St. Kate's vs Augsburg Recap 1-28-17

After leaving Hamline's Hutton Arena, I made the trip back over to the Minneapolis side of town over to Si Melby Hall on the campus of Augsburg College to catch what I could of the 3:00 P.M. game between visiting St. Kate's and host Augsburg.  I got settled in late in the second period just before halftime with the Auggies up 25-23.

Considering how Augsburg took the Wildcats to the wire before falling in a tough one back in December, I fully expected that the Auggies would be in high gear and fired up for the rematch at Si Melby Hall and freshman guard Aiza Wilson's drive and lay-up with just :00.8 left before the halftime buzzer extended the Augsburg lead to 27-23 at the half.  The Auggies increased that lead to eight points early on in the third period as freshman forward Camryn Speese connected with a jumper in the lane at the 9:40 mark and freshman guard Tamira McLemore made good on a drive and finish at the 8:59 mark that made it a 31-23 ballgame.  St. Kate's finally shook off some of the cobwebs on its basket as senior forward Mari Lee got into the paint for one score at the 8:30 mark and a lay-up in transition by junior guard Audra Clark at the 7:53 mark cut the deficit down to a much more manageable four points at 31-27.  The Auggies would get the lead to five points on one free throw by freshman guard K'Aezha Wubben at the 7:38 mark and one free throw by junior reserve forward Bridget Bednar at the 7:07 mark and one more by Wubben at the 5:51 mark maintained that five-point edge at 34-29.  A Lee score in the paint at the 5:40 mark got the 'Cats back within a single possession trailing 34-31 but Wubben got the lead back to five points for Augsburg with her steal and lay-up the other way with 4:47 left for a 36-31 game and St. Kate's looked like they could be in some serious trouble on the road.  But a 13-2 Wildcat run over the course of a three-minute span totally turned things around in this game.  Freshman reserve guard Jackie Radford started this run with her "3" from the right top area with 4:24 left and then Audra Clark finished in a transition opportunity with 3:26 left that drew a foul as well.  The former Kenyon-Wannamingo standout couldn't get the "and one" to fall but flashy senior reserve guard/forward LaShay Holt was there for the offensive rebound and putback that suddenly put St. Kate's out in front 38-36 with 3:23 left.  The Auggies tied the game on Wilson's jumper from the right wing area with 3:09 left and Augsburg Head Coach Ted Riverso called a timeout to try and get his young squadron energized again but the Wildcats weren't finished just yet.  One Holt free throw with 2:57 left and one of those patented Holt two-handed high-arcing three-point bombs from the left top area gave St. Kate's a four-point lead at 42-38.  Senior forward Kennedy Jennings helped extend that lead to six points with her lay-up with 1:47 left for a 44-38 lead before the Auggies could recover somewhat with a 4-0 push.  Bednar was able to connect with a short jumper in the lane with 1:30 left and two freebies by Speese with 1:04 left got Augsburg back to within a single possession trailing 44-42 but the Wildcats would put an exclamation point on this third period when Holt was able to unleash another three-point dagger - this one coming from the right top area with just :01 left as St. Kate's went up 47-42 going into the fourth period.

A Jennings lay-up at the 9:26 mark of the fourth and final period helped the Wildcats maintain that five-point edge at 49-44 but Augsburg would slowly but surely scratch and claw its way back.  Wilson uncorked a "3" from the left wing area at the 8:35 mark that cut the deficit down to two points at 49-47 and then a drive and finish by Speese at the 7:13 mark that also drew a foul and sent the former DeLaSalle standout to the line for the "and one" cut the deficit down to a scant point at 51-50.  A Speese lay-up at the 5:55 mark gave the Auggies their first lead at 52-51 since late in the third period.  The two teams then went back and forth with small leads over the next three minutes that set up this nail-biting finish.  Holt was able to find more magic from behind the arc for St. Kate's as she let loose with a "3" from the top of the key at the 5:29 mark but that was matched by the Auggies Wilson who uncorked a bomb from the left wing area at the 5:13 mark as Augsburg recaptured the lead at 55-54.  The Wildcats took it right back on two Audra Clark freebies with 4:39 left and the Auggies promptly reclaimed it again when Bednar got into the paint for a score on the ensuing Augsburg possession with 4:26 left.  Then a pretty drive along the right baseline and finish by Audra Clark with 3:43 left allowed St. Kate's to take the lead back yet again at 58-57.  But the Auggies would respond with a 5-0 spurt that threatened to snuff out any chance for a sweep by the 'Cats.  Wilson let loose with another three-point bomb - this one from the top of the key with 3:14 left that had Augsburg back up 60-58 and after a foiled St. Kate's possession, Speese was fouled in a transition opportunity with 2:36 left and she promptly sank two free throws for a 62-58 Auggie lead and it looked as if the Wildcats might suffer the same fate as they had on Wednesday night when they lost a heartbreaker at home to CSB.  This time around, however, St. Kate's found the answers late when they needed them the most.  Holt would be fouled on the ensuing Wildcat possession with 2:25 left and she got two charity stripe shots out of it to get the 'Cats back to within a single possession trailing 62-60.  Lee had an open look behind the arc on the ensuing St. Kate's possession and although the former Dawson-Boyd standout couldn't get the bomb to fall, newcomer sophomore guard Kanani Asuncion was there for the offensive rebound and she was able to get into the lane for a short jumper that now leveled things at 62-all.  On the ensuing Auggie possession, Wilson perhaps pulled the trigger too quickly from behind the arc when she had a look and her shot was errant and Holt was there for the rebound for St. Kate's.  Holt would get fouled with 1:03 left and the former St. Paul Humboldt standout sank a pair of freebies that now had the Wildcats back out in front 64-62. Audra Clark then came up with a huge defensive play on Augsburg's ensuing possession as she snared a steal with :50 left and the 'Cats quickly got the ball upcourt in hopes of milking as much clock as possible.  St. Kate's Head Coach Sean Pinkerton; with the shot clock winding down, decided to call a timeout with :36.6 left to try and set up a play to get the ball to Holt.  The plan worked to perfection as Holt was able to make a move and get a lay-up with :33 left that now made it a 66-62 game and now the Auggies were in desperation mode with a short time to get there.  Wubben was able to make a drive along the right baseline for a finish with :19.7 left that narrowed the deficit to two points at 66-64.  After an Augsburg timeout, the Wildcats made sure that they got the ball to their best player - Holt - who was fouled with :14.7 left.  Holt couldn't get the front-end to go down but did sink the back-end free throw attempt that had St. Kate's up 67-64.  In an effort to prevent the three-point shot, the 'Cats opted to foul Auggie freshman reserve forward Abby Jordan and take their chances with her at the charity stripe.  Jordan sank the two free throw attempts that again narrowed the gap to two points with :12.8 left.  Pinkerton again used a timeout to ensure that the Wildcats got the ball to Holt so she could work her magic.  An agonizing six seconds went by before Holt was finally fouled by the Auggies and this time around, Holt got both ends of the two-shot situation to go down that gave St. Kate's the safety net they needed with a four-point lead.  Wubben couldn't get a desperation three-point shot attempt to go down for Augsburg in the final seconds and the Wildcats hung on for a huge 69-65 win.

Pinkerton along with assistants Tim Kjar and Tim Peper all heaved huge sighs of relief afterward.  "Just a huge win for us" Pinkerton said afterward.  Kjar noted following Wednesday night's disappointing finish that CSB made one more great play than the 'Cats did but on this afternoon it was St. Kate's that came up with one more big play when they had to and that seems to be the current life in the incredibly tough MIAC that I personally feel is the best damn conference out there.  For the short-term, the win has St. Kate's in a tie for fifth place in the conference with SMU at 6-6 and with a resurgent Carleton nipping at their heels, this win was big indeed.  A check of the final box score reveals some interesting numbers for this contest.  Augsburg actually shot better in the second half than they did the first and wound up shooting 24-51 in FG range for 47.1% which isn't terrible by any stretch.  Then again, St. Kate's shot considerably better in the second half as well and wound up going 24-61 for 39.3% from FG range (second half was 16-32 for 50%).  The Wildcats had the edge on the boards in this one by a 38-31 count which helped obviously and also shot 75% from the charity stripe.  Holt was just fantastic on this day as she led all scorers with 26 points and, perhaps even more important, grabbed 18 rebounds as well for a "double-double".  Audra Clark had a solid day as well with her 16 points and the versatile Jennings finished with 11 points.  Wilson, who did most of her damage from behind the arc, led the Auggies on this day with her 16 points while Speese chipped in with 13 points and Wubben added 10 points.