Augsburg vs Northwestern 12-16-17

Made an easy drive over to suburban Roseville on this midday Saturday to take in an interesting 1:00 P.M. non-conference clash between visiting Augsburg of the MIAC which made the short hop from Minneapolis and host Northwestern out of the UMAC.  The Auggies rebounded nicely after last week's disappointing loss at home to Concordia by outlasting a good Carleton in the friendly confines of Si Melby Hall.  The Eagles meanwhile have been on something of a roll as of late after knocking off nationally-ranked Bethel.  They dropped a tough one on the road at UW-Eau Claire but since then have been unblemished in UMAC play.  In my mind anyway, this game to me would be more about Augsburg than Northwestern as I wasn't entirely sure what Auggie team would show up. 

Augsburg would strike first in this contest as sophomore guard K'Aezha Wubben unleashed a "3" from the top of the key at the 9:44 mark which would be a sign of things to come but for the time being anyway, the Eagles responded nicely.  Senior forward Alex Peterson knocked down a short shot off the glass at the 9:09 mark with the shot clock expiring and a short jumper along the left baseline by junior guard Amy Berglund; who was presented with the 1,000th-point ball prior to the contest, knotted the game at 4 a piece.  A Berglund lay-up at the 7:34 mark pushed Northwestern ahead for the first time at 6-4 and a jumper in transition from the right elbow area by fellow junior guard Taryn Tumbleson at the 6:58 mark made it an 8-4 ballgame.  Eagle Head Coach Aaron Kahl had his squad in his normal 2-3 "match-up" zone defense in hopes of clogging up the middle but that didn't seem to bother Augsburg too much.  Sophomore reserve three-point specialist guard Aiza Wilson uncorked the first of her four three-point bombs of the day - this one coming from the left wing area at the 5:45 mark that cut the deficit down to one point at 8-7 and a lay-up by fellow sophomore guard Camryn Speese at the 5:13 mark had the Auggies back out in front by a 9-8.  Sophomore guard Arianna Jones would uncork a "3" of her own from the left top area with 3:51 left that had Augsburg up 12-10 but the Eagles would respond with a lay-up in transition with 3:11 left that had things even-steven at 12 a piece.  Now it was Northwestern's turn to get on a bit of a push and Berglund did all she could to put her squad on her shoulders.  The Springfield, Virginia native knocked down two jumpers from the left elbow area - one with 2:12 left and then again with 1:29 left - that gave the Eagles a 16-12 advantage.  Augsburg would come right back and reclaim the lead as Wilson first darted into the lane for a finish with 1:06 left and then drained her second trey of the afternoon - this one coming from the right top area with :27 left - that had the Auggies up 17-16.  Still, Northwestern would have the last laugh of this entertaining first period as Berglund knocked down a jumper from the top of the key just inside the arc that gave the Eagles an 18-17 lead going into the second period.  Given how this first period played out, it looked as if this had the makings of a very close, tight game.

It's unlikely, however, that Kahl and his staff could have ever envisioned the avalanche that they were about to face once the second period got underway.  Augsburg sophomore reserve forward Abby Jordan found her touch behind the arc with a bomb from the top of the key as the shot clock was expiring at the 9:15 mark and although the Eagles would manage to tie the game at 20 a piece on a jumper from the left elbow area by senior reserve post Abby Peterson at the 8:46 mark, things would quickly and curiously go south from there as the Auggies would embark on a game-changing 16-4 run.  Wilson would be on fire as she unloaded back-to-back three-point bombs - one from the left wing at the 8:30 mark and another from the left corner at the 7:33 mark - that propelled Augsburg back into the lead for good at 26-20.  Speese connected with a jumper in the lane off the glass at the 6:10 mark and a Wilson jumper from the free throw line at the 5:36 mark had the Auggies up 30-22.  Speese use her athleticism and jumping ability to snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 3:38 left and also connected with a lay-up with 2:40 left that now made it a 34-24 game and Kahl, sensing that the ceiling was caving in on his Northwestern squad, called a thirty-second timeout to try and rectify the situation.  Still, strong sophomore guard Tamira McLemore would cap this Augsburg run with her steal and lay-up the other way with 2:22 left before the half that had the Auggies up 36-24.  The Eagles would finally stop some of the bleeding when Berglund banged home a "3" from the left top area with 1:26 left but Northwestern would not be able to muster any more offensive heroics before the halftime buzzer and went into the locker room a bit dazed perhaps and on the wrong end of a 36-27 score.  A glance of the first half box score doesn't reveal anything too telling.  Augsburg certainly did shoot well in the first half (53.8% from FG range and 50% from behind the arc) but rebounds were even at 11 a piece although the Eagles did suffer nine first half turnovers and shot only 1-4 from behind the arc for 25%.  The bigger question was if Northwestern had enough firepower to come out in the third period and reclaim some momentum that they totally lost in the second period.

Augsburg quickly put to rest any notion that they might somehow fold and opened the third period with a 12-3 run that opened up even more distance.  McLemore drained a "3" from the left top area at the 9:40 mark and a drive into the lane into the heart of the Eagle defense and a finish at the 8:01 mark now had the Auggies up 41-27.  Wubben knocked down a jumper as well from the left top area just inside the arc at the 7:20 mark and a score in the paint by senior forward Bridget Bednar at the 6:37 mark gave Augsburg a 45-29 lead.  Jones put the icing on this latest run with a three-point bomb from the left wing area with 4:56 left and although the Eagles' Alex Peterson knocked down one free throw with 4:49 left, Kahl knew full and well that this one was quickly getting away from his team and called a full timeout to try and prevent the inevitable.  But the Auggies' Wubben would connect with a lay-up with 4:36 left to give Augsburg its first twenty-point lead at 50-30 and things deteriorated even more for Northwestern when Alex Peterson picked up her third foul of the contest at the 4:13 mark and had to sit for a spell.  Wubben would get into the paint for a score with 3:44 left and a lay-up by freshman reserve forward Jazmyn Solseth with 1:59 left maintained the twenty-point cushion at 54-34.  McLemore would add one more point from the charity stripe with :55.8 left in the third period and a lay-up by Jordan with :10 left had Augsburg in full control of things up 57-35 going into the fourth period. 

Things simply didn't change much in the fourth period and more of Riverso's reserves started getting into the act as well.  After Wilson was able to knock down a short jumper at the 7:43 mark, freshman reserve guard Nicole Zielsdorf drained a "3" from the right corner at the 6:42 mark that had the Auggies up 62-36.  Zielsdorf would bang home another three-point bomb at the 5:48 mark from the same right corner that ballooned the lead to twenty-nine at 65-36 before Berglund could come to the rescue for Northwestern with a score in the paint at the 5:26 mark and two free throws with 4:48 left but none of this would ever allow the Eagles to get reasonably close again.  Berglund would knock down a jumper from the left wing area with 3:28 left and senior point guard Andrea Zimpel finally got into the scoring book with a "3" point bomb from the left corner with 2:47 left but it was simply a matter of too little way too late.  Augsburg freshman reserve guard Jennifer Hicks drained a "3" from the left corner with 2:16 left and Zielsdorf would drill her third trey of the fourth period alone with 1:12 left from the left corner as the Auggies ran away with this one in grand fashion by a shocking 75-45 count. 

I was able to catch up with Augsburg's Riverso afterward and asked him about this game and how they turned things around so fast after the disappointment last Saturday against Concordia.  "We played like we did when we were out in California" he replied; referring to big wins against both Caltech and Occidental during their stay out in the Motherland over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  The big question now, of course, is can the Auggies maintain some semblance of consistency where they're not so incredibly up-and-down from game to game or even week to week.  That remains the challenge as Riverso was quick to agree but I get the sense that his young squad is leaning in the right direction as the young core is now a year older and a year more experienced.  If they can play at a level close to where they were at on this day, they're going to be incredibly tough to beat and that includes UST, GAC, CSB and Bethel.  Meanwhile, a bad day at Stalingrad as I mentioned to Northwestern Assitant Coach and former Eagle standout player Katie DeWitt-Severson as the Eagles looked totally out of sync after things looked good after the first period.  She pointed to a number of factors but seemed to underline that Northwestern really hasn't really played all that great since the games against both Bethel and UW-Eau Claire even with wins against UMAC opponents Bethany Lutheran, North Central and Crown; all reasonably close games.  From my view, Berglund simply didn't get much help on this day and DeWitt-Severson knows full and well what it's like when you have to carry a team on your shoulders at times.  Throw in the fact that the squad has finals staring at them early this next week just makes for a bad combination and bloody rotten timing as well.  Fortunately, Northwestern gets a break with the holidays coming up and it's an opportunity for them to heal up and get recharged both mentally and physically when they dive head first back into UMAC play after the first of the year.  Simply a hot day for the Auggies as they shot 50.8% from FG range and 52% from behind the arc.  Wilson led the way for Augsburg with 18 points while Wubben added 11 points.  Berglund was the only scorer in double-figures for Northwestern as she led all scorers with 23 points.  Likely another sore spot for Kahl and his staff on this day:  The Auggies outrebounded Northwestern by a 31-22 count and they held a 22-11 edge in points off turnovers and a 13-4 edge in "second-chance" points.  Even more striking is that Augsburg had a whopping 45-8 edge in points off the bench.