MIAC Semifinal Playoff Game - UST vs Augsburg 2-27-20

Made the relatively short run over to Si Melby Hall on the campus of Augsburg University on this Thursday evening to take in one of the two MIAC Semifinal Playoff Games happening on this night - this one featuring visiting UST and host Augsburg.  The Auggies had swept the regular season series from the Tommies for the first time since the Reagan Administration but UST was coming into this particular contest with a bit more head of steam; having won seven of their last eight games while the Auggies still had some uncertainty swirling around them what with the decisive loss at Bethel the previous Wednesday night plus the come-from-behind win against GAC in the regular season finale last Saturday.  Both teams were regionally-ranked, of course, and while both teams appeared to be in good shape for the upcoming NCAA Tournament next week, both desperately hoped to cement their claim to the Promised Land with a win on this night.

The Tommies appeared to have the upper hand in things for most of the opening period.  Sophomore post Brynne Rolland started things off with a routine score in the paint at the 9:30 mark and despite absorbing a three-point bomb from Augsburg senior sharp-shooting guard Aiza Wilson from the left corner as the shot clock was expiring at the 8:55 mark, the Tommies recovered as two free throws by fellow sophomore guard Shayla Wallin at the 8:31 mark and a pretty reverse lay-up by junior point guard Macy Hatlestad at the 7:10 mark had UST up 6-3.  Rolland would connect with a reverse lay-up herself at the 5:37 mark to maintain the three-point edge at 8-5 and two Rolland free throws after she was fouled with 4:50 left upped the lead to five at 10-5.  With 3:59 left, Rolland would strike again with a lay-up to keep the spread at five points with a 12-7 advantage but the Auggies started to mount a push to close the gap.  Athletic senior forward Camryn Speese got into the paint for one score with 3:42 left and two free throws by sophomore reserve forward Jen Masello with 3:16 left reduced the deficit to one at 12-11.  UST would widen the gap to four when Wallin buried a "3" from the right corner with 3:03 left but right back came Augsburg with their high-octane attack.  Wilson drained her second trey of this ballgame with a bomb from the right top area with 2:36 left that again got the deficit back to one at 15-14 and a lay-up by junior forward Jazmyn Solseth with 1:52 left put the Auggies out in front by a 16-15 count.  That lead would increase to three when Wilson was the recipient of an inbounds pass and made a nifty move in for a lay-up with 1:16 left but the Tommies would grab that lead back before this first period ended thanks to freshman reserve guard Abby Mackenthun.  The former Norwood Young America standout knocked down one free throw after getting fouled with 1:00 left and with just :13.2 left, Mackenthun unleashed a cold-blooded "3" from the right top area that allowed UST to take a 19-18 lead into the second period.

Augsburg, not wanting to let its opponent steal the spotlight from them, picked things up offensively once the second period got underway.  Speese would connect with a pretty reverse lay-up of her own at the 9:20 mark to push the Auggies back out in front and then senior guard Tamira McLemore; who struggled with her shooting touch in the opening period, made amends for that with her hard drive for a finish that drew a foul in the process with the ensuing "and one" to give Augsburg a four-point edge at 23-19.  Things were looking even better for the home team when fellow senior reserve guard K'aezha Wubben sneaked into the paint for a score at the 7:23 mark to expand the lead to six at 25-19 but that didn't seem to faze this Tommie team as they went right back to work with a surprising 11-2 run.  Junior reserve guard Noelle Tomes would connect with a lay-up at the 7:12 mark and one free throw by sophomore guard Amber Darge at the 6:14 mark had UST back to within a single possession down 25-22.  Things tightened up even more when Rolland connected with a lay-up with 4:34 left and a Rolland lay-up in transition with 4:06 left pushed the Tommies back into the lead at 26-25.  Freshman reserve guard Madi Schirmer; who missed a good chunk of the season while she was out with mononucleosis, got into the books with her hard drive and finish with 3:17 left to grow the lead to three at 28-25 and two Mackenthun freebies after she was fouled with 1:57 left maintained the three-point lead at 30-27.  Hatlestad would maintain this three-point edge with two free throws after she was fouled with 1:17 left at 32-29 but fittingly the Auggies would forge a 32-all deadlock when McLemore buried a "3" from the top of the key with 1:02 left and neither team could capitalize on opportunities in the last minute before intermission.  A check of the first half box score shows that while UST certainly shot decently from FG range going 10-16 for 62.5%, Head Coach Ruth Sinn had to be concerned about the number of times her squad turned the ball over as the Tommies were guilty of 11 turnovers in the first half alone.  UST did hold a slight edge on the boards by a 15-13 count but, for the moment anyway, things were still very much up in the air for both teams. 

Augsburg's McLemore had the hot hand early on in the third period as she would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 8:46 mark to push the Auggies out in front at 34-32 and a McLemore "3" from the left top area maintained that two-point edge at 37-35.  Right back came UST, however, as Rolland took front and center stage.  A lay-up at the 7:39 mark and a score in the paint by the former Apple Valley standout at the 6:08 mark pushed the Tommies ahead by a 39-37 count.  Rolland would also snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 5:13 mark for a 41-40 UST lead and things appeared even better for the Tommies when Mackenthun was fouled with 3:34 left that put UST in the bonus and her two free throws kept the Tommies out in front by a 43-42 count.  Schirmer's lay-up with 3:00 left got UST a bit more breathing room with a 45-42 lead and had a chance to at least maintain that three-point lead when sophomore reserve post Allie Spaulding was sent to the foul line with 2:24 left.  The former Annandale standout, however, was unable to get either attempt to cooperate and that missed opportunity may have been the turning point in this ballgame as that seemed to breathe some much-needed life back into the Auggies as they closed out this third period with a key 5-0 push.  Speese knocked down a pair of freebies after getting fouled with 1:15 left to push Augsburg back out in front at 46-45 but even more worrisome from a UST standpoint was that Schirmer was tagged with her fourth foul of the night as well.  The feather in this little third period coup d'etat by the Auggies was when McLemore buried a heart-breaking "3" from the right top area off the glass with just :00.2 left that not only grew Augsburg's lead to four at 49-45 but also had an already-raucous Auggie student section exploding that also seemed to suck out a lot of momentum UST may have had.

Things became even more precarious for the Tommies once the fourth period got underway as two quick scores had them behind the eight-ball.  Augsburg's Speese would get sent to the foul line where she delivered with two free throws at the 9:47 mark and on the ensuing UST inbounds pass attempt, the Auggie's Wubben; like a thief in the night, hijacked the pass and got a quick lay-up out of it that suddenly opened up an eight-point gap at 53-45 at the 9:43 mark and a subsequent Tommie turnover had Head Coach Ruth Sinn quickly calling for a thirty-second halt to the action to get her squad calmed down a bit.  But Augsburg's McLemore would inflict even more damage after that short stoppage in play when she unleashed a cold-blooded "3" at the 9:10 mark that was so accurate that it barely made the cotton move and now had the Auggies up by double digits at 56-45.  UST would finally start showing some signs of life again as Spaulding was able to make amends for those missed free throws by snaring an offensive rebound for a putback of her own miss at the 7:37 mark and a score in the paint by Rolland at the 6:24 mark at least had the Tommies back within single-digit range again down 58-49.  But now UST could no longer be satisfied with simply trading scores with their opponent.  They needed to get stops and Augsburg had no intentions of cooperating anytime soon.  Wubben would use a burst of speed to make a hard drive and finish at the 6:03 mark and a McLemore lay-up in transition at the 5:47 mark pushed the lead to thirteen at 62-49.  The Tommies' Hatlestad tried to change the direction this game was going with her three-point bomb from the left wing area with 4:52 left but that was countered quickly by Augsburg as Wilson would uncork a "3" from the left corner with 3:37 left to make it a 65-52 ballgame.  UST would make one last gamble as Hatlestad would bury yet another "3" from the right top area with 3:20 left and two free throws by junior reserve guard Noelle Tomes with 2:29 left had the deficit down to eight at 65-57.  Wallin would get one free throw to go down with 1:46 left and a Tomes three-point bomb from the right corner with :48.6 left was the last flicker of hope left for the Tommies down by seven at 68-61.  But Augsburg would shut the door for good on this one as McLemore would connect on a lay-up in transition with :42.1 left to make it 70-61.  Wilson would add an insurance free throw with :19.2 left and Wubben would put the daisy on this game with her steal and lay-up the other way with :09 left as Augsburg headed to their second straight MIAC Championship Game with a 73-61 victory. 

UST's Sinn had plenty of praise for the Auggies when I caught up with her afterward.  "They've got a great team and they're senior-laden and I really felt that they were able to keep the focus for 40 minutes.....and we had lapses.....In the first half, we did a good job of being strong with the ball....But in the second half, they got us....They got us...They got loose balls, they got rebounds....And we've got to learn from that."  Sinn took a cautious approach as to what will happen this next Monday when the NCAA Tournament pairings are announced.  With two regional wins under their belt already (Trinity and East Texas Baptist), you would think that that would probably be good enough to get UST into the dance.  But the Committee will also see that UST's record against regionally-ranked teams is now at 2-5 (three losses to Augsburg, one to Bethel and one to UW-Whitewater just before the first of the year) and that could come back to bite them.  The guess here is that if things stay to form as they should throughout the West Region (barring any upsets), UST will PROBABLY get in but I'll have more on all of this later.  Meanwhile, over on the Augsburg side, things are definitely much brighter now and you'd have to think that the Auggies now have done at least the minimum to be on the inside looking out rather than on the outside looking in as they were last year.  I managed to get a moment with Assistant Coach and former Golden Gopher standout Jackie Voigt as well and when I asked her what the key was to getting things turned around late in the third period and early in the fourth period, her response was plain and simple.  "We made shots" she said with a smile.  Certainly I think the Auggies showed what they're capable of when they play like that and now they have a chance to erase what happened a week ago when they go back over to Bethel for the MIAC Championship Game on Saturday afternoon.  Voigt still was cautious about the whole NCAA Tournament thing but I don't think there's any scenario that could possibly keep Augsburg out now.  When you glance at the final box score on this night, one stat in particular probably had Sinn and her staff (and perhaps the players as well) reaching for that proverbial bottle of Tylenol PM once they got back home last night.  And that was UST committing 26 turnovers to Augsburg's nine.  To me, that stat is simply astounding as you simply don't see the Tommies with those many turnovers.  It would have been one thing if Augsburg had committed, say, 15-17 turnovers but they didn't.  Now, UST did win the battle on the boards this night by a 35-26 count but that stat only went so far and was pretty much negated by the turnovers.  Another stat pops out as well:  Augsburg enjoyed a 40-30 edge in points in the paint and held a 13-8 advantage in those critical "second chance" points.  Just huge in a ballgame like this, IMHO.  UST shot better from FG range going 20-38 for 52.6% compared to Augsburg's 27-61 for 44.3%.  But the Tommies didn't get it done from downtown going 5-16 for 31.3% and were shaky from the charity stripe as well going 16-25 for for a straight 64% and Sinn will be the first to tell you that that's not nearly good enough.  To be sure, the Auggies weren't great from the foul line either going 12-19 for 63.2% and they'll have to do much better than that Saturday at Bethel.....Augsburg needed a big night from McLemore and they got it on this night as she led all scorers with 26 points and was 4-6 from behind the arc as well.  Wubben had a great game as well with her 15 points and Speese had a "double-double" with her 14 points and thirteen rebounds.  Wilson was hot at time as well from downtown going 3-5 and finished with 12 points.  UST relied heavily on Rolland on this night as she tallied 23 points and Hatlestad was the only other Tommie in double figures scoring-wise on this night with her 10 points.