Wartburg vs St. Kate's Scrimmage 10-31-19

Ventured back over to the St Paul side of town on this Halloween night to take in a scrimmage between Wartburg out of the American Rivers Conference (formerly the IIAC) which ventured up to the Twin Cities to face host St. Kate's.  The Knights have received several accolades in the preseason; ranked as high as #3 in the nation in the coaches preseason poll and #4 in the D3Hoops.com preseason poll; rankings that are very well-deserved, IMHO, and Head Coach Bob Amsberry has the goods in his stable to back up those lofty expectations.  This would be a good test and learning experience for Head Coach Don Mulhern's St. Kate's squad which is looking to make a major move up in the MIAC.

In the first ten-minute stanza, Wartburg looked every bit as good as their preseason rankings suggest; bolting out to a quick 8-0 lead.  Senior forward Amanda Brainerd knocked down two free throws at the 8:50 mark to get things going and a pretty three-point bomb by fellow senior forward Emma Gerdes from the left wing area at the 8:18 mark pushed the Knights lead to 5-0.  Then it was Brainerd showing off her three-point shooting skills with a bomb from the right wing area at the 7:42 mark before St. Kate's finally snapped this early run on a lay-up by junior post Kassidy Jenkins at the 7:23 mark.  But Wartburg senior forward Bailey Naig got into the paint for a score at the 7:05 mark to push the Knight lead to 10-2 and the Wildcat's Mulhern had seen enough bleeding to know that a halt to the action was warranted.  St. Kate's would try to cut into the deficit on an offensive rebound and putback by strong sophomore forward Sam Orth at the 6:34 mark but trying to slow down the high-octane motion offense that the Knights run was proving to be difficult at best as Wartburg soon increased their lead to 16-4 on a pair of three-point bombs - one by senior forward Katie Lindeman from the left corner at the 6:23 mark and another from the left wing by junior forward Kaitlyn Volesky at the 5:36 mark.  The Wildcats would reduce the deficit to ten points on a lay-up by newcomer freshman guard Cierra Ahlf at the 5:12 mark but Wartburg would quickly answer that as a score in the paint by junior guard Payton Draper with 4:59 left and one Lindeman free throw with 4:47 left pushed the Knights lead to 19-6.  St. Kate's senior guard Danica Cambrice would attempt to take matters into her own hands with back-to-back scores - a pretty pull-up jumper in transition with 3:28 left and a "3" from the right wing area with 3:04 left - that pulled the 'Cats back to within single-digit range down 19-11 but Wartburg would close the door for good as Draper would get into the paint for a score and draw a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" got the Knights back up by twelve at 25-13.  Junior guard Ally Conrad would bang home a "3" from the left top area with 1:01 left that allowed Wartburg to take this first ten-minute stanza by a 28-17 count.

In the second ten-minute stanza, St. Kate's managed to keep things much tighter this time around.  After a Brainerd lay-up at the 9:46 mark and a Naig lay-up a bit later at the 9:10 mark that allowed the Knights to assume a 4-1 advantage, Wildcat newcomer freshman Maggie Trnka single-handedly helped St. Kate's take the lead in this one.  Two free throws at the 8:40 mark and a lay-up at the 8:32 mark by the former Tri-City United standout put the 'Cats out in front 5-4 and then a short, turnaround jumper by Trnka suddenly had St. Kate's ahead 7-4.  Another freshman newcomer for St. Kate's; Mary-Claire Francois out of DeLaSalle, connected with a short, one-handed jumper at the 6:23 mark that kept the Wildcats ahead by a 9-7 count.  Sophomore reserve guard Chloe Venegas' lay-up at the 5:57 mark gave St. Kate's its largest lead at 11-7 and with 3:33 left, a jumper from the left wing by Orth seemed to have St. Kate's in very good shape at 14-10.  But this experienced Knight team finished this second ten-minute stanza on a 9-0 tear.  Junior forward Tori Hazard first connected with a lay-up with 2:27 left and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" reduced the deficit to one point.  Then senior forward Emma Gerdes connected on a lay-up in transition to give Wartburg the lead at 15-14.  Pairs of Hazard freebies - two with 1:07 left and two more with :17.2 left - allowed the Knights to take this second stanza by a 19-14 count.

The third ten-minute stanza was another tight battle.  Wildcat junior post Kassidy Jenkins got St. Kate's going with a "3" from the right corner at the 8:34 mark that helped them assume a 5-2 advantage early on.  Wartburg would come right back, however, as two Draper lay-ups - one at the 7:31 mark and another at the 6:48 mark - put the Knights out in front by a 6-5 count.  The teams would trade one-point leads over the next minute before Wartburg could get a bit more breathing room on two Gerdes free throws at the 5:26 mark for a 10-7 advantage.  Two more free throws by Hazard with 3:27 left maintained the three-point lead at 12-9 but the Wildcats were not going anywhere anytime soon.  Ahlf would connect with a jumper from the left elbow area with 3:08 left to pull St. Kate's to a one-point deficit down 12-11 and two free throws by freshman forward Bree Glynn with 2:38 left kept the Wildcats in that one-point range down 14-13.  Then Jenkins would drain a "3" from the right corner with 2:16 left that suddenly pushed St. Kate's into the lead at 16-14 and with 1:55 left, the 'Cats were trying to preserve an 18-15 advantage.  But Wartburg would manage to forge at least a draw out of this one thanks to Volesky as two scores in the paint - with :32 left and again with just :02 left - had this one winding up in a 19-19 tie. 

The fourth ten-minute stanza looked to mirror the last two - at least early on anyway.  After Wartburg's Draper was able to knock down three free throws (one on a technical foul) at the 6:54 mark for a 3-1 advantage, the Wildcats came right back as junior guard Brooke Torvik connected with a lay-up in transition at the 6:15 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by the wily Cambrice at the 6:02 mark had St. Kate's up 5-3.  The Knights' Conrad would drop two free throws after getting fouled at the 5:45 mark to knot this one at 5 a piece but the 'Cats' Jenkins would get one free throw of her own to go down to give the home team a 6-5 advantage at the 5:35 mark.  However, this is where things started falling apart for St. Kate's as Wartburg ended this stanza on a tear.  Two Draper scores in the paint - one at the 5:24 mark and another at the 4:50 mark - put the Knights ahead for good at 9-6 and one Volesky free throw with 4:35 left extended that lead to 10-6.  Gerdes would score in the paint with 4:11 left to maintain the four-point edge at 12-8 and one Naig freebie with 3:45 left got the lead to five points at 13-8.  Wartburg sophomore reserve guard Hannah Anderson unleashed a "3" from the right top area with 2:03 left and Volesky would let loose with a three-point bomb of her own from the right corner with :42 left as the Knights took this stanza by a 19-10 count.