St. Kate's vs Northwestern 11-12-18

Was back over at Northwestern's Ericksen Center on this Monday night of Beat SC week as the host Eagles were preparing for yet another non-conference opponent - the always-dangerous Wildcats of St. Kate's out of the MIAC.  The Eagles, of course, were coming off the disappointing home opener on Saturday night with UW-Eau Claire while this would be the first game for the Wildcats of this new 2018-19 season with a whole handful of new faces filtering out the roster.

Northwestern would get off to a solid start on this night as they jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the opening minutes of the first period.  Two free throws by sophomore forward Miranda Crenshaw at the 9:47 mark and a three-point bomb from the left wing area by speedy junior guard Jazinae Patterson at the 9:08 mark got the Eagles a 5-0 lead and a jumper along the left baseline by senior guard Amy Berglund at the 7:09 mark gave Northwestern that aforementioned 7-1 lead.  The Wildcats meanwhile struggled mightily with their shooting out of the gate and it wasn't until senior guard Audra Clark's short pull-up jumper in transition at the 6:31 mark that St. Kate's finally shook off the early doldrums.  Flashy junior backcourt mate Danica Cambrice finally got her stuff going and that helped the Wildcats mightily as well.  The former St. Croix Lutheran standout first got into the paint for a score with 4:30 left that also drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" suddenly had St. Kate's back to within a single possession down 9-6.  With 3:16 left, Cambrice would strike again with a short, turnaround jumper that cut the deficit down to one point at 9-8.  With just :49 left, Cambrice's athletic ability shined brightly again as she connected with a lay-up off of an inbounds pass that kept the Wildcats in that one-point range down 11-10 going into the second period.

St. Kate's managed to grab its first lead of the night when freshman newcomer forward Sam Orth made a hard drive for a finish at the 9:38 mark of the second period to make it a 12-11 ballgame but the Eagles quickly retook the lead as freshman guard Kelsea Lund connected with a short jumper at the 9:22 mark and a pretty one-handed shot in the lane by lanky junior forward Rio Landers at the 8:02 mark had Northwestern up 15-12.  Two Landers free throws at the 6:29 mark maintained the three-point lead at 17-14 but the Wildcats would knot the game at 17 a piece when freshman reserve guard Taylor Johnson drilled a "3" from the left corner at the 6:05 mark.  The Eagles would again take the lead on two Crenshaw charity stripe shots at the 5:40 mark but St. Kate's managed to poke its nose out in front again as Clark got sent to the charity stripe with 4:42 left.  While her front-end attempt was true, she missed on the back-end attempt but Orth managed to slither through Eagle defenders to grab the offensive rebound for a putback with 4:37 left to give the Wildcats a 20-19 edge.  Right back came Northwestern, however, as sophomore reserve guard Megan Stubbs dropped one free throw with 3:56 left to tie the game and a short turnaround jumper by Landers with 2:47 left had the Eagles back out in front 22-20.  Two free throws by junior reserve guard Audrey Lefto with 2:12 left not only increased that lead to 24-20 but the bigger concern on St. Kate's Head Coach Don Mulhern's mind was the fact that his senior guard, Clark, got tagged with her third foul of the evening and now he had no choice but to get her on the pine for the remainder of the first half.  Fortunately for the 'Cats, Johnson; the newcomer out of Park High School, drained her second trey of the evening; this one from the left wing area with 1:53 left that cut the deficit down to one point at 24-23 and although Lund would drop two more free throws for Northwestern with just :04.2 left before the halftime buzzer, it had to be a glass half-full proposition for the 'Cats as the teams headed for the locker room for the halftime break.  A check of the first half box score shows that St. Kate's shot only 9-33 from FG range for for 27.3% and things were even more bleak from behind the arc as they went 2-10 for 20%.  Actually, Northwestern didn't shoot a whole lot better either going 8-20 for 40% from FG range and the Eagles were only 1-5 from three-point land for 20% as well.  And Northwestern Head Coach Aaron Kahl had to grimace just a bit when he saw that his squad was guilty of ten first half turnovers.  So for Mulhern and his staff, being down by three at 26-23 wasn't an entirely bad proposition given how poorly they shot the ball.

St. Kate's quickly cut the deficit down to one point again in the opening moments of the third period when Clark wiggled through traffic for a lay-up at the 9:36 mark but the Eagles managed to respond with a push to pad their cushion.  Landers uncorked a "3" from the left corner at the 8:51 mark and a three-point bomb by Lund from the left wing area at the 8:19 mark suddenly had Northwestern up by seven at 32-25.  And the Wildcats problems were further complicated a short time later when Clark got slapped with her fourth foul of the night at the 6:38 mark and Mulhern was in no mood to take any chances and he quickly yanked the former Kenyon-Wannamingo standout off the floor for the time being.  With Clark off the floor, the Eagles were able to maintain the cushion they had.  Patterson made a drive into the lane for a finish with 4:36 left in the third period for a 34-27 Northwestern lead and two Landers charity stripe shots with 4:09 left maintained that seven-point edge at 36-29.  Then willowy freshman reserve guard Brooklyn DeKam knocked down a jumper from the right wing area with 3:03 left that increased the lead to nine points at 38-29 and things were starting to look a bit dire for St. Kate's at that moment.  But the Wildcats managed to regain themselves with their senior leader off the floor and closed the gap thanks to some timely three-point shooting.  Johnson banged home her third trey of this night with a bomb from the right wing area with 2:48 left and junior guard Jackie Radford; who had thus far been having a pretty quiet night, finally found her touch from behind the arc with a bomb from the right top area with 2:20 left that suddenly had St. Kate's back to within a single possession down 38-35.  With just :48 left in the third period, Radford struck again from behind the arc; this time from the left top area that now had the 'Cats down by just two at 40-38 and although Lefto would add to Northwestern's total with two free throws with :37.3 left, the Wildcats had to feel a lot better about themselves than they did in the early just a few short minutes ago.

And St. Kate's would waste little time in the early moments of the fourth period getting this one all knotted up again.  Cambrice connected with a jumper from the free throw line off of an inbounds pass at the 7:08 mark and Clark; now back in the game with those four fouls on her back, got two free throws to go down after getting fouled herself at the 5:57 mark to cut the deficit down to two points at 44-42.  Then the wily Clark snared a steal and went the other way and managed to connect with a jumper in the lane to tie the game at 44 a piece at the 5:37 mark.  The 'Cats would finally poke their nose out in front when Cambrice connected with a short jumper in transition with 3:10 left and both teams went into a bit of a defensive mode over the next minute and a half denying each other opportunities.  The Eagles managed to tie the game at 46 a piece when Lund was able to make a hard drive for a finish with the shot clock expiring at with 1:43 left and forced a turnover on the subsequent St. Kate's possession.  Kahl called a timeout with 1:12 left in hopes of setting up a play to push ahead and the defensive strategy afterward.  But a Patterson jumper missed its mark shortly thereafter and the Wildcats' Radford blocked a lay-up attempt by Northwestern's Berglund a short time later so now St. Kate's had their chance.  Mulhern called a timeout with :33.5 left but the Wildcats unwittingly turned the ball over with :23.5 left so now the pendulum swung back over the the Eagles and with :01 left, Berglund put up a shot from near the left elbow area but the ball wouldn't cooperate and off we went to overtime tied at 46. 

St. Kate's appeared to get a big boost at the 4:38 mark in OT when Clark nailed a "3" from the left wing area to propel the 'Cats into a 49-46 lead but that was matched when Northwestern's Landers muscled into the paint for a score at the 4:19 mark and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" knotted this contest again at 49-all.  To make matters worse for the Wildcats, Clark was tagged for her fifth and final foul of the night at the 3:14 mark when St. Kate's was in a transition opportunity and the former Kenyon-Wanamingo standout was inadvertently caught up in traffic and made contact.  With her out, the Wildcats could have easily faltered right then and there but instead found a way to strike back.  Freshman reserve guard Chloe Venegas made a gutsy drive into the lane in traffic and got a shot off the glass to go through the hole with 2:17 left and drew a foul in the process and her obligatory free throw now had St. Kate's up 52-49.  The Eagles chances appeared to sag when Crenshaw was unable to connect in the paint on Northwestern's subsequent possession and St. Kate's would have put their opponent in a big hole if a three-point attempt by sophomore guard Ashley Fossness would have fallen with 1:37 left.  Landers would get fouled on the Eagles' subsequent possession but she was only able to get the back end of the two-shot attempt to go down so the 'Cats were in position to nurse that one-point lead.  But Northwestern thwarted the Wildcats next possession with a blocked shot and with :52 left, Kahl called a timeout to set up the Eagles offensive strategy.  I'm not sure if the actual result was what he called but with :35 left, Northwestern's Patterson found herself open at the top of the key from behind the arc and she uncorked a dagger that found nothing but cotton and suddenly the Eagles were up 53-52.  Still plenty of time for St. Kate's but on the Wildcats subsequent possession, they again suffered an untimely turnover as Northwestern's Berglund swooped in for a steal and she would get fouled with :21.4 left.  The Springfield, Virginia native calmly knocked down both free throw attempts to push the Eagles lead to 55-52.  Still one more chance for the Wildcats, however, and Mulhern called a thirty-second timeout in hopes of setting up the three-point attempt to tie the game.  But a Cambrice three-point attempt with :15 left missed its mark from the left corner and the Eagles were there for the rebound.  Patterson would be quickly fouled and she sank two critical free throw attempts to now make it a two-possession game at 57-52 with :13.1 left.  St. Kate's freshman reserve guard Grace Amacher missed a jumper with :08 left and the Eagles would snare the defensive rebound.  Berglund would be fouled with :03.8 left and she got one more insurance free throw to go down as Northwestern claimed a hard-fought 58-52 overtime win. 

An incredibly disappointed Mulhern of St. Kate's muttered afterard that "We've got to shoot the ball better" when he saw the final box score that revealed that the Wildcats went only 20-68 from FG range for 29% and 6-23 from behind the arc for 26.1%.  Clark fouling out in the extra session hurt as well and Mulhern was quick to acknowlege that.  I pointed out to Northwestern's Kahl that the Wildcats had his team in a bad spot not once but twice in this contest and given the fact that the Eagles did not really have much time to prepare for St. Kate's since they didn't practice on Sunday, Kahl handed out praises for his team hanging tough when things looked bleak.  Northwestern's Landers just missed out on a "double-double" on this night with her 19 points and nine rebounds to lead all scorers.  Lund finished with 11 points and Patterson was right behind with 10.  Cambrice not surprisingly led the way for St. Kate's on this night with her 16 points and Audra Clark added 14.  Two other factors hampered the Wildcats on this night as well:  They were outrebounded by 38-34 count (not huge) and they were also guilty of 22 turnovers as well and that's a number that Mulhern knows must come down.  Surprisingly, however, St. Kate's held a big advantage in points in the paint by a 22-10 margin.