Concordia vs UST 1-14-17

My first stop on this busy sunny Saturday afternoon was Schoenecker Arena on the campus of UST as the visiting Concordia Cobbers rolled down U.S. Highway 10 and the BNSF's Staples Sub mainline to take on host UST.  The Tommies were coming into this contest with an unblemished 13-0 record overall and 7-0 in the MIAC while the Cobbers have been enduring a rougher year than many would have anticipated; standing at only 5-9 overall and 2-5 in the MIAC.  Concordia suffered a tough overtime loss to Carleton back up in Moorhead on Wednesday evening and that was not a good way to come into a game against the fourth-ranked team in the nation.

And UST wasted little time in building an early 7-2 lead.  Senior guard Gabby Zehrer's "3" from the right wing area at the 9:40 mark and two Langer free throws at the 8:00 mark had the Tommies up 5-2 and a coast-to-coast lay-up by senior guard Paige Gernes at the 7:38 mark capped this opening march.  Sophomore guard Grace Wolhowe's "3" from the top of the key at the 7:16 mark temporarily pulled Concordia back to within a single possession trailing 7-5 but that was answered by back-to-back treys by the Tommies - one by Gernes from the left wing area at the 6:25 mark and another one by sophomore reserve guard Lucia Renikoff at the 6:00 mark - that pushed the lead to 13-5 and Cobber Head Coach Jessica Rahman knew she had a problem on her hand and promptly called a thirty-second timeout for a quick fix.  Concordia seemed to come out of their early funk as senior forward Jenna Januschka connected with a lay-up at the 5:23 mark and one free throw by sophomore reserve guard Jamie Mentzer at the 5:08 mark got the Cobbers a bit closer trailing 13-8.  Acrobatic senior guard Greta Walsh drained a "3" from the right corner with 4:09 left that trimmed the UST lead down to four points at 15-11 and another three-point bomb from the right wing area by junior guard Cassidy Rahman with 3:10 left allowed Concordia to hang in that four-point range trailing 18-14.  Right back came the Tommies with back-to-back treys - one by Renikoff from the left corner off of an inbounds pass with 2:47 left and one by Zehrer from the right corner with 2:05 left - that expanded their lead to ten points at 24-14.  The Cobbers would manage to bite into that UST cushion once more before the end of the first period.  Cassidy Rahman drilled her second trey of the afternoon; this one coming from the right corner with :57 left and a Walsh lay-up in transition with :35 left helped Concordia get reasonably close again trailing 24-19.  But an offensive rebound and putback by senior post Kaitlin Langer with :17.8 left in the opening period allowed the Tommies to take a 26-19 lead.

Two Januschka freebies at the 9:47 mark of the second period got the Cobbers off on the right foot at least and trimmed the deficit down to five points at 26-21 but it soon became an increasingly uphill battle for Concordia to stay close.  Two quick Tommie scores - a Zehrer drive and finish at the 9:20 mark and a Gernes lay-up at the 8:52 mark - got UST's lead up to nine points at 30-21 and when a Walsh jumper from the right elbow area at the 7:55 mark cut the Tommie lead down to seven at 30-23, Zehrer came right back to up the ante again for UST.  She unloaded a "3" from the left wing area at the 7:39 mark and then connected with a lay-up in transition at the 7:20 mark for a 35-23 Tommie lead.  A Langer score in the paint at the 6:51 mark and one Langer free throw at the 6:00 mark suddenly pushed the lead to fifteen at 38-23.  Langer would connect with a lay-up of her own with 4:56 left and a score in the paint by freshman reserve guard Janelle Alba-Garner with 4:27 left maintained the fifteen-point edge at 42-27.  Sophomore reserve post Hannah Spaulding's offensive rebound and putback with 3:32 left upped the lead to 44-27 and a short jumper from the right side by sophomore reserve guard Kaylie Brazil with 1:24 left expanded the lead to nineteen at 48-29.  Langer put an exclamation point on this second period when she snared an offensive rebound for a putback with just :00.8 left before the halftime buzzer that allowed UST to take a cozy 50-30 lead into the locker room.  As bad as things were going for the Cobbers by this point, the fact that they could only manage three points in the last three and a half minutes was telling indeed.  A quick check of the second period box score alone shows what a dismal period that was for Concordia.  33.3% from FG range and 3-6 from the charity stripe.  The Tommies had a 10-6 edge on the boards as well but it seemed like it was more than that.

Two quick UST scores to begin the third period - a Gernes lay-up at the 9:51 mark and a drive and finish by junior guard Maddie Wolkow at the 8:54 mark - pushed the lead to 54-30 and the Cobber's Jessica Rahman wasted no time in calling a timeout before this one started getting out of hand. Whatever was said in that huddle during that timeout seemed to have an effect as Concordia was finally able to shake off some of the cobwebs and get back to work.  Januschka connected with a lay-up at the 8:32 mark and although the Tommies were able to get the lead up to 58-32 on one Langer free throw at the 7:18 mark and a "3" from the left wing by junior guard/forward Lauren Fischer from the left wing area at the 6:54 mark, the Cobbers remained determined.  Two Wolhowe free throws at the 6:19 mark after the Staples native was fouled in transition and a jumper from the left top area by Mentzer at the 5:29 mark trimmed the deficit down to 58-36.  Sophomore reserve forward Kirstin Simmons knocked down a jumper along the left baseline with 4:32 left and a "3" from the left top area by sophomore reserve forward Lincoln Haiby with 3:54 mark cut the Tommie lead down to 58-41 and this 11-4 push by Concordia had UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn concerned enough to call a timeout to try and reverse the letdown her squad may have been experiencing.  Still, Mentzer was able to drain a "3" from the top of the key with 3:12 left as was Wolhowe from the right wing area with 1:27 left that cut the deficit down to sixteen at 63-47 but the Tommies recovered enough just before the end of the period to push the lead back to twenty and they did it from the charity stripe. Two by Zehrer with 1:14 left and one more by Langer with :54.2 left got the lead to 66-47 and one by Renikoff with just :11.6 left in the period made it 67-47.

A Zehrer "3" from the right corner at the 8:05 mark helped maintain that twenty-point cushion at 70-50 but interestingly the Cobbers were able to whittle at the deficit for most of the final period.  Two Wolhowe free throws at the 7:41 mark and a Walsh "3" from the right top area at the 5:55 mark trimmed UST's lead down to 72-55.  Interestingly, the Tommies seemed to stall out offensively down the stretch as Sinn gradually inserted more reserves onto the floor for clean-up duty.  Two scores by Cassidy Rahman - a "3" from the left corner with 3:08 left and a lay-up in transition with 1:52 left - cut the deficit down to twelve points at 72-60 but UST was able to close things out on two free throws by freshman reserve post Olivia Skibba with 1:04 left and one more by sophomore reserve guard Sofia Chadwick with :36.1 left to claim a 75-60 win.

UST's Sinn; while happy with the win that moves them to 14-0 overall and 8-0 in MIAC play, still had a sore spot going over the box score which showed that the Cobbers went 10-17 from behind the arc.  "We've got to stop giving up so many three's" she said emphatically; pointing to the Wartburg loss in the NCAA Tournament last year where a flurry of treys by the Knights sank the Tommies ship.  Sinn said that her squad is going right back to work in practice this week to focus on that but there's still enough positives out there to feel very good about this squad and everything still seems to be pointing to the big showdown with undefeated GAC in St. Peter come February 1.  Meanwhile, Jessica Rahman could only point to inefficiencies in her offense; particularly ball movement, that seems to be hampering her squad and being able to consistently get good runs on offense that would help her squad with their confidence.  And I think there's a lot of truth to that.  But the one question that kept gnawing at me when I left Schoenecker Arena and kept running through my head during the day and night as I absorbed this game is this:  Where in the world is that vaunted Cobber defense?  You know, the one that would shut opponents down while they methodically and brutally picked opponents apart with smart, disciplined play?  Remember, this has never been a team that will wow you with glitzy or glamorous offensive displays.  When the Cobbers were consistently in play for MIAC titles, they did it first with their defense that was bolstered by smart, disciplined play on offense and the fact that UST shot 57.9% from FG range in the second period and damn near blew a 16-point cushion late in the game against Hamline last week should send up a ton of red flags in Cobber-land.  Gabby Zehrer had a fabulous outing on this afternoon; dropping 18 points to lead all scorers and Kaitlin Langer was the only other Tommie in double-figures scoring-wise with 14.  Walsh led the way for Concordia with her 15 points while Cassidy Rahman added 11 points and Wolhowe chipped in with 11 points.  Turnovers were another area that hurt the Cobbers on this day as well as they committed 21 compared to UST's 12.