GAC vs Hamline 2-3-18

Made a rather slow trip over to Hutton Arena on the campus of Hamline University on this snowy Saturday afternoon of Super Bowl eve to take in the contest between visiting GAC and host Hamline.  After dropping that tough game at UST, the Gusties have taken out their frustrations on both St. Olaf and Carleton; winning handily in those games and were hoping for a repeat performance on this day.  The Pipers meanwhile have had a rough go of it as of late as they were coming into this contest on a four-game skid and were at the end of a gauntlet playing their fifth likely MIAC playoff team with this game today.

Right off the bat, GAC sought to distance itself from its opponent and two three-point bombs from senior guard Mikayla Miller - one from the right wing area at the 9:36 mark and the other from the top of the key at the 7:44 mark - quickly had the Gusties up 6-0.  Junior guard Justine Lee drained a "3" of her own from the right top area at the 7:13 mark and senior forward Miranda Rice got into the paint for a score at the 6:21 mark for an 11-2 GAC lead and new Piper Head Coach Alex Focke saw his squad getting put into a deep hole early on and called a timeout to get his squad back on track again.  To their credit, Hamline was able to make a bit of a dent in the cushion as junior guard Alaina Quaranta connected with a short jumper from the left side at the 5:50 mark and a drive and finish by sophomore guard Morgen Coleman at the 5:11 mark cut the deficit down to seven points at 13-6.  But the Gusties would soon moves things into high gear as junior reserve guard Taylor Anderson banged home a "3" from the right corner with 4:48 left as GAC would go on a 16-6 tear to end the opening period.  Rice would snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 4:19 left and another Anderson "3" - this one from the left wing area with 3:56 left - now had the Gusties up 21-8.  Miller would add one freebie with 3:31 left and a lay-up in transition by surprising freshman point guard Ava Gonsorowski with 2:22 left made it a 24-8 game.  Freshman reserve forward Paige Richert dropped two free throws with 1:46 left and junior forward Kendall Thompson connected with a lay-up in transition with 1:35 left as GAC expanded its lead to 28-10 and the Pipers' Focke called for a thirty-second stoppage in play to try and halt this assault.  But Gonsorowski would drop one free throw with :56.8 left to get the Gustie lead to 29-10 before Hamline sophomore forward Reilly Geistfeld finally stopped some of the bleeding for her team with her lay-up with just :04.9 left.  Still, down 29-12, the Pipers were staring at a big deficit going into the second period.

Hamline made an attempt to dig into this sizable deficit they were facing in the early moments of the second period.  Sophomore reserve guard Kaeli Stayer was able to knock down a jumper along the left baseline off of an inbounds pass at the 9:26 mark.  Geistfeld was able to muscle into the paint for one score at the 7:26 mark and a Quaranta lay-up at the 7:21 mark reduced the deficit down to fourteen points at 32-18 and Gustie Head Coach Laurie Kelly felt compelled enough to call a thirty-second timeout to make some adjustments.  Still, the Pipers were able to cut the deficit down to ten points thanks to Quaranta.  The Eau Claire, Wisconsin native connected with two lay-ups - one at the 6:36 mark and another at the 5:46 mark - that cut GAC's lead to 32-22.  It was here, however, that the Gusties choked off this comeback attempt by Hamline and embarked on a 13-2 run to end the first half.  Lee was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback in transition with 3:01 left and two Miller free throws with 2:27 left got the GAC lead to fourteen at 36-22.  Then it was Miller; the Goodhue native, getting into the paint for a score and drawing a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" with 1:23 left pushed the lead to 39-22.  Thompson; not necessarily known for her three-point prowess, drained a bomb from the top of the key with 1:04 left and then it was Lee; draining a dagger "3" from the right wing area with just :04 before the halftime buzzer as the Gusties took a cushy 45-24 lead into the locker room at intermission.  A check of the first half box score shows how incredibly well GAC shot in the first half; going 14-30 from FG range for 46.7% and 7-11 from behind the arc for 63.6%.  The Gusties held a sizable 21-10 edge on the boards to bolster their efforts plus the fact that Hamline committed 12 turnovers in the first half as well.  Throw in the fact that Miller had collected 14 first half points alone shows how dominant GAC was in the first half. 

Coleman tried single-handedly to revive Hamline's sagging fortunes in the early moments of the third period by draining two three-point bombs - one from the top of the key at the 9:41 mark and another from the right top area at the 8:20 mark.  Unfortunately for the Pipers, the best they could do was trade scores with GAC as the Gusties left nothing to chance.  Gonsorowski got a "3" to fall in the middle of Coleman's three-point shooting spree at the 9:13 mark and then Lee banged home another "3" from the right wing area at the 7:53 mark for a 51-30 GAC lead.  Rice made a hard drive for a finish in the paint at the 7:12 mark and senior reserve forward Emee Udo got into the paint for a score at the 6:36 mark.  When Rice got into the paint for a score at the 6:02 mark for a 57-30 Gustie lead, Hamline's Focke was clamoring for another timeout but GAC would not let up on the gas pedal.  Freshman reserve guard Gabby Bowlin connected with a lay-up in transition after a steal at the 5:11 mark and Udo was able to get a lay-up in transition after another steal with 4:57 left for a 61-30 Gustie lead and a beleaguered Focke called for a thirty-second stoppage in play to try and keep his Hamline squad from being wiped away.  Still, Udo would drop two free throws with 4:44 left and junior reserve guard Brooke Lemke would get two freebies to go down as well with 3:45 left for a 65-30 GAC lead before the Pipers could finally stop some of the massive bleeding.  Freshman guard Molly Wampler buried a "3" from the left wing area with 3:18 left and Quaranta got a short jumper in the lane off of an inbounds pass to go down with 2:52 left.  But the Gusties' Lee would have the last laugh of the third period with her short running jumper along the right baseline with just one tick left on the clock as GAC took a commanding 67-35 lead into the fourth and final period. 

Stayer would try to revive Hamline's moribund hopes with a lay-up at the 9:41 mark but the Gusties simply responded with another push.  Thompson snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 9:04 mark and freshman reserve guard Maddie Wagner connected with a lay-up at the 8:37 mark for a 71-37 GAC lead.  The Pipers tried to respond as Stayer drained a "3" from the right wing area at the 7:27 mark and Geistfeld connected with a lay-up at the 6:35 mark but none of this was ever going to bring Hamline close.  With such a big lead at her disposal, Kelly was able to gradually insert more and more of younger Gustie reserves into the game for some minutes and valuable experience as well.  Bowlin connected with a lay-up at the 6:24 mark and also drained a "3" from the right corner at the 5:38 mark for an 80-42 GAC advantage.  Udo connected with a jumper from the right wing area with 4:24 left and Maddie Wagner got two free throws to go down after getting sent to the charity stripe with 3:37 left.  Freshman reserve guard Tia Moscatelli got a "3" to go down from the left corner with 3:03 left and freshman reserve guard Marnie Wagner got into the paint for a score off of an inbounds pass with :56 left as the Gusties rolled to an 89-47 win. 

While I didn't get an opportunity to speak with GAC's Kelly after the game, she probably wouldn't have objected to me saying that this was the best that I've seen the Gusties play all season long.  They looked sharp on offense and shot well obviously but it was more than that.  I thought that they really shared the ball well on offense on this day and they didn't rely on just one or two players for scoring either.  And they played defense as well as I've seen them play it thus far this season.  If they manage to keep playing at this level, you certainly cannot discount their chances once the MIAC playoffs come along and they may be peaking at just the right time.  On the Hamline side, Focke was quick in agreement when I mentioned that he has a young team he inherited and that he's got to be patient.  Naturally, he hopes he can get the Pipers to this level someday and I think Hamline made a very, very solid hire when they nabbed this guy.  Indeed, it was a very balanced scoring effort from the Gusties as Miller had 14 points while Lee was right behind with 13 points and Thompson had 11 points.  And it's hard to go wrong when you're shooting 30-61 from FG range for 49.2% and 11-20 for 55% from behind the arc.  Probably even more pleasing for Kelly on this day is that her squad dominated the boards by a 44-20 count along with a 28-4 edge in points off of turnovers and an 18-8 edge in those "second chance" points.  Hamline had two players in double-figures scoring-wise on this day as both Quaranta and Coleman had 12 points a piece.  Focke no doubt had to wince at those 23 turnovers his squad was guilty of on this day that led to several easy GAC scores.