Macalester vs Hamline 1-15-20

Made my way over to the St Paul side of town on this cold, cold Wednesday January evening to venerable Hutton Arena on the campus of Hamline University to take in this matchup between visiting Macalester which ventured its way up Snelling Avenue to face off against host Hamline.  I was arguably long-overdue in catching this rising Piper team; coming into this game with a 10-3 overall record and 5-3 in the conference and were riding a six-game win streak coming into this game.  This also would be my first look at Macalester as well under new Head Coach Katie Kollar and although the Scots have struggled this year with a 1-12 overall record and 0-8 in the conference, this is a team that will always keep battling no matter the circumstances.

Hamline would get off to a solid start in this one; bolting out to an early 6-0 lead.  Freshman forward Lydia Lecher started things off with her lay-up in transition at the 8:46 mark of the opening period and then sophomore sensation guard Chan'el Anderson-Manning started heating up as she would connect with a lay-up at the 8:16 mark and two free throws by the former Cretin-Derham Hall standout after she was fouled at the 7:41 mark gave the Pipers their aforementioned early lead.  Macalester finally dusted off their basket when junior guard Justine Barraza went coast-to-coast for a lay-up at the 6:34 mark but the Scots still found themselves down 8-2 when Piper sophomore reserve forward Sarah Loken muscled into the paint for a score at the 6:11 mark.  Despite the sluggish start by this Macalester team, they were eventually able to get into a bit of a groove offensively and responded with an 8-0 push to poke their nose out in front.  Junior forward Katherine Podoll knocked down a jumper from the left corner just inside the arc with 4:58 left and a lay-up in transition by senior guard Holly Hull had the deficit down to two points at 8-6.  A lay-up by freshman reserve forward Emma LaFrenz with 2:49 left tied the game and the Scots took the lead when Hull connected with a lay-up in transition with 1:50 left.  Hull; the Overland Park, Kansas native, then gave the Scots a three-point advantage at 13-10 when she banged home a "3" from the left corner with 1:17 left before Hamline reduced the deficit down to one point on a drive and finish by freshman reserve guard Alyssa Williamson with :41 left.  Still, Macalester's Kollar and her staff had to feel encouraged about how their squad shook off a rusty start to take a one-point lead into the second period.

The Pipers would retake the lead early on in the second period thanks to senior forward Reilly Geistfeld as she would first sink a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 9:33 mark and would drop in one more at the 9:03 mark to give Hamline a 15-13 advantage.  The Pipers would grow their lead to four as a jumper in the lane by Lecher at the 7:58 mark and a lay-up by sophomore guard Sophie Findell at the 7:30 made it a 19-15 ballgame.  Macalester, however, certainly had no plans to head back south on Snelling Avenue anytime soon and they would fight their way back into the lead.  Freshman reserve guard Solana Cushing would drain a "3" from the right wing area at the 6:59 mark and a lay-up in transition by sophomore guard Celine Sabbagh at the 5:45 mark put the Scots back out in front at 20-19.  Hamline would take the lead back when Loken bullied her way into the paint for another score at the 5:32 mark but this pesky Scot team would promptly take it right back when Barraza drilled a "3" from the left wing area to make it 23-21.  Macalester was able to maintain the two-point edge at 27-25 when LaFrenz snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:23 left.  The Pipers though had some answers for this down the home stretch before the halftime break.  Lecher would grab an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:08 left to tie the game and then Williamson was able to snare a steal and race the other way for a lay-up with 1:45 left to push Hamline back out in front at 27-25.  Freshman reserve forward Tess Hauer maneuvered into the paint for another score with 1:15 left to make it a four-point game at 29-25 and a Geistfeld lay-up with :45 left increased that lead to five at 31-26.  The Scots' Barraza got her team back within a single possession with her pretty drive and finish with :21.1 left and although the Pipers would up that lead to 32-28 by the halftime break on one freebie by senior reserve guard Heather Moore with :03.9 left, things didn't appear to be all that bad for Macalester down by just four as the teams headed to their respective locker rooms for the intermission.  The Scots shot reasonably well from both FG and three-point range thus far and although they left some points on the table from the charity stripe, they were still certainly within striking distance down by only four at the half.

But what Macalester's Kollar and her staff probably couldn't have counted on once the third period got going was the avalanche that would hit them as the Pipers reeled off a 13-0 run that changed things in this one for good.  Lecher started things off with a jumper from the free throw line area at the 9:22 mark and would follow that up with a jumper from the left elbow area a bit later at the 8:38 mark to make it 36-28.  Then sophomore guard Gabby Robinson would drain a back-breaking "3" from the right corner at the 7:41 mark to push Hamline's lead to double digits at 39-28 and the Scots' Kollar had seen enough to know that a full timeout was warranted.  Interestingly, Kollar had her squad in a 2-3 "match-up" zone to start this third period but it wasn't fazing this Piper team as they continued to roll.  Anderson-Manning made an explosive step for a drive and lay-up at the 6:29 mark and a Geistfeld lay-up at the 5:52 mark made it 43-28.  Then Loken would cash in a short, turnaround shot in the paint with 4:54 left to complete this run before Macalester finally ended their scoring drought on a lay-up by Barraza with 4:14 left.  Hamline, however, kept widening its lead as Geistfeld would drain a "3" from the top of the key with 4:00 left and the former Martin County West standout would follow that up with a pretty reverse lay-up with 3:31 left to give the Pipers a twenty-point cushion at 50-30.  Macalester would try and cut into this cushion as Barraza would drill a "3" from the left wing area with 3:12 left and junior forward Kayla Togneri would connect with a lay-up with 2:45 left to whittle the deficit down to seventeen at 52-35.  Togneri would also make a hard drive along the right baseline for a finish with 1:54 left and Hull would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with :55.6 in the third period but the Scots needed an extended run of some sort to get back into this one down 59-38 going into the fourth period. 

Macalester's Barraza tried to give her team a spark in the opening moments of the fourth period when she snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 9:51 mark but the Pipers just weren't in a very charitable mood on this night as the set out to get more separation.  Findell would connect with a lay-up at the 8:54 mark and senior reserve guard Morgen Coleman made a hard drive into traffic and finished off the glass at the 8:23 mark to make it a 63-41 game.  Findell would unleash a dagger "3" from the left wing area at the 7:54 mark and a Robinson lay-up in transition at the 7:03 mark made it 68-41.  Loken would connect with a short, turnaround jumper in the lane at the 6:25 mark and a Lecher "3" from the left corner at the 5:58 mark ballooned Hamline's lead to 73-41.  Anderson-Manning would also get in on this offensive output as she would make another explosive drive into the lane for a finish at the 5:03 mark and drop two free throws as well after getting fouled with 4:51 left that made things pretty much academic for the Pipers with a sizable 77-42 advantage.  Macalester was still able to make some dents into this cushion down the stretch as Cushing nailed a "3" from the right corner with 4:38 left and a Podoll jumper from the left wing area off of an inbounds pass with 4:03 left had the deficit down to thirty at 77-47.  Cushing would also connect with a jumper from the right wing area with 3:05 left and LaFrenz would knock down two freebies after getting fouled with 2:51 left.  Hull would get one free throw of her own to go down after getting fouled with :46.4 left but the Pipers would have the last laugh in this rout as sophomore reserve guard Paige Condie would drain a "3" from the left wing area with :37.6 left and freshman reserve forward Iyanna Wieland would get one more score for Hamline as she connected with a lay-up with :00.2 left on the clock as the Pipers rolled to a resounding 84-55 victory. 

I was able to catch up with an introduce myself to Macalester's Kollar afterward and although she expressed disappointment with how things turned out for her team in that decisive third period, she can at least feel some satisfaction at how hard her team plays and how they never give up despite the overwhelming odds they currently face with a small roster and one player out with an injury.  They may not be the biggest or most physical team out there but they will play hard for 40 minutes - or more if necessary and you had better not take them for granted.  I also caught up with Hamline Assistant Coach Joshua Hersch afterward as well and he said that the difference in the second half - particularly that third period - was that they were able to clean up on some things they didn't do so well in the first half as he pointed out that the Pipers were 11-24 in the paint in the first half.  Hamline Head Coach Alex Focke; while happy with the win and liking where his team was sitting at the moment, was cautious about looking too far ahead or celebrating anything.  "We're basically in the same spot as we were a year ago" he noted and pointed out that they still have a lot of tough games ahead of them.  When you watch this team, it's easy to see how far they've progressed in a relatively short-period of time.  Even more interesting are all the moving pieces that Focke has to work with.  You still have the seniors - Geistfeld and Kaeli Stayer - leading the way but now there's a bunch of youngsters stepping up and providing quality minutes such as Lecher, Loken and Findell are able to do.  And Anderson-Manning can be an absolute terror if given room to drive.  At ll-3 overall and 6-3 in the conference, let's see what they can do.  Indeed, the Pipers did have a balanced scoring attack on this night with Lecher's 17 points leading all scorers while Anderson-Manning poured in 13 points and Geistfeld was right behind with her 12 points while Loken; doing much of her damage in the paint, tallied 10 points.  Macalester's Barraza was a one-person wrecking crew with the Scots with her 16 points.