Freshman guard Courtney Nelson got CSB a 3-0 lead on her trey from the right wing with 6:48 left and, after a short shot by freshman forward Megan Schroeder with 4:54 left, Nelson found the range again from the left corner with 4:31 left for an 8-0 Blazer advantage.  The lead would increase to 13-0 on a lay-up in transition by freshman forward Breanna Gates with 4:11 left and a score in the paint by Banovetz with 3:27 left along with one Banovetz freebie with 2:04 left.  Freshman guard Sarah Thilenius' score in the paint with :29 left along with an offensive rebound and putback by Gates with just :00.4 left gave CSB a 17-1 win in this one.

Afterward, CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin didn't hesitate to point out his team's shortcomings on this evening.  He quickly pointed out that the squad didn't rotate well enough on defense which led to several easy scoring opportunities for the Eagles.  But I got the feeling from talking with him that his squad is slowly coming along and that he has the tools to compete for a playoff spot in the ultra-tough MIAC.  I personally think that they do as well but they've got to avoid some of the scoring droughts that have plagued them at times over the last couple of seasons.  

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