MIAC Playoff Semifinal Game - GAC vs CSB 2-22-18

Made a leisurely journey up U.S. Highway 10 and the BNSF's Staples Sub mainline to the St. Cloud area in the afternoon to get my fix of Mexican food at La Casita on the west side of town then made the short run over to nearby St. Joseph for the huge MIAC Playoff Semifinal Game between visiting GAC and host CSB with heavy NCAA Tournament implications for both teams.  The Gusties easily dispatched St. Kate's at home in Lund Arena on Tuesday night in one of the two Quarterfinal games so, presumably anyway, were coming into this game with a head of steam.  The Blazers were able to rest up a bit after losing a tough regular season finale at UST last Saturday so this game had all the makings of a good one despite the imminent snowstorm that was descending upon the area.  I got settled into Claire Lynch Hall early for this one and you could feel the anticipation in the air. 

Early on in the opening period, it looked to be both squads "bigs" battling it out.  CSB senior forward/post Niki Fokken started things off with her lay-up at the 9:47 mark but that was matched by Gustie senior forward Miranda Rice's short jumper from the right side at the 9:06 mark.  Rice would follow that up with a score in the paint at the 8:27 mark but the Blazers would retaliate behind Fokken as she slithered into the paint for a score at the 8:04 mark to knot this game at four.  So it was logical to figure that this could easily be a back-and-forth battle given the first two minutes.  But it was here, however, where GAC made its first decisive move of the ballgame to open up some space.  Two scores by Rice - a score in the paint at the 7:52 mark and a short jumper from the left side at the 6:45 mark - got the Gusties lead to 8-4 and one free throw by junior forward Kendall Thompson at the 6:18 mark pushed the lead to 9-4.  Rice would connect with a lay-up at the 6:11 mark and senior reserve forward Emee Udo snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 4:40 left in the first period to make it 13-4 and CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin; not at all liking how his team had gone stone cold all of a sudden, called a timeout to reevaluate strategy.  That stoppage in play seemed to revive the Blazers a bit as freshman guard Megan Thompson connected with a short jumper from the right side with 3:16 left and a "3" from the left top area by freshman reserve forward Maddie Schmitz with 1:03 left reduced the deficit down to four points at 13-9 but GAC was still able establish the breathing room it had earlier when senior guard Mikayla Miller knocked down two free throws with :21.2 left as the Gusties carried a 15-9 advantage going into the second period. 

CSB was hoping to get things tight again once the second period got underway and a "3" from the right corner by senior forward Chelsey Guetter at the 9:34 mark certainly pointed things in the right direction for the Blazers who closed within a single possession down 15-12.  But the Gusties had vastly different ideas and they embarked on a 13-0 blitz to put themselves in excellent shape.  Miller; the former Goodhue standout, drained a "3" from the right corner at the 9:19 mark to start this run and an offensive rebound and putback by junior guard Justine Lee at the 7:36 mark got GAC's lead up to eight points at 20-12.  Then it was Lee again; the former Dawson-Boyd standout, banging home a three-point bomb from the left wing area at the 6:28 mark to expand the lead to double-digits at 23-12.  Two free throws by surprising freshman point guard Ava Gonsorowski at the 5:44 mark and another Miller three-point bomb - this one from that same right corner with 4:14 left - pushed the Gustie lead to 28-12 and now CSB was definitely in between a rock and a hard place on their home floor.  But the Blazers managed to recover just enough to close out the second period on a 9-2 run to at least get back into single-digit range again.  Senior forward/post Kate Banovetz connected with a lay-up with 3:30 left and one Banovetz freebie with 2:23 left got the deficit down to thirteen points at 28-15.  Megan Thompson connected with a lay-up with 1:44 left as did Fokken with :53 left to get the deficit down to eleven points at 30-19.  Two free throws by Megan Thompson with just :11.7 left had CSB feeling a bit better about itself as both teams headed off to their respective locker rooms for the halftime break.  But Gustie Head Coach Laurie Kelly and her staff likely felt even better about things as they not only had the lead but had some favorable stats to review off of the first half box score.  The Gusties shot 11-27 from FG range for 40.7% and were 3-6 from behind the arc for a straight 50%.  Just as important is that GAC held a 16-12 edge on the boards against a longer, taller Blazer team and they were also able to snare six steals in the process.  Actually CSB shot decently in the first half as they went 8-17 from FG range for 47.1% although their three-point shooting fell off a bit from last Saturday vs UST as they were 2-5 for 40%.  While the rebounding aspect likely bothered Durbin and his staff enough as it was, what was probably even more troublesome for the Blazers is that they were guilty of 11 first half turnovers as well and that was definitely something that was going to have to get cleaned up. 

The early moments of the third period held a bit of an ominous tone for the Gusties as two key players got tagged with their third foul of the evening - Kendall Thompson at the 9:51 mark and Rice at the 9:28 mark.  Still, GAC managed to establish more breathing room as a jumper along the right baseline by junior reserve guard Taylor Anderson at the 8:01 mark and a jumper along the left baseline by Lee at the 7:07 mark had things looking good for the black and gold again with a 34-21 advantage.  But the Blazers put together a 10-2 run that got them right back into the thick of things.  Sophomore point guard Sidney Schiffler snuck through to grab an offensive rebound of her missed three-point attempt for a putback at the 6:40 mark and another routine Fokken lay-up at the 5:37 mark had CSB back in single-digit range again down 34-25.  Schiffler struck again with 3:48 left with a drive and finish to cut the deficit down to seven points at 34-27 and then sophomore reserve post Alex Johnson came up big for the Blazers.  The former Becker standout connected with a short turnaround jumper and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" suddenly had CSB back within striking distance again down 34-30.  Fokken would add one free throw of her own with 1:38 left before the Gusties could finally halt this comeback bid on a "3" from the left wing by Kendall Thompson with 1:22 left.  Still, the Blazers would counter on a Guetter lay-up with :57 left and Fokken would add one more free throw with :32.4 left to keep CSB close down 39-34 as things morphed into the fourth period. 

When the Blazers Fokken connected with yet another routine lay-up at the 9:27 mark of the fourth period to bring CSB back to within a single possession down 39-36, it was probably easy for many within the Gustie contingent to sigh and say, "Here we go again."  But this time around, GAC stood up to the challenge being put to them and responded with a key 6-0 push.  Rice was able to snare an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback at the 9:08 mark and a jumper from the right wing by Miller with 8:20 left increased the Gustie safety net to seven points at 43-36.  Lee would be sent to the charity stripe at the 7:55 mark and she sank both free throw attempts for a nine-point 45-36 advantage and CSB's Durbin, fearing that the wind was taken out of his team's sail, called a timeout to try and rectify the situation.  The Blazers; specifically Schmitz, would respond from this latest stoppage in play to try and pull close again.  The former Albany standout drained one three-point bomb from the left top area at the 7:31 mark and got another "3" to go down from the right top area at the 5:57 mark to slim the deficit down to five points at 47-42 and provide the partisan CSB contingent with a reasonable amount of hope.  But again GAC held firm clinging to that somewhat tenuous five-point lead.  Udo made a hard drive into traffic for a finish at the 5:08 mark and although Rice would pick up her fourth foul with 3:58 and would have to sit for a spell, the Gusties held firm and others stepped up to the plate.  Lee banged home a huge three-point bomb from the top of the key with 3:21 left to get the lead to 52-44 and a lay-up off of an inbounds pass by Kendall Thompson with 2:54 left maintained the eight-point edge at 54-46.  Then it was Gonsorowski getting her 5'5" frame into traffic for a finish with 2:09 left to give GAC a ten-point advantage at 56-46 and the Blazers were clearly in big trouble now.  The Blazers would respond with a 6-2 push to at least give themselves a fighting chance down the stretch.  Guetter would make a drive into traffic for a finish with 1:38 left and one free throw by Megan Thompson with 1:21 left got the deficit down to seven points at 56-49 but now CSB not only needed points, they needed to get stops as well and the latter proved to be a bridge too far.  The Gusties Lee connected with a lay-up in transition with :32.6 left to get the lead back up to nine at 58-49 and one insurance free throw by Miller with :20.9 left and two more by Lee with :11.5 left sealed the deal.  Fokken would get a meaningless score for the Blazers in the paint with :02 left but it would be GAC getting the huge win that just may very likely secure their ticket to the Big Dance with a 61-53 victory. 

Because of the ensuing snowstorm raging outside, I didn't get to hang around Claire Lycnh Hall as long as I would have liked or get to talk to as many people as would have liked to but the one impression I came away with from this game is that GAC definitely felt the sense of urgency needed in this situation with their NCAA Tournament hopes hanging in the balance.  Moreover, they appeared ready mentally and their senior leaders really came through for them on this night.  The one stat that really stood out to me on this night in checking the final box score is that the Gusties held a decided 35-28 advantage on the boards against a taller, longer CSB team and that's one thing that definitely had to go their way on this night in order to win.  The Blazers did clean things up on the turnover front in the second half but there were two other things that worked against CSB on this night as well:  The Gusties held a decided 26-5 edge on points off of turnovers and had a sizable 16-5 edge in those all-important "second chance" points.  Just as important, the Gusties held both Megan Thompson and Guetter in check on this night and CSB junior reserve guard Breanna Gates wasn't that big of a factor on defense for the Blazers as she had been in the regular season finale against UST.  So it's definitely a setback for CSB after the near-miss against the Tommies last weekend but I still the the Blazers are a "lock" for the NCAA Tournament regardless and I'll have more to say about this late Sunday and early Monday.  Somewhat surprisingly, it was the oft-underestimated Lee who led the way for GAC on this night with her 16 points while Miller finished with 13 points and Rice finished with 12 points in a very balanced attack for the Gusties.  For the Blazers, Fokken was the only scorer in double-figures with her 20 points and nobody else was even close.  Now CSB must play the excruciating waiting and wondering game although again, I feel confident that the Blazers are in.  GAC meanwhile now gets ready for its third crack at mighty UST in the MIAC Championship Game on Saturday as the Tommies dispatched SMU with relative ease.  UST has been GAC's kryptonite for the last eight years and to be sure, the Gusties will have to play even cleaner than they did on this night if they hope to finally overcome their nemesis.  But given tonight's performance under pressure on the road, the Gusties now have to have a huge shot of confidence going into Saturday's tilt.