St. Olaf vs St. Kate's 12-3-16

After leaving Macalester's Leonard Center, I made my way on the wonderful streets of St. Paul and Grand and Fairview Avenues over to the Butler Center on the campus of St. Kate's for the 3:00 P.M. contest between St. Olaf and host St. Kate's.  I got settled into the Butler Center with a good crowd on hand with 2:30 left in the opening period and St. Kate's up 10-6.

Two scores by flashy senior reserve guard/forward LaShay Holt late in the first period helped the Wildcats carry a 14-9 lead going into the second period and St. Kate's would expand their lead to ten points on a "3" from the right top area off of an inbounds pass by freshman reserve guard Sam Skwarek at the 9:24 mark and a drive into the lane and one-handed jumper by senior forward Mari Lee at the 8:17 mark that made it a 19-9 ballgame.  The Oles would attempt to cut into that lead as freshman guard Ella Skrien drained a "3" from the left wing area at the 7:21 mark and a jumper in the lane off the glass by lanky sophomore guard Margaret Anderson at the 6:48 mark trimmed the deficit down to seven at 21-14.  Senior do-it-all forward Betsey Daly connected with a short turnaround jumper at the 5:55 mark that kept St. Olaf within striking distance trailing 24-17 but the 1-2-2 zone defense that Head Coach Dave Stromme was employing on this afternoon didn't deter the 'Cats when they got their transition game going.  Two quick scores - one in the paint by senior forward Kennedy Jennings at the 5:32 mark and a lay-up by senior reserve guard Alexis Garcia with 4:56 left - got the St. Kate's lead back up to double digits at 28-17 and a Garcia lay-up in transition a short time later with 4:35 left suddenly made it a 30-17 game.  The Oles would again briefly get the deficit back into single digit range when scores in the paint by freshman forward Britta Koenen with 4:13 left and Makenna Ash with 2:26 left that made it a 30-21 game but it wouldn't take long for the Wildcats to hit the "push" button again.  Freshman reserve guard Danica Cambrice knocked down a short shot with 2:14 left and two scores by junior guard Audra Clark - a short jumper with 1:42 left and a lay-up in transition with 1:15 left - stretched St. Kate's lead to 37-24.  One Daly free throw with :45.3 left and a jumper from the left elbow by Daly with just :05 left before the half lessened the burden for St. Olaf but the Oles were still looking at a 37-27 deficit going into the locker room at the halftime break.  Turnovers were a big problem for Stromme's squad in the first half as the Oles recorded 11 of them to only four for St. Kate's.  While the Oles had a slight advantage on the boards at 20-17 (thanks to Daly and Ash), the Wildcats shot better at 45.7% from FG range compared to St. Olaf's 39.3%.

St. Olaf needed a spark to turn things around and it definitely looked like they got that spark at the beginning of the third period.  Daly; the rebounding machine, snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 9:03 mark and two scores by Ash - a lay-up at the 8:31 mark and a score in the paint at the 7:53 mark - cut the Wildcat lead down to 37-33.  Daly completed this 7-0 push at the 6:51 mark by sinking one freebie and suddenly the Oles were within a single possession trailing 37-34.  But this experienced St. Kate's group shunned the desire to break out the panic button and instead hunkered down and calmly responded with a 7-0 run of their own.  Lee uncorked a "3" from the left corner at the 6:30 mark and two free throws by Jennings at the 5:11 mark upped the lead to 42-34.  Cambrice's drive and finish with 4:29 left made it a 44-34 game and, just like that, St. Olaf was back at Square One again trailing by ten.  The Oles would make a push again as two Daly free throws with 4:12 left and a score in the paint by Ash with 3:02 left along with one Ash free throw with 2:44 left slimmed the deficit down to five points at 44-39 but St. Kate's was able to find its groove on offense again. Holt uncorked a three-point bomb from the right wing with 2:25 left and free throws by both Garcia junior guard Meg Clark had the Wildcats up by ten again at 49-39 with 1:02 left.  One free throw by Anderson with :49.9 left and two by Daly with :40.7 left allowed St. Olaf to creep a bit closer but a score in the paint by Holt with :16.5 left in the period allowed St. Kate's to carry a nine-point 51-42 lead going into the fourth period.

The Oles looked primed to make another run in the early moments of the fourth period as Daly; the lone senior on this youthful squad; sank one free throw at the 8:53 mark and connected with a jumper off the glass along the right baseline at the 8:22 mark that slimmed down the gap to eight points at 53-45.  Anderson dropped a three-point bomb from the right top area at the 7:57 mark that cut the St. Kate's lead down to five at 53-48 and a score in the paint by Ash at the 6:20 mark kept St. Olaf within striking distance trailing 55-50.  But just when the 'Cats looked a wee bit vulnerable, they calmly rose to the challenge.  Audra Clark sank one freebie after getting fouled at the 6:09 mark and then was able to knock down a short jumper off the glass with 4:42 left that again gave St. Kate's a ten-point cushion at 60-50.  Holt; the Oles worst nightmare, unleashed another three-point bomb  - this one coming from the left top area with 3:41 left and then Skwarek connected on a lay-up in transition with 3:17 left that got the lead to fifteen at 65-50 and it was smooth sailing from there.  Jennings would add a lay-up with 1:52 left and an offensive rebound and putback by Audra Clark with :21 left for insurance gave the Wildcats their first MIAC win of this young season by a 69-51 count.

While St. Kate's Head Coach Sean Pinkerton would no doubt love to have graduated senior Shauna Horsch back on the team for just one more year, you can tell that this Wildcat team has grown and matured over these last three years when the current group of seniors first came to the program.  I asked Pinkerton about the run that St. Olaf made at them at the beginning of the third period and how his team was able to respond.  He replied that "It's nice to have juniors and seniors leading the way." The Wildcats had a relatively balanced attack in this contest with Holt leading all scorers with her 19 points and also pulling down ten rebounds.  Audra Clark followed up with 15 points while Garcia, Jennings and Cambrice all added eight points.  Not surprisingly, Daly led the way for St. Olaf in this one with her "double-double" of 15 points and monster performance on the boards with 16 rebounds. Ash recorded a "double-double" as well with her 14 points and ten rebounds and Skrien added ten points.  Because of the rebounding machine that Daly is, St. Olaf did have an edge on the boards at 43-39 but also (likely to Stromme's chagrin) had way more turnovers at 21 to the Wildcats 11. Neither side shot exceptionally well on this day but St. Kate's did have an 18-10 advantage on points off of turnovers and had a decided advantage on points off the bench at 32-12.