The second stop on this basketball-filled day was back at Karges Center on the campus of UW-River Falls for the second round NCAA Tournament game between host UW-River Falls of the WIAC and UST of the MIAC. The Falcons easily took care of business against Wheaton on Friday night but the Tommies on the other hand had to pull a rabbit out of their hat to survive in overtime against Loras and it took a grand performance from senior guard Katie Stone to make that happen. Knowing the potential of both teams, my feeling coming into this contest was that this one had the makings of an instant classic.
Both teams spent the opening minutes of this contest feeling each other out with neither side able to gain any decisive advantage. With the score tied at 2, junior guard Kate Theisen; doing what she does best, muscled into the paint for a lay-up at the 7:44 mark but that was matched by Stone's pull-up jumper off the glass at the 5:24 mark that knotted the issue again at 4 a piece. The Falcons, however, slowly went to work and grabbed a small advantage. Junior guard Katie Messman drained a "3" from the top of the key off of an inbounds pass at the 5:07 mark and a score by lanky sophomore post Taylor Karge with 3:35 left had the raucous UW-River Falls student section rocking and rolling with a 9-4 lead. UST was able to close the gap to one point as sophomore reserve guard Maddie Wolkow connected with a jumper from the right elbow area with 3:17 left and freshman reserve guard Kaylie Brazil made good on a drive into the lane for a finish with 2:43 left. The Falcons soon found another groove as senior guard Richell Mehus drilled a "3" from the left corner with 2:14 left and another Karge score in the paint with 1:18 left had UW-River Falls back up 14-10. Tommie sophomore guard/forward Lauren Fischer cut the deficit to a scant point with her three-point bomb from the left top area with 1:06 left but the Falcons were able to extend the lead to three points when Mehus connected with a lay-up with :52 left. UST would have been able to close the gap to one but a jumper from Stone from the left wing was waived off as the officials ruled it did not beat the buzzer.
The Tommies would close that gap to one point again early on in the second period on two scores by Langer - a lay-up at the 9:46 mark and a score in the paint at the 7:52 mark that had UW-River Falls up only 18-17. But the Falcons were able to make another move thanks to Theisen; the former Watertown-Mayer standout. One lay-up at the 7:33 mark and a score in the paint that drew a foul and sent her to the line for the "and one" at the 5:29 mark had UW-River Falls up 23-17 and, presumably anyway, in position to possibly get firm control of this game. But UST, after surviving the scare from last night, had no desire to relive that nightmarish experience and a 10-0 push to finish out the second period changed the complexion of this game. A lay-up by freshman reserve guard/forward Morganne Gruber with 4:55 left and then junior post Kaitlin Langer got into the paint for a score with 3:31 left that cut the Falcon lead down to two points at 23-21. Then it was Fischer; the Oshkosh, Wisconsin native, drilling a "3" from the right wing area at the 2:41 mark that put the Tommies back up for good at 24-23. Then it was Stone draining a "3" from the right wing with 1:25 left from the right wing area that allowed UST to take a somewhat surprising 27-23 lead into the locker room at the half over a slightly shell-shocked Falcon squad that seemed to be on the verge of taking this game over. A quick glance of the first half box score doesn't reveal anything startling as UST held a small 23-20 advantage on the boards and FG shooting percentages were essentially the same (34.3 for UST vs 33.3 for UW-River Falls). It was just the Tommies being the Tommies when the chips appeared to be down for them.
Though the Falcons had let the momentum they had slip away from them down the stretch of the second period, they still weren't in that bad of a spot down four points and UW-River Falls was still certainly well within striking distance if they could find some spark on offense. What Falcon Head Coach Cindy Holbrook couldn't have counted on, though, was her squad suddenly losing its confidence and rhythm on offense while the Tommies pounced on the opportunity laid in front of them. An opening 7-0 spurt at the beginning of the third period changed the outlook of this game for good. Langer got into the paint for a score right off the bat at the 9:46 mark that drew a foul and the Stillwater native made good on the "and one" opportunity for a 30-23 UST lead. Two more Langer free throws at the 7:59 mark and a Langer score in the paint at the 7:06 mark suddenly made it 34-23 and Holbrook; knowing full and well that her squad was reeling, called an immediate timeout to assess the damage. Coming out of the timeout, UW-River Falls tried to be more aggressive on offense; taking the ball to the rim and the effort momentarily paid off at the 6:24 mark as junior guard Brynn Liljander; who struggled all game long to find her touch, got to the line for free throws. But Liljander could only get the front end to go down and the Tommies were off to the races again. An 8-0 spurt this time which commenced with a Fischer three-point bomb from the right top area at the 6:12 mark and was followed by a Stone lay-up with the shot clock expiring at the 5:24 mark pushed the lead to fifteen at 39-24. A Langer lay-up in transition with 4:35 left put an exclamation mark on this latest offensive move by UST and with the score now 41-24, Holbrook had to take a match to another full timeout with her Falcon squad in serious trouble and under the gun. UW-River Falls tried desperately to find some sort of spark that might spur a big run. Mehus finally found her range from three-point land again with 4:18 left in the third period as she drilled a "3" from the left wing and got one free throw to go down with 3:12 left. A Karge score in the paint with 1:06 left cut a bit of fat off of the deficit as the UST cushion was down to 45-30 but, unlike the previous night, the Falcons just could never find or establish that one big run that might get them back to within striking distance and, worse yet, they couldn't get stops defensively either. Gruber got into the paint for a score and also drew a foul in the process and the ensuing free throw pushed the lead back up to eighteen at 48-30. Then it was Stone putting the finishing touches on this decisive third period. A "3" from the right wing area in transition with :22 left and, after a Falcon turnover, a lay-up in transition with just :05 left made it 53-30 and any doubts about how this one was going to go were effectively put to rest.
A proud UW-River Falls team refused to give up the ship and the Falcons kept fighting; looking for any possible crack in the Tommie ship. Liljander finally connected with a lay-up at the 7:29 mark and got another lay-up attempt to go down at the 5:39 mark. Still, there was simply no way they could make any inroads on the twenty-plus deficit they were facing at 58-35. Junior guard Paige Gernes got one free throw to go down at the 5:16 mark and a long offensive rebound and putback by Langer with 4:25 left essentially sealed the deal for UST now up 61-35. Two more Gernes free throws with 3:55 left and a Langer jumper from the top of the key with 2:43 left made it 65-42 and Gernes added two more insurance free throws with 2:18 left that made it 67-42. Holbrook took out her lone senior, Mehus, to a standing ovation in Karges Center with :37 left as the Tommies claimed a 67-46 victory to advance into the Sweet 16.
A very happy UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn talked about that crucial stretch in the second period when the Tommies first grabbed control of the game. "If you watched the last six minutes of the second quarter.....we started doing what we were supposed to do.....We did a really good job defensively.....They (UW-River Falls) were getting shots, but they were contested shots where we could rebound and then run......We talked about (at halftime) the idea that we had to shut down that lane and I thought the girls did a really nice job of that." I asked Sinn specifically about what fears she may have had coming into this contest from an emotional standpoint given the struggle they had to overcome the night before in overtime against a very gamey Loras team. But Sinn pooh-poohed any notion that her team wasn't prepared mentally (or physically for that matter) coming into the contest against host UW-River Falls in a potentially very hostile environment. Sinn was also quick to praise her younger players and pointed out how young her squad really is and how they've been able to rise to the occasion in this setting. "We have one kid......who has been on the big stage (referring to her senior starter Stone).....Kaitlin (Langer) was 11 minutes last year." When you stop and ponder this for a second, it really is amazing how the younger core of players that Sinn has on this squad has grown in all aspects of the game in such a short period of time and now, with a berth in the Sweet Sixteen awaiting them, the sky could be the limit for them. I also was able to speak with UW-River Falls' Holbrook afterward as well and I asked her specifically about the opening minutes of the third period when UST made its decisive runs that put them in a hole that they simply were unable to recover from. "That's the part of the game that we've struggled with all year long" she lamented and added that "the beginning of the third period has just been a tough time for us all year." Holbrook reluctantly admitted that her squad may have panicked a bit in that critical stretch of the third period and the shot selection process wasn't what it needed to be. She did speak glowingly and proudly of her departing senior; Mehus. "She's a great player and I love that kid.....She's going to realize when she has a chance to sit down and relax and take a few breaths what a great player she is." With a solid group of juniors returning next year, the future does indeed look bright for the Falcons.
After fouling out in the fourth period on Friday night, Langer more than made amends in this outing as she recorded a double-double; leading all scorers with her 25 points and snaring 12 rebounds in the process; an outstanding day for the MIAC's POY. While Stone didn't have the dramatic output she had the previous night against Loras, she was still rock-solid as always with her 12 points and three rebounds. Fischer; seemingly getting better and better with each game, added nine points while both Brazil and Gruber; the freshmen; added six points a piece. On the UW-River Falls side, Mehus, Theisen and Karge all had nine points on this day while Liljander and junior reserve guard Mikaela Wilson added five points. It was simply a struggle for the Falcons on this day as they could only muster 36.5% from FG range and 33.3% from three-point land. Another factor that contributed to UW-River Falls' demise on this day was that the Tommies owned a decisive advantage on the boards at 41-33 and 14 Falcon turnovers did not help, either.
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