Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-28-17

Here are the results from a fun night of action at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League last night:


5:00 P.M. Games

GAC Gold - 46
NIACC - 34

Bethel - 61
UST #2 - 57


5:55 P.M. Games

UW-River Falls #2 - 50
St. Kate's - 47

UW-River Falls #1 - 71
Luther - 41


6:50 P.M. Games

UST Alumni - 39
St. Olaf - 22

B Ballers - 55
GAC Black - 29


7:45 P.M. Games

Retirees - 57
UST #1 - 55

SMU - 51
Lady Hawks - 32


8:40 P.M. Games

Concordia St. Paul - 62
Southwest Minnesota State - 39

Augsburg - 57
Hamline - 39


In the 5:00 P.M. slot over on Court 1, things were tight early on between the NIACC team and the GAC Gold team and the NIACC team; using its speed and three-point shooting, held a 9-6 lead by the end of the first period.  But the GAC Gold team slowly regained the advantage and held a 12-11 lead midway through the second period and a big "3" by junior-to-be Justine Lee helped propel the GAC Gold team to a 17-11 lead late in the second period before the NIACC team was able to gain some ground closing to four points at 22-18 by the half.  The GAC Gold team's size eventually wore down the NIACC team when the third period got underway as they lengthened their lead to 32-23 by the end of the third period enroute to the win.  Over on Court 2, a white-hot Bethel team got up by a shocking 13-4 count on the UST #2 team and the Bethel team stretched that lead to 21-9 by the end of the first period.  That lead increased to 30-15 midway through the second period but a resourceful UST #2 team went on a 9-4 run to close the gap to a more manageable ten points at 34-24 by the halftime break.  The Bethel team sought to pad that advantage once the third period got underway and things looked relatively safe for them as they were up 43-29 midway through the third period but you knew that the UST #2 team had another run left in them and they got back to within single digits trailing 46-37 going into the fourth period.  The UST #2 team; led by senior-to-be Maddie Wolkow, scratched and clawed its way back to within striking distance trailing 53-47 late in regulation but never could quite find that one big shot that might have drawn them even closer as the Bethel team hung on for a tough win over a MIAC rival.

The two UW-River Falls teams were in action in the 5:55 P.M. slot as the UW-River Falls #2 team took on the St. Kate's team on Court 1 in a WIAC-MIAC clash and things were very tight in the early going with the game knotted at 10-10 midway through the first period and the UW-River Falls team clinging to a 14-12 lead to start the second period.  The St. Kate's team; led by senior-to-be Alexis Garcia, was able to battle back and regain the advantage with a 23-20 lead by the halftime break.  But the UW-River Falls #2 team turned the tables in the third period as the regained the lead at 31-27 midway through the third period and upped that lead to 41-31 by the start of the fourth period.  The St. Kate's team managed to close within a single possession at 48-45 late in regulation but could not get closer than three points in the end.  Meanwhile over on Court 2, the lights continued to shine brightly for Head Coach Cindy Holbrook's squad as the UW-River Falls #1 team jumped out to an early 11-4 lead on the Luther team in a WIAC-IIAC battle and that lead increased to ten points at 15-5 by the end of the first period.  The roof caved in for the Luther team once the second period got underway as they found themselves staring at a 51-21 deficit as the UW-River Falls team cruised to an easy win.

In the 6:50 P.M. slot, the St. Olaf team; which has struggled for the most part in the summer league, finally found some offensive spark as they found themselves up on a very good UST Alumni team by an 11-8 count by the end of the first period.  The UST Alumni team managed to even things up at 18 a piece by the halftime break and things were still tight by the midway point of the third period with the UST Alumni team clinging to 21-20 lead.  But just when you thought the St. Olaf team might be on the verge of a big upset win, they hit an incredibly dry stretch where they simply could not find the bottom of the basket from inside or out on the perimeter as the UST Alumni team went on a tear from then on.  Former Lakeville North HS (and former UW-Whitewater player) Jaya Perkins connected on a transition lay-up and followed that up with a big three-point bomb to help propel the UST Alumni to a 31-20 lead midway through the fourth period and they held the St. Olaf team to a scant FG enroute to the victory.  Over on Court 2, the big and physical B Ballers team; made up of mostly former Southwest Minnesota State players, had its way with the GAC Black team as they jumped out to an early 9-2 lead and were up 16-7 early in the second period.  Former Carleton standout Annie Isler's buzzer-beating lay-up upped the B Ballers lead to 28-11 by the halftime break and that lead increased to 36-13 midway through the third period as the B Ballers team breezed to an easy win.

The game of the night took place over on Court 1 in the 7:45 P.M. slot as the Retirees team; made up of mostly former Northwestern players, were trying to bounce back from last week's debacle against said B Ballers team by taking on a very, very good UST #1 team and the Retirees team showed last night that they were very much up to the task as they forged an early 9-5 lead and then went on an absolute tear thanks to some incredibly hot three-point shooting to grab a 31-14 lead at the end of the first period.  The Retirees team still held a comfortable fourteen-point cushion at 35-21 midway through the second period but you knew that the UST #1 team was too good to be down for long and they battled their way back to within single-digit range trailing 39-30 by the halftime break.  The Retirees team got their lead back to double-digit range at 46-35 midway through the third period but that margin was hardly safe as the UST #1 team closed the gap to six points at 48-42 a bit later and were down by only seven points at 51-44 to start the fourth period.  Skillfully and in sly fashion, the UST #1 team again made a charge late in regulation to close to within a single possession at 55-52 and finally found themselves tied at 55 with just 1:43 left.  But the Retirees team would have the answer in the end as they carefully worked the ball around the perimeter with time running down and, with scant seconds left, they finally got the ball inside to former Northwestern standout Jessica (Fife) Smith who powered her way into the paint for the winning score as the buzzer sounded.  No such drama over on Court 2 as the SMU team got out to an early 7-2 lead on the Lady Hawks team and the group from Winona was up 14-8 by the end of the first period.  The SMU team's size in the paint was a distinct advantage as the Lady Hawks team was simply unable to do much inside and the SMU team found itself up 23-11 midway through the second period and was up 27-17 by the halftime break.  The SMU team grew that cushion by the end of the third period by a 38-24 count as they got a comfortable victory on this night.

Finally in the 8:40 P.M. slot, two NSIC rivals were going at it on Court 1 as the Concordia St. Paul team had its way against the Southwest Minnesota State team; jumping out to a 12-5 lead midway through the first period and up 23-6 to start the second period.  By the halftime break, the Concordia St. Paul team was up 39-10 and although the Southwest Minnesota State team was able to regain some of its touch from behind the arc in the third period, they simply were not going to catch the Concordia St. Paul team on this night.  Over on Court 2, two MIAC rivals were going at it as the Augsburg team; led by tough inside play by sophomore-to-be Tamira McLemore and the rebounding ability of senior-to-be Bridget Bednar, got out to an early 7-2 lead on the Hamline team and were up 16-10 by the end of the first period.  The Augsburg team slowly grew that lead during the second period; gaining a 29-20 advantage by the halftime break and had the lead up to double-digits at 32-20 midway through the third period.  The Augsburg team got even more separation as the fourth period got underway as they were up 40-24 and they had things in cruise control the rest of the way.

The Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League takes next week off for the 4th of July holiday but action resumes again on Wednesday, July 12 as pool play gets underway so come on down to take in the action.