After staving off defeat against Loras last Friday night at UW-River Falls, the Tommies took on another IIAC opponent in the Round of 16 in the nightcap at Schoenecker Arena on this Friday evening - unheralded Wartburg, which managed to get into the NCAA Tournament despite its loss in the IIAC playoffs at home to Coe. Left for dead after that loss, the Knights received some extremely good fortune in the form of arch-rival Luther losing to said Loras team in the IIAC Championship Game which put Wartburg back on the front-runner for an NCAA berth. Since that time, the Knights have made the most of that unforeseen opportunity; beating both Wisconsin Lutheran and UW-Oshkosh that thrust the Knights into the Sweet 16. While UST easily disposed of UW-River Falls on Saturday to get the opportunity to host this regional semifinal game, the Tommies learned - almost the hard way - not to take ANY opponent lightly.
Somewhat predictably, UST got off to a decent start in this game; building a 6-2 lead on the strength of a score in the paint by junior post Kaitlin Langer at the 8:42 mark and a drive and lay-up by freshman point guard Lucia Renikoff at the 8:02 mark along with a jumper by junior guard Paige Gernes at the 7:32 mark. The Knights would close the gap to one point on a "3" from the left top area by sophomore guard Miranda Murphy at the 6:37 mark and a score in the paint by fellow sophomore forward Abbie Haupert kept Wartburg within a single point trailing 8-7. Another Langer score in the paint with 4:54 left and a three-point bomb from the right top area by senior guard Katie Stone with 4:04 left increased the Tommie lead to 13-9 but the Knights were able to close the gap to one point again on a "3" by sophomore Katie Sommer from the right top area and a jumper in the lane by sophomore post Aryn Jones with 2:13 left kept Wartburg in that one-point range trailing 15-14. Unexpectedly, however, the Knights snared the lead away from host UST in the closing moments of the first period. Sophomore guard Morgan Neundorf got a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up with 1:56 left and a "3" from the left top area by Bobbie Burrows with 1:02 left had Wartburg up 19-15 and a slightly shocked Tommie team; ranked eighth in the country, had to wonder what just happened.
Much to the certain chagrin of UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn, the Knights managed to hold the lead for a good chunk of the second period. The other half of the Sommer sister duo; sophomore Kristie, drained a "3" from the left corner at the 9:07 mark for a 22-17 Wartburg advantage and a Nuendorf trey from the right wing area at the 7:12 mark increased the margin at six points for a 25-19 lead. A Murphy score in the paint at the 6:31 mark maintained the six-point edge at 27-21 before the Tommies were able to right the ship in the form of a 12-0 run with six of those twelve points coming from Gernes. A Gernes "3" from the top of the key at the 6:13 mark started this run and the former Winona Cotter standout followed that up with a steal and lay-up the other way at the 5:46 mark that also drew a foul that sent her to the charity stripe for the obligatory freebie that tied the game at 27-all. At the 5:16 mark, Gernes struck again - this time on a jumper from the left elbow area that propelled UST back into the lead at 29-27. A Renikoff lay-up with 3:37 left and a routine Langer score in the paint with 1:38 left now gave the Tommies a six-point edge a 33-27 and although Jones was able to counter for the Knights with a score in the paint with :48 left, Wartburg looked as if it may have been blindsided by this latest Tommie onslaught trailing 33-29 going into the locker room at the half. A quick glance of the first half box score shows that the Tommies had the edge on the boards at 19-15 although Wartburg was shooting a blistering 71.4% from three-point land. Clearly the Knights would need a similar performance in the second half if they had any hopes of knocking off the heavily favored Tommies.
Stone, who single-handedly saved the Tommies season a week ago with the bravura performance late in the game against Loras, got UST in good shape early in the third period as the Eau Claire, Wisconsin native connected with a lay-up at the 7:46 mark and then dropped a three-point bomb from the right top area at the 7:09 mark that increased the Tommie lead to 38-31. But, much like underdog Texas-Tyler in the first game against heavily favored George Fox, Wartburg battled their way back when things looked bleak for the visitors from Waverly, Iowa. Two Murphy free throws at the 6:48 mark sparked an 8-0 Knight run. Burrows then drained a "3" from the right wing area at the 6:12 mark and a score in the paint by Murphy at the 5:37 mark that drew a foul and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw had this pesky Wartburg team out in front again 39-38. Langer connected with a jumper from the right elbow area that briefly had the Tommies back out in front 40-39 but the Knights were far from finished. Katie Sommer first connected with a lay-up in transition with 4:26 left and then knocked down a "3" from the right top area with 3:31 left for a 44-40 Wartburg advantage. A lay-up by twin sister Kristie Sommer with 2:31 left extended the lead to six at 46-40 before UST could dig in its heels and recover. Two Langer free throws with 2:17 left and a "3" from the top of the key by freshman reserve guard Bobbi Brendefur with 1:26 left sliced the Knight cushion down to a single point at 46-45. A Brendefur lay-up with :48 left and another one by Langer with just :06 left put the Tommies back out in front in this wild and wooly contest at 49-48 and you knew the fireworks show certainly wasn't over yet.
UST got their cushion back up to four points early in the fourth period when Langer; who was double-teamed, maneuvered through the potential roadblock and scored and drew a foul in the process and her free throw had the Tommies up 52-48 at the 8:48 mark. But the orange-clad Knights; who had absorbed every UST blow thus far, did it again. A Kristie Sommer lay-up in transition at the 7:54 mark and a Katie Sommer "3" from the left wing area at the 7:00 mark suddenly had Wartburg back up 53-52. Tommie sophomore guard/forward Lauren Fischer; quiet from a scoring standpoint in this game so far, shook off the cobwebs at the 6:46 mark with her three-point bomb from the left wing area that had UST back out in front 55-53. But Kristie Sommer put her Knights back out in front 56-55 with her "3" from the right wing at the 5:42 mark and that lead was extended to 58-55 when senior post Kailey Kladivo snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 5:01 mark. The Tommies appeared to restore a bit of order to this contest when all hell was breaking loose (at least from a UST perspective anyway) as a Gernes score in the paint with 4:47 left and two Langer free throws with 4:05 left had UST back up 59-58. But this tenuous Tommie lead was short-lived as this free-wheeling Wartburg team rolled the dice and took its chances. Jones got into the paint for a score with 3:48 left and got fouled in the process and the former Linn-Mar standout dropped the ensuing free throw that had the Knights back up for good at 61-59. While not an insurmountable deficit by any means for UST at that point, the real dagger came with 2:48 left when Nuendorf drained a "3" from the right top area that now had Wartburg up 64-59. Considering how the Tommies fought their way back from the brink against Loras a week ago in the closing minutes, it was still a doable proposition but this time when UST need a "3" to go down here and another one to go down there, it simply didn't happen. Langer did get two free throws to go down with 2:39 left that closed the gap to three points at 64-61 but they could get no closer. Stone got whistled for her fourth foul with 2:33 left and a tentative Tommie defense allowed Jones to score in the paint with 2:18 left that increased Wartburg's lead to five at 66-61. Sinn called a thirty-second timeout with 1:04 left and a full timeout with :41.5 left to try and draw up strategy but an untimely turnover and missed shots doomed UST at the most critical juncture. Two Kristie Sommer free throws with :25.7 left increased the Knight lead to 68-61 and although the Tommies closed the gap to four points on one free throw by freshman reserve guard Kaylie Brazil and two by Langer, Nuendorf sank two insurance free throws with :09 left and Wartburg pulled off the shocker of the NCAA Tournament with a 70-66 victory.
An obviously disappointed Sinn brought in both Stone and Langer afterward for the press conference and, despite the heartbreaking loss, Sinn talked about how proud she was of this group for overcoming the obstacles that they faced early on in the year and how much this team - particularly the young freshmen - grew in such a relatively short span of time. Langer could not escape the praise that Sinn heaped on her and the Stillwater native has certainly taken her game to new heights in just a few short months. For Stone, it was a tough time and she did get emotional late during the UST press session and why not? This is one student athlete who has paid her dues and she was one of the two seniors on this squad (along with Mykenzie Spaulding) who really played a big role in getting the Tommies this far. Had it not been for Stone's heroics in the first round game against Loras a week ago, UST wouldn't have even been in this situation. This girl is simply a winner both on and off the court and she will be sorely missed by Sinn, her staff and her teammates. On the other side of the coin, Wartburg Head Coach Bob Amsberry was quick to praise the UST program and Sinn and how much respect he has for them but also talked about how happy he was for his two seniors (Burrows and Kladivo) for getting the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament and making the most of the situation. I asked Amsberry specifically about how the Knights managed to get into the tournament considering how bleak the situation looked after the first round loss to Coe in the IIAC Playoffs. Amsberry replied that, based on the regional rankings at the time, he still felt that his squad still had a shot but at the same time acknowledged that the outcome could go either way. "Fortunately, there weren't any upsets (other than Luther losing)" he said. Ironically, he pointed out that some of the team members were down in Florida on Selection Monday and when Wartburg received the bid, he had to get on the phone and make sure the team members got back on the next plane home! Without question, the Knights have made the most of this second shot at life and sometimes when a team gets hot at the right time, great things can happen. That certainly seems to be the case for Wartburg right now. They're tough. They're hot. They're lucky. They may think that no one in the world can beat them right now and by thinking like that, they just may be right.
Amsberry talked about how his team had "great balance" and a look at the final box score reveals just that. Katie Sommer led the squad with her 13 points and right behind her was twin sister Kristie Sommer with her 12 points. Jones contributed 11 points while both Murphy and Nuendorf chipped in with ten points a piece. Langer had a fabulous night for UST in the losing effort with her 27 points while both Stone and Gernes added 12 points. IMHO, where the Tommies lost this game was allowing Wartburg to shoot 10-19 from three-point land for 52.6% and for a team that prides itself on its defense, I'm sure it's a bitter pill for Sinn, her staff and team to swallow. In an odd way, one could make the argument that perhaps this UST team was better positioned to make a run to the Final Four than last year's star-studded squad simply because it was healthier (despite the injury to junior guard Gabby Zehrer) and the expectations perhaps weren't quite as high. In any event, once you get to the NCAA Tournament, your margin for error becomes considerably smaller and all it takes to get knocked out is to have to absorb a great outing by your opponent which is what happened to both UST and George Fox on this night.
No comments:
Post a Comment