Southwest Minnesota State vs UST Scrimmage 11-2-16

Made my way back over to the St. Paul side of town but this time to head over to Schoenecker Arena on the campus of UST to take in the scrimmage between visiting Southwest Minnesota State out of the NSIC going up against host UST.  Tommie Head Coach Ruth Sinn is a big believer in challenging her squad and this preseason skirmish would definitely be just that.  I got settled into Schoenecker Arena with rosters of both squads but, much to my dismay, the Southwest Minnesota State team did not have numbers on their practice jerseys rendering my roster of them useless.  The only two players on the Southwest Minnesota State team I know by their faces are the Buysse sisters of Marshall - sophomore Sarah and freshman Emily - who both played big parts in helping get Marshall to the Minnesota Girl's State Tournament over the last couple of seasons.

In the first ten minute scrimmage, Southwest Minnesota State showed its 2-3 zone defense in hopes of clogging up the middle and forcing the Tommies to hit from the perimeter.  But after the Mustangs initially took a 3-0 lead, UST senior guard Gabby Zehrer made a hard drive along the left baseline for a finish inside at the 8:58 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by senior post Kaitlin Langer at the 8:29 mark had the Tommies trailing by a single point at 6-5.  That was the beginning of a 9-0 UST spurt that was the difference maker in this first scrimmage.  A score in the paint by junior guard/forward Lauren Fischer and two scores by sophomore point guard Lucia Renikoff - a "3" from the left corner at the 6:42 mark and a short shot in the lane at the 5:46 mark - suddenly had the Tommies up 11-5.  Southwest Minnesota State would manage to battle their way back into the thick of things after UST's Langer snared another offensive rebound for a putback with 4:38 left for a 13-7 Tommie lead.  One score with 4:14 left and a "3" by Sarah Buysse from the right wing with 3:46 left suddenly cut the Tommie lead to one at 13-12 but UST managed to steady the ship.  Junior guard Maddie Wolkow answered the call with a "3" of her own from the right corner with :59 left that made it a 16-12 game and although the Mustangs would get it back to a single possession game with :30 left, the Tommies would get an insurance score with :15 left and I had UST winning the first scrimmage by a count of 18-14.

UST's Langer and Southwest Minnesota State's Sarah Buysse traded baskets in the first two minutes of the second scrimmage that had things knotted up at 4-all but it was here that the Tommies were able to go on a 6-0 burst.  One score in the paint by Langer at the 7:31 mark and another one by sophomore reserve post Hannah Spaulding at the 6:11 mark made it an 8-4 ballgame and an offensive rebound and putback by senior guard Paige Gernes at the 5:32 mark had UST up 10-4 and Mustang Head Coach Tom Webb; sensing a sinking ship, called a timeout to try and get his squad regrouped. The brief stoppage in play paid dividends initially for Southwest Minnesota State as two quick scores closed the gap to two points at 10-8 with 4:15 left but the Mustangs could get no closer.  Sophomore reserve post Hannah Spaulding connected with a lay-up with 2:24 left and then Wolkow drained another trey - this one from the left wing area - with 2:24 left that upped the Tommie lead to 15-8. The Mustangs; plagued with too many missed short shots and other errors could only get one more score late and two Renikoff insurance freebies with :59 left helped seal the deal in the second scrimmage as I had UST winning this by a count of 17-10.

The third scrimmage featured running time and this allowed UST's Sinn and Southwest Minnesota State's Webb to insert their youngsters to get some much needed game playing experience.  In this one, the Mustangs would jump out to a 4-0 lead by the 7:07 mark but it would be all Tommies after that.  Freshman forward Erin Powers was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback off of a fast break opportunity with 4:37 left and freshman guard Bianca Bowring knocked down two free throws with 2:56 left that had UST out in front for good at 4-2.  Freshman post Lena Wilson got into the paint for one score with 2:05 left and then it was Bowring knocking down a "3" from the right wing with 1:16 left for a 9-4 Tommie lead.  Freshman Olivia Skibba's offensive rebound and putback with just :05 left put the finishing touches on this one that had UST winning 11-4.

The fourth scrimmage featured running time as well but this time around both Sinn and Webb had their normal chain gang crew back in and this one turned out to be nip and tuck all the way.  A Fischer lay-up at the 9:11 mark had the Tommies up 2-0 but Southwest Minnesota State was able to counter on a lay-up at the 8:56 mark and one Sarah Buysse freebie at the 7:32 mark that had the Mustangs up 3-2.  Neither side could land any punches for the next three minutes until UST's Fischer made a pretty move down low and finished with 4:39 left that had the Tommies up briefly at 4-3 but the Mustangs connected on a three-point bomb from the left wing shortly thereafter with 4:06 left for a 6-4 Southwest Minnesota State lead.  UST would come right back and take an 8-6 lead on scores in the paint by Langer with 3:44 left and by Spaulding with 2:09 left but with time ticking down in this one, Sarah Buysse saved the day for the Mustangs with her pretty lay-up off of an inbounds pass that had this one ending up in an 8-all tie.

Sarah Buysse picked up right where she left off once the fifth scrimmage session got underway and her three-point bomb from the right wing at the 9:25 mark helped propel Southwest Minnesota State to a 6-0 lead by the 8:51 mark.  The Tommies would cut the Mustangs lead down to 6-4 on a short jumper off the glass by Zehrer at the 8:33 mark and a Spaulding score down low at the 7:37 mark but Southwest Minnesota State would get the lead back up to 9-4 by the 5:39 mark when Sarah Buysse was able to connect with a free throw.  UST would cut the deficit to one point on two Spaulding free throws at the 5:08 mark and a jumper from the left corner by freshman guard Sarah Krynski with 4:43 left but the Mustangs would respond with a lay-up in transition with 2:35 left and two free throws with 2:07 left to build a 13-8 advantage.  Tommie sophomore guard McKenna DuBois would drill a "3" with 1:11 left but it wouldn't be enough as Southwest Minnesota State would claim a 13-11 victory in this one.

Both Sinn and Webb had their youngsters back on the floor for the sixth scrimmage and Southwest Minnesota State would build a 5-2 advantage by the 7:34 mark but the Tommies would grab a 6-5 lead on scores by Skribba at the 5:24 mark and by Wilson with 4:13 left.  The Mustangs would take an 8-6 lead on free throws with 1:32 left but sophomore guard Sophia Chadwick's two free throws with 1:32 left tied the issue at eight a piece.  Southwest Minnesota State, however, would get the winning score off of an inbounds pass to win this one 10-8.

In the seventh and final scrimmage of the evening, Southwest Minnesota State would grab a 5-1 advantage thanks to a score off of an inbounds pass at the 9:40 mark and a three-point bomb at the 9:00 mark.  More importantly, the 2-3 zone defense that they were employing all evening finally began to stifle the usually potent Tommie attack.  Tommie sophomore guard Bobbi Brendefur's drive along the left baseline and finish at the 5:20 mark gave UST some hope trailing only 6-3 but those hopes were quickly dashed as another Mustang three-point bomb from the right top area got the lead up to 9-3 with 4:21 left and two scores by freshman guard Emily Buysse - a drive and lay-up with 3:06 left and two free throws with :57.1 left - had Southwest Minnesota State up 13-4.  UST freshman guard Janelle Alba-Garner would grab an offensive rebound for a putback with :34 left but the Mustangs would take this one by a final count of 13-6.

UST's Sinn was, for the most part anyway, pleased with her team's performance in this early season skirmish but was quick to point out that her squad needs to improve defensively - something that the Tommies pride themselves in.  She felt that her squad did well in the first two on the defensive side but fell off after that.  "We've got to get better on defense" she said and with a date at Williams Arena and Minnesota this Saturday, you can bet that her squad will be back hard at it on the practice floor.