Northwestern vs Macalester 11-27-17

Made my way over to the St. Paul side of town on this Monday evening over to the Leonard Center on the campus of Macalester College to take in this important non-conference matchup between visiting Northwestern which made the trek down Snelling Avenue and host Macalester.  This would be my first look at the Scots this season and I was definitely curious about the new faces that Head Coach Kelly Roysland was bringing in to her program.  For Northwestern, they needed something of not only a bounce back after going 1-3 in their first four games but with MIAC powerhouse Bethel paying a visit to Northwestern on Wednesday night, they needed something of a confidence boost as well.

In retrospect, I suppose I should have taken the pre-game injury to Scot senior guard Vivi Gregorich as something as an ominous sign as to how this game would go for Macalester.  Still, that didn't seem to faze the Scots in the early moments of this contest nor did Northwestern's 2-3 "match-up" zone defense as they built a 7-2 lead in the first three minutes of the first period.  Newcomer freshman guard Justine Barraza drained a "3" from the right corner at the 9:02 mark and a lay-up by reliable senior post Regan Fruh at the 8:17 mark along with two free throws by fellow senior guard Leah Gray gave Macalester the early edge.  A lay-up by sophomore guard Holly Hull at the 6:16 mark maintained the five-point lead at 9-4 before the Eagles began whittling away.  Senior guard Andrea Zimpel dropped two free throws after being fouled at the 6:02 mark and a jumper from the left wing area by junior guard Amy Berglund with 3:57 left cut the deficit down to a scant point at 9-8.  Fruh would extend Macalester's lead to three points at 11-8 when she knocked down two free throws with 3:39 left but Northwestern would eventually tie things up at 11 a piece as lanky sophomore post Rio Landers connected with a pretty turnaround jumper in the lane with 2:36 left and junior guard Taryn Tumbleson dropped one freebie with 1:55 left.  Two more Tumbleson free throws with 1:20 left gave the Eagles their first lead at 13-11 but that was wiped away when Macalester's Barraza uncorked her second trey of the first period alone - this one coming from the left wing area with just :01 left that gave the Scots a 14-13 lead going into the second period.

Both squads traded one-point leads in the opening two minutes of the second period but Northwestern would soon get the big boost they were looking for thanks to senior guard Andrea Zimpel.  With the Eagles trailing 16-15, the Isle, Minnesota native drained one three-point bomb from the left corner at the 7:24 mark and then did the same from the right wing area at the 6:47 mark that suddenly bolted Northwestern into a five-point lead at 21-16.  The Scots tried to recover from their initial shock as Fruh connected with a lay-up at the 6:36 mark but Northwestern got the lead back up to five points again as senior post Jessica Brown got into the paint for a score at the 6:05 mark to make it 23-18.  The Scots' Roysland called a thirty-second timeout in hopes of getting her squad calmed down but the Eagles kept gradually increasing their lead.  Tumbleson knocked down a short jumper at the 5:46 mark that sparked a 12-2 burst and totally changed the complexion of this contest.  Berglund connected with a jumper from the free throw line at the 5:04 mark to make it a 27-20 game and then senior reserve post Jessica Brown snared an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback with 4:27 left.  A Berglund jumper from the top of the key just inside the arc gave Northwestern its first double-digit advantage at 31-20 and then junior post Alex Peterson added to that total when she got into the paint for a score with 2:12 left and was fouled in the process and the former Como standout's "and one" pushed the lead to 34-20.  Another offensive rebound for a putback by sophomore reserve guard Audrey Lefto with 1:40 left capped the run and Macalester's Roysland felt compelled to call another thirty-second timeout to try and stop the onslaught.  Fruh was able to get into the paint for a score with 1:22 left and a Gray "3" from the left top area gave the Scots a glimmer of hope going into the locker room at the half but they were still staring at the wrong end of a 38-25 score when the buzzer sounded.  The one bright spot for Macalester in the first half was that they actually outrebounded the Eagles by a 17-13 count but with Northwestern shooting 55.6% from FG range and 40% from behind the arc, the Scots were not only going to have to step up defensively but they needed to overcome a paltry 30.8% shooting from FG range and 27.3% from behind the arc as well.

Eagle sophomore forward Rio Landers buried a "3" from the left wing area at the 9:02 mark of the third period that seemed to signal that Northwestern was picking up right where they left off although Macalester was able to counter somewhat as Barraza was able to knock down three free throws when she was fouled behind the arc at the 8:50 mark and a jumper along the right baseline by Hull at the 8:28 mark slimmed the deficit down to eleven points at 41-30 and at that juncture of the game, it seemed like a Scot comeback was a doable proposition.  But Northwestern would have none of it as they continually slammed the door shut in Macalester's face.  Berglund was able to connect with two pretty reverse lay-ups underneath - one at the 7:33 mark and again at the 7:04 mark - that had the lead back up to thirteen points at 45-32.  A short jumper in the lane by Brown at the 5:34 mark maintained the thirteen-point advantage at 47-34 but the Scots would try again to crawl closer.  One free throw by Fruh at the 5:14 mark and another one by sophomore guard Tyana Loiselle with 4:18 left had the deficit back down to eleven points at 47-36 and a jumper along the right baseline by freshman reserve forward Katherine Podoll with 3:40 left in the period kept Macalester in that eleven-point range trailing 49-38.  But the Scots could never get closer than that as Northwestern politely but firmly closed the door again.  Berglund connected with yet another reverse lay-up underneath with :30 left and a Tumbleson lay-up with just :00.3 left before the end of the third period that drew a foul and an obligatory free throw along with it now gave the Eagles a rather commanding 54-39 advantage going into the fourth period. 

Northwestern made no mistake in showing how the rest of this contest was going to go in the opening minutes of the fourth and final period.  Zimpel drained another one of her patented three-point bombs - this one coming from the left corner at the 9:37 mark - and Berglund was able to snare an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback at the 8:21 mark that now gave the Eagles a twenty-point cushion at 59-39 and Macalester's Roysland was forced to take a match to a timeout in hopes of somehow salvaging this game that was quickly getting away from her squad.  About the only fly in the ointment for the Eagles at this juncture was that Alex Peterson was tagged with her fourth foul at the 7:49 mark.  But that wasn't going to deter Northwestern much on this night.  Brown was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 5:44 mark and although the Scots were applying some full- and half-court defense in hopes of forcing some turnovers, they could only make incremental dents down the stretch.  Fruh was able to get into the paint for a score with 4:45 left and one Fruh free throw with 3:59 left had the deficit down to fifteen points at 61-46 but another Zimpel three-point bomb - this one from the right wing area with 3:29 left - effectively ended any hopes Macalester had.  Alex Peterson; riding those four fouls, knocked down a jumper from the left elbow with 2:46 left that re-established the twenty-point edge at 66-46.  Berglund snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up with 2:09 left and one free throw by junior reserve post Brooklyn Plagge with :28.6 left gave the Eagles a big 69-46 win over a MIAC opponent. 

Glancing at the final box score of this one, Macalester simply could not overcome the red-hot shooting on this night by Northwestern which shot 49.1% from FG range compared to the Scots 24.6% from FG range and an icy 13% from behind the arc.  Northwestern actually didn't have that big of an edge on the boards at 39-36 but it seemed like it was more.  The only real bright spot on this night for Macalester was Fruh's "double-double" of 19 points and 11 rebounds but she didn't get a lot of help on this night and you have to figure that Gregorich's untimely injury during pre-game warm-ups robbed the Scots of a playmaker who can make things happen on both ends of the floor.  Meanwhile, Northwestern had three players in double figures:  Berglund with 18 points, Zimpel with 14 points and Brown surprisingly with 10 points.  I didn't get a chance to chat with Northwestern Head Coach Aaron Kahl afterward but I'm guessing he probably would have been in agreement with me if I said that the Eagles played up to their potential on this night.  The big question now is if Northwestern can maintain this level of play which is a lot to ask in late November.  Still, you have to think that the Eagles can be a force in the UMAC if they're able to replicate this performance on a somewhat regular basis.