NCAA Tournament 1st Round Game - Edgewood vs UW-Oshkosh 3-6-20

Went directly from work on this sunny Friday afternoon from downtown Minneapolis up to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University for the 1st/2nd NCAA Tournament pod being hosted by Bethel University.  The 5:00 P.M. game on this Friday evening would pit Edgewood out of the NACC going up against heavily-favored UW-Oshkosh out of the WIAC.  The Eagles defeated conference rival Benedictine in the NACC Championship Game while the Titans had come roaring back from a sub-par regular season to shock everyone and win the WIAC Championship Game.  This would be my first look at Edgewood and although I had seen UW-Oshkosh play before, the make-up of this team was a bit different from last year.

Both teams would convert early in the opening period as the Titans drew first blood in this contest on a lay-up by junior guard Leah Porath at the 9:47 mark and Edgewood would respond on a score in the paint by junior guard Alyssa Lemirande at the 8:57 mark.  Then the game would be delayed for nearly ten minutes as one of the players on the floor literally and figuratively DID draw blood which prompted the floor crew at Robertson Center to spend considerable time getting things cleaned and polished up again.  The Eagles would poke their nose out in front when play resumed as sophomore guard Bria Lemirande would get sent to the charity stripe after getting fouled at the 8:16 mark and her two free throws made it a 4-2 game.  But that would prompt the first push in this game by the Titans in the form of a 7-0 run.  Senior forward Emily Miller would connect with a lay-up at the 7:58 mark and strong junior forward Nikki Arneson would drain a "3" from the right corner at the 6:58 mark to put UW-Oshkosh back into the lead at 7-4.  That lead would grow to 9-4 when Porath connected with a short, turnaround jumper off the glass at the 6:28 mark before the Eagles could tighten things up again thank to the Lemirande sisters.  Bria would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 6:17 mark and Alyssa would connect with a lay-up with 4:39 left that helped get Edgewood back to within a single possession down 9-7.  But another 7-0 Titan push would widen the gap even more.  Arneson would make a hard drive for a finish with 3:55 left and two Arneson free throws with 3:29 left got UW-Oshkosh some more breathing room up 13-7.  That lead would expand to nine when sophomore reserve guard Katie Ludwig banged home a "3" from the left corner with 2:46 left before Edgewood's Alyssa Lemirande tightened things up a bit with her lay-up with 2:24 left to reduce the deficit to seven at 16-9.  The Eagles would stay in that seven-point range at 18-11 when sophomore forward Lexi Walter knocked down a short jumper with 1:19 left and hope grew in the Edgewood camp when Alyssa Lemirande connected with a lay-up with :54 left that whittled the deficit down to five at 18-13.  The Titans would get their safety net back up to eight points when junior reserve post Karsyn Rueth drained a "3" from the left corner with :32 left but the Eagles stayed within striking distance to end this first period when Walter connected with a jumper from the free throw line area with just :12 left so being down at this point by six at 21-15 didn't seem like such a bad proposition for Edgewood; particularly in the underdog role.

For the casual observer, the Eagles best opportunity to get their teeth into this ballgame most likely came at the beginning of the second period as they opened with having possession of the ball and a chance to cut things down to at least a four-point game or perhaps even claw back within a single possession.  Instead, this is precisely where UW-Oshkosh had vastly different plans and started putting distance between themselves and their opponent.  A score in the paint by Arneson at the 8:48 mark prompted a key 7-0 Titan push that Edgewood never could recover from.  Arneson would follow up that score less than a minute later with a lay-up at the 8:10 mark to give UW-Oshkosh their first double-digit advantage at 25-15 and the exclamation point on this run was applied by senior guard/forward Olivia Campbell as she buried a "3" from the left wing area to expand the lead to thirteen at 28-15.  The Eagles tried to answer as junior guard Abby Shane knocked down one free throw after getting fouled at the 5:08 mark and Bria Lemirande would do the same after getting fouled with 4:25 left.  UW-Oshkosh would widen that gap more on a score in the paint by sophomore reserve guard Claire Staples at the 4:13 mark and two Ludwig free throws with 2:48 left to make it 32-17.  Edgewood freshman guard Emma Klein would give her team a boost when she banged home a "3" from the right wing area with 2:32 left and a Klein drive and finish with 1:36 left still kept things reasonably close at 34-22.  But UW-Oshkosh's Arneson would close out this second period with a score in the paint with 1:12 left and one free throw with just :04.1 left as the Titans took a somewhat cozy 37-22 lead into the locker room at the half.  A check of the first half box score shows that UW-Oshkosh's defense played a big role thus far as they held the Eagles to just 8-30 from FG range for 26.7% and Edgewood shot only 1-8 from downtown for 12.5%.  Compare that UW-Oshkosh's 14-33 from FG range for 42.4% and 4-7 from behind the arc for 57.1%.  And the Titans were doing well from the charity stripe so far going 5-6 for 83.3%.  UW-Oshkosh also owned a sizable edge in points in the paint by a 20-10 margin and Edgewood Head Coach Chaia Huff had to be concerned about the eight first half turnovers her team was guilty of as well. 

As badly as Edgewood needed to tighten things up at the beginning of the second period, that need was particularly acute once the third period got underway.  Instead, the Eagles' fate was quickly sealed as UW-Oshkosh ripped off a 13-0 run.  Campbell would get sent to the line at the 9:17 mark after getting fouled and although she couldn't cash in on the free throw attempt, the Titans were able to snare the offensive rebound and Porath would get a short jumper in the lane at the 9:09 mark to start this run.  Sophomore guard Brooke Freitag would increase UW-Oshkosh's lead to twenty points at 42-22 when she connected with a lay-up at the 8:05 mark that drew a foul in the process and knocked down the ensuing "and one".  Arneson would make a hard drive for a finish at the 7:43 mark and a Porath jumper from the left elbow area at the 7:02 mark now made it 46-22.  Porath would also get one free throw to go down at the 5:44 mark when she was fouled and Arneson would cap this run when she connected on a pretty give-and-go lay-up that drew a foul in the process and sank the obligatory free throw to now make it a 50-22 ballgame.  Edgewood was finally able to stop the massive bleeding taking place when Bria Lemirande connected with a lay-up with 3:57 left and freshman reserve forward Mia Edwards got into the paint for a score with 2:36 left.  Alyssa Lemirande would connecte with a lay-up in transition as well with 2:12 left and although the Titans were still up comfortably at 50-28, UW-Oshkosh Head Coach Brad Fischer decided to call a timeout anyway just to let his team catch its collective breath.  That stoppage in play paid off as the Titans erased any doubt about how this one was going to go by ending this third period with a 5-0 push.  Sophomore reserve forward Abby Kaiser knocked down one free throw after getting fouled with 1:45 left and two more by Porath with :38.1 left made it 53-28.  A Freitag lay-up with just :04 left gave UW-Oshkosh an almost insurmountable 55-28 advantage as this one morphed into the fourth period.

Scoring would come at something of a premium once the fourth and final period got underway but that didn't really matter too much from a Titan standpoint as they were comfortably and in full control of this one.  Ludwig would knock down two charity stripe shots after getting fouled at the 7:35 mark and Staples would get a jumper from near the free throw line to go down at the 5:30 mark to make it 59-29.  Edgewood would get some late scores to make this one respectable, however, as Edwards connected with a lay-up at the 5:02 mark and Shane would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 4:07 left.  Junior reserve guard Jennifer Freeman would drain a "3" as well from the left wing area with 3:28 left.  Sophomore Mady Pahl would connect with a lay-up with 2:17 left to reduce the deficit to twenty-two at 59-37.  Sophomore reserve guard Parker Fetherston would make a three-point play the old-fashioned way with her lay-up in transition with 1:59 left that drew a foul in the process along with the ensuing "and one" as well.  But UW-Oshkosh would put the daisy on this one for good as freshman reserve guard Ashley Wissink connected with a lay-up with :33.4 left as the Titans marched on to the second round with a convincing 61-40 victory. 

UW-Oshkosh's Fischer felt a sense of relief in the postgame press conference afterward getting through this first round match-up relatively unscathed.  "Yeah....I'm proud of our team....Anytime you win that state (WIAC) tournament, there's a sense of pride....Half the field goes home tonight so to still be standing feels really good.....We did a great job defensively....This is a team (Edgewood) that scores a lot of points and had a great year....I thought we were super-active in 'gaps'; knocking the ball loose and creating some uncomfortable situations for them and our scout team did a great job getting us ready this week....We feel fortunate to keep playing.....and I'm just proud of our kids getting this first win under our belt."  I asked Fischer about the late run his team got in coming down the stretch of the regular season and then wreaking havoc in the WIAC Playoffs culminating with the win over UW-Eau Claire in the WIAC Championship Game.  "Yeah, we found ourselves about three or four weeks ago....At the start of February, things weren't looking great and we weren't playing well."  Fischer was afraid that perhaps he and his staff weren't going to be able to get things turned around in time but he gave his squad a lot of credit for getting things turned around in just the nick of time.  "These guys turned it 'on' and started playing their best basketball and we were just kind of at a point where we didn't have a choice anymore.....We're going to be better or we're going to be done and they turned the corner and I think that we really believed that when the (WIAC) tournament started that we were going to win it and the more we played, the better we played and the more we believed and now that we got here we kind of feel the same way......Obviously we know how good everyone is in this tournament.....The next round is going to be a huge challenge but we have a high level of confidence right now and when we play really well we're tough to beat."  I also asked Fischer about the experience factor coming into this NCAA Tournament and how being here before is a big factor as well.  "Yeah, you can ask these guys.....I think experience helps a lot.....I think even in the day-to-day and what we do once you get here and how the days go I think kind of helps kind of ease in to it for us and nothing is the 'first time' for this group.....We don't really have a lot of freshmen in the rotation so this is an experienced group that's played in the Sweet Sixteen before so that's kind of what we talked about as the year went on; we've seen every situation really.....So now we just feel like we gotta go play; and however it plays it we've been in that spot before and we kind of felt that same way today...."  Campbell, Porath and Arneson were also in the press conference and all three got a laugh when I brought up about how I spoke with a friend of mine; Jessie Rabas, who graduated last year from UW-Oshkosh and was a great player on this team, who kind of gave me an idea of what to look for on this team before the game started.  You can watch the entire press conference on You Tube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7owwA7KpjCA

Edgewood's Huff along with the Lemirande duo of Alyssa and Bria were in on the Eagles' postgame press conference.  Huff:  "I think we learned a lot today and that's good for us....We've had quite the run the last few years and think this was a good game for us to measure where we're at.....We knew it would be....We were hoping we'd be a little better but I think we'll grow a lot from it....I think that some of the things we wanted to do worked but some didn't and....I think that's something we can go forward with....I'm really proud of them....Hopefully we can keep it rolling."  I asked both of the Lemirande sisters about the fact that this team is so incredibly young with no seniors and how this experience this time around will prepare them for the next opportunity and both were in agreement that this will be huge for them going forward.  The pair has been playing since both can remember and it's obvious how much they love the game and playing with each other.  I also asked Huff about what I thought was the critical juncture of this ballgame - at the beginning of the second period when they had possession of the ball and were down by just six and had an opportunity to tighten things up a bit.  Huff was seemingly in agreement but had to give credit where credit was due.  "Their defense is really tough...We knew it would be.  They're long, athletic, quick.....We feel like we're very quick and athletic...Not so long.  So we knew that'd be a little bit tough.  And we needed our shots to go in when we had opportunity and we talked about that pregame...When we get the opportunity we had to put the ball in because when you play a team like UW-Oshkosh, when they get an opportunity, they do....And so, we felt like we didn't do that; we didn't match that and we felt like we needed some kids to step up and they didn't......We needed a little more 'swag'....We needed a little more confidence to put the ball in when we had our opportunity."  Additionally, I asked Huff about the unfamiliarity factor that always seems to come into play in the NCAA Tournament in that while you can watch teams on film, you really don't know for sure what you're entirely getting until you step onto the floor and even then, your window for grasping everything is relatively small.  "Yeah, we talked a lot about that......Honestly, it's been a rebuilding program at Edgewood and I've tried to evaluate each year our next step to get us there and how we challenge that and this year kind of took me by surprise....Bria (Lemirande) came and Bria made all the difference for us and was a little sooner for us than what I thought....And, we gotta get our schedule a little tougher; we gotta start playing some of the WIAC schools and, that would have helped us today.....We've been scouting them the last couple of days and wish that we'd have played a couple (WIAC schools); we'd have had a couple under our belt.  We'd have had a better idea of what was coming at us.....We had two losses prior to today and both of those losses were to really good teams in our conference and both the second time we played them, we beat them pretty good and we learned a lot from that first time and carried that into the second time and I thought that we didn't have that with us today and I knew it was going to be a 'smack' and I wasn't sure how we'd handle it so I think in the future, we'll get our schedule tougher."  You can view the entire Edgewood press conference on You tube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oCWbiOJ--0

When I glance at the final box score for this game, I was definitely surprised to see that rebounds were dead-even for this game at 39 and I would not have expected that.  From there, however, the numbers were decidedly in UW-Oshkosh's favor.  They shot 22-63 from FG range for 34.9% compared to Edgewood's 15-56 for 26.8% and although the Titans didn't set the world on fire from behind the arc going 4-18 for 22.2%, it was still better than the Eagles as they finished a woeful 2-20 for 10%.  And Edgewood's Huff had to be disappointed with her team's free throw shooting as they finished 8-18 for 44% and you simply have to do better from that from the charity stripe.  The Eagles also suffered 18 turnovers on this evening compared to UW-Oshkosh's 11 and the Titans enjoyed a hefty 34-22 advantage in points in the paint.  The Titan's Arneson was simply a beast on this night as she led the UW-Oshkosh scoring with her 21 points and Porath added 11 points.  Edgewood's Alyssa Lemirande was the only Eagles player in double figures scoring-wise on this night with her 10 points.