GAC vs Macalester 12-3-16

My second stop on this busy first Saturday in December was the Leonard Center over on the St. Paul side of town for this 1:00 P.M. MIAC clash between visiting GAC and host Macalester.  The Gusties came into this contest undefeated at 6-0 while the host Scots were looking to rebound after Wednesday night's loss at the hands of another MIAC powerhouse, UST.

GAC came out of the gate fast in this contest as senior forward Miranda Rice snared the opening tip and raced down the court for a lay-up in transition at the 9:54 mark that sparked an opening 9-2 run. Rice would get into the paint for a score and draw a foul in the process that sent the Forest Lake native to the line for the obligatory free throw for a 5-2 Gustie lead.  Rice would strike again on the ensuing Macalester possession as she snared a steal and raced the other way for an easy lay-up that made it a 7-2 game at the 7:41 mark and a score in the paint by fellow senior forward Hannah Howard at the 6:42 mark capped the run for a 9-2 GAC lead.  The Scots would manage to get back to within a single possession on a one-handed shot by senior forward Park Masterson at the 5:52 mark and a tough score in the paint by junior post Regan Fruh at the 5:19 mark that made it 9-6 and a Masterson lay-up with 3:18 left kept Macalester within that single-possession range trailing 11-8.  But the Gusties would find another spark down the stretch of the first period in the form of sophomore reserve guard Brooke Lemke.  The Delano native drained her first trey attempt from the left wing area with 2:52 left and another Lemke "3" from that same left wing area with 1:40 left made it a 17-10 game.  Less than thirty seconds later, Lemke struck terror again from behind the arc; nailing one from the right wing area with 1:11 left for a 20-10 GAC lead and Scot Head Coach Kelly Roysland had no alternative but to call a thirty-second timeout to shore things up on defense.  Senior reserve guard Lauren Clamage would try to come to the rescue of Macalester with her three-point bomb from the right corner with :57 left in the opening period that made it 20-13 but the Gusties had set the tone early on in this contest.

Clamage; the Lake Forest, Illinois product, picked up right where she left off once the second period got underway with her second three-point bomb of the ballgame; this one coming from the left corner at the 9:42 mark that had the Scots threatening again trailing 20-16.  GAC methodically deterred this comeback attempt as junior point guard Mikayla Miller knocked down a short shot at the 9:15 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by Rice at the 8:36 mark got the lead back up to eight at 24-16. Sophomore guard Taylor Anderson drilled a "3" from the top of the key at the 7:58 mark and then a Miller "3" from the same area at the 6:01 mark got the lead back up to ten at 30-20.  Macalester would attempt another comeback as a Fruh score in the paint with 4:52 left and a "3" from the left wing area by junior guard Leah Gray with 4:18 left closed the gap to five points at 30-25 and Gustie Head Coach Laurie Kelly called a thirty-second timeout to make some quick adjustments on defense. Still, the Scots would get to within a single possession as Clamage drained her third trey of the afternoon from the left wing area with 2:21 left that also drew a foul and sent her to the line for the obligatory free throw that trimmed GAC's lead down to 32-29 and one more freebie by junior guard Grace Dickman with 1:58 left cut further into the deficit at 32-30.  But the Gusties would calmly respond with a late 8-1 run to answer the call.  Miller; the Goodhue product, banged home her second trey of the day from the top of the key with 1:46 left and then casually dropped her third three-point bomb of the period with :57 left from the left top area for a 38-31 lead.  A score in the paint by the always-reliable Rice with :12 left capped this spurt and gave GAC considerable more breathing space up 40-31 going into the locker room at the halftime break.  A glance of the first half box score shows that the Gusties shot 66.7% from FG range and an equally-blistering 75% from behind the arc so, in many respects, it's surprising that they weren't up by more.

GAC was able to get its lead up to double digits in the early moments of the third period as two free throws from Rice at the 8:41  mark made it 42-31 and an offensive rebound and putback by her frontline partner Howard at the 7:42 mark that drew a foul and sent the former Cretin-Derham Hall standout to the line for the ensuing freebie stretched the lead to 45-31.  A Rice score in the paint at the 7:11 mark made it a 47-32 game before the Scots could muster some offense.  Junior reserve guard Vivi Gregorich uncorked a "3" from the right corner at the 6:47 mark and sophomore reserve guard Katie Grahn was able to connect with a "3" from the left wing area at the 5:43 mark that trimmed the Gustie lead down to 49-38.  Another Masterson score in the paint with 4:40 left and another Gregorich "3" from the left corner with 3:56 left had Macalester in the ten-point range trailing 53-43 and although Roysland called a thirty-second timeout to discuss strategy with her squad, the Gusties effectively shut the door again with a 12-2 run to close the period.  Sophomore guard Justine Lee drilled a "3" from the top of the key with 3:37 left and a Rice jumper from the right elbow area with 2:41 left made it a 58-43 ballgame.  Rice would connect from that same area with 1:20 left and two Lee free throws with :44.5 left and another Miller "3" - this one from the right wing with just :00.9 left, now gave GAC a nice twenty-point cushion at 65-45 going into the fourth and final period.

A Miller "3" from the top of the key at the 8:52 mark that rolled around the rim before finally falling in describes in a nutshell how well the Gusties were shooting on this afternoon and when Miller connected with a short shot at the 8:04 mark for a 70-48 GAC lead; the Scots' Roysland called a timeout to try and put a halt to this Gustie steamroller.  To its credit, Macalester was able to whittle a bit of the fat off the deficit as the fourth period progressed.  Two scores by Fruh - a jumper from the right elbow area at the 7:34 mark and a short turnaround jumper at the 5:11 mark - made it a 73-52 ballgame and helped spark an unlikely spurt.  Senior reserve forward Emilie McGuire connected with a jumper from the right elbow with 4:15 left and junior reserve guard G. G. Gunther banged home a "3" from the right wing area with 3:13 left.  Freshman reserve guard Tyana Loiselle connected with a jumper from the top in transition with 2:41 left that sliced GAC's lead down to 73-59 and again Roysland called a timeout in hopes of creating a miracle comeback but it was not to be.  The Gusties put this one away for good as Lee connected with a lay-up with 2:02 left that made it 75-59 and one free throw by freshman reserve guard Kelsey Nelson maintained the sixteen-point edge at 76-60 with :37.1 left.  Nelson's back-end attempt was awry but there for the offensive rebound and putback was freshman reserve guard Tierney Winter who was fouled in the process and her free throw made it 79-60 with :35.9 left.  Finally, freshman reserve forward Josie Schieffert put the final icing on the cake with her score in the paint with just :06.5 left to make the ending tally 81-60 in favor of the Gusties.

While Kelly said that a twenty-point win on the road in the MIAC is always a good win, she was quick to give credit to Macalester; noting that they are much improved.  I asked Assistant Coach Dan Wolfe if he was happy with his squad's defensive effort and he replied with a resounding "No!"  "Give Macalester credit......They were able to counter some of the things we were doing but we've still got to get better."  He added that good defense comes in stages and that "we've got to work our way to the next stage."  But you can tell that this GAC squad is also much, much improved over the last couple of seasons as well and it helps when you have a strong core of juniors and seniors leading the way and it's easy to see why they're definitely one of the top three teams in the conference (along with UST and Bethel) with a shot to win it all.  Rice led the way for the Gusties on this day with her 22 points while Miller was right behind with her 19 points thanks to all those three-point bombs and Lee finished with a solid 13-point performance.  For Macalester, Fruh led the way with her 13 points and Clamage had a very good day with her twelve points.  Perhaps most encouraging for Roysland in this loss was that she got contributions from a lot of different players today rather than relying solely on Fruh, Masterson and Clamage to shoulder the burden.  The Gusties owned the glass on this day by a 33-21 count although neither Kelly nor Roysland could be happy with the number of turnovers that their squads were guilty of on this day (the Gusties with 14 and the Scots with 17).