Made a return trip on this Wednesday evening over to Augsburg's Mi Selby Hall to take in the clash between visiting SMU and host Augsburg. This would be my first look at the Cardinals this year and under a new regime with Head Coach Brent Pollari taking the reigns down in Winona. The Auggies meanwhile were riding a two-game slump after dropping home contests to both St. Olaf and GAC in the early part of the month and you knew that Head Coach Ted Riverso wanted to right the ship and quickly.
Still, it would be SMU that got off to a good start in this one as the Cardinals grabbed a quick 4-0 lead on lay-ups in transition opportunities - one by sophomore guard Alexa Huisman at the 9:29 mark and another one by junior guard Brigette Audette at the 8:54 mark that caught the host Auggies flat-footed. Augsburg would recover in due time and went on an 8-0 spurt. Senior guard Allison McKee drained one "3" from the left top area at the 8:36 mark and fellow senior guard Marie Fitzgerald banged home a "3" of her own from the right top area at the 6:42 mark. Sophomore forward Hannah Steinhaus' lay-up at the 5:37 mark made it 8-4 Auggies and they would maintain the four-point edge on senior forward Jess Lillquist's score in the paint with 4:28 left for a 10-6 advantage. SMU would come right back though and snatch some of the early momentum that Augsburg had. Senior guard Micaela Meredith connected with a short jumper in the lane with 4:02 left and then reserve senior guard Haley Trom knocked down one free throw after getting fouled with 3:20 left that had the Cardinals trailing by one at 10-9. Meredith's short pull-up jumper with 2:54 left completed this 5-0 push as SMU assumed an 11-10 advantage. A free throw by freshman reserve guard Alaina Quaranta tied things up for Augsburg with 2:41 left but the Cardinals would have the final say in the first period. Two free throws by junior forward Sam Jones with :58 left and a "3" by junior reserve guard Emma Schaefer from the right wing area with :19 left gave SMU a 16-11 lead.
The Cardinals stretched their lead to seven points on a lay-up by Huisman at the 9:25 mark of the second period before the Auggies awoke from their slumber and clawed their way back into the contest. McKee connected on a short one-handed jumper at the 8:56 mark and then senior guard Maria Loughlin; who was held scoreless in the first period, was sent to the charity stripe where she knocked down two freebies that narrowed the gap to three points at 18-15 at the 8:31 mark. SMU stretched their lead to six on a "3" from the top of the key by Huisman at the 7:53 mark but Augsburg went right back to work. Two free throws by sophomore reserve forward Bridget Bednar at the 7:30 mark and a short jumper by the Pierz native had the Auggies back to within a single possession again trailing 21-19. Both teams went into a drought that lasted nearly three minutes but the drought was finally broken when senior reserve guard Jenna Orth made a pretty drive inside and finished off the glass that knotted the game up at 21 a piece. A hook shot in the lane by McKee with 2:46 left added even more flair and also had Augsburg back up 23-21. The Cardinals tied things up on an offensive rebound and putback by promising freshman reserve forward Brandi Blattner with 1:06 left but the Auggies would have the final say of this first half as they set up one final play before the break. With both post/forward players coming out high, a screen was set for Loughlin; the Rogers native and she launched a "3" from the left wing that found nothing but cotton with :04 left that had Augsburg up 26-23 and also - presumably anyway - with some momentum going into the second half.
A pretty rainbow-arching "3" from the left top area by the lefty Loughlin at the 8:55 mark of the third period seemed to validate the momentum that the Auggies had going for them at the half and it also increased their lead to 29-23. SMU would manage to close the gap to two points trailing 29-27 on free throws by Jones and a drive and lay-up by Audette and they would stay within striking distance over the next two minutes. Augsburg was able to stretch their lead to six points again on another Loughlin "3" from the left top area with 4:57 left and one from Quaranta from the right wing area with 3:37 mark that made it a 39-33 game and it seemed at this point that the Auggies had everything going their way. But just when the balloon seemed to be filled with air and ready to fly, the Cardinals put a pin in it and the air suddenly came gushing out. And the "pin" for SMU in this case happened to be the former Dover-Eyota standout Blattner who helped lead her squad to the Class AA state title last season as a senior. The freshman single-handedly took the Cardinals on a 6-0 run within the span of a minute that helped change the course of this contest for good. Free throws with 3:20 and 2:58 left not only narrowed the gap to two points at 39-37 but SMU now found itself in the bonus for the rest of the period as well. With 2:21 left, Blattner used her 5'10" frame to muscle inside the paint for a score that tied the issue at 39-all. Perhaps just as important for the Cardinals, Blattner was starting to dominate on the glass and that along with the key 6-0 push seemed to give this team new life; new energy. Augsburg would take a 41-39 lead to close out the period on a score in the paint by Bednar with 1:55 left but the momentum that the Auggies had at the beginning of the second half was now gone.
With Augsburg suddenly struggling in their half-court offense, the SMU was only too happy to pounce on the opportunity given to it. Back-to-back treys - one by Huisman at the 9:46 mark from the left wing and another by junior reserve guard Emma Schaefer from the top of the key at the 7:57 mark - suddenly had the Cardinals up 45-41 and Riverso wasted no time in calling a thirty-second timeout to try and get his team calmed down. The Auggies tried to respond to the call as a short shot by Steinhaus narrowed the gap to two points at the 7:39 mark but by now the offense seemed to stagnate and, even worse, defensive lapses were all too common; especially when it came to Blattner. She got another score in the paint at the 7:20 mark and then Meredith connected on a sweet give-and-go lay-up at the 5:29 mark that had SMU back up by four again at 49-45. More frustration for Riverso as he took a match to another thirty-second timeout in hopes of stemming the tide but by now the wheels were clearly coming off for Augsburg. A defensive lapse allowed Jones to connect with a lay-up off of an inbounds pass with 4:14 left and then Schaefer drained her second trey of the night; this one coming from the left wing area with 3:37 left that now had the Cardinals up 54-47. A lay-up by Meredith with 2:59 left pushed the lead to 56-47 and now Riverso had no choice but to call a full timeout as he knew this one was slipping away. But SMU was not finished with putting the finishing touches on this. Blattner powered her way into the paint for another score with 2:28 left and two free throws by senior point guard Bridget Pethke who went down last year with an ACL injury made it 60-47. The Auggies Riverso tried to counter with another timeout but this one was all over. Meredith hit insurance freebies down the stretch and the Cardinals came away with a precious road win by the count of 64-51.
I asked SMU's Pollari afterward about the turning point in this one that seemed to come late on the Blattner run. "We did a much better job of boxing out in the second half than we did the first" said Pollari and that "we played with much more energy as well." Even though it's only December, I realize now that it's quite possible that I had sold this team's fortunes short. If they can continue to play at this level after the first of they year then they're certainly going to be in the playoff mix. On the flipside, another incredibly disappointing finish for sure but perhaps even more telling is that a pattern is becoming apparent with this group with their third straight loss - all at home no less. They seem to have momentum for most of the game and appear to be on the cusp of taking control before everything collapses in the fourth period for them like a house of cards. Assistant Coach Josh Hersch even admitted afterward that this squad is still trying to carve an identity for itself and they have to start finding some answers - soon. The big thing that stood out to me from the box score was how the Cardinals dominated the glass by a 44-31 count. You simply will not win many games when you get outrebounded like that. SMU was also very balanced in the scoring as both Blattner and Meredith poured in 14 points while Schaefer had nine points and both Jones and Huisman chipped in eight points a piece. Loughlin's 11 points led the way for Augsburg in the losing effort.
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