UW-River Falls vs St. Kate's Synopsis 12-16-17

After the Augsburg - Northwestern game, I headed south on Snelling Avenue to the south side of St. Paul and over to the campus of St. Catherine's University for the 3:00 P.M. non-conference game between visiting UW-River Falls out of the WIAC and host St. Kate's of the MIAC.  Got settled into Butler Center at the half with UW-River Falls up fairly comfortably at 41-20.

St. Kate's started the third period on a 4-0 push thanks to two free throws by sophomore guard Danica Cambrice at the 9:57 mark and a score in the paint by senior guard Meg Clark but the Falcons still looked like they could do no wrong as they regained control.  Junior forward Taylor Paulsrud unleashed a "3" from the right corner at the 7:18 mark and a short jumper off the glass by junior post Taylor Karge at the 6:06 mark had UW-River Falls up by twenty-two at 46-24.  A lay-up by fellow senior guard Brynn Liljander at the 5:26 mark maintained the cushion for the Falcons at 48-26 and it indeed looked to be too much to overcome for the home team.  But an unexpected 16-2 St. Kate's run over the remaining portion of this third period had the Falcons reeling just a bit.  One free throw by sophomore guard Jackie Radford with 4:08 left and two more by Meg Clark with 3:24 left helped spark this comeback bid as did some well-timed full- and half-court trapping defense as well.  Radford would connect with a lay-up with 2:46 left that also drew a foul and although the former Cretin-Derham Hall standout couldn't convert on the "and one" opportunity, it did send UW-River Fall's biggest weapon down low - Karge - to the bench with four fouls and the 'Cats were now in the bonus to boot.  Freshman guard Ashley Fossness dropped two free throws after getting fouled with 2:29 left and then the Britton, South Dakota native snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up with 2:11 left that suddenly whittled the deficit down to thirteen points at 48-35.  The Falcons tried to right the ship on a jumper in the lane by sophomore reserve guard Taylor Pearson with 1:44 left but St. Kate's was not finished yet.  Cambrice drained a "3" from the top of the key with 1:33 left and a jumper from near the free throw line by freshman reserve forward Mackenzie Dettman with :34 left now had the Wildcats down by ten at 50-40.  Two free throws by freshman reserve guard Bailee Sillman with just :04.3 left in this third period now had St. Kate's back in single-digit range trailing 50-42.

The big question going into the fourth period was if the Wildcats had enough energy left to keep this comeback bid alive but an experienced UW-River Falls team soon put those hopes to bed for good.  Liljander uncorked a "3" from the right wing area at the 9:40 mark and another three-point bomb by junior forward Jaycie Gerding at the 8:37 mark now had the Falcons lead back in double-digit range at 56-44.  Meg Clark would try to answer for St. Kate's with a "3" of her own from the right corner at the 8:21 mark but the 'Cats could never quite find that magic spark that they were able to find in the third period.  UW-River Falls would stay steady as Liljander was able to connect with a lay-up in transition at the 7:52 mark and also drew a foul in process and the obligatory free throw by the former Cambridge-Isanti standout had the Falcons up by twelve at 59-47.  Pearson would connect with a lay-up at the 7:20 mark and Gerding muscled into the paint for another score at the 6:58 mark and Liljander got another lay-up to go down at the 6:21 mark to complete this 9-2 run that now made it a 65-49 game.  Liljander would blast through for yet another lay-up at the 5:43 mark and Pearson would make a hard drive into the lane for a finish off the glass at the 5:21 mark that now had the lead at nineteen points at 69-50.  The lead would get extended to twenty points when Pearson snared an offensive rebound for a putback and was fouled in the process and her "and one" made it a 72-52 game.  St. Kate's could only make some incremental dents down the stretch but could never seriously threaten.  Senior guard/forward Alexis Garcia got into the paint for a score with 4:01 left and one Radford freebie with 2:29 left and a Garcia lay-up in transition with 1:35 left had the deficit down to seventeen at 74-57.  Radford would get one more free throw to go down with :54.6 left and Fossness would connect on a lay-up in transition with :30 left and Fossness would get one more feather in her cap for this day with a drive and finish that drew a foul with the "and one"  but the Falcons would ultimately head back home across the St. Croix River with a 75-63 victory in their bag.

I managed to catch up with UW-River Falls Head Coach Cindy Holbrook afterward to ask her about her squad and if she felt that her squad is where they should be at this time.  She expressed some mixed feelings about the subject; feeling that they dropped one game that could have gone either way but, for the most part, seemed to be happy about where they're at right now.  A year-end trip out to the Motherland awaits the Falcons as they play in a tournament at Whittier, California against Dicksinson out of the Centennial Conference and Emmanuel out of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference - games that the Falcons should be able to take care of business without too much trouble - before diving head-first into WIAC play right after the first of the year and we all know what a war that conference can be.  Still, Holbrook believes that her squad can be in the thick of things in the WIAC and in play for the Big Dance come March.  Meanwhile, it appears that it's slowly but surely becoming an increasingly tougher row to hoe for the Wildcats who have struggled with injuries and some bad luck as well.  They get one more non-conference game at home on Saturday (12-30) before getting back into MIAC play and the first three opponents on the menu after the first of the year are SMU and Bethel at home and then a roadie up to CSB.  You can never count out a team coached by Don Mulhern, of course, but the odds would appear to be stacked against them.  Liljander had an outstanding day for the Falcons on this Saturday with her 22 points to lead all scorers while Karge had 12 points and Pearson had 11 points.  Cambrice had a big day for St. Kate's with her 19 points while Radford was the only other player for the Wildcats in double-figures with her 11 points.  Somewhat surprisingly, rebounds were even on this day at 31 a piece and the Falcons also suffered 22 turnovers on this day as well; something that undoubtedly made Holbrook wince a bit afterward.  But the Wildcats had a horrid day from behind the arc shooting 2-14 for 14.3% while the Falcons had a much more proficient day; going 29-53 for 54.7% from FG range and 9-21 for 42.9% from behind the arc.  Another important stat on this day:  UW-River Falls had a 22-15 edge on points off of turnovers.