Bemidji State vs Concordia St. Paul 1-26-18

Made my way back over to the St. Paul side of town again on this unseasonably warm January night to take in this NSIC matchup between visiting Bemidji State and host Concordia St. Paul.  Both the Beavers and the Golden Bears have been having sub par seasons this year and both were coming into this game with identical 3-11 conference records.  Concordia St. Paul, however, was coming into this game with a bit more momentum, however, winning two of their last three outings including a 74-72 win over arch-rival Minnesota State on Tuesday night.  The Beavers on the other hand were coming into this contest on an eight-game losing skid and were desperate for a win - something they hadn't experienced since late December against Upper Iowa.

Bemidji State certainly didn't look like a team that was suffering through an extended losing streak in the opening minutes of the first period as they bolted out to an early 11-1 lead.  Senior forward and former Anoka standout Sam Adamich got things going for the Beavers with her "3" from the left top area at the 9:05 mark and a short jumper in the lane by fellow senior guard Mikayla Larson at the 8:21 mark made it a 5-0 game.  Concordia St. Paul couldn't seem to connect on even easy lay-ups and "bunnies" and this gave the green-clad Beavers a chance to pad their lead even more.  Two scores by senior reserve post Sierra Senske - a jumper from the top of the key just inside the arc at the 6:37 mark and a jumper from near the free throw line with 4:40 left - gave Bemidji State the aforementioned 11-1 advantage before the Golden Bears finally broke the ice from FG range on a drive into the lane and short jumper by senior reserve guard and former Andover standout Haydn Becker with 4:10 left.  Bemidji State, however, would push their lead to 15-3 as one lay-up by freshman reserve forward Gabby Dubois with 3:02 left and another lay-up by sophomore post Sydney Arrington with 2:39 left seemed to have the Beavers in excellent shape.  However, a 10-2 run by Concordia St. Paul to close out the first period not only dug them out of a hole but seemed to also take a lot of the wind out of Bemdji State's sail as well.  Two free throws by Becker with 2:25 left and two more by freshman reserve forward Ayla Lemke with 1:52 left had the Golden Bears back in single-digit range trailing 15-7.  Becker would be fouled in a transition opportunity with 1:42 left and got one free throw to go down out of it and with 1:18 left Lemke drained a "3" from the top of the key that now cut the deficit down to four points at 15-11.  Freshman guard Elle Gess kept Concordia St. Paul in that four-point range with a lay-up with :54 left so considering the canyon they had dug for themselves early on, things were beginning to look up a bit for the Golden Bears. 

Bemidji State tried desperately to keep the Golden Bears at bay and a Senske score in the paint at the 8:50 mark got the Beavers some more breathing room with a 19-13 lead.  But Concordia St. Paul kept chipping away.  Junior guard Kayla Miller connected with a lay-up at the 8:34 mark to start a 7-3 Golden Bear push.  Junior point guard and former Waconia standout Anna Schmitt; who was held in check during the first period, finally broke her dry spell as she snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 7:53 mark to help Concordia St. Paul close within a single possession at 19-17.  Bemidji State answered with a "3" by Larson from the left corner at the 7:09 mark but Schmitt would come to the rescue for the Golden Bears with a "3" of her own from the right wing area off of an inbounds pass at the 6:50 mark that again had Concordia St. Paul back within a single possession trailing 22-20.  The Beavers would make another push to try and increase their safety net as freshman guard Sydney Zerr unleashed a "3" from the left wing area at the 5:23 mark and one Larson freebie with 3:39 left again gave Bemidji State more breathing space with a 26-20 lead.  But the Beavers suffered a bit of a blow during this push as Senske was tagged with her second foul of the evening and Bemidji State Head Coach Chelsea DeVille; not in the mood to take any chances, yanked the Glyndon native to preserve her for the second half.  This seemed to provide the Golden Bears with the opening that they had been searching for and they responded with a game-changing 14-3 run to end the second period.  Junior reserve guard Lexi Lee uncorked a "3" from the left wing area with 3:27 left to get Concordia St. Paul back to within a single possession again trailing 26-23 and a Schmitt lay-up with 2:55 left narrowed the gap to two points at 27-25.  Then Gess propelled the Golden Bears into the lead with her three-point bomb from the right wing area with 2:07 left and a Lemke lay-up with 1:33 left now had Concordia St. Paul with a 30-27 advantage.  With :56.3 left, Kayla Miller made a drive along the left baseline for a finish and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" pushed the Golden Bear lead to 33-27.  Miller would add one more free throw with :31.6 left before Bemidji State could finally get two free throws from freshman guard Brooklyn Bachmann with :12.9 left but all the early momentum that the Beavers had was now out the window as both teams headed into the locker room with Concordia St. Paul up 34-29.  A check of the first half box score reveals that neither side was setting the world on fire with their shooting - the Beavers were 11-28 for 39.3% from FG range and 3-9 from behind the arc for 33.3% while the Golden Bears shot 11-38 for 28.9% from FG range and 4-11 from behind the arc for 36.4%.  Rebounds were nearly even with the Golden Bears holding a 25-24 edge but Bemidji State's DeVille could not have been happy with her squad's ten first half turnovers that played a big part in enabling Concordia St. Paul to not only mount a comeback but to take the lead as well. 

Neither team could do much with their first couple of possessions in the third period but the Golden Bears were looking to build upon their lead and a score in the paint by junior post Lindsay Dorr at the 8:25 mark pushed Concordia St. Paul's lead to 36-29.  The Beavers, however, were not quite ready to curl up in the fetal position and call it a night and they managed to claw their way back into the thick of things with a 9-3 push.  Arrington snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 7:59 mark and a score in the paint by Senske at the 7:24 mark now had Bemidji State back in single-possession range trailing 36-33.  The Golden Bears would stretch the lead to 39-33 on a Lee "3" from the left wing area at the 6:54 mark but Bemidji State continued with their assault.  Sydney Zerr uncorked her second three-point bomb of the night from the same left wing area at the 6:28 mark and one free throw by freshman reserve post and Anoka native Taylor Bray at the 5:53 mark and one more by Bachmann at the 5:25 mark appeared to have the Beavers in excellent shape down by only one at 39-38.  Yet, this is exactly where things began to fall apart for Bemidji State as the Golden Bears unleashed an 11-0 run that changed the complexion of this game for good.  First, Schmitt connected with a lay-up that drew a foul in the process and her "and one" with 4:26 left gave Concordia St. Paul a four-point 42-38 edge.  That lead expanded to seven points when Becker connected with a lay-up and got fouled in the process and her "and one" with 3:40 left made it a 45-38 game.  Lemke connected with a lay-up with 3:08 left and then Lee was  able to snare a steal and dash the other way for a lay-up with 1:58 left to push the Golden Bear lead to nine at 49-38 and Bemidji State's DeVille had no choice at this point but to take a match to a timeout to try and stop this run.  Still, the Beavers' fortunes took another hit when Senske fouled Concordia St. Paul's Becker with 1:37 left and her free throw completed this push for a 50-38 Golden Bear lead.  Gess' drive into the lane for a finish with :46.9 left in the third period upped Concordia St. Paul's lead to 52-39 before Sydney Zerr broke the Beavers' extended drought with two free throws with just :02.5 left but with Bemidji State now down 52-41, it was going to be an uphill battle the rest of the way to say the least.

The Golden Bears hopes hit a sour note in the early moments of the fourth period when Becker not only collected her fourth foul of the night at the 9:15 mark but also had to be helped off the court with an apparent ankle or foot injury as well.  Still, the Beavers would not be able to capitalize on this opportunity as Concordia St. Paul went on a 7-2 push.  Lee dropped one free throw at the 7:14 mark and then Schmitt took over with three consecutive scores.  She first connected with a jumper from the right corner just inside the arc at the 6:11 mark and dropped two free throws with 4:59 left after being fouled in a transition opportunity.  Then the Waconia native connected with a lay-up as the shot clock was winding down with 4:13 left as the Golden Bears now had a sixteen-point cushion at 59-43.  Bemidji State tried to answer as Adamich buried a "3" from the right corner with 3:55 left and Sydney Zerr connected with a lay-up with 3:11 left but the Beavers simply could not string together enough scores to make any serious run.  Dubois' score in the paint helped Bemidji State cut the deficit down to ten points at 60-50 with 2:45 left but the Golden Bears were able to close things out down the home stretch.  Gess dropped two free throws with 2:29 left and junior guard Hanna Vidlund got one more insurance free throw to go down with :11.6 left as Concordia St. Paul collected a 63-53 victory.

Ultimately, Bemidji State's DeVille will look at her squad's 20 turnovers on this night as being one of the big factors in the team's downfall on this night; especially considering that they got off to a great start and held the lead for a good chunk of the first half.  Concordia St. Paul did hold a slight edge on the boards at 46-43 but those points that the Golden Bears got off of all those turnovers - where they held a 16-9 edge in that department - played a big role as well.  And Concordia St. Paul had a sizable edge in those points in the paint by a 28-18 count.  Bemidji State had two players in double figures scoring-wise on this night as both Sydney Zerr and Senske had ten points a piece.  On the Concordia St. Paul side, another fantastic night for Schmitt as she netted 16 points (and nine rebounds as well) while Gess had ten points.