St. Olaf vs St. Kate's 2-1-20

Drove back over to the St Paul side of town on this somewhat unseasonably mild February 1st Saturday over to Butler Center on the campus of St. Catherine's University to take in this important clash between visiting St. Olaf and host St. Kate's.  This contest had playoff implications abound; primarily for that coveted sixth spot with both teams trying to jostle for position.  The Oles were especially looking to right the ship after dropping a tough home contest to Hamline on Wednesday night.  It was pretty much the same deal for the Wildcats who had suffered consecutive losses to two of the upper echelon teams in the MIAC - UST and Bethel.  And both teams were having issues with the injury bug as well with key players out on both sides.  When you get to this time of the season, it really becomes a grind and the best teams find ways to grind while making the most of what they've got.

Wildcat Head Coach Don Mulhern and his staff probably couldn't have asked for a better start from their squad as St. Kate's bolted off to an early 9-1 lead in the opening period.  Senior guard Jackie Radford started things off with her lay-up at the 9:16 mark and a short jumper in the lane by Radford at the 8:30 mark had the 'Cats up 4-0.  One Radford free throws at the 7:39 mark and a lay-up in transition by freshman forward Bree Glynn at the 7:20 mark grew the lead to 7-0 and a lay-up by junior reserve post Kassidy Jenkins at the 6:37 mark capped this early run before the Oles finally found some semblance of offensive production.  Sophomore guard K'Lynn Lewis snuck into the paint for a score at the 6:23 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by freshman forward Rachel Kelly at the 5:38 mark had the deficit down to four at 9-5.  The Wildcats' Radford would get the home team's lead back to six with her offensive rebound and putback at the 5:23 mark but St. Olaf appeared to right the ship when Lewis uncorked a "3" from the left wing area at the 5:00 mark that allowed the Oles to crawl back to within a single possession down 11-8.  But St. Kate's didn't appear to be too interested in playing a cat-and-mouse game with its opponent and embarked on another push instead.  Sophomore post Katie Benjamin knocked down two free throws after getting fouled with 4:02 left and athletic senior guard Danica Cambrice would add one of her own with 3:19 left to get the Wildcat lead back to six at 14-8.  Freshman guard Cierra Ahlf would knock down a short jumper from the right side with 2:32 left and two free throws by junior reserve guard Brooke Torvik with 1:56 left now had the St. Kate's lead to 18-10.  Jenkins' score in the paint would give the Wildcats their first double-digit lead of the afternoon at 20-10 before the Oles could remove some of the cobwebs forming on their basket.  Sophomore reserve forward Rose Bauernfeind would drain a "3" from the right corner with 1:07 left and senior reserve forward Kelsie Gerovac knocked down a long jumper just inside the arc from the left wing area with :25 left but St. Olaf was still in a bit of a hole down 22-15.

Despite the fact that the Oles' Kelly had to walk off the court at the 9:40 mark of the second period with an apparent injured ankle that required taping, St. Olaf was able to close the gap back to within a single possession.  Bauernfeind would unleash her second trey of this game with a bomb from the right wing area at the 8:48 mark and would follow that up with a jumper along the left baseline at the 7:50 mark that seemed to have the Oles in decent shape down by just two at 22-20.  A jumper along the right baseline by sophomore forward Camryn Scott at the 6:10 mark kept St. Olaf in that two-point range down 24-22 and when freshman reserve guard Grace Hegland banged home a "3" from the left top area at the 5:26 mark, everything seemed to be right there for the Oles to grab control of this game down by just one at 26-25.  But again, St. Kate's simply was not going to relinquish control - or their lead - either.  Cambrice would connect with a lay-up at the 5:03 mark to get the 'Cats lead to three at 28-25 and that lead would be extended to five when Glynn connected with a lay-up of her own with 4:30 left at 30-25.  Then Cambrice would make a fantastic hustle play when she snared a steal near mid-court and whizzed the other way for an easy lay-up with 3:32 left to make it 32-25 and a hard drive and pretty finish by Torvik with 2:53 left capped this key 8-0 run and extended the lead to nine at 34-25.  St. Olaf would cut into this deficit with :35 left in this second period when Kelly knocked down a short jumper from the right side but the momentum that the Oles appeared to build up in the early moments of this second appeared seemed to have vanished into thin air as the teams headed for their respective locker rooms for the halftime break.  A quick check of the first half box score shows you one of the big reasons why St. Kate's was enjoying the lead they did:  They shot 8-12 from FG range for 66.67% and were 6-8 for 75% from the charity stripe as well.

The Wildcats were able to grow their lead to double-digits again early on in the third period as Glynn would make a hard drive along the left baseline for a finish at the 9:46 mark and a lay-up in transition by Benjamin gave St. Kate's at 38-27 lead.  The Oles were again at least able to cut into this deficit as senior guard Ella Skrien unleashed a pretty "3" from the left corner that found nothing but cotton at the 8:40 mark and a score in the paint by Scott at the 7:59 mark kept St. Olaf in that eight-point range down down 40-32.  A Kelly lay-up at the 7:28 mark did the same with the Oles down 42-34 but St. Kate's was able to stretch out their lead again.  Cambrice would make a three-point play the old-fashioned way with a pretty spin move and lay-up that drew a foul in the process followed by the obligatory "and one" to give the 'Cats a 45-34 advantage.  One Radford free throws at the 5:05 mark and a Jenkins lay-up with 3:42 left increased the St. Kate's lead to twelve at 48-36.  Radford would get sent to the charity stripe again with 3:10 left where she got one attempt to go down and an offensive rebound and putback by Benjamin with 2:50 left made it 51-38.  Freshman reserve forward and former Centennial standout Sarah Lavell would grab and offensive rebound and get a short jumper out of it with 2:11 left to stretch the Wildcat lead to 53-38 and St. Olaf Head Coach Dave Stromme had seen more than enough to know that a full timeout was warranted.  The 'Cats would still draw more blood before this third period was over when Glynn connected with a lay-up with :27 left to make it a 55-38 game. 

The Ole situation only grew more dire once the fourth period started as St. Kate's embarked on a quick 6-0 spurt.  Glynn connected with a lay-up after a steal in the backcourt at the 9:40 mark and a Cambrice lay-up in transition at the 9:15 mark now gave the Wildcats a cozy 59-38 lead.  That lead ballooned to 61-38 when Cambrice snared a steal and raced the other way for a lay-up at the 7:53 mark and St. Olaf's Stromme was again clamoring for a halt to the action to try and stop some of the bleeding.  Ole junior guard Keegan Mulvihill tried to give her team a boost with a pretty coast-to-coast lay-up at the 7:20 mark but St. Kate's was not letting up on the accelerator at all on this day.  Two scores by senior reserve guard Emma Nelson - a score in the paint at the 6:59 mark and a "3" from the right corner at the 5:53 mark - gave the Wildcats a sizable 66-42 lead and Mulhern was able to insert more and more of his reserves into action down the stretch.  Sophomore reserve forward Ali Brown connected with a short jumper off the glass with 2:56 left and would add one free throw as well with 1:06 left.  Sophomore reserve post Sophie Willems connected with a short, turnaround jumper with :45.5 left to make it 71-46.  St. Olaf would record the last two points of this day when sophomore reserve guard Sydney Beard was sent to the charity stripe for two free throws with :33.5 left but the Wildcats pocketed a 71-48 victory and the inside track to that sixth spot for the time being. 

I think the thing that stood out most to me on this day was how well the Wildcats were able to get their transition game going and indeed they had 11 fast break points compared to the Oles six on this day.  But here's two more stats that stand out:  The Wildcats enjoyed a 17-8 edge in points off of turnovers and an astounding 48-18 advantage in points in the paint.  Now, the Oles had only 16 turnovers on this day which isn't terrible but St. Kate's sure took advantage of them.  The Wildcats also enjoyed a 32-25 advantage on the boards on this day as well.  To be sure, St. Olaf was operating on this day without one of their key cogs on the front line - senior forward Britta Koenen who suffered an ankle sprain in the loss to Hamline.  I had an opportunity to speak with Koenen before the game and she told me it was probably the worst sprained ankle she's ever experienced and its uncertain at this point as to when she'll be able to return.  Needless to say, that's a huge loss for the Oles and they'll need others to step up with St. Olaf obviously now on the outside looking in when it comes to the MIAC Playoff picture.  Another great day for the Wildcats' Cambrice as her 16 points led all scorers on this day and her ability to get up and down the floor in transition is remarkable.  And congrats to St. Kate's Radford who finished with 11 points on this day and was also honored beforehand with her 500th-career rebound vs SMU.  St. Olaf's Kelly was the only Ole in double figures on this day with her 12 points.