UST vs Hamline 2-5-20

Wandered over to the St Paul side of town on this Wednesday night and over to venerable Hutton Arena on the campus of Hamline University for this much-anticipated matchup between visiting UST and host Hamline.  The Tommies were coming into this important game with an 11-3 record in conference play and 15-4 overall and had just scored a big road win at GAC the previous Saturday.  Hamline meanwhile was the surprise so far in MIAC play; coming in at 14-5 overall and 9-5 in MIAC play after escaping Moorhead on Monday night with a tight win over Concordia.  The upstart Pipers were looking to make inroads on the MIAC playoff party and this huge home contest against UST was the perfect opportunity for Hamline to make a name for itself.

Both teams would trade scores in the first minute of the opening period as the Pipers drew first blood on a jumper from the left elbow by freshman forward Lydia Lecher at the 9:22 mark and UST would respond on a short jumper in the lane by sophomore post Brynne Rolland at the 9:07 mark.  The Tommies would grab a 5-2 lead when junior point guard Macy Hatlestad drained a "3" from the top of the key at the 8:33 mark but Hamline's Lecher would do her part to deadlock this game at 5-all as she uncorked a "3" from the right top area at the 8:11 mark.  This back-and-forth battle would continue as Hatlestad knocked down a short jumper from the left side at the 7:16 mark to put UST back up 7-5 but the Pipers would retake the lead at 8-7 when senior forward Reilly Geistfeld drained a "3" from the right top area at the 6:49 mark.  But Hamline's one-point lead wouldn't last long as the Tommies sought to regain the upper hand.  Rolland would get a score in the paint at the 6:33 mark and then Hatlestad buried a cold-blooded "3" from the left wing area at the 5:24 mark as UST enjoyed a 12-8 lead.  Two free throws by junior reserve guard and former East Ridge standout Noelle Tomes with 4:36 left helped increase the Tommie lead to 14-9.  Hamline managed to close back to within a single possession as sophomore reserve forward Sarah Loken muscled into the paint for one score with 4:06 left and one Geistfeld free throw after she was fouled with 2:18 left made it a 14-12 ballgame.  The Tommies, however closed out this first period on a 7-2 push.  Hatlestad would connect with a jumper from the free throw line area with 2:08 left and an offensive rebound and putback by Rolland with :47 left had UST up 18-14.  From a Piper standpoint, that wouldn't have been quite so bad and it looked as if Hamline would again stay within a single possession when speedy sophomore point guard Chan'el Anderson-Manning snared a steal near midcourt and was off to the races the other way for an apparent easy lay-up.  That lay-up attempt, however, missed its mark and when the Tommies got the ball back, they made Hamline pay dearly for that mistake as Hatlestad banged home another cold-blooded "3" - this one from the left corner with :09 left as UST took a 21-14 lead into the second period.

The Pipers appeared to be in some serious trouble when UST's Rolland connected with a lay-up at the 8:52 mark of the second period to extend the Tommies' lead to nine at 23-14 but it was here that Hamline made some adjustments; going to a 2-3 "matchup" zone defense - and, more importantly, started knocking down some big shots as well.  Back-to-back three-point bombs - one by Lecher from the top of the key at the 8:18 mark and another one by senior guard Kaeli Stayer from the right top area at the 7:01 mark - suddenly had the Pipers back within a single possession again down 23-20.  The Coppell, Texas native; Stayer, would strike again at the 5:28 mark with a jumper from the free throw line area to narrow the deficit down to a scant point at 23-22 before the Tommies could open up a little more breathing room.  Freshman reserve guard Abby Mackenthun connected with a lay-up at the 5:12 mark and a short shot from the left side by Rolland with 2:24 left now had UST up by five at 27-22.  The Pipers, however, slyly got themselves right back in this one before the halftime break.  Lecher would drop one free throw after getting fouled with 2:07 left and then Geistfeld perhaps made the biggest play of this first half for Hamline when she snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up with 1:49 left and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" now reduced the deficit to a single-point again at 27-26.  UST would momentarily up its lead to four when lefty sophomore guard Ellie Wolkow drained a "3" from the right wing area with :55 left but the Pipers slimmed the deficit back down to two points when freshman reserve forward Tess Hauer connected with a lay-up with :25 left as the Tommies took a precarious 30-28 lead into the locker room at the half.  Thus far, it was something of a good news/bad news proposition for Hamline.  True, they were right in the thick of things down by only two but the box score showed some ugly numbers for them; particularly field goal shooting where the Pipers were a dismal 9-27 for 33.3% and they had their share of easy missed lay-ups and other short shots they should have knocked down.  Rebounding was even at 17 each and turnovers were very similar with UST guilty of nine while Hamline committed seven. 

The Tommies appeared ripe for the picking once the third period got underway as Hamline looked to take the initiative.  Geistfeld would snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 7:33 mark to tie the game at 30 a piece and sophomore guard Gabby Robinson would connect with a lay-up at the 6:55 mark to keep this one tied at 32.  Geistfeld would make a huge play with her hard drive and finish off the glass at the 5:58 mark that also drew a foul and the St. James native would drop the obligatory free throw to push the Pipers out in front 35-34.  Both teams would then go into a bit of an offensive funk over the next three minutes but with 2:38 left, Hamline's Stayer would drill a back-breaking "3" from the right top area to push the Piper lead to four at 38-34 and a concerned UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn quickly called a timeout to get her team settled down.  A short, one-handed shot by the Tommies' Rolland from the right side with 2:20 left narrowed the gap to two down 38-36 but then the Pipers went right back to work.  Anderson-Manning knocked down two free throws after getting fouled with 1:58 left to get the Hamline lead back to four at 40-36 and then Geistfeld again showed her worth down low with another offensive rebound for a putback with 1:36 left that expanded the Piper lead to six at 42-36 and the Tommies' Sinn was clamoring for a timeout as it definitely seemed that her squad was in some deep doo-doo at this point.  This stoppage in play had the desired effect that Sinn and her staff were seeking as UST closed out this third period with a key 6-0 push that not only got this game tied up but also seemed to suck out a lot of the momentum air that Hamline had.  Rolland would grab an offensive rebound for a putback with 1:16 left and a lay-up by Tomes with :49 left had the deficit down to two points at 42-40.  With just :11 left in this third period, Rolland would muscle into the paint for a score that had the Tommies back in business with the game knotted at 42 a piece.

UST would start the fourth period in much the same fashion as they ended the previous one - with a 6-0 push that had them back in the lead.  A routine score in the paint by Rolland at the 9:33 mark put the Tommies up 44-42 and then sophomore guard Amber Darge would make a hard drive for a finish off of an inbounds pass at the 8:26 mark to expand the UST lead to four at 46-42.  Wolkow would make a drive and finish of her own at the 6:19 mark to grow the Tommie lead to six at 48-42 before Hamline could shake off some of the shock and cobwebs they had.  Robinson would make a hard drive for a finish at the 5:59 mark and then Geistfeld would drain a "3" from the top of the key to narrow the deficit down to one point at 48-47.  Then Lecher would put the Pipers back into the lead with her lay-up in transition at the 5:08 mark and just like that, things were suddenly looking bright for the home team again.  But any jubilation that Hamline might have been feeling was quickly extinguished when the Tommies' Hatlestad buried another cold-blooded "3" from the right wing area to propel UST back into a 51-49 lead.  Still, the Pipers managed to get the game tied twice.  Geistfeld would score in the paint with 4:17 left to forge a 51-all deadlock and a jumper from the left top area just inside the arc by Lecher with 3:50 left kept things tied at 53 a piece.  It was here, however, where the wheels started to fall off for Hamline as UST took control at perhaps the most crucial point of this game.  Darge would drain a "3" from the right corner with 3:20 left to put the Tommies up 56-53 and two scores by Rolland - a lay-up with 1:48 left and a score in the paint with 1:11 left - now had UST up by seven at 60-53.  The Pipers would trim the deficit to five when Geistfeld scored in the paint with :55 left and Hamline Head Coach Alex Focke would subsequently call a timeout to set up strategy and although Geistfeld's short, turnaround jumper off the glass with :39 left had the deficit down to four at 61-57, the Pipers could never get back to within a single possession again.  UST's Hatlestand would knock down two insurance free throws after getting fouled with :38.9 left and one more for good measure with :06.8 left as the Tommies snuck out of Hutton Arena with an important 65-57 victory. 

UST's Sinn afterward talked to me about the importance of her squad taking a one possession at a time mindset in that critical third period when they got down.  The fact that this squad is so young and has already endured their own share of trials and tribulations this season makes this win that much more impressive with how they hung tough when things looked uncertain.  On the Hamline side, Focke and his staff could probably only cringe at all of the missed opportunities they had in this game; particularly with missed lay-ups that wound up costing them in the end.  Indeed, when you go over the final box score for this one and you see where the Pipers finished this game going 21-61 for 34.4% and 6-20 from downtown for a straight 30%, you can pretty much surmise that you're going to most likely be on the wrong end of the scoreboard.  UST also enjoyed a 41-35 edge on the boards on this night and although turnovers wound up being basically even on this night, the Tommies did shoot somewhat better from FG range going 25-60 for 41.7%.  UST had a 32-26 edge in points in the paint although, interestingly enough, Focke and his staff could probably feel a bit better about things knowing that the Pipers did enjoy a 13-4 edge in those "second-chance" points.  Another stat that I pointed out to Focke:  His squad had 16 assists on 21 made field goals on this night which does seem to show that this squad moves the ball well around the floor.  "This team has a great love for one another" Focke said when I brought this up.  What a night it was for UST's Rolland as she led all scorers with her 29 points and Hatlestad came up with some big shots when she had to and finished this game with 20 points.  Geistfeld paced the Hamline attack on this night with her 24 points while Lecher finished with 13 points.