Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 7-31-19

Here are the results from the final night of the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:


6:00 P.M. Games

Southwest Minnesota State - 42
UST Purple - 35

GAC Alumni - 57
GAC Gold - 51


6:50 P.M. Games

Concordia St. Paul - 52
Twin City Swish - 37

Superhoopers - 50
UST Black - 45


7:45 P.M. Games

Consolation Championship Game

GAC Alumni - 45
Southwest Minnesota State - 38

Championship Game

Superhoopers - 60
Concordia St. Paul - 49


On this final night of the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League for this year, we were treated to some very good games by all the participating teams on this night.  In the 6:00 P.M. slot, a very intriguing consolation semifinal contest was taking place on Court 1 between the Southwest Minnesota State team and the UST Purple team.  The UST Purple team got off to a solid start in this one; getting a 4-0 lead early and holding an 8-5 lead by the end of the first period; thanks to a score in the paint by junior-to-be Madi Radtke.  The Southwest Minnesota State team would get this game tied at 8-all early in the second period and by the midway point of the second period the Southwest Minnesota State team was holding the lead at 11-10.  By the halftime break, not much had changed in this tight battle with the Southwest Minnesota State team holding a slim 18-16 edge.  By the midway point of the third period, the Southwest Minnesota State team was able to get a bit more breathing room with a 25-20 lead and down the stretch of the third period, the Southwest Minnesota State team embarked on a key run that was highlighted by a last-second shot that now saw them up by ten at 32-22.  The Southwest Minnesota State team would still enjoy that ten-point cushion at 40-30 midway through the fourth period and the UST Purple team could get no closer than seven points in the final minutes as the Southwest Minnesota State team advanced to the consolation final.  On Court 2, it was a battle of former Gusties versus current Gusties as the GAC Alumni team was taking on the GAC Gold team.  What made this game so special and fun to watch was the battle of sisters as Miranda Rice (GAC '18) for the GAC Alumni team was up against younger sis and freshman-to-be Maddy Rice and it was awesome to watch.  The GAC Alumni team would hold a 7-4 lead midway through the opening period and a lay-up in transition by Kelsey Carpenter (GAC '17) had the GAC Alumni team up 13-11 by the end of the first period.  The GAC Gold team would take its cue and grab a 16-15 advantage midway through the second period but the GAC Alumni team would get on a push down the stretch and three-point bombs by both Justine Lee (GAC '19) and Annie Odegard (GAC '17) had the GAC Alumni team in good shape up 31-20 at the half.  The GAC Alumni team still enjoyed that eleven-point cushion midway through the third period up 35-26 but the GAC Gold team would catch fire down the stretch of the third period and had the deficit down to a single-possession at 37-34.  The GAC Alumni team avoided impending disaster and righted the ship to hold a 44-37 lead by the end of the third period.  The GAC Alumni team was still up by seven at 50-43 midway through the fourth period but the GAC Gold team would manage to put one more scare into their mentors as they crawled back to within a single-possession again down 51-48 with 2:51 left but the GAC Alumni team did all the right things in the last two minutes and held on for the tough victory to advance into the consolation championship game.

The championship bracket semifinals took place in the 6:50 P.M. slot and it featured two highly-anticipated games.  Court 1 saw a match-up between two teams that had been on a roll pretty much all summer long as the Concordia St Paul team was taking on the Twin City Swish team.  The Twin City Swish team held a 6-4 lead early on and led 8-6 midway through the opening period and by the end of the first period, things were looking very good for the Twin City Swish team as they held a somewhat surprising 14-9 advantage.  But this Concordia St Paul team hung tough and forged a 15-15 deadlock midway through the second period and a lay-up in transition by junior-to-be Danielle Schaub allowed the Concordia St Paul team to take a 17-15 lead a bit later.  That may have been the spark that the Concordia St Paul team was looking for as they got on a push as a lay-up by sophomore-to-be Meghan DuBois and a "3" by junior-to-be Riley Wheatcraft allowed the Concordia St Paul team to hold a 26-18 lead by the halftime break.  Wheatcraft would drain another key three-point bomb early on in the third period that helped the Concordia St Paul team to grab a cozy 34-20 advantage and by the midway point of the third period the Concordia St Paul team had their lead at 37-22.  By the start of the fourth period, the Concordia St Paul team grew their lead to 43-27 and the Twin City Swish team could never recover as the Concordia St Paul team advanced to the title game.  A much tighter battle was ensuing meanwhile over on Court 2 in the other championship bracket semifinal between the Superhoopers team and the UST Black team.  The UST Black team got off to a good start in this one; getting a 6-2 lead early on and they held a 13-6 advantage midway through the first period but the Superhoopers team soon found their groove and got on a roll and late scores by both Ashley Ellis-Milan (Minnesota '10) and Jamie Jones (Concordia St. Paul '10) had them up 20-17 by the end of the first period.  The UST Black team would come right back and forge a 20-20 deadlock midway through the second period and a "3" by junior-to-be Madi Radtke gave the UST Black team a 25-20 lead a short time later.  But the Superhoopers team would end this second period on a 6-0 push that gave them a 26-25 lead at the halftime break.  The Superhoopers team would continue to hold the upper hand up 34-31 midway through the third period and that lead would grow to five points at 40-35 by the end of the third period.  The UST Black team was not going away anytime soon, however, and one score by Radtke and another one by sophomore-to-be Ellie Wolkow had the UST Black team within a single-possession down 43-40 early in the fourth period.  Defense took center stage in this contest down the stretch and by the midway point of the fourth period, the Superhoopers team was hanging on for dear life with a 43-42 lead and they were still not out of the woods with a 47-44 lead with 2:50 left.  But the Superhoopers team managed to hang on and get critical stops down the stretch to hang on for an incredibly tough win to advance to the title game.

So everything game down to the last two games in the 7:45 P.M. slot on this night.  Court 2 was the setting for the consolation championship between the GAC Alumni team and the Southwest Minnesota State team.  The Southwest Minnesota State team got off to a very good start in this one; building a 7-2 lead midway through the first period but the GAC Alumni team was not deterred and they managed to tighten up things to a single possession down 14-11 by the end of the first period.  An Annie Odegard (GAC '17) "3" allowed the GAC Alumni team to get this game tied at 14 a piece early in the second period and a Miranda Rice (GAC '18) score in the paint had this one tied up again at 16-all a bit later.  Things would still be tied at 21-all midway through the second period but the Southwest Minnesota State team would manage to get on a push and hold a 26-21 lead by the halftime break.  But this GAC Alumni team would come out strong once the third period got underway and they would take the lead at 29-28 midway through the third period and would hold a 34-32 advantage by the end of the third period.  With its confidence ballooning, the GAC Alumni team would take control of things once the fourth period got underway with Rice doing most of the damage on both ends of the floor and was unstoppable at times and they would build a 45-34 lead midway through the fourth period and with 2:00 left, they were up 45-38 which is how this one ended with the GAC Alumni team having a strong showing all summer long for the third place trophy.  Finally, Court 1 was the centerpiece in this time slot for the Big Enchilada, the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Championship Game.  And fittingly, it came down to the two teams who were most dominant this year - the Concordia St Paul team and the Superhoopers team.  The Superhoopers team would grab a 9-5 advantage midway through the first period and managed to hold that four-point edge at 12-8 by the end of the first period with things still close.  But the big difference came in the second period when the Superhoopers team exploded on a big run to get a 22-10 advantage early on in the second period.  The Concordia St Paul team had a nice response, however, as they managed a push of their own down the stretch of the second period to climb back to within single digits down 34-26 by the halftime break.  The Superhoopers team managed to widen their cushion again in the early moments of the third period to ten points at 40-30 but again the Concordia St Paul team showed a lot of grit in getting back into this one.  A three-point bomb by junior-to-be Danielle Schaub allowed the Concordia St Paul team to get back to single-digit range again down 43-35 late in the third period and the Concordia St Paul team would come out strong in the fourth period as a pretty drive and finish by sophomore-to-be Meghan DuBois suddenly had them right back in the thick of things down 45-40 with a ton of time left.  But just when the Superhoopers team looked the most vulnerable, their experience and skill set proved to be the difference as they turned away this comeback attempt and built their cushion back up to double digits for good.  A "3" by Jamie Jones (Concordia St Paul '10) gave the Superhoopers team a 54-42 lead midway through the fourth period and they would get important stops down the stretch as the Superhoopers team took the title by a final score of 60-49.