Los Angeles Rams

Los Angeles Rams

Thursday, January 4, 2018

SMU vs St. Kate's 1-3-18


My first game of 2018 took me back over to the St. Paul side of town on the campus of St. Catherine's University on the frigid Wednesday night as visiting SMU made the long trek up U.S. Highway 61 and the CP Rail River Sub mainline and the Mighty Mississippi to St. Paul to take on host St. Kate's.  This is an exciting week as it is not only Wild Card week for my Los Angeles Rams but also the night where MIAC teams dive head first into conference play for the months of January and February and this is where the grind really begins.  If you can get off to a good start after the first of the year, it makes the grind a bit more bearable.  The Cardinals were coming into this contest with a decent 7-4 record while the Wildcats were 5-6 coming into this contest with the hope of evening their record.

Despite the long road trip on the way up that could have been easily used as an excuse to a sluggish start, SMU couldn't have possibly asked for a better start as the Cards raced out to an 11-0 lead; doing damage down low and out on the perimeter.  Lanky freshman post Abby Winter got it going early for SMU with a score in the paint at the 9:46 mark and the former Winona standout then drained a "3" from the left top area at the 8:36 mark that propelled the Cardinals out to a 5-0 lead.  A lay-up by junior guard Kirsten Keefe got SMU's lead to a touchdown at 7-0 at the 7:58 mark and the Wildcats were struggling mightily on offense; looking totally out of sync.  The Cardinals were able to force St. Kate's into a shot clock violation at the 7:25 mark and Wildcat Head Coach Don Mulhern wasted little time in calling a thirty-second timeout in hopes of getting his team untracked.  But SMU was not finished yet with this early charge as a hard drive and finish by strong junior forward Brandi Blattner at the 7:04 mark and a jumper from the left wing by freshman reserve guard Ewelina Schlomann at the 6:32 mark gave the Cardinals that 11-0 lead before St. Kate's could finally shake off their early doldrums.  Senior guard/forward Alexis Garcia personally engineered a 6-0 Wildcat push as she first made a hard drive along the left baseline for a finish at the 6:09 mark and connected with a lay-up in transition a bit later at the 5:41 mark.  Then Garcia was able to go coast-to-coast for a finishing lay-up at the 5:19 mark that cut SMU's lead down to 11-6 and Cardinal Head Coach Brent Pollari; perhaps a bit fearful of a total defensive collapse by his squad, called a thirty-second timeout to try and rectify the problem.  That short stoppage in play seemed to revive SMU as they were able to stretch out their lead again.  Senior guard Alexa Huisman drained a "3" from the left top area at the 5:05 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by Blattner with 4:24 left in the opening period had the Cardinals lead back up to eight at 16-8.  A Blattner score in the paint with 3:54 left and two Blattner free throws with 3:01 left appeared to have SMU in great shape again up double-digits at 20-10 but the 'Cats were able to make an 8-2 push before the end of the first period.  Sophomore reserve guard Emma Nelson drilled a "3" from the left corner with 2:41 left and a "3" from the right top area by senior point guard Meg Clark with :31 left cut the deficit for St. Kate's down to six at 22-16.  With just :04 left in the opening period, freshman reserve guard Bailee Sillman connected with a lay-up that had the Wildcats trailing 22-18 going into the second period. 

SMU tried to step on the gas pedal once again in the early moments of the second period as two Winter freebies at the 9:26 mark and a Winter score in the paint off of an inbounds pass at the 7:49 mark gave the Cardinals a bit more breathing space up 26-20.  It was here, however, where SMU went into a serious funk; going on an extended scoring drought and committing several turnovers that stalled their drive.  The Wildcats didn't fare much better either but it seemed as though that SMU settled for a lot of three-point shots that they perhaps shouldn't have settled for as opposed to trying to pound the ball inside to either Blattner or Winter.  With 3:40 left before the half, St. Kate's was finally able to take the lid off of their basket as Meg Clark connected with a lay-up and a Sillman lay-up in transition on a 3-on-2 fast break opportunity now had the Wildcats within a single possession trailing 26-24.  St. Kate's finally grabbed their first lead with 1:53 left when Sillman drained a "3" from the left wing area and a Meg Clark "3" from the top of the key and off the glass with :37 left stretched the Wildcat lead to four at 30-26.  Keefe finally ended SMU's excruciating dry spell with two free throws with :16.9 left and although the Cardinals were down only 30-28 when the halftime buzzer sounded, the wind that had directed their sail early in this contest was now completely gone and you had to wonder if they could find their mojo again.  A check of the first half box score reveals some of the ugly numbers that SMU's Pollari and his assistant Amber Sorenson (a former Caledonia and UNI standout) were looking at:  10-29 from FG range for 34.5% and a paltry 2-14 from three-point land for 14.3%.  Turnovers were about even (SMU with 12 and St. Kate's with 11) and even though the Cardinals outrebounded St. Kate's by a 21-12 margin, they didn't have a lot to show for it.

The Wildcats picked up right where they left off in the opening moments of the third period as two free throws by Meg Clark at the 9:33 mark and a Meg Clark jumper from the free throw line at the 9:11 mark pushed St. Kate's lead up to six at 34-28.  SMU tried to counter as Blattner used a hard drive along the left baseline for a finish at the 8:32 mark and a Huisman lay-up at the 8:02 mark had the Cards back in single-possession range trailing 34-32.  But when St. Kate's struck back on a Meg Clark lay-up at the 6:32 mark and Garcia connected with a lay-up in transition at the 5:41 mark that had the Wildcats lead back up to six at 38-32, SMU appeared to be faltering again and Pollari called a timeout to assess the situation.  But even this latest stoppage in play didn't deter St. Kate's.  A hard drive and finish by ever-improving sophomore guard Jackie Radford with 4:38 left along with one Sillman free throw with 3:03 left and two more by Meg Clark with :55.8 left now had the Wildcats up double-digits at 43-32 and SMU's shooting woes were not helping their cause either.  The Cardinals finally salvaged a bit from this latest setback late in the third period as Blattner was able to score in the paint off of an inbounds pass with :45 left and a lay-up in transition by freshman reserve guard Caily Landers with :11 left had SMU's deficit down to seven points at 43-36 but the Cards were going to have their work cut out for them in the fourth period if they hoped to bring this one all the way back.

SMU changed up things on defense in the fourth period; going into a 2-3 "match-up" zone defense and it looked as if those changes on defense might pay big dividends early on.  Blattner got into the paint for one score at the 9:31 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by Winter at the 8:38 mark now had the Cardinals back in single-possession range trailing 43-40.  But St. Kate's had a quick response to this enemy charge as Garcia nailed a "3" from the right top area at the 8:11 mark and a Meg Clark "3" from the right wing area at the 6:34 mark increased the Wildcat safety net with a 49-42 advantage.  SMU tried to make inroads on two Huisman charity stripe shots at the 6:17 mark but it seemed as if every time the Cardinals tried to creep closer, Garcia and Meg Clark would always come to the rescue for St. Kate's.  Garcia would drain another "3" from the left wing area at the 5:58 mark and although Huisman would answer that for SMU with a "3" from the left wing  area with 4:55 left, a Meg Clark score in the paint with 4:41 left had the Wildcats back up by seven again at 54-47.  After much effort, SMU slowly began to close the gap down the stretch.  Blattner got into the paint for one score with 4:31 left that drew a foul as well and although the former Dover-Eyota standout couldn't get the ensuing "and one" to go down, the Wildcats lost a key component down low when freshman reserve forward Mackenzie Dettman fouled out.  Blattner was able to snare an offensive rebound and putback of her own miss with 3:52 left and, after the Cardinals got a key stop on the ensuing St. Kate's possession, Blattner finally had SMU back in single-possession range with two free throws trailing 56-53 after getting fouled with 3:16 left.  But again, the frustrating thing for the Cardinals was that each time they were seemingly ready to tie this game up, Garcia would be there to come to the rescue for St. Kate's.  The former Hopkins product made a hard drive and finish with 3:03 left to get the Wildcats lead back to five at 58-53 and after Blattner brought SMU close again with her short jumper in the lane off the glass with 2:46 left, Garcia got one free throw to go down with 2:14 left to get St. Kate's lead back up to four at 59-55.  A Huisman lay-up with 1:16 left now had the Cardinals down by only two points at 59-57 and SMU's Pollari called a timeout to draw up strategy for the final minute.  On the ensuing Wildcat possession, St. Kate's carefully navigated the waters of the Cardinals 2-3 zone, getting good passes in order to somehow stretch that zone defense out just enough to find a crack.  With :45 left, Garcia found just enough opening to bang home her biggest trey of the night - a bomb from the top of the key that got the 'Cats lead up to 62-57 and now SMU was effectively back at Square 1.  Worse yet, the Cardinals turned the ball over on their ensuing possession and St. Kate's Mulhern called a timeout to draw up a plan to preserve this five-point edge.  The Cardinals had one last-ditch hope as Blattner would force a steal and Keefe would get fouled with :06 left and her two free throws again had SMU down by only three at 62-59 but now they desperately needed to try and force another steal to have any chance.  But the Wildcats smartly got the ball into the hands of Meg Clark and she was fouled with :00.9 left and she was able to get one free throw to go down as St. Kate's pulled off a bit of a stunner with a 63-59 victory.

A disappointed Pollari of SMU made the comment afterward about "controlled slippage"; i.e., trying to minimize the damage done after turnovers and a shooting slump.  I made the comment to Pollari that I thought the big downfall for his squad in this one was the key stretch in the second period where the Cardinals went ice-cold from the perimeter and perhaps possibly settled for some three-point shots that they maybe shouldn't have settled for as opposed to getting the ball down low to either Blattner or Winter.  Pollari was more or less in agreement with that; stating that his team can make those shots but naturally wishes that he could have had his "bigs" have some more touches down low instead with some higher-percentage shots.  On the other side of the coin, St. Kate's Mulhern was just wowed when he looked at the final box score of this contest which showed Garcia having an outstanding outing with her 26 points that included nine of those points coming from behind the arc and Meg Clark right behind with her 22 points as the only players for the Wildcats in double figures.  Then again, Mulhern is getting contributions from his younger players and this time it was Sillman stepping up.  Moreover, Mulhern was in agreement when I mentioned to him that I thought his squad did a great job of moving the ball around with solid passing against SMU's 2-3 zone in that fourth period.  In the final analysis, it's going to take some consistency for St. Kate's when it comes to their MIAC playoff hopes but they can certainly be an incredibly dangerous team if they can keep getting performances like this from both Garcia and Meg Clark AND have their younger players step up as well.  SMU ultimately outrebounded St. Kate's on this night by a 41-34 count and some of the other stats would have seemingly given the edge to the Cardinals as well.  SMU had a 17-10 edge on points off of turnovers and a 14-10 edge on "second chance" points.  Perhaps even more striking was that SMU had a 34-22 edge in points in the paint but what likely brought down the Cardinals on this night was the shooting - going 22-59 for 37.3% from FG range and 3-25 for 12% from three-point land.  SMU still had three players in double-figures as Blattner led the way with 22 points while Winter had 13 points and Huisman had 12 points. 

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