Winona State vs Concordia St. Paul 2-9-18

Made the run back over to the St. Paul side of town on this late Friday afternoon to take in an important NSIC Women's Basketball matchup that pitted visiting Winona State which made its way up U.S. Highway 61 and the Canadian Pacific Railway's River Sub mainline to take on host Concordia St. Paul.  The Warriors were in the midst of a so-so season; sitting at 9-9 in the conference at 13-9 overall and were hoping to position themselves for a good seed in the upcoming NSIC playoffs while the Golden Bears were battling through a series of struggles this season and were coming into this game with a 4-14 record in NSIC play and 7-17 overall.  I got into Gangelhoff Center early to get settled in and watch both teams warm-up.  This was a "Pink Out" night at Concordia St. Paul and the Golden Bears sported nifty pink uniforms on this night and pink warm-ups as well for breast cancer awareness.

Concordia St. Paul would draw first blood in this game as an offensive rebound and putback by junior post Lindsay Dorr at the 9:13 mark and a "3" from the right corner by fellow junior guard Kayla Miller at the 6:35 mark gave the Golden Bears an early 5-0 lead.  Winona State would come right back, however, to tie the contest at 5 a piece as a "3" from the left top area by freshman point guard Allie Pickrain at the 6:01 mark and a score in the paint by junior guard Kayla Schaefer at the 5:00 mark had this one leveled.  The Golden Bears would go on another 5-0 push as two Dorr free throws with 4:35 left and a "3" from the right wing area by senior guard Haydn Becker with 3:25 left got Concordia St. Paul to a 10-5 advantage.  The Warriors would close back to within a single possession as sophomore guard Gabie Doud drained a "3" from the right top area with 3:05 left but back-to-back three-point bombs by Concordia St. Paul would give them some more breathing room.  One by junior point guard Anna Schmitt from the right wing area with 2:45 left and another one by Kayla Miller from the left corner off of an inbounds pass with 1:51 left had the Golden Bears up 16-8.  Doud would try and come to the rescue for her Winona State team with :39 left in the opening period as with her second trey of the night - this one coming from the right wing area but a short running jumper in the lane by the Golden Bears' Schmitt with just :03 left on the clock gave Concordia St. Paul an 18-11 lead going into the second period. 

Ordinarily, a seven-point deficit wouldn't be that big of a deal but considering the fact that the Warriors were starting to have a ton of problems on offense, the gap seemed wider than it was and Concordia St. Paul sought to grow that cushion at the onset of the second period.  Freshman reserve guard Ellie Gess banged home a "3" from the left top area at the 9:31 mark to expand the Golden Bear lead to ten points at 21-11 and although Winona State was temporarily able to close the gap a bit on a lay-up by freshman guard Julia Silloway at the 9:09 mark and two free throws by Doud at the 8:36 mark, the Golden Bears continued on their march.  Dorr got into the paint for one score at the 7:57 mark and two free throws by the always-reliable Schmitt at the 6:49 mark got the lead back to double-digits again at 25-15.  Junior reserve guard Lexi Lee; always a threat from behind the arc, buried a bomb from the right wing area at the 5:25 mark to get the lead to thirteen points at 28-15 and one free throw by Dorr with 4:28 left and another one by Schmitt with 3:23 left maintained the thirteen-point edge at 30-17.  Doud ended Winona State's drought with a short jumper in the lane with 3:00 left but Concordia St. Paul responded with a three-point bomb from the top of the key by Becker; the former Andover standout, with 1:27 left to give the Golden Bears their biggest lead thus far at 33-19.  The Warriors got a bit of a reprieve before the half when Pickrain; the former Eastview standout, drained a "3" of her own from the left wing are with :47 left to slim the deficit down to eleven points by the halftime buzzer.  A check of the first half box score reveals that it was a pretty abysmal twenty minutes for the Warriors from FG range as they went 8-27 for 29.6% while Concordia St. Paul shot 10-23 for 43.5%.  And the Golden Bears were shooting at a pretty decent clip from behind the arc going 7-14 for 50% as well.  And although Concordia St. Paul had two more turnovers than did the Warriors in the first half at 9-7, the Golden Bears did own the boards in the first half by a 19-14 margin. 

Veteran Winona State Head Coach Scott Ballard decided to change things up a bit at the beginning of the third period by switching to a 2-3 "match-up" zone defense and it paid huge dividends for the Warriors as they responded with an 11-0 run to level the contest.  Senior forward Hannah McGlone snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 9:11 mark and a short jumper by Schaefer at the 8:36 mark had the Warriors back in striking distance down by seven at 33-26 and Concordia St. Paul Head Coach Amanda Johnson; perhaps somewhat alarmed by this development, called a timeout to try and make some adjustments herself.  But the Golden Bears seemed to be completely befuddled as to how to handle Winona State's 2-3 "match-up" zone and resorted to attempting ill-advised three-point bombs that misfired which allowed the Warriors to crawl closer.  McGlone got into the paint for a score at the 7:48 mark to cut the deficit down to five points at 33-28 and a "3" from the left wing area by Schaefer that rattled around on the rim and kissed off the glass just perfectly now had Winona State within a single possession down 33-31.  Then it was Pickrain; working her magic just as she did in her days at Eastview with a lay-up that suddenly tied this game up at 33 a piece and Concordia St. Paul's Johnson had seen enough to know that another timeout was warranted.  Strangely enough, that second stoppage in play seemed to save the Golden Bears and stymied the Winona State comeback bid.  The Warriors had a chance to poke their nose out in front when freshman reserve guard Emily Kieck got sent to the charity stripe with 2:43 left in the third period but she was unable to knock down both free throw attempts and Winona State took a bit of a hit as well with 2:13 left junior reserve forward Rachel Novotny was slapped with her fourth foul of the night.  Concordia St. Paul took its cue and jumped on the opportunity with an 8-0 push to end what could have been a disastrous third period.  Dorr got into the paint for one score with 2:01 left and followed that up less than a minute later with 1:27 left when she snared an offensive rebound for a putback that also drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" gave the Golden Bears a five-point edge at 38-33.  Then it was Schmitt administering a dagger that she does so well as the former Waconia standout banged home a "3" from the left top area with :48 left for a 41-33 Concordia St. Paul lead and the earlier momentum that the Warriors had seemed to vanish into the dark of this cold night outside. 

The Golden Bears' fortunes appeared to take a bit of a hit in the early moments of the fourth period when Becker was tagged with her fourth foul of the night at the 8:32 mark and when Winona State's McGlone connected with a lay-up a bit later at the 8:14 mark to make it a 41-35 ballgame, the Golden Bears lead appeared tenuous at best.  But to their credit, Concordia St. Paul may have bent a little but did not buckle.  Dorr got into the paint for a score at the 7:38 mark and drew a foul in the process and the obligatory free throw by the former Rogers standout increased the Golden Bear safety net to nine points at 44-35.  Back-to-back three-point bombs by Concordia St. Paul sealed the Warriors fate for good on this night.  One by Kayla Miller from the right corner at the 6:42 mark gave the Golden Bears a double-digit lead again at 47-37 and one by Gess from the left wing area at the 6:05 mark got Concordia St. Paul's lead to eleven at 50-39.  The Warriors tried to respond with one more push as sophomore reserve guard Alyssa Jurges drained a "3" from the left corner at the 5:13 mark and an offensive rebound and putback of her own miss by McGlone with 2:30 left had a flicker of hope for the Winona State contingent as they were now down by six at 50-44 but fittingly, it would be the Golden Bears' Schmitt closing the door for good on this one as she delivered another dagger "3" from the top of the key with 2:03 left and a Dorr lay-up with 1:16 left added double-digit insurance at 55-44.  The Warriors' Jurges would drain a "3" from the left wing off of the glass with 1:01 left but by this time the deficit was simply too much to overcome for Winona State.  The Golden Bears' Becker knocked down two free throws after getting fouled with :45.4 left and Schmitt would add two more free throws of her own with :26.7 left for a 59-47 Concordia St. Paul lead.  The Warriors would get one last score on an offensive rebound for a putback my McGlone with :17 left but it would be the Golden Bears getting the 59-49 victory.

While it may have been one more win it what has proven thus far to be a lean season for Concordia St. Paul, I think Johnson has to be encouraged by what she saw on this night; especially against a quality opponent like Winona State.  Sure, Schmitt came through in the clutch as she nearly always does but Johnson had other players step up big on this night as well.  Becker; the senior, showed tough and smart play down the stretch despite riding those four fouls.  Whether that all translates to a strong showing in the NSIC playoffs down the road remains to be seen but I think that the future is looking brighter for Concordia St. Paul than it was earlier in this season perhaps.  Meanwhile, it has to be a frustrating road loss for Winona State's Ballard and his staff as they saw their squad battle back to tie things up in the third period only to see things slip away again.  This is a very young team as well with only one senior (McGlone) so obviously there's some things to work on but reasons to feel hopeful about the future as well.  It was a stellar night for Concordia St. Paul's Dorr as she finished with a "double-double" of 17 points and 13 rebounds while Schmitt was right behind with her 16 points.  For Winona State, McGlone had an outstanding second half after she was shut out in the first half.  She finished with a "double-double" as well with her 12 points and 13 rebounds and Doud was right behind with her 10 points.  Despite the comeback attempt in the third period, it just was not a good shooting night for the Warriors as they finished the game going 20-60 from FG range for 33.3% and 7-19 from behind the arc for 36.8% which simply won't get the job done on most nights and Concordia St. Paul held a 40-35 advantage on the boards as well.  Surprisingly, however, Winona State held a 26-14 edge in points in the paint - largely thanks to the second half efforts of McGlone.