Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 7-18-18

I apologize for being a bit late with this but here are the results of the opening night of playoff action at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League from Wednesday night:


5:00 P.M. Games

Northwestern - 40
Anoka-Ramsey - 30

GAC Black - 56
NIACC - 30


5:55 P.M. Games

Bethel - 52
Augsburg - 33

UW-River Falls- 44
St. Kate's - 36


6:50 P.M. Games

Bethel - 34
UST Black - 29

Superhoopers - 57
Rusty Pipes - 43

Southwest Minnesota State - 55
UW-River Falls - 48


7:45 P.M. Games

GAC Gold - 74
Hamline - 49

St. Olaf - 57
GAC Alumni - 47

Rimshots - 65
Dordt - 27


A busy, busy night at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League on the first night of playoff action.  While I was only able to get the tail end of the two 5:00 P.M. games, it did give me time to say hellos to friends and acquaintances and get settled in for the two games in the 5:55 P.M. slot.  Over on Court 1, a match-up of two MIAC rivals was going on and in the early going this looked to be a very close, hard-fought battle as the Augsburg team held a 3-2 lead midway through the first period while the Bethel team was able to turn the tables a bit and hold a 9-8 advantage heading into the second period.  The Augsburg team got things going again with their patented transition game and held a 17-13 lead midway through the second period but the Bethel team managed to close the gap to just two points trailing 23-21 at the halftime break.  The Bethel team managed to tie the contest at 25 a piece early on in the third period and then the roof caved in on the Augsburg team as a pretty lay-up in transition by senior-to-be Hannah Johnson not only put the Bethel team out in front for good but was the genesis of a big run by the Bethel team as they led 29-25 midway through the third period and grew that lead to 35-27 by the start of the fourth period.  The Bethel team led by double-digits at 45-32 midway through the fourth period and never looked back.  Over on Court 2, the UW-River Falls team and the St. Kate's team were knotted at four a piece near the midway point of the first period but then the UW-River Falls team exploded on an 11-0 run thanks to five straight turnovers by the young St. Kate's team and grabbed a 15-4 lead by the end of the first period.  The St. Kate's team continued to struggle on the offensive end but was able to make a push late in the second period to crawl back into single-digit range trailing 24-16 by the halftime break.  But any comeback hopes that the St. Kate's team may have had vanished once the third period got underway as the UW-River Falls team got going with another run to hold a 34-20 lead midway through the third period and expanded on that lead by a 39-20 count at the start of the fourth period and cruised the rest of the way.

Things really started to get busy in the 6:50 P.M. slot with three games going on at once which meant I had to do a lot of walking back and forth to keep up with what was going on.  Over on Court 1, the Bethel team, showing no signs of fatigue or weakness from their game in the earlier slot, jumped on the UST Black team and grabbed a 10-3 lead midway through the first period and upped that lead to 12-3 by the start of the second period.  The Bethel team increased their lead to double-digits at 15-4 midway through the second period and the UST Black team appeared to be in a good amount of trouble down 20-9 at the halftime break.  But you knew that the UST Black team would not go out on a whimper and a quick 7-2 run to begin the third period closed the gap to four points at 22-18 and at that point it appeared that the UST Black team had a full head of steam.  But the experienced Bethel team quickly righted the ship and got their safety net built up again to hold a 27-18 lead at the end of the third period.  By the midway point of the fourth period, the Bethel team got the lead back to double-digits at 31-21 and although the young UST Black team was able to get the deficit down to five points late, they were never able to bring it all the way back.  Over on Court 2, two alumni teams were going head-to-head as the Superhoopers team grabbed a 9-4 lead lead midway through the first period but the Rusty Pipes team; a squad primarily made up of former Hamline and St. Kate's players, got the game tied at 14 a piece at the start of the second period.  The second period would be tight throughout and although the Superhoopers team got a 22-19 lead midway through the second period, the Rusty Pipes team came right back and knotted this contest at 24-all by the halftime break.  Things would continue to stay close throughout most of the third period with the Superhoopers team holding a 33-32 lead midway through the third period and it appeared that this trend would continue.  It was here, however, that the Superhoopers team went on a game-changing 10-2 run to hold a 43-34 lead by the start of the fourth period.  The Superhoopers team held a 50-38 advantage midway through the fourth period and the Rusty Pipes team never could get close again.  Over on Court 3, the Southwest Minnesota State team got a 13-5 lead on the UW-River Falls team and led 19-10 at the start of the second period.  The UW-River Falls team; having already played a game in the earlier slot, likely had fatigue set in as the Southwest Minnesota State team started running away with things and led 35-17 late in the second period and were up 35-20 at the halftime break.  The Southwest Minnesota State team led 42-26 midway through the third period and by the start of the fourth period, the UW-River Falls team appeared to be all but done down 50-32.  Miraculously, however, the UW-River Falls team found a second wind and kept chipping away and late in the game they found themselves down by only four at 52-48 but the Southwest Minnesota State team held on for a surprisingly tough win.

Another trio of games in the 7:45 P.M. slot kept me busy as well.  Over on Court 1, the GAC Gold team jumped on the young Hamline team early and often and led 12-4 midway through the first period and led 23-9 by the start of the second period.  The GAC Gold team slowly increased their lead in the second period holding a 33-17 advantage midway through and led comfortably 41-20 by the halftime break.  By the midway point of the third period, there was little doubt as to how this one was going to turn out with the GAC Gold team up 53-23 and by the start of the fourth period the GAC Gold team led 58-30 as they breezed to an easy win.  Over on Court 2, the St. Olaf team faced off with the GAC Alumni team and the St. Olaf team got off to a good start in this one up 5-0 early on and led 13-4 midway through the first period.  The St. Olaf team held an 18-11 lead by the start of the second period and although the GAC Alumni team shaved some of that deficit off trailing 27-21 midway through the second period, the St. Olaf team got on a run and held a double-digit 39-25 lead at the halftime break.  That lead grew to sixteen points at 49-33 midway through the third period and by the start of the fourth period, the St. Olaf team held a sizable 52-36 advantage.  The GAC Alumni team flirted with a comeback attempt in the fourth period but could never sustain the attempt.  Over on Court 3, the Dordt team was up 9-6 on the Rimshots team; a squad of primarily former Bethel players and by the start of the second period, the Dordt team seemed to have momentum in their favor up 12-8.  The Rimshots team would manage to tie the contest at 12 a piece midway through the second period and although they went on a run to lead 22-18 by the halftime break, the Dordt team still appeared to be right in the thick of things.  But the bottom fell out on the Dordt team as former Bethel standouts Rachel Parupsky ('16), Molly O'Toole and Kalli Zimmerman (17') were unstoppable and the Rimshots team held a 37-23 lead midway through the third period and led 46-25 by the start of the fourth period.  The Rimshots team clamped down in the fourth period and led 61-27 midway through the final period as they rolled to an easy win.

Another big night coming up next week Wednesday as winners try to keep advancing and a consolation bracket gives the losers a chance to keep playing so make sure you head on down to the Midwtown YWCA to catch all the action.   

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 7-11-18

Here are the results of the games I was able either to catch the ending of or follow last night at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:


5:00 P.M. Games

Southwest Minnesota State - 51
Anoka-Ramsey - 43

Dordt -38
Northwestern - 24


5:55 P.M. Games

Southwest Minnesota State - 58
UW-River Falls - 33

GAC Gold - 59
St. Kate's - 43


6:50 P.M. Games

NIACC - 62
GAC Black - 56

Winona State - 44
Bethel - 42


7:45 P.M. Games

Rimshots - 56
GAC Black - 52

Concordia St. Paul - 70
Winona State - 57


I was able to catch the very last moments of the Southwest Minnesota State team's win over the Anoka-Ramsey team on Court 1 in the 5:00 P.M. slot and on Court 2 the Dordt team surprised the Northwestern team which had found several different ways to win up until this point by a 38-24 margin.

There were two close games going on - at least in the early stages anyway - in the 5:55 P.M. slot.  On Court 1, the Southwest Minnesota State team was in a tough contest with the UW-River Falls team and the former was up 11-8 midway through the first period but the UW-River Falls team cut that deficit to a scant point at 13-12 by the start of the second period.  But the Southwest Minnesota State team put together a game-changing 8-1 run to get the lead to 21-13 midway through the second period and by the halftime break that lead extended to double-digits at 33-16.  The UW-River Falls team simply was unable to handle the size of the Southwest Minnesota State team down low and they weren't able to make much of a dent in the deficit either.  The Southwest Minnesota State team was up 38-23 midway through the third period and held a 46-30 lead at the beginning of the fourth period enroute to a win.  Over on Court 2, the St. Kate's team managed to stay close to the GAC Gold team throughout much of the first period but a tough lay-up by senior-to-be Justine Lee at the end of the first period gave the GAC Gold team a bit more breathing room with a 13-8 advantage.  The St. Kate's team managed to battle back in the second period and a tough running jumper by junior-to-be Jackie Radford tied the contest at 15 a piece midway through the second period.  Although the GAC Gold team was able to forge a 25-21 lead by the halftime break, there was still plenty of hope over on the St. Kate's side.  But that hope slowly faded once the third period got going as the GAC Gold team increased its lead to 36-28 midway through the third period and by the start of the fourth period the GAC Gold team held a cozy 47-32 lead as they rolled to a double-digit victory.

In the 6:50 P.M. slot over on Court 1, the GAC Black team ran into the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League buzzsaw - otherwise known as the NIACC team and the young group from Mason City, Iowa put on quite a show in the early going with their up-tempo and three-point shooting and they found themselves up 18-4 midway through the first period and led 22-8 at the start of the second period.  The GAC Black team simply could not find a way to slow down this group as the NIACC team grew their lead to 36-20 midway through the second period and by the halftime break the GAC Black team found itself in quite a hole down 39-23.  The GAC Black team indeed appeared to be buried midway through the third period down 46-26 but they somehow found a second wind and managed to cut the deficit down to single-digits at 46-37 by the start of the fourth period.  The GAC Black team kept chipping away and found themselves down by only four points at 53-49 midway through the fourth period and it looked as if they might be capable of completing this miraculous comeback attempt.  Curiously however, the GAC Black team never could quite find the magic down the stretch when they so desperately needed it and the NIACC team dribbled out the last few seconds to get the win.  One of the better games of the night took place over on Court 2 between the Winona State team and the Bethel team in an unlikely NSIC-MIAC clash.  The Winona State team got off to a very good start in this one; getting a 12-3 lead midway through the first period and one more score made it 14-3 by the start of the second period.  The Bethel team, however, finally started getting its act together and cut the deficit down to five points late in the second period and were back in the thick of things down 20-15 at the half.  The Winona State team managed to grow its lead to eight points at 31-23 late in the third period but a 10-3 run by the Bethel team had this thing close as the Winona State team carried a tenuous 34-33 lead to start the fourth period.  The Bethel team would manage to stay within striking distance and was down 40-36 midway through the fourth period and managed to crawl to within a single possession late but could not get any closer than that at the end.

In the 7:45 P.M. slot over on Court 1, the GAC Black team sought to make amends for its loss in the earlier time slot but they again found themselves crawling out of a hole as the Rimshots team built an 8-3 lead midway through the first period and were up 12-9 to start the second period.  The Rimshots team grew its lead to six points at 23-17 midway through the second period but the GAC Black team finally found some rhythm and crawled back to within a single possession down 30-28 by the halftime break.  The GAC Black team tied the contest at 37 a piece midway through the third period and the GAC Black team took a brief 41-39 lead late in the third period but again the GAC Black team faltered when it looked like they were on the verge of taking things over.  The Rimshots team came back to take a 46-44 lead at the start of the fourth period and held a slim 52-50 advantage midway through the fourth period leaving the door open for the GAC Black team.  But the GAC Black team simply could not get any key shots to fall in the last few minutes that might have made a difference and the Rimshots team held on for a four-point victory.  A much-anticipated battle between two bitter NSIC rivals was taking place over on Court 2 between the Winona State team and the Concordia St. Paul team.  The Concordia St. Paul team built a 9-3 advantage midway through the opening period but a "3" from the top of the key by sophomore-to-be Allie Pickrain helped trim the deficit for the Winona State team down to five points at 17-12 by the end of the first period.  Pickrain was just getting started, however as she was on fire in the second period but a porous Winona State defense allowed the Concordia St. Paul team to hold a 24-17 lead midway through the second period and that lead grew to nine at 39-30 by the halftime break.  The Concordia St. Paul team maintained its safety net throughout the third period and led 51-43 to start the fourth period.  Pickrain tried to single-handedly bring the Winona State team back in the early moments of the fourth period by drilling back-to-back three-point bombs but the Winona State team could never get stops when they needed them.  The Concordia St. Paul team led comfortably 68-52 late in the contest and never looked back.

Playoff action begins this next week and I'm awaiting the schedule of game so I'm not sure of the format or day(s) involved just yet.  But once I do I'll put something out so be ready to head on down to the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League before it's too late!