MIAC Playoff Semifinal Game - GAC vs UST 2-21-19

Got myself over on the St. Paul side of town on this sunny late Thursday afternoon and over to Schoenecker Arena on the campus of UST for the first MIAC Playoff Semifinal Game on this day between visiting GAC which made its way up U.S. Highway 169 and the Mankato Sub portion of the Union Pacific's "Omaha Route" mainline to take on host UST.  I arrived early which gave me some time to relax and chat with Gustie Head Coach Laurie Kelly beforehand as well as watch both teams warm up as well.  The Gusties, of course, had pulled a shocker just two nights before when they hammered CSB up in St. Joe in one of the MIAC Quarterfinal Playoff Games so this was a GAC team coming into this game tonight with absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The host Tommies would grab a 5-0 lead early on as senior All-American post Hannah Spaulding got a score in the paint at the 9:46 mark of the opening period and fellow senior guard Kaylie Brazil banged home a "3" from the left wing area at the 7:50 mark that probably had many inside Schoenecker Arena thinking, "Here we go again.".  But this GAC team has become very resilient in these last two weeks and they wasted little time in closing the gap.  Sophomore point guard Ava Gonsorowski made a sneaky little drive for a finish at the 7:27 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by fellow sophomore forward Paige Richert at the 6:50 mark had the deficit down to one point at 5-4.  Gonsorowski would strike again at the 5:44 mark with a lay-up that also drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" suddenly pushed the Gusties out in front by a 7-5 count.  UST would respond with a 6-0 push as senior sharpshooting guard Lucia Renikoff drained her first three of the evening from the right top area and then it was Spaulding connecting with a lay-up that also drew a foul and the obligatory free throw by the former Annandale standout now had the Tommies out in front by an 11-7 count.  The spread was maintained at four points when Brazil knocked down a jumper from the left elbow area with 1:28 left for a 13-9 advantage but GAC would get the final blow of this first period when senior forward Kendall Thompson banged home a "3" from the right wing area with :21 left as the shot clock was expiring as the Gusties closed the gap to one point at 13-12.

GAC was employing a 2-3 "match-up" zone defense in this contest which played a big role in slowing the normally efficient Tommies on offense.  And even though Gustie sophomore guard Gabby Bowlin had to come out of the game at the 9:12 mark of the second period after getting nabbed with her second foul of the night, it did not take away from the resiliency of this GAC team.  Senior guard Justine Lee pushed the Gusties back out in front with her short, turnaround jumper at the 8:33 mark and although UST would grab it back on an offensive rebound and putback by freshman reserve post Brynne Rolland at the 8:18 mark, the Tommies were getting bottled up down low in the post and, at least for the moment anyway, they weren't able to retaliate with their usually-reliable three-point shooting.  GAC took the lead right back as Thompson grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback at the 7:23 mark and another lay-up by Gonsorowski at the 5:39 mark made it an 18-15 game.  By this time, the Gusties' Kelly had already inserted her newest weapon; 6'5" freshman reserve post Betsy Schoenrock into the line-up and after making a big presence on the defensive end, she also showed up on the offensive end as she got a score in the paint at the 5:06 mark to push GAC's lead to a startling five points at 20-15 and a concerned Tommie Head Coach Ruth Sinn called a timeout to get her squad regrouped and perhaps calmed down a bit as well.  That stoppage in play was key from a UST standpoint as they ended this second period on an 8-0 run that not only got the lead back but effectively sucked away all the momentum that the Gusties may have had up to this point.  Renikoff connected with a lay-up in transition with 3:18 left that closed the gap to three points and the former Minneapolis Washburn standout would follow this up with one of her trademark three-point bombs from the left wing area with 1:42 left that tied the game at 20.  With 1:01 left, sophomore guard/forward Kaia Porter pushed UST ahead with a "3" of her own from the left top area to push the Tommies back out in front by a 23-20 count that they took into the locker room at the half with them.  From a GAC standpoint, being down by only three at the half to the third-ranked team in the country wasn't all that bad of a proposition but the downer was that they had the lead and seemingly the momentum as well and they let it all slip away in the last five minutes of this period.  A check of the first half box score shows that defense definitely took center stage in this one thus far as neither team was setting the world on fire with their shooting.  The Gusties were 9-33 from FG range for 27.3% and 1-6 from downtown for 16.7%.  UST wasn't a whole lot better as they went 9-31 from FG range for 29% and 4-14 from behind the arc for 28.6%.  The rebounding front was even as both teams had 23 rebounds and probably what was most annoying to Sinn and her staff was that the Tommies had committed nine turnovers thus far to the Gusties seven. 

The late great NFL Films narrator John Facenda once said, "Great teams aren't always great.  They're just great when they have to be."  And UST definitely lived up to this mantra once the third period got underway as they exploded on a 9-1 push that changed the complexion of this one for good.  A short jumper in the lane by Porter at the 9:37 mark got the Tommie lead to five at 25-20 and then the former Roseville standout increased the lead to seven when she was able to score in the paint off of an inbounds pass at the 8:38 mark.  Then it was Renikoff unleashing another dagger "3"; this one from the left wing area at the 7:56 mark that pushed UST's lead to ten points at 30-20 and the Gusties' Kelly wasted little time in calling for a halt to the action as she clearly saw this one getting away from her squad.  An offensive rebound and putback by the Tommies' Spaulding at the 5:58 mark completed this initial run that made it 32-21 before GAC could make a dent back into single-digit range again on a three-point bomb by Gonsorowski from the left top area at the 5:35 mark.  But that foray back into single-digit range didn't last long as UST unleashed a 9-0 run that further spread the gap.  Senior guard Bobbi Brendefur went coast-to-coast for a lay-up at the 5:00 mark and then it was Porter striking from downtown with a three-point bomb from the left top area with 3:46 left.  A Brendefur lay-up with 2:32 left now had the Tommies up by fifteen at 39-24 and GAC's Kelly had to use a thirty-second timeout at this juncture in hopes of slowing this onslaught.  Still, UST's Porter would connect with a lay-up with :58.5 left before the Gusties' Lee could make a drive into the lane for a finish with :43 .5 left that also drew a foul and resulted in the "and one" for the former Dawson-Boyd standout.  But the Tommies would close out this third period on a solid note when Rolland got into the paint for a score with :17 left to give UST a 43-27 lead as things headed for the fourth period. 

Two scores by the Tommies' Renikoff - a short jumper at the 8:29 mark and a lay-up in transition at the 7:32 mark - got the lead to twenty at 47-27 before GAC's Gonsorowski could cut into this cushion on drive into the lane with a pretty one-handed finish at the 7:11 mark.  But the Tommies kept widening the gap as Renikoff unleashed a "3" from the top of the key at the 6:24 mark as did Porter at the 5:56 mark and the Gusties' Kelly called for another timeout as she now saw her team down 53-29.  Though GAC certainly was not waving the white flag by this point, they could only make incremental dents down the stretch.  Thompson was able to score in the paint with 4:51 left but UST kept stretching their lead.  Sophomore reserve guard Macy Hatlestad drilled a "3' from the right top area with 4:35 left and Rolland had quite a home stretch for this Tommie team.  Two scores in the paint - one with 3:59 left and another with 2:28 left - had UST up 60-33 and with 1:53 left Rolland would connect with a short turnaround jumper off the glass to make it 62-33.  Rolland would get the Tommies' last score of this contest with an offensive rebound and putback with 1:08 left before GAC could get two late scores.  Thompson would bang home a "3" from the top of the key with :55 left and Schoenrock would surprise the crowd inside Schoenecker Arena as the former NRHEG standout drained a "3" from the left top area with just :00.4 left but it would be UST advancing to the MIAC Championship Game on Saturday with a 64-39 victory. 

When I caught up with GAC Assistant Coach Dan Wolfe afterward, he admitted that those last few possessions that the Tommies had right before the halftime break were a dealbreaker for his team in their hopes for an upset bid.  Kelly felt that her team had some great energy when they were in control of things in that second period but they simply were never able to recapture that same energy once the third period got underway.  She also expressed some frustration with the officiating in this contest; particularly in the second period on a questionable call and I, too, have to echo some of those sentiments as I thought the officiating was subpar for this game and I rarely make comments about officiating.  UST's Sinn certainly agreed with my assessment that the Gusties' 2-3 "match-up" zone defense presented some problems for her team in that second period.  "They definitely bottled us up down low" she said.  She felt that she had to get her squad regrouped and calmed down some.  "They were overthinking things" Sinn commented.  She felt that her team needed to rely on their instincts a bit better "and we needed to do a better job of stretching out that zone" she added.  A check of the final box score reveals that the Tommies indeed did a much better job on the boards in the second half as they finished this game with a 44-35 edge in that department.  Turnovers are still an area of concern for Sinn and her staff going forward as they were guilty of 18 boo-boos on this night compared to GAC's 15.  Still, UST shot much better in the second half obviously and they finished going 27-59 for 45.8% and were 9-22 from three-point land for 40.9%.  The Gusties were pretty much shut down in the second half and they finished this game going 16-62 from FG range for 25.8% and 4-15 from downtown for 26.7% which simply isn't going to get the job done this time of year.  Renikoff led the way for the Tommies on this night with her 18 points and she did a lot of that damage from three-point land.  Porter was right behind with 15 points and surprisingly Rolland was the only other player for UST in double figures scoring-wise with 12 points.  Spaulding finished with "only" seven points on this night but did grab 11 rebounds.  Gonsorowski had a strong performance on this night leading the Gustie attack with her 14 points while Thompson finished up her career at GAC with 12 points.