GAC vs UST 1-24-18

Carefully made my way over to the St. Paul side of town on this Wednesday night and over to UST's Anderson Athletic Center and Schoenecker Arena for this key MIAC match-up between visiting GAC which made its way up U.S. Highway 169 and the Union Pacific's Mankato Sub portion of the famed "Omaha Route" mainline to the Twin Cities to take on host UST.  The Gusties were coming into this game with an 8-2 MIAC record and 14-3 overall while the Tommies; fresh off their big win up at CSB this last Saturday, brought in an unblemished 10-0 record in the MIAC and were 15-2 overall.  It seems hard to believe that the last time that GAC beat UST was eight years ago so the Tommies were enjoying an extended win streak against the black and gold but, then again, you never know from night to night how things are going to go.

It didn't seem to be any surprise at all that the Tommies again came out of the gate fast thanks to junior guard Lucia Renikoff.  The former Washburn standout started things out with a "3" from the right corner at the 9:17 mark and after fellow junior post Hannah Spaulding connected with a lay-up as the shot clock expired at the 7:49 mark for a 5-2 UST lead, another Renikoff three-point dagger - this one from the top of the key at the 6:28 mark - extended the Tommie lead to 8-2.  GAC senior forward Miranda Rice would connect with a short jumper from the right side at the 6:12 mark to reduce the Gustie deficit to four points at 8-4 but UST senior guard Maddie Wolkow's "3" from the right corner at the 5:15 mark now had the Tommies up 11-4 and GAC Head Coach Laurie Kelly had to take a thirty-second timeout in hopes of not getting buried by three-point bombs early on.  That short stoppage in play seemed to revitalize the Gusties a bit as they were able to trim the deficit.  Rice was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 4:48 left and then senior guard Mikayla Miller knocked down her first three-pointer of the evening from the right wing area with 3:33 left that had the deficit back down to four points at 13-9.  Senior reserve forward Emee Udo connected with a short jumper with 2:52 left to keep GAC in that four-point range trailing 15-11 and two Udo free throws with 2:08 left along with two more by surprising freshman point guard Ava Gonsorowski with 1:04 left in the opening period finally had the Gusties back within a single possession trailing 18-15 which was a far sight better than what they were looking at in the early moments of the ballgame.

One of the reasons that GAC was able to slow the usually potent Tommie drive down the stretch of the first period was that they had switched to a 2-3 "matchup" zone defense after it became clear that they would not be able to stop UST's Spaulding down low with "man" defense.  The Gusties' Kelly stuck with this strategy once the second period got underway and when GAC got a stop on the Tommies' first possession, the Gusties were able to knot the score at 21 a piece when Rice banged home a three-point bomb from the top of the key off the glass at the 9:05 mark.  Perhaps somewhat alarmed by this development, UST got its lead back to five points when junior guard Kaylie Brazil drilled a "3" from the left top area at the 8:35 mark and a Spaulding score in the paint at the 5:50 mark had the Tommies up 23-18.  GAC's Miller got her team back within single possession range again with her three-point bomb from the left corner with 4:08 left but it was here where UST was finally able to establish more separation.  Spaulding would get fouled with 3:08 left and although she was only able to get one of the two free throw attempts to go down, the Gusties' hopes took a hit as Rice was tagged with her second foul and Kelly was not going to take any chances with her senior forward and promptly yanked her.  With Rice out, the Tommies now had a big advantage down low.  Spaulding connected with a short shot off the glass with 3:00 left and another Spaulding score in the paint with 2:12 left now had UST up 28-21 and Kelly called another thirty-second timeout to try and prevent her Gustie team from getting down by too much.  The Tommies, in fact, appeared to have some of their hopes dampened when Wolkow was saddled with her second foul with 1:15 left and with :45.1, GAC appeared to have righted the ship somewhat when junior forward Kendall Thompson got sent to the charity stripe and the former Holy Family standout came through with two free throws to reduce the Gustie deficit down to five points at 28-23.  Still, UST would have things there way as Wolkow; riding those two fouls, drained a "3" from the right wing area with :30 left and one Brazil free throw with :03.1 left before the buzzer allowed the Tommies to enjoy a 32-23 halftime lead.  Just checking the second period box score reveals that UST held a 9-5 advantage on the boards and that the Gusties simply didn't shoot that well; going only 2-8 for 25% from FG range alone. 

GAC tried to go back to work right away once the third period got underway and a lay-up by Gonsorowski at the 9:01 mark and a lay-up in transition by junior guard Justine Lee at the 7:30 mark cut the deficit down to seven points at 34-27.  An offensive rebound for a putback by Miller at the 6:27 mark kept the Gusties in that seven-point range trailing 36-29 but GAC's comeback efforts took a big hit when Rice was tagged with her third foul of the night at the 6:13 mark and Kelly again had no choice but to yank the former Forest Lake standout.  The Tommies' Spaulding was able to score in the paint in this sequence and although she was unable to convert on the "and one" UST was now back up by nine at 38-29.  A Brazil drive and finish at the 5:51 mark got the Tommies their first double-digit lead at 40-29.  Spaulding would add one free throw with 4:25 left and after GAC's Udo collected her third foul of the night with 3:53 left, the Gusties were really in a pinch down low.  As such, the Tommies slowly padded their advantage even more.  Renikoff drained a "3" from the left corner with 2:37 left and one free throw by senior forward Lauren Fischer with 1:02 left and one more by Renikoff with :27.8 left not only had UST up 46-32 but now the Gusties were in an even more perilous situation as Rice was slapped with her fourth foul of the night.  Udo would connect with a jumper with :01 left before the end of the third period but GAC was still staring at a twelve-point deficit at 46-34.

The Tommies and Gusties would initially trade scores in the early moments of the fourth period as UST's Spaulding connected with a lay-up at the 9:48 mark and GAC's Lee did the same at the 8:21 mark.  But the Gusties were in no position to simply trade baskets and UST put GAC in an even worse spot with a 9-2 run.  Three scores by Renikoff - a drive and finish at the 7:30 mark, a "3" from the left corner at the 6:51 mark and another drive and finish at the 6:05 mark - had the Tommies up 55-38 and a score in the paint by sophomore reserve post Elsa Anderson at the 5:01 mark increased the lead to 57-38.  GAC was able to cut into the deficit a bit as Lee uncorked a "3" from the left top area with 4:09 left and Rice connected with a lay-up with 2:45 left but the Gusties could never mount a serious threat down the stretch.  Spaulding would drop two freebies with 2:31 left and Fischer would drop two more for insurancde with 1:05 left as the Tommies stayed unbeaten in MIAC play with a 61-45 victory.

You could sense some of the frustration from the GAC contingent afterward as this latest setback really does not leave them much wiggle room wrt their hopes for a bid to the NCAA Tournament.  They'll most likely have to win the MIAC Championship Game now although if they do win out enroute to the MIAC Championship Game and lose a tough one to UST in the finale, they may have a shot with 23 wins but their lack of wins against regionally-ranked opponents would likely work against them.  Still, the Gusties' Kelly; as disappointed as she was by this setback, did see some positives from this game nonetheless.  She pointed out that her team seemed to do a good job defensively when they went into that 2-3 "matchup" zone defense but would have liked to have been able to take away some of those three-point daggers that UST's Renikoff unleashed on this night.  I think, too, that it's quite obvious that there seems to be some sort of mental block that the Gusties have when it comes to playing the Tommies and until they can find a way to get over that, they'll most likely continue to struggle when it comes to playing UST.  The thing of it is, I think the same can be said for a lot of other teams in the MIAC as well.  Simply another outstanding outing for UST's Spaulding on this night as she continues to solidify her case for MIAC POY this season as she recorded a "double-double" of 22 points and 11 rebounds; nine of those on the defensive side.  Renikoff was brilliant at times as well and she was right behind with 19 points.  The Gusties had two players in double figures as well as Rice collected 13 points and Miller had 10 points.  What really surprised me was the rebounds were relatively even on this night as GAC actually held a 35-33 edge on the boards on this night and turnovers were about the same - UST had 13 and GAC had 12.  What the Gusties couldn't overcome, however, was their abysmal shooting as they went 16-55 from FG range for 29.1% and 4-17 from behind the arc for 23.5%.  That simply won't get the job done.  Thanks to Spaulding, UST also held a decided edge in points in the paint by a 28-18 edge.