St. Scholastica vs Augsburg 11-21-17

Was over at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall on this Tuesday night of Thanksgiving week to take in the home opener for the Auggies as they hosted St. Scholastica out of the UMAC.  Having got both the UCLA-USC and LA Rams-Minnesota Vikings games out of my system from this last weekend, I was anxious to see the Auggies in action as they were looking for their first win of this 2017-18 season.  The task would not be easy, however, as the Saints feature a team not only long in length but also bolstered by some very quick and capable backcourt players as well.

St. Scholastica appeared to have the upper hand in the early moments of this contest as the Auggies had trouble getting their patented run-and-gun game going.  Two free throws by senior guard Emelia Miner at the 8:30 mark and a lay-up by fellow senior guard and former Anoka standout Sam Brannen gave the Saints a 4-0 lead by the 7:39 mark.  Augsburg would push ahead by a 5-4 count on the strength of two scores by K'Aesha Wubben - a jumper from the right corner at the 6:30 mark and a lay-up in transition at the 5:53 mark.  But junior reserve guard and former Anoka-Ramsey star Rashonna Thomas' "3" from the left top area at the 5:15 mark pushed St. Scholastica ahead 7-5 and the Saints maintained that two-point edge on a Miner lay-up with 4:48 left for a 9-7 advantage.  The Auggies though would respond with a 9-0 push as a score in the paint by sophomore reserve forward Abby Jordan with 4:30 left knotted the score at 9-all and a score in the paint by freshman reserve forward Jazmyn Solseth with 4:01 left pushed Augsburg ahead 11-9.  Two Solseth freebies with 3:02 left and one more with 1:27 left pushed the lead to 14-9.  Sophomore reserve guard Aiza Wilson completed the run with her lay-up with 1:10 left that made it 16-9 but St. Scholastica was able to cut into that deficit with just :15 left in the opening period on a lay-up freshman reserve guard Kaylee Kennedy.

But the Auggies could scarcely feel safe once the second period got underway.  Thomas would strike again for St. Scholastica with two free throws after being fouled in a transition opportunity at the 9:33 mark and lanky 6'2" senior post Holly VanKempen connected with a pretty turnaround jumper in the lane at the 9:04 mark that cut the deficit down to two points at 16-14.  Augsburg would twice get their lead up to four points in the next three minutes as freshman reserve forward Abbey Koenig-Meehan knocked down a short jumper from the left side at the 8:10 mark for an 18-14 Auggie lead and strong sophomore guard Tamira McLemore connected with a lay-up in transition at the 5:41 mark that made it 20-16 Augsburg but the Saints were not going away anytime soon.  That, plus the fact that the Auggies seemed to be drowning in a sea of errors with turnovers and bad passes galore.  The Saints cut the deficit to a scant point on another Thomas "3"; this one from the right wing area with 4:20 left in the second period and one free throw by junior guard Michala Walther with 3:32 left after she was fouled in a transition opportunity had things tied up at 20 a piece.  Two more Miner free throws with 1:53 left had St. Scholastica back out in front by a 22-21 count before Wilson came to the Auggies' rescue with a three-point bomb from the left top area with 1:40 left and two freebies with 1:05 left for a 26-22 Augsburg lead.  The Auggies would maintain that four-point edge at 28-24 with :31 left on a lay-up in transition by McLemore but St. Scholastica would again cut the deficit to one point just before the half on Thomas' third three-point bomb of the first half - this one from the left wing area with :12 left before the half so the Saints had to feel pretty good about their chances going into the intermission down just one at 28-27.  Both teams were guilty of double-digit turnovers (Augsburg with 14 and St. Scholastica with 13) but the ones Augsburg had seemed to hurt them more.  Had it not been for Thomas' heroics in the first half, the Saints arguably would have been in a much bigger hole given the fact that they shot only 25% from both FG and three-point land.

Whatever Auggie Head Coach Ted Riverso told his team in the locker room during the halftime break must have had some sort of effect as Augsburg ramped up the intensity in the opening two minutes of the third period and embarked on a 6-2 push thanks to their trademark full- and half-court pressure.  Speedy sophomore guard Ari Jones snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 9:36 mark and Wubben's lay-up in transition a short time later at the 9:14 mark had the Auggies up 32-27.  Sophomore Camryn Speese's score in the paint at the 8:16 mark capped this little run for a 34-29 advantage.  The Saints would close to within a possession on a lay-up by Brannen at the 7:04 mark at 34-31.  VanKempen's score in the paint would narrow the gap to two points for St. Scholastica at 35-33 but Augsburg would widen the gap even more as one free throw be McLemore at the 6:36 mark and two more by Jones at the 6:17 mark made it a five point game again at 38-33.  Speese's acrobatic reverse lay-up at the 5:48 mark then made it a seven-point game at 40-33 and St. Scholastica Head Coach Stacy Deadrick definitely did not like how things were unfolding and she promptly called a timeout.  Junior reserve guard/forward Mariah Pearson's short, turnaround jumper with 3:41 left helped the Saints narrow the deficit back down to five points at 40-35 but Augsburg would close the third period on a 9-2 run.  Jones made good on a drive into the lane for a finish with 3:16 left and another three-point dagger from the wily Wilson - this one from the left wing area with 2:42 left - now had the Auggies up double-digits at 45-35.  One Speese free throw with 2:07 left and another with 1:37 left got the lead to twelve points at 47-35 and two more Speese freebies after she was fouled in a transition opportunity with :43.9 left now made it 49-35.  St. Scholastica was able to sneak in a bucket before the buzzer ending the third-period on sophomore reserve forward Taylor Nowling's jumper from the free throw line but the Auggies definitely had things going their way at this point.

The Saints found themselves in even more dire straits in the opening moments of the fourth period.  McLemore's offensive rebound and putback of a blocked shot at the 9:40 mark and a drive and finish by Jones at the 9:17 mark made it 53-37 and St. Scholastica's Deadrick was once again clamoring for a timeout.  But the Auggies seemingly had no intentions of slowing down anytime soon.  One free throw by senior forward Bridget Bednar at the 8:48 mark and two Speese freebies at the 8:22 mark suddenly made it a nineteen-point game at 56-37 and things certainly looked hopeless for the Saints who were sputtering offensively.  St. Scholastica tried to cut into the bulge as a umper off the glass off of an inbounds pass by junior guard Danielle Cieluch at the 8:03 mark and two Walther free throws at the 7:36 mark had Augsburg's lead down to 58-41 but the Auggies would again step on the gas pedal.  A score in the paint by junior reserve forward Carlee Kobow at the 6:41 mark and two Wubben free throws at the 6:05 mark gave Augsburg a seventeen-point cushion at 60-43 and one Kobow free throw at the 5:35 mark along with a three-point bomb by McLemore from the right corner at the 5:24 mark now made it 64-43 and it seemed like the Auggies were all but ready to shovel in the dirt and put the daisy on this contest.  But just when St. Scholastica appeared to be dead and buried, they rose from the ashes and proceeded to put in a scare into their hosts.  A VanKempen lay-up at the 5:12 mark sparked an unlikely 18-2 run that drastically changed things.  Walther uncorked a "3" from the left corner with 4:41 left and then Thomas, who had been quiet for a good chunk of the second half, found her magic again as she stole an inbounds pass and whizzed the other way for an easy lay-up that cut the deficit to fourteen points at 64-50.  Pearson got into the paint for a score with 3:54 left and VanKempen used her long frame to get a lay-up with 3:16 left.  Walther found the range from three-point land again; this time from the top of the key with 2:51 left that got the Saints back to within single-digit range trailing 66-57 and Augsburg's Riverso was clamoring for a timeout to try and stop the unforseen bleeding.  But the stoppage hardly deterred the Saints as Thomas was able to snare yet another steal and fly the other way for a lay-up with 2:17 left and a VanKempen rebound and putback with 1:46 left now had the Auggie lead down to a precarious five points and Riverso was forced to take a match to another timeout to try and get his squad calmed down.  Two free throws by Augsburg's McLemore with :43.5 left finally stopped some of the bleeding but a steal and lay-up the other way by the Saints' Walther with :26.3 left again had St. Scholastica in the five-point range trailing 68-63.  Alas, that's as close as the Saints would get.  Two free throws by Speese with :20.3 left allowed the Auggies to hang on for dear life to claim their first victory of this young season by a 70-63 count. 

Obviously this Augsburg team has a ton of potential but as Riverso pointed out to me afterward, they've got to cut down on the turnovers that have plagued them in their first three games.  He knows it's only November but there's a lot of work ahead for this group if they want to better last year's finish.  First, on the positive side, the Auggies had four players in double-figures scoring-wise in this contest:  McLemore with 13 points, Speese with 12 points and both Wubben and Wilson with 11 points, respectively.  Rebounds were even on this night at 42 a piece but both coaching staffs likely had to wince at the number of turnovers in this contest as St. Scholastica had 24 turnovers and Augsburg had 21.  For the Saints, they had three players in double-figures scoring-wise with both VanKempen and Thomas netting 14 points and Walther adding 11 points.