Concordia vs Augsburg 12-9-17

Ventured over to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall on this sunny December Saturday afternoon to take in this early season MIAC clash between visiting Concordia which rumbled down U.S. Highway 10 and the BNSF's Staples Sub mainline into the Twin Cities to take on host Augsburg.  The Auggies were coming off a 78-56 down at St. Peter against GAC while the Cobbers notched an important home win against St. Kate's on Wednesday.  Both teams spotted 4-3 overall records and 1-1 in the MIAC and this would be my first look at the Cobbers this season and I was anxious to see some of the new faces that Head Coach Jessica Rahman has.

Scoring would seem to come at a premium after both teams traded three-point bombs in the early going of the opening period - one by Auggie sophomore guard Tamira McLemore at the 9:46 mark and the other by Concordia senior guard Cassidy Rahman at the 8:47 mark.  But the Cobbers found a way to build a bit of a cushion a little more than two minutes later thanks to a 6-0 push.  Junior guard Jamie Mentzer connected with a lay-up at the 6:29 mark and two free throws by sophomore reserve forward Mira Ellefson with 4:17 left had Concordia up 7-3.  A pretty drive and finish by junior guard Grace Wolhowe with 1:48 left capped this Cobber surge to make it 9-3 before Augsburg finally was able to take the lid off of their basket.  Sophomore forward Camryn Speese used her jumping ability and athleticism to tip in a missed three-point attempt by sophomore reserve forward Abby Jordan with 1:31 left but junior forward Kirstin Simmons helped Concordia regain that six-point edge with a short jumper with 1:07 left that had the Cobbers up 11-5 going into the second period. 

Augsburg hoped to put their early-game frustrations behind them once the second period got underway and some full- and half-court pressure defense gave them some opportunities to help close the gap.  Sophomore guard K'Aezha Wubben snared a steal and whizzed the other way for a lay-up at the 8:50 mark and despite the fact that Cobber junior forward Lincoln Haiby drained a "3" from the top of the key at the 7:27 mark, two McLemore free throws at the 7:13 mark and a "3" from the right wing area by sophomore guard Arianna Jones at the 6:45 mark helped the Auggies closed things to two points trailing 14-12.  Two more McLemore free throws at the 6:24 mark again had Augsburg trailing by just two at 16-14 before Concordia could make another attempt at widening the margin.  A score in the paint by Ellefson at the 5:23 mark and a jumper by Mentzer from the left wing area at the 5:04 mark gave the Cobbers a bit more breathing room with another six-point lead at 20-14.  But Augsburg would whittle that margin down to one point before the halftime buzzer.  Jordan drilled a "3" from the right corner with 2:07 left and two free throws by freshman reserve forward Pashia Scott with 1:24 left had to give Auggie Head Coach Ted Riverso a bit of relief but a glance of the first half box score had to give Riverso and his staff reason for concern as both squads headed to the locker room for the half.  Concordia had a decided edge on the boards at 27-18 and that coupled with some very icy shooting up to this point by Augsburg (5-32 from FG range for 15.6% and 3-17 from behind the arc for 17.6%) was not a recipe for success.

The Auggies appeared as if they had found a way to cure those first half doldrums with a 6-0 run to start the third period.  Jones snared a steal like a thief in the night and promptly dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 8:19 mark that finally gave Augsburg the lead since the opening moments of the game at 21-20.  Then senior forward Bridget Bednar knocked down a jumper along the left baseline at the 7:23 mark and a lay-up at the 6:38 mark by the Pierz native suddenly had the Auggies up 25-20.  Concordia did not panic, however, as Wolhowe connected with a lay-up at the 5:48 mark and a jumper from the right wing area by freshman reserve guard Amber Lingen at the 5:15 mark cut the deficit down to one point at 25-24.  Two free throws by Ellefson with 4:49 left now had the Cobbers back in the lead by one at 26-25 but Augsburg, not willing to give up any advantage on their home floor, struck again.  Jordan drained a "3" from the right top area with 4:27 left to help the Auggies regain the lead and a Jordan lay-up in transition less than thirty seconds later with 3:59 left got Augsburg's lead up to four at 30-26.  A lay-up by junior reserve forward Carlee Kobow with 2:58 left made it 32-26 and a Kobow "3" from the right top area with 2:03 left completed this 10-2 Auggie run that - for the moment anyway - appeared to have them in very good shape holding a 35-28 lead.  Concordia would manage to chop their way back into single-possession range on pairs of free throws by Wolhowe with 1:38 left and by Mentzer with :43.2 left but Augsburg managed to end the third period on a high note when sophomore reserve guard Aiza Wilson made a hard drive and finish with :10 left that had the Auggies up 37-32 going into the fourth period.

Presumably, Augsburg had momentum going its way now that it had the lead and by applying both full- and half-court pressure defense, they could successfully disrupt the Cobbers offensive sets and take control of things.  But this young Concordia team; maybe not yet quite sure of itself up to this point, took a huge step forward and wrested control away while the Auggies reverted back to some incredibly cold shooting when they could least affort it.  Mentzer's great defensive play at the 9:33 mark where she was able to snare a steal near mid-court and dash the other way for a lay-up perhaps provided the spark that the Cobbers used the rest of the way.  Junior forward Lincoln Haiby connected with a lay-up at the 8:46 mark that cut the deficit down to a scant point at 37-36 and a Mentzer jumper from near the free throw line at the 7:41 mark put Concordia ahead for good at 38-37.  A Wolhowe "3" from the right wing area at the 6:57 mark capped this unlikely 9-0 Cobber run that made it 41-37 before a shaken Augsburg team could recover enough to cut things back to a single possesseion on a short shot off the glass by freshman reserve forward Jazmyn Solseth at the 6:32 mark.  A short jumper in the lane by Concordia freshman reserve guard Elizabeth Birkemeyer at the 5:34 mark got the lead back to four at 43-39 and now Augsburg had to fight to get things back into single-possession range once again.  Wubben was able to get one free throw to go down with 4:14 left and Riverso called a timeout shortly thereafter but his plans designed to reverse the course of this game backfired when Ellefson knocked down two free throws after getting fouled after a steal with 3:40 left and after the Auggies were unable to score on the other end, Wolhowe connected with a lay-up with 2:45 left that suddenly pushed the Cobber lead to seven at 47-40 and the last remaining lifelines for the home team in this contest were slipping away.  Augsburg would be unable to capitalize on two successive scoring opportunities that may have at least got them back into single-possession range and the coup de grace applied by the Cobbers was a desperation lay-up attempt in traffic by Mentzer as the shot clock was expiring that impossibly came off near the top end of the glass and found its way into the cylinder for a 49-40 Concordia lead that, for all intents and purposes, was the ballgame.  Jones would nail a somewhat meaningless "3" for the Auggies from the left top area with :21.4 left but it would be much too little and much too late.  Ellefson would knock down two insurance freebies with :15.1 left and the Cobbers stole a precious early-season road win by a final count of 51-43.

Jessica Rahman winced a bit afterward when I was finally able to catch up with her and said that "It wasn't very pretty" but it was a "gritty win."  I asked her if she felt that this year's team was ahead of where last year's team was at this point but she replied that that was tough to answer as she said that those were really two different teams.  I did mention that I felt that I saw some of the characteristics of the recent successful teams that she's had in that her squad played very smart in that fourth quarter and didn't beat itself.  She smiled and agreed and replied that "I only wish we would have done that at Macalester (referring to her squad's 60-58 loss last week Saturday on 12-2).  Still, this has to be a big step forward for this young Concordia team and Jessica Rahman was in agreement with that.    Meanwhile, an incredibly frustrating outing for the Auggies on this Saturday on a day where they shot just 15-64 from FG range for 23.4% and an equally-icy 6-27 from three-point land for 22.2%.  Yikes.  I mentioned the three-point shooting woes to Riverso and he replied that it was more than that; that there were plenty of transition opportunities not capitalized on as well.  Another sore spot had to be the rebounding front where Concordia held a 43-35 advantage and Riverso was quick to admit that those two factors combined won't win you many ballgames.  Mentzer's heroics were key on this day as she led all scorers with 14 points and Wolhowe added 11 points.  Jones led Augsburg with eight points while McLemore had seven points.