Carleton vs Northwestern 12-14-16

Made my way over to Roseville and Northwestern University's Ericksen Center on this bone-chilling cold mid-December night to take in an intriguing non-conference match-up between visiting Carleton of the MIAC taking on host Northwestern.  Both teams have had a rough start to this season both record-wise and with injuries so tonight would be a great opportunity for both teams to take a big step forward.

There's no question that basketball is a game of runs and this game showcased that fact as the Eagles opened the game on a 7-1 spurt.  Junior guard Amy Berglund first connected with a jumper from the left elbow area at the 9:32 mark and one free throw by junior guard Andrea Zimpel at the 8:57 mark and a short jumper from the left side by Berglund at the 7:31 mark had Northwestern up 5-1.  Senior post Rachel Hart made it a 7-1 game when she connected with a lay-up in transition at the 6:33 mark and Knights acting Head Coach Chris Dahled; taking the place for Cassie Kosiba who was out on a family emergency, called a thirty-second timeout to get his squad regrouped.  That short stoppage in play seemed to loosen up Carleton a little bit as they struggled mightily with the Eagles 2-3 match-up zone that Head Coach Aaron Kahl loves to use.  The Knights were able to counter as freshman reserve posts Erica Ellefson got a score in the paint at the 5:34 mark and a jumper from the left wing with 3:58 left in the opening period by junior guard Sarah Paller narrowed the gap to a single possession at 7-5.  Junior reserve forward Katherine Miles tied the game at 7-all with her score in the paint with 3:10 left before Northwestern could put on the brakes.  Senior guard Tiffany Stubbs drained a "3" from the left wing area with 2:58 left and a Hart lay-up in transition with 2:11 left gave the Eagles a bit more breathing room up 12-7 going into the second period.

Carleton was seemingly back at Square One once a Berglund lay-up at the 8:28 mark of the second period had the Eagles up 14-7 but again the Knights found a way to claw back into the thick of things.  Willowy sophomore forward Cece Leone finally found her touch from behind the arc with a "3" from the left wing area at the 8:12 mark and although Northwestern's Zimpel was able to knock down a "3" from the left corner at the 6:06 mark for a 17-10 Eagle lead, Carleton crept closer. Freshman post Samantha Cooke snared an offensive rebound for a putback and got fouled in the process and her free throw at the 5:51 mark trimmed Northwestern's lead down to 17-13.  Cooke would strike again a bit later at the 5:30 mark with a short shot off the glass that had the Knights back to within a single possession trailing 17-15.  Eagle senior forward Emily VanLith put her squad back up by four at 19-15 with her lay-up in transition with 3:57 left but Leone dropped two free throws with 2:18 left that again had Carleton within that single possession range trailing 19-17.  But the Knights hopes were dampened a bit when sophomore reserve guard Logan Retzlaff snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up with 1:12 left that gave the Eagles a 21-17 lead that they carried into the locker room at the half.  But considering that Carleton shot a frigid 25% from FG range and an even icier 11.1% from behind the arc in the first half, they were probably pretty fortunate to be where they were.  Rebounds were nearly even in the first half with the Eagles holding a 21-19 advantage and turnovers were identical with each team guilty of seven.

Northwestern threatened to put the Knights in a hole again in the early moments of the third period as a Stubbs jumper in the lane at the 9:28 mark and another VanLith lay-up in transition at the 8:16 mark prompted Carleton's Dahled to call a thirty-second timeout down 25-17.  And, just as they had early on in the contest, the Knights responded.  Cooke connected with a short shot at the 8:00 mark and sophomore guard Maddie Talamantes knocked down a jumper from the left elbow area at the 7:22 mark to make up the ground lost early on trailing 25-21.  Junior forward Sarah Waldfogel was able to do the same from that left elbow area at the 6:08 mark that brought Carleton back to within a single possession trailing 25-23 and there was every reason to think that the Knights could build on the 6-0 run that they had established.  Curiously, however, this is where the wheels started to come off for Carleton and the Eagles were quick to jump on the opportunity.  Freshman reserve guard Jazinae Patterson two scores - a steal and lay-up the other way at the 5:06 mark and a drive into the lane and finish with 4:20 left - upped Northwestern's lead to 29-23.  The Knights would again close to within a possession on a Leone drive into the lane and hook shot finish with 3:55 left and one Leone free throw with 3:06 left that made it 29-26 but that's as close as Carleton would get.  Senior reserve post Jessica Brown connected on a short, one-handed jumper for the Eagles with 2:51 left and one free throw by fellow senior post Rachel Hart with 2:07 left made it a 32-26 ballgame.  A Retzlaff "3" from the right corner with 1:08, however, was the real dagger for Carleton as that extended the lead to nine at 35-26 going into the fourth and final period.

The Knights continued to struggle with their shooting touch once the fourth period got underway and Northwestern was able to methodically extend its lead.  Brown snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 8:34 mark and a score in the paint by Berglund with 7:11 left gave the Eagles their first double-digit advantage at 39-28.  A jumper by Waldfogel from the left wing area at the 6:34 mark brought Carleton back to within single-digit range at 39-30 and Dahled called a thirty-second timeout in desperate hopes of finding a solution.  A Talamantes lay-up in transition at the 5:59 mark closed the gap to seven points at 39-32 but that's where Northwestern effectively put a lid on the Knights basket and held the visitors scoreless down the stretch.  VanLith connected with a lay-up at the 5:43 mark that drew a foul and sent the Minot, North Dakota native to the line for the obligatory free throw that started a game closing 12-0 run.  A short shot from the left side by Stubbs with 4:51 left and one Zimpel freebie with 3:41 left had the Eagles back up safely at 45-32.  A Berglund lay-up with 2:01 left along with two Patterson free throws with 1:22 left and a Retzlaff drive and lay-up for insurance with :29 left helped Northwestern close out a 51-32 win.

A disappointed Dahled pointed to a lot of factors in the loss.  "I told the team we did so many things right - up until the ball left our hand" he said afterward.  One big factor in this game that helped Northwestern get the win was rebounding where the Eagles held a substantial 43-30 edge.  Dahled called his squad's offensive rebounding "our Achilles heel".  The Knights are still operating without their most dynamic player in Anne Hamilton who was in uniform but did not play tonight and likely won't be on the floor until right after the first of the year.  And freshman point guard Katie Chavez is now sideline with a hip injury and her return time is unknown as of this writing.  Paller; the junior from Brooklyn, New York, has stepped in and done a solid job at the point guard spot.  Now it's just all about making things "click" on offense and getting a few more shots to fall.  Northwestern Head Coach Aaron Kahl on the other hand was quite pleased with his team's efforts tonight; particularly on the rebound front.  "The first time we've done that all year" he added.  Presumably, this win will provide a jump start for the Eagles who got off to a very slow start this season as they travel up north for road games at both Finlandia and Northland before heading out to the Bay area where they'll take on both UC-Santa Cruz and Whittier this next week.  One thing that had to please Kahl was that Northwestern had a very balanced scoring attack on this night with Berlund leading the way with her ten points while Stubbs, VanLith and Retzlaff all had seven points and Patterson had six.  Carleton's Leone led all scorers on this night with her 13 points in the losing effort.