UW-La Crosse vs UST 12-12-16

Made my way over to UST's Schoenecker Arena again on this cold Monday night to take in this intriguing non-conference clash between UW-La Crosse out of the WIAC going up against UST of the MIAC.  While the Tommies would be a heavy favorite in this game coming in with 7-0 record, it would be important for them to not have a letdown of any sort after their easy win over CSB on Saturday.

And UST hardly appeared to have suffered any letdown effects from Saturday as they bolted out of the gate on the opening tip-off with a 15-2 blitzkrieg.  Two scores by senior guard Gabby Zehrer - a drive and lay-up at the 9:48 mark and a "3" from the top of the key at the 9:13 mark - gave the Tommies a quick 5-2 lead and an offensive rebound and putback by fellow senior post Kaitlin Langer at the 8:07 mark upped the advantage to 7-2.  Junior guard Maddie Wolkow then drained a "3" from the top of the key at the 7:14 mark and two scores by sophomore reserve post Hannah Spaulding - a "3" from the left wing in transition at the 5:03 mark and an offensive rebound for a putback with 4:24 left - made it a 15-2 game before the visiting Eagles could finally stop some of the bleeding on an offensive rebound and putback by senior post MaKenzie Miller with 3:37 left.  Zehrer, however, would bang home a "3" from the left wing area with 3:20 left that made it 18-4 and UW-La Crosse Head Coach Karen Middleton decided right there that a thirty-second timeout was needed.  But the Tommies ended the opening period with a 7-1 push as sophomore reserve forward MacKenzie Denk drained a "3" from the right top area with 2:42 left that made it 21-4 and a one-handed scoop shot by Langer in the paint upped the lead to 23-5.  A jumper from the right corner by junior guard/forward Lauren Fischer with just :02 left put an exclamation point on a great start for UST up 25-5 going into the second period.

The Tommies pushed the lead to 29-5 on a jumper in the lane by freshman reserve guard Sarah Krynski and a score in the paint by Zehrer at the 8:24 mark after a steal before UW-La Crosse got on the board again on a lay-up junior forward Elise DeNoyer at the 7:48 mark.  But Fischer would make the Eagles pay for that as she drained back-to-back "3's" - one from the left corner at the 7:29 mark and the other from the left top area at the 5:36 mark - that bulged the lead to 35-7.  UW-La Crosse would finally break into double-digits on two DeNoyer freebies with 4:36 left and a "3" from the left corner by sophomore reserve post Kimmy Johnson with 4:03 left.  But the Tommies would end the first half on a 9-5 run; highlighted by a Krynski "3" from the right wing area with 3:41 left and a drive and finish by Zehrer with 1:36 left gave UST a commanding 44-17 lead at the half.  The Tommies had a big advantage on the boards in the first half by a 39-25 count and shot a blistering 63% from FG range and 57.1% clip from three-point land.  UW-La Crosse, on the other hand, shot a paltry 19.2% from FG range and an ice-cold 16.7% from behind the arc.  And those figures can be attributed to the Tommies defensive prowess which can just sometimes smother an opponent.

In fact, the only fly in the ointment from a UST perspective was the number of fouls committed in the first half and how they kept accumulating once the third period got underway.  After two free throws by senior guard Rachel Atchison at the 9:48 mark allowed the Eagles to creep closer to the twenty-point mark, the home team went right back to work.  Zehrer uncorked a "3" from the right corner at the 9:04 mark but also picked up her third foul a bit later at the 7:45 mark.  Langer would connect with a lay-up in transition at the 7:27 mark and Fischer would drill a "3" from the right corner at the 5:54 mark to up the lead to 54-19.  Denk would tally her fourth foul of the evening with 4:08 left that forced Tommie Head Coach Ruth Sinn to sit her for a spell.  UW-La Crosse could only make incremental dents in the deficit as two free throws by sophomore forward Kylee Marks with 3:22 left and a short running jumper by freshman reserve guard Delaney Schoenenberger with 2:39 left made the score a bit more respectable at 58-26.  Wolkow would add a lay-up for UST with 2:08 left and, although Denk would finally get sent to the pine with her fifth foul with :55.8 left in the period, the Tommies still had a commanding 60-29 lead going into the fourth and final period.

Junior reserve guard Sydney Kannel got the Eagles off on the right track at the beginning of the final period with her "3" from the left wing area at the 8:44 mark but again, UW-La Crosse could never get any substantial run going that would have drastically changed things.  Langer got into the paint for one score at the 8:30 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by Zehrer at the 8:09 mark allowed UST to keep its opponent at a distance with a 65-32 lead.  Zehrer would find the range again from three-point land; drilling one from the right top that also drew a foul and sent the former Totino-Grace standout to the charity stripe for a free throw that increased the lead to 69-32.  Spaulding was able to score in the paint off of an inbounds pass at the 6:08 mark but also picked up her fourth foul a bit later at the 5:21 mark.  Sophomore reserve guard McKenna DuBois made her second appearance in the game in the fourth period and the former Park Center standout sank two free throws after getting fouled with 3:43 left.  Freshman reserve post Elsa Anderson snared a missed free throw by sophomore reserve post Alexa Naig with 2:40 left and got a putback for a 76-42 UST lead and freshman reserve guard Rachel Esker knocked down a "3" from the top of the key with 1:28 left as the Tommies won this one going away by a score of 81-45.

I asked UST's Sinn afterward about the number of fouls her team was guilty of in this contest (23) and she candidly offered that "We've got to play cleaner."  She also expressed some disappointment on the number of turnovers her squad committed on this night - 18; noting that they're normally in the 11-12 range.  Still, the Tommies are riding a wave right now and these last two blowouts give them a head of steam heading into a big non-conference showdown at Luther down in Decorah, Iowa on Friday night.  And consider as well that the injury bugaboo has already reared its head for the Tommies.  Sophomore guard Bobbi Brendefur out for the season with an ACL injury and fellow sophomore guard Lucia Renikoff with a broken bone in her hand but both Sinn and Renikoff are optimistic and Renikoff could be back sometime after Christmas break or, at the latest, right after the first of the year.  Zehrer led all scorers on this night with her 21 points while Langer just missed out on a "double-double" with her 14 points and nine rebounds and Fischer; perhaps one of the more under-appreciated players in the MIAC, chipped in with 11 points.