Still riding on a personal exhilarating high after it was announced early Tuesday evening that my always and forever LOS ANGELES Rams are FINALLY returning back to their rightful hometown of Los Angeles after a 21-year absence in that unmentionable town, I made my way to the campus of UST and Schoenecker Arena to take in this Wednesday night contest between visiting CSB and host UST. While I was on my own high, I had to wonder if the Tommies could mentally regain their edge after taking it on the chin this last Saturday at home against Bethel. Even more shocking to me was the fact that junior guard Gabby Zehrer; who was inserted into the starting line-up at the beginning of the season, was now sidelined for the rest of the year with an ACL injury, proving that the Tommies weren't immune to the injury bugaboo either.
Both teams put relatively young line-ups onto the floor for this contest (senior guard Katie Stone of UST being the only seasoned veteran on the floor at the tip-off) and, as a result, turnovers, mistakes and missed shots were prevalent in the early going. The Tommies built an early 4-0 lead on a jumper from the right wing by freshman guard Lucia Renikoff at the 8:20 mark and a score in the paint by junior post Kaitlin Langer at the 7:35 mark and held an 8-4 lead after an offensive rebound and putback by sophomore guard/forward Lauren Fischer at the 5:26 mark. However, UST was getting into one of its old bad habits of fouling and this put the Blazers into the bonus with 4:10 left. Junior guard Annie Dittberner dropped two freebies at that point and one more by junior guard Alison Newton with 2:24 left cut the Tommie lead down to 8-7.
CSB appeared to get untracked in the opening minutes of the second period. Lanky sophomore post Niki Fokken connected on a turnaround jumper in the lane at the 9:21 mark to give the Blazers their first lead at 9-8 and then a steal by Newton who dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 8:53 mark increased the lead to 11-8 and UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn promptly called a thirty-second timeout to remedy the situation. The Tommies responded after the short stoppage in play and freshman reserve guard Bobbi Brendefur sneaked into the paint for one score at the 8:08 mark that cut CSB's lead down to one at 11-10. Both teams then seemed to revert to their early game habits of missed shots and mistakes for the next three minutes. Langer finally gave UST the lead back with 4:53 left at 12-11 on her short jumper but a short turnaround jumper by sophomore forward/post Chelsey Guetter gave the Blazers the lead back at 13-12 with 4:30 left. The Tommies would respond as another offensive rebound and putback by Fischer with 3:51 left and free throws by both sophomore reserve guard Maddie Wolkow and freshman reserve post Hannah Spaulding gave UST a 16-13 lead. This seemed to be the critical juncture for CSB as they were still very close and, had they been able to cash in on the opportunities that they had and keep the game in within the one-to-two possession range, they would have been right in the thick of things at the half. But this is where the Tommies, even as youthful as they are, made their first big push. Stone; left free in the right corner, uncorked a trey with 1:27 left that upped the lead to 19-13 and then it was Brendenfur; the former STMA standout who stole the show right before halftime. She drilled one "3" from that same right corner area with :51 left and then with :15 left, she swished another "3" from the left corner that suddenly had UST up 25-14 and the Blazers looked as if they had been hit by a dump truck going into the locker room at the half.
CSB tried to make amends for the way things unraveled for them coming down the stretch of the first half as a drive and finish by Dittberner at the 9:06 mark and a "3" by Guetter from the left corner with the shot clock winding down at the 8:00 mark reduced the Tommie lead down to ten at 29-19 and one free throw by Newton at the 6:45 mark got the Blazers back into single-digit range trailing 29-20. Reserve junior forward Macy Kelly; held scoreless in the first half, connected with a jumper from the right top area just inside the arc that got CSB even closer trailing 29-22 and a score in the paint by Newton off of an inbounds pass at the 5:22 mark kept the deficit at seven with a 31-24 score. Again, this is where the Blazers could have been able to stay within striking distance but they just were unable to come up with enough answers on either side of the floor. Freshman reserve guard Kaylie Brazil drained one "3" from the right wing at the 5:01 mark and then yet another offensive rebound for a putback by the reliable Fischer got the lead back up to double-digits for UST at 36-24 with 3:45 left. A score in the paint by Langer with 2:08 left and another one by Hannah Spaulding right before the buzzer ending the third period increased the lead to 40-24 and this 9-0 spurt by the Tommies effectively put out any spark CSB may have had.
Things quickly spiraled downward for the Blazers in the opening minutes of the fourth and final period that ended any doubt about how this contest was going to turn out. A lay-up by freshman reserve guard/forward Morganne Gruber at the 9:47 mark and one charity stripe shot by Langer at the 8:29 mark now had UST up 43-26. An increasingly frustrated CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin; not happy with how the game was being called by the officials, drew a technical at the 8:19 mark after being a bit too vociferous with his displeasure. That put Stone at the line who casually dropped two more freebies to make it a 45-26 ballgame and effectively ended whatever wisp of hope the Blazers may have had. CSB tried in vain to respond as Dittberner connected on a pretty one-handed running jumper in the lane at the 7:37 mark and a Fokken lay-up at the 6:48 mark trimmed UST's lead down to 47-30. But there would be no miracle comeback for the Blazers on this night. A score in the paint by Langer at the 5:37 mark and another Brazil trey from the top of the key at the 5:05 mark built the Tommie cushion at 52-30. Sinn gradually inserted the rest of her reserves down the stretch for clean-up duties down the stretch. CSB got late scores from Fokken but it would not be nearly enough as UST recorded a 54-36 victory.
A disappointed Durbin could only point to missed "bunnies" and other mishaps that doomed his squad on this night afterward and said that UST was clearly the better team on this night. While I was unable to catch up with Sinn during the post-game, I think it's important to recognize a few things about this new-look Tommie team. First, I think that you have to understand that this new group of young Tommies is slowly forging a new identity for itself and it's simply unrealistic to compare this team to last year's squad that had All-Americans at seemingly every position. I think Sinn is tinkering with her line-up to give this young group the opportunity to get "game-tough" and tested and the fact that you have a lot of moving parts in play means that you're going to have a few hiccups along the way. And, with Zehrer currently out of action with the ACL injury, Sinn may not have much of a choice but to do that either. So I think that, in the long-run anyway, you can forgive the 20-point home loss to Bethel and chalk that up to inexperience. This team will be fine. It's just going to take some time for everything to come together to gel the way Sinn hopes and wants it to.
No comments:
Post a Comment