Augustana vs Concordia St. Paul 1-7-17

My late afternoon stop on this first Saturday in January was over at Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia St. Paul as visiting Augustana took on host Concordia St. Paul in an important NSIC match-up.  This was a long, long overdue trip to see the Golden Bears in action and I was curious to see them under the tutelage of second-year Head Coach Amanda Johnson; a former Golden Bear standout herself.  The Vikings were coming into this contest with an impressive 12-4 record overall (7-2 in NSIC play) and, after recording an impressive 91-68 win at Minnesota State the previous night, this game looked to be a tough one for Concordia St. Paul which dropped a 66-52 decision to Wayne State the previous night.

Whatever Johnson told her squad beforehand seemed to have the desired effect as the Golden Bears jumped out to an early 5-0 lead on the strength of a "3" from the left corner by junior guard Lauren Shifflett at the 8:42 mark and two free throws by Caitlyn Russell at the 8:07 mark.  Sophomore guard Anna Schmitt's "3" from the right corner at the 7:34 mark maintained that five-point edge at 8-3 but Augustana quickly righted the ship.  Senior sharp-shooting guard Sydney Rome buried a "3" from the left wing area at the 6:45 mark and two Rome freebies at the 6:30 mark knotted things up at 8 a piece. Concordia St. Paul would then respond with a 6-0 push.  Russell's lay-up at the 6:18 mark and a pretty drive and finish off the glass by Schmitt got the Golden Bear lead to 12-8 and a short shot by senior guard Mishayla Jones at the 5:04 mark increased that lead to 14-8.  Right back came Augustana as Rome dropped another three-point bomb - this one from the right top area with 4:51 left in the first period and a jumper in the lane by sophomore guard Lynsey Prosser with 3:48 left shrunk Concordia St. Paul's lead down to a scant point at 14-13.  Golden Bear sophomore reserve guard Kayla Miller's lay-up with 3:07 left momentarily halted Augustana's march but a "3" from the right wing area by freshman reserve guard Abby Hora with 2:21 left knotted the game up again at 16 a piece and a short turnaround jumper by Rome gave the Vikings their first lead of the afternoon at 18-16.  Sophomore reserve guard Hanna Vidlund came to the rescue for Concordia St. Paul with her "3" from the right wing area with :40 left but, going into the second period with a 19-18 advantage, the Golden Bears knew full and well that they had a huge challenge on their hands.

Concordia St. Paul again tried to establish a cushion in the opening moments of the second period as a Vidlund lay-up in transition at the 9:33 mark and two scores by Russell - one in the paint at the 9:04 mark and a lay-up at the 8:36 mark - gave the Golden Bears a six-point advantage at 25-19.  Another Russell lay-up at the 7:39 mark maintained that six-point edge at 27-21 and a Schmitt "3" from the top of the key at the 7:12 mark gave Concordia St. Paul its largest lead of the afternoon so far at 30-21.  It was here, however, that Augustana finally had that sense of urgency and they responded with a 13-3 run. Two free throws by junior guard Logan O'Farrell at the 6:50 mark got the deficit down to seven points at 30-23 and then a Logan O'Farrell score in the paint that drew a foul and resulted in an ensuing freebie at the 5:50 mark shed more fat off of the deficit at 30-26.  Rome buried another routine "3" from the right top area with 4:19 left and two Rome charity stripe shots with 2:57 left cut the Golden Bear lead down to two points at 33-31.  Then it was Rome reigning terror from three-point land again to cap this one from the top of the key with 2:24 left that suddenly had the Vikings up 34-33.  Despite Logan O'Farrell going down with an injury with 2:07 left before the half, Augustana was not in any mood to let up.  Junior reserve guard Allie Koehn unleashed a "3" of her own from the right top area with 1:57 left and two Hora free throws with 1:22 left had the Vikings up by four at 39-35.  One more free throw by junior reserve guard Presley O'Farrell with 1:00 left gave Augustana its largest lead of the day at 40-35 before Schmitt came to the rescue for the Golden Bears. The former Waconia standout went coast-to-coast for a lay-up with :42.8 left and was able to knock down a jumper from the right elbow area with just :05 that allowed Concordia St. Paul to go into the locker room at the half down only one at 40-39.  Despite Rome's heroics in the first half, the Vikings shot only 36.8% from three-point land in the first half and shot only 32.4% from FG range.  The Golden Bears had the advantage on the boards in the first half at 24-19 but also committed more turnovers at 9-5.

An offensive rebound for a putback by sophomore post Shelby Selland at the 9:44 mark of the third period increased Augustana's lead to 42-39 but the Golden Bears responded with an 8-0 push; largely due to the efforts of Shifflett.  The former Chanhassen standout dropped one "3" from the left corner at the 9:29 mark and then dropped another three-point bomb from the top of the key at the 9:00 mark that put Concordia St. Paul back out in front by a 45-42 count.  Jones' drive into the lane and finish at the 8:35 mark upped the lead to five at 47-42 before Selland could help the Vikings respond with her "3" from the top of the key at the 7:43 mark.  Yet another 8-0 Golden Bear run put Augustana under even more duress.  Two Russell free throws at the 7:29 mark got the lead back up to 49-45 and then Russell; the Onalaska, Wisconsin native, snared an offensive rebound of her own miss at the 6:38 mark for a putback and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing freebie pushed Concordia St. Paul's lead to 52-45.  Selland was tagged with her fourth foul shortly thereafter and, smelling blood, the Golden Bears got themselves a ten-point cushion as Shifflett buried a "3" from the left top area at the 5:47 mark for a 55-45 advantage.  A short shot by sophomore reserve post Lindsay Dorr with 3:23 left and two Schmitt free throws with 3:07 left increased the lead to twelve at 59-47.  Presley O'Farrell single-handedly tried to bring Augustana back with a drive and finish with 2:51 left and a lay-up with 1:57 left that got the Vikings back to within single-digit range trailing 59-51 but another Shifflett three-point bomb - this one from the right wing area with 1:38 left and a short shot by Russell with :31 left got the cushion back up to double-digits for Concordia St. Paul at 64-53 and only a "3" by former Eastview standout Hana Metoxen from the right corner with just :05 left in the third period kept things from being a total disaster for the Vikings trailing 64-56 going into the fourth period.

Augustana, wanting desperately to hang onto the tie for second place in the NSIC South standings, felt that sense of urgency again as they went on a 7-0 push at the beginning of the fourth period to tighten things up once more.  Prosser nailed a "3" from the top of the key at the 9:33 mark and a short turnaround jumper by Presley O'Farrell a little more than a minute later cut the Golden Bear lead down to a single possession at 64-61.  Two Rome freebies at the 8:05 mark now had the Vikings tantalizingly close trailing 64-63 but once more Concordia St. Paul turned its opponent back.  A Jones drive and finish off the glass at the 7:23 mark started an 8-2 push that gave the Golden Bears a bit more breathing room.  Schmitt drained a "3" from the left top area at the 5:41 mark and then Schmitt connected with a lay-up in transition at the 5:23 mark and was fouled in the process and her free throw now had Concordia St. Paul up 72-65.  Rome was able to bury yet another three-point bomb for the Vikings at the 5:15 mark that drew the Vikings closer 72-68 but they could never quite find that sustained run that might have turned the tide when they needed to the most.  Russell increased the Golden Bear lead back to seven points on her lay-up that also drew a foul and resulted in an obligatory free throw with 4:50 left that made it 75-68.  Augustana would once more close the gap to four points on one Selland charity stripe shot with 3:40 left and two more by Presley O'Farrell with 3:39 left but they could never again get back to within a single possession that could have made a huge difference down the home stretch.  Former Anoka standout and junior guard Kyrah Fredenburg dropped one free throw with 3:05 left and, after a foiled Viking possession, dropped one more with 2:20 left for a 77-71 Concordia St. Paul lead.  With less than two minutes left and the Golden Bears trying to milk as much clock as possible, they were able to snare two huge offensive rebounds on missed shots that pretty much killed off any last ray of hope that Augustana may have had.  Shifflett was able to knock down two free throws with :40.6 left for a 79-72 Concordia St. Paul lead and although a Selland "3" from the left top area with :34 left drew the Vikings a bit closer trailing 79-75, pairs of Schmitt free throws with :21.4 and :09.6 left helped seal the deal as the Golden Bears claimed a tough 83-77 win.

Concordia St. Paul's Johnson was definitely pleased with the win afterward; noting that her squad "decided to show up" after Friday night's disappointing outing against Wayne State and she's hopeful that now her squad can show that same intensity with consistency as they showed today.  Indeed, it was Schmitt and her 26 points that helped pave the way to victory on this day.  Russell added 20 points and eight rebounds while the always-dangerous Shifflett added 17 points.  Rome led the way for Augustana in the losing effort with her 25 points while Selland had 15 points and Presley O'Farrell had 10 points.  The Golden Bears owned the glass on this day by a 51-39 count and, for the Vikings that seem to live and die with the "3", this was a killer; especially for a team that shot only 33.3% from behind the arc for the game.  Even worse for Augustana was that this factor seemed to offset the turnover margin where the Vikings committed only 13 turnovers compared to Concordia St. Paul's 21 turnovers.