NCAA Tournament 2nd Round Game - Chicago vs UST 3-4-17

After a busy afternoon at Anoka High School, I made the trek over to the St. Paul side of town and back over to Schoenecker Arena on the campus of UST for Saturday evening's second-round NCAA Tournament game between Chicago and UST.  The Maroons shocked Wartburg on Friday night while the Tommies blew past UW-Superior in their opening round game.  You just knew that this game would be an intense, high-quality game and those in Schoenecker Arena on this night definitely got their money's worth.

Chicago started red-hot from the opening tip-off getting out to a 5-0 lead on a "3" from the right wing area by junior guard Elizabeth Nye at the 9:25 mark and a lay-up in transition by senior forward Britta Nordstrom at the 9:12 mark.  But right back came the Tommies as sophomore guard Lucia Renikoff dropped a three-point bomb from the right wing area at the 8:58 mark and another "3" - this one from junior guard/forward Lauren Fischer from the top of the key after a steal  at the 8:44 mark - pushed UST ahead 6-5.  Both sides would trade one point leads over the next two minutes but with the Maroons holding a 9-8 advantage, two free throws by Tommie senior guard Gabby Zehrer at the 6:53 mark and a score in the paint by senior post Kaitlin Langer at the 6:16 mark had UST up 12-9.  A jumper in the lane by junior reserve guard Maddie Wolkow with 4:48 left maintained the three-point edge at 14-11 and two free throws by Renikoff with 3:58 left had the Tommies up by five at 16-11.  But right back came Chicago with a 6-0 push that allowed them to poke their nose out in front. Freshman guard Miranda Burt; who shot down Wartburg the previous night, drained a "3" from the right corner with 3:39 left and a drive and finish underneath by freshman reserve guard Mia Farrell with 2:58 left knotted the contest at 16 a piece.  One free throw by sophomore forward Olariche Obi with 2:13 left gave the Maroons that one-point lead at 17-16.  UST reclaimed that edge when sophomore reserve post Hannah Spaulding got into the paint for a score with 1:05 left in the opening period but a lay-up in transition after a steal by Nordstrom with :25 left gave Chicago the lead back at 19-18 to close out a wild and wooly first period.

The back-and-forth nature of this one continued in the early moments of the second period.  A "3" from the left top area by lefty senior guard Paige Gernes gave the Tommies the lead back at 21-19 but Chicago answered that with a "3" from the left corner by sophomore reserve guard Alyssa Clemente at the 8:07 mark to make it 22-21 Maroons.  Two free throws by Kaitlin Langer gave the Tommies the lead back at 23-22 at the 7:52 mark but this is where Chicago made its first significant move of the evening as they embarked on a 9-0 run.  Freshman reserve guard/forward Taylor Lake knocked down a short shot off the glass at the 7:27 mark and another Clemente three-point bomb - this one from the right wing area at the 5:59 mark - gave the Maroons a four-point lead at 27-23.  Farrell would be fouled in a transition opportunity with 4:53 left and she dropped two free throws for a 29-23 Chicago lead and a score in the paint by Lake with 4:21 left pushed the lead to 31-23 before the Tommies recovered on a "3" by Wolkow from the right wing area with 3:57 left.  UST would close the gap to one possession as one Gernes free throw with 1:20 left and a steal and lay-up the other way by Fischer with 1:16 left cut the Maroon lead down to 32-29.  A score in the paint by Lake with 1:00 left gave Chicago a bit more breathing room with a 34-29 lead but two free throws by Langer with :24.7 left and a "3" from the right top area by Wolkow with just one tick left before the halftime intermission had this contest leveled at 34-all as both teams headed for the locker room.  A quick check of the first half box score reveals that rebounds were nearly dead-even as well with the Maroons holding a 16-15 edge and both teams were pretty efficient from the charity stripe as well.  Hence, the 34-all tie at the half.

Chicago was able to make another decisive move in the opening moments of the third period as a drive and lay-up by Nordstrom at the 9:37 mark and a Nordstrom lay-up at the 8:56 mark gave the Maroons a 38-35 lead.  Even worse for UST was that Langer was tagged with her third foul of the evening at the 7:29 mark and Tommie Head Coach Ruth Sinn was not going to take any chances with her All-American post and had to yank the Stillwater native to sit a spell on the pine.  The Maroons increased their advantage as Nye unleashed a "3" from the left corner at the 7:10 mark and two freebies by Farrell at the 6:34 mark now had Chicago up by eight at 43-35.  An 8-1 Tommie push tightened things up as Spaulding got into the paint for a score at the 5:48 mark and a short jumper in the lane by Wolkow at the 5:13 mark cut the Maroon lead down to 43-39.  A Renikoff jumper in the lane with 3:22 left had UST back to within a single possession trailing 44-41 and two Spaulding charity stripe shots with 2:17 left cut the deficit to a single point at 44-43.  Chicago increased its lead to 46-43 with 2:02 left as Lake connected with a lay-up but right back came the Tommies as a score in the paint by Langer; who was riding those three fouls, cut the deficit to one at 46-45 and two Zehrer free throws with :43 left now pushed UST back out in front 47-46.  But the Maroons would reclaim the advantage when Farrell knocked down a short jumper from the left elbow area with :31 left and it was clear that the Tommies would have their work cut out for them if they wanted to advance to the Round of 16.

Those in attendance in Schoenecker Arena were held in suspense as the teams kept trading punches. Obi's offensive rebound for a putback at the 9:47 mark of the fourth period upped Chicago's lead to 50-47 but the Tommies would take the lead right back as an offensive rebound and putback by Langer at the 9:14 mark and a drive and finish by Fischer at the 8:39 mark had UST back out in front 51-50.  Obi; one of the Maroons big targets down low, collected her fourth foul of the evening at the 8:17 mark but that didn't seem to deter Chicago as they reclaimed the edge on a pretty reverse lay-up by Nordstrom at the 7:38 mark.  Renikoff gave her Tommie team the lead back at 53-52 with her lay-up at the 7:24 mark but one free throw by Chicago's Nye at the 5:10 mark tied the game at 53 a piece. Langer gave UST the lead back with 4:43 left with her lay-up but, up to this point anyway, the Tommies just weren't able to shake their opponent like they normally do by this point and it was clear that someone was going to have to step up and make a play - a big play - to get this thing going in their direction once and for all.  With 3:54 left in the game, UST found that someone in Renikoff; the former Minneapolis Washburn standout.  Nursing that 55-53 lead, Renikoff made a hard drive in traffic and put up a shot.  Although she couldn't connect with it, she certainly didn't give up on the play.  She was able to snare the offensive rebound of her own miss and get a putback that also drew a foul and you could see by her and her teammates reactions how that suddenly energized them. Renikoff sank the obligatory free throw and now the Tommies were up 58-53 and now Chicago was going to have to find a way to come back being down two possessions.  Two Obi free throws with 3:26 left brought the Maroons back to within a single possession at 58-55 but they needed to get a stop as well and a Langer lay-up with 3:16 left along with two Langer free throws with 2:45 left foiled that objective with UST now up 62-55.  And when Langer was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 1:52 left, Chicago now found themselves down by nine at 64-55 and Maroon Head Coach Carissa Sain Knoche promptly called a timeout.  Chicago came out of the stoppage in play and was able to go on a quick 4-0 push as Obi was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 1:21 left and a lay-up by senior guard Stephanie Anderson with :43 left cut the Tommie lead down to 64-59.  But the Maroons were now also forced to foul as well and two free throws by Gernes with :42.2 left and two more by Wolkow with :31.2 left gave UST a seemingly good safety net up by seven at 68-61.  Nordstrom's offensive rebound for a putback with :13.1 left cut the deficit down to five points for Chicago at 68-63 but two more free throws by the Tommies' Renikoff with :12.4 left gave UST what appeared to be a safe 70-63 advantage.  Incredibly, the Maroons were able to get back to within a single possession as Burt drained a "3" from the right wing area with :07 left that made it a 70-66 game and Chicago immediately fouled Renikoff on the ensuing inbounds pass.  But Renikoff was only able to get one of the two free throw attempts to go down and right back came the Maroons who raced down the court.  Nordstrom connected with a lay-up with :01.7 left and was fouled in the process but the Scottsdale, Arizona native was unable to knock down the obligatory free throw.  Anderson, however, was able to snare the offensive rebound of the missed free throw and she was promptly fouled by UST's Wolkow with :00.2 left.  The tension was real with the Tommies suddenly clinging to a 71-68 lead but Anderson was only able to get the back-end attempt to go down that cut UST's lead down to two points at 71-69.  The Maroons immediately fouled Gernes on UST's inbounds pass but this time Gernes, the former Winona Cotter standout, made no mistake and got both free throw attempts to go down and Chicago was out of miracles as the Tommies claimed a thrilling, hard-fought 73-69 win to advance to the Round of 16.

A somewhat exhausted and disappointed Sain Knoche spoke afterward about how proud she was of her team and the way they competed.  "I thought it was a great game.....Really proud of the way we competed and how hard we played.  It was fun to be a part of that experience tonight.  I thought our kids rose to the occasion and I'm just really proud of them."  I asked Sain Knoche about how I felt her team seemed to control the tempo for the most part of the game and seemed to have the upper hand before things went awry late.  "You're not going to push the ball and turn it over so I thought it was important for us to get 'good' possessions.....Those were coming off a lot of made baskets....The tempo slowed and we gave up a couple baskets."  Nordstrom and Anderson, the two seniors on this squad, were in the press conference as well and Nordstrom talked about how much the players on this team love each other.  "I've never been on a team that's cared so much about each other and cared so much about getting each other better every single day and support each other in every single way on and off the court.  It's honestly incredible and that just reflect how we take care of each other."  Sain Knoche added that "I think we play the toughest schedule in the country.....We typically play a top five SOS (strength of schedule).  I'm not trying to do that.  It's just the nature of the beast."  Indeed, I was astonished to find out that Chicago actually played sixteen teams that made the NCAA Tournament field this year.  That is truly incredible and it's no wonder that Chicago is as good as they are.  On the UST side, a happy and proud Head Coach Ruth Sinn along with Langer and Renikoff were in the press conference room and Sinn talked about what a great game this was.  "That had to have been a great game if you were just a fan.  It was a game of plays.  It was a game of intense defense.  I give Chicago a lot of credit.  They're a great defensive team and they play so hard.  They did a lot of things that caused us to really look at and see how we were attacking and how we were going so it was a fun game......But I do give a lot of credit to our guards.  Lucia Renikoff and Maddie Wolkow did a great job of stepping up and keeping their poise.....and looking to drive and 'kick' and Kaitlin (Langer) did a great job at the end."  Sinn also said that Chicago gave her squad the hardest defensive pressure they've faced all season and thought that her squad did a much better job in the second half of handling the pressure that the Maroons were putting on them.  I asked Renikoff about the game-changing moment in that fourth period with 3:54 left when she snared an offensive rebound for a putback that really seemed to turn the tide in UST's favor.  "I think energy plays like that are what get our defense going; especially we're communicating more.....we got that energy on defense and I think it became more of a 'we need to get stops' and that's what we did....Just finding a way on the defensive end."

One of the things that helped UST on this night was an incredibly balanced scoring attack that saw three players in double-figures scoring-wise.  A fantastic night for Langer as she not only led the way with 19 points but also had 10 rebounds in the process for a "double-double".  A solid night for Renikoff as well as she tallied 17 points and Wolkow chipped in with 12 points.  Chicago, too, had a balanced scoring attack on this night as well.  Nordstrom also recorded a "double-double" with 18 points and 12 rebounds while both Obi and Farrell chipped in with 10 points.  Rebounds were nearly dead-even with the Maroons holding a 36-35 edge but Chicago had more turnovers than UST did at 18-14.  One item that may haunt Chicago's Sain Knoche and her players for some nights to come was free throw shooting where the Maroons shot only 11-20 for 55% for the game compared to UST's 26-32 for 81.3%.  In a close game such as this; especially in an NCAA Tournament game with everything hanging in the balance, that will more often than not come back to bite you in the end.