NCAA Tournament 2nd Round Game - Bethany Lutheran vs UW-Oshkosh 3-7-20

Was back over at Robertson Center on this Saturday night as Friday night's winners - Bethany Lutheran out of the UMAC and UW-Oshkosh of the WIAC - prepared to face off in the second round with the winner advancing to the Sweet Sixteen next weekend.  The Vikings, of course, had won an emotionally-exhausting thriller with host Bethel while the Titans had routinely taken care of business against Edgewood in the opener on Friday night.  I did have to wonder a bit about how much Bethany Lutheran might have left in the tank after the exciting win over Bethel and how they would handle the size the UW-Oshkosh has across the floor.

The Titans would certainly get off to a very good start in this one; building a 5-1 lead where scoring would initially come at something of a premium in this first period.  Sophomore guard Brooke Freitag would draw first blood in this contest with her "3" from the right wing area at the 9:26 mark as the shot clock was expiring and a lay-up by junior guard Leah Porath at the 5:24 mark established the early advantage for UW-Oshkosh.  The Vikings finally got their first field goal of the game when strong junior forward/post Hanna Geistfeld snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 3:16 left but the Titans were able to spread the gap even further as two free throws by junior forward Nikki Arneson with 3:01 left and two three-point bombs by junior reserve post Karsyn Rueth - one from the right top area with 1:50 left and another from the top of the key with 1:23 left - gave UW-Oshkosh a ten-point cushion at 13-3.  Bethany Lutheran junior guard Abby Olson finally got untracked with 1:10 left when she drained a "3" from the right wing area but the Titans still appeared to be in excellent shape when Porath connected with a lay-up in transition with :38 left as UW-Oshkosh carried a 15-6 lead going into the second period. 

The lack of scoring from the first period was certainly more than made up for once the second period got underway.  The Vikings; after struggling in the opening period, started lighting things up.  Two Geistfeld free throws at the 9:48 mark cut the deficit to seven and a Geistfeld score in the paint at the 8:42 mark kept Bethany Lutheran in that seven-point range down 17-10.  The Vikings would make further inroads when senior guard Emily Skrien drained a "3" from the left top area at the 7:07 mark before UW-Oshkosh could widen things out again.  Sophomore reserve guard Claire Staples sneaked into the paint for one score at the 6:47 mark and Freitag's second three-point bomb on this Saturday night - this one from the right corner at the 6:02 mark - re-established the nine-point lead that the Titans enjoyed earlier at 22-13.  But Bethany Lutheran would slowly chip away at this deficit and eventually take the lead.  Geistfeld would bully into the paint for one score at the 5:36 mark and draw a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" got the deficit down to six at 22-16.  A Geistfeld lay-up with 4:45 left kept the Vikings in that six-point range down 24-18 and a "3" from the left wing area by willowy junior forward Kenlie Pytleski with 4:07 left got the deficit down to five at 26-21.  With 2:08 left, Skrien would strike again from behind the arc with her bomb from the right wing off the glass to pull Bethany Lutheran back to within a single possession down 27-24 and a lay-up by sophomore reserve guard Laura Ellinghuysen with 1:31 left reduced the deficit to a scant point at 27-26.  With just :14 left on the clock, Olson would put the feather on this second period Viking burst with her three-point bomb from the top of the key that thrust Bethany Lutheran out in front 29-27 and Vikings Head Coach Lyle Jones was only too happy to take that two-point advantage with him and his squad into the locker room at the half.  A check of the first half box score shows that Bethany Lutheran certainly did pick things up offensively in that second period as they were 8-13 from FG range for 61.5% and 4-6 from downtown for for 66.7%.  Just as important, they were a perfect 3-3 from the charity stripe in the second period alone.  UW-Oshkosh meanwhile had cooled down considerably in this second period as they were 5-13 from FG range for 38.5% and 1-4 from behind the arc for 25% while in the first period, the Titans were 3-7 from downtown for 42.9%. 

UW-Oshkosh looked to have the quick response once the third period got underway as senior forward Emily Miller would connect with a lay-up at the 9:53 mark to tie the game and an Arneson lay-up at the 9:16 mark pushed the Titans back out in front by a 31-29 count.  But a 10-2 Bethany Lutheran run; courtesy of Olson out of Montevideo, had the Titans on their heels.  Olson would first knock down a jumper from the right top area at the 7:52 mark that also drew a foul in the process and her obligatory free throw pushed the Vikings back out in front 32-31.  Less than a minute later, Olson would bang home a "3" from the right wing area at the 7:19 mark to make it a four-point game at 35-31.  UW-Oshkosh would score on a drive and finish by senior guard Olivia Campbell at the 7:05 mark but right back came Olson and this Bethany Lutheran team as Olson would knock down a short jumper at the 6:57 mark to re-establish the four-point edge at 37-33 and an Olson lay-up at the 5:46 mark increased the lead to six at 39-33.  The Titans would tighten things up again when Freitag connected with a lay-up with 4:46 left but the Vikings were far from finished with this third period offensive.  Skrien would bury her third trey of this ballgame with a bomb from the top of the key with 3:57 left to make it 42-35 and a drive and finish by freshman reserve guard Skylar Cotten with 3:25 left maintained the seven-point edge at 44-37.  With 2:07 left, Ellinghuysen would drain a back-breaking "3" from the left corner to get the lead to eight at 47-39 and with 1:46 left, things deteriorated further for the Titans when a technical foul was called which allowed Olson to knock down two free throws for a ten-point lead at 49-39.  Cotten would knock down a short jumper with :47 left to make it 51-39 and one free throw by junior reserve forward Natasha Young with just :00.4 left in this third period maintained the twelve-point lead at 52-40 and, facing a double-digit deficit, UW-Oshkosh appeared to be buried. 

It's unclear what UW-Oshkosh Head Coach Brad Fischer told his team in that huddle before the start of the fourth period but, whatever it was, it certainly lit a fire under the Titans as they exploded out of the gates with an astonishing 18-0 run that Bethany Lutheran never could quite recover from.  Freitag would start this amazing push with her lay-up at the 9:20 mark and then two three-point plays the old-fashioned way tightened things up very quickly.  Porath would make a hard drive for a finish that drew a foul in the process at the 8:46 mark and her ensuing "and one" reduced the deficit to seven at 52-45.  Then Arneson would do the same herself less than a minute later at the 8:07 mark and her obligatory free throw suddenly had the deficit shrunk to four points at 52-48.  At the 6:05 mark, Porath would strike again with her drive and finish that brought the Titans from the brink back to within a single possession down 52-50 and Bethany Lutheran's Jones had seen more than enough to know that a full timeout was warranted.  But even this stoppage in play did not have the desired effect.  Campbell would drain a "3" from the right corner at the 5:07 mark to push UW-Oshkosh back out in front at 53-52 and an offensive rebound and putback by Arneson with 4:31 left made it 55-52.  The cherry on top of this big run by the Titans was a three-point bomb by Porath from the left top area with 3:44 left that expanded this newly-found lead to six at 58-52 and Bethany Lutheran's Jones was once again clamoring for a timeout in hopes of finding a quick solution to the deluge his team was facing.  To their credit, the Vikings looked to have things corrected as Geistfeld would knock down one free throw after getting fouled with 3:22 left and a Pytleski "3" from the left top area with 2:24 left brought Bethany Lutheran back to within a single possession down 58-56 with a mountain of time left.  But the hope amongst the Viking contingent took a hit less than thirty seconds later when the Titans' Porath nailed a "3" from the right corner with 1:57 left to make it 61-56 and now Bethany Lutheran had to fight just to make this a one-possession game again.  Two Geistfeld free throws would shrink the deficit to three at 61-58 with 1:39 left but UW-Oshkosh would again up the spread to five when Porath connected with a lay-up on the Titans ensuing possession with 1:27 left.  With 1:16 left, Bethany Lutheran's Geistfeld would again get sent to the foul line and she responded knocking down both free throws to again tighten things up down 63-60.  The Vikings would get an important stop on the other end which appeared to set up their best chance but with :34 left, a Pytleski three-point shot attempt missed its mark and UW-Oshkosh's Porath would be there for the rebound and was immediately fouled.  Porath was able to get one free throw out of the deal with :33.9 left to at least make it a two-possession game at 64-60 and on Bethany Lutheran's next offensive trip, a Skrien three-point attempt missed its mark as well and the Titan's Arneson was there for the defensive rebound.  She would be fouled with :18.8 left and got one free throw to go down out of the deal to make it 65-60.  The Vikings' Jones would again call timeout to set something up for a quick score but UW-Oshkosh's Campbell would deliver the stake in the heart of this Bethany Lutheran team with her perfectly-timed steal of the inbounds pass and would get the ball to Porath who was fouled with :12.2 left.  Porath would get both free throw attempts to go down and UW-Oshkosh would advance on to the Sweet Sixteen with a tough 67-60 victory. 

UW-Oskosh's Fischer was joined by both Porath and Arneson in the postgame press conference.  Fischer:  "Oh man....A lot happens....Obviously a lot of good stuff for us in the fourth quarter and I think I have to re-watch it to see exactly how it kind of went down.....We had two really bad quarters; second and third quarter which had all to do with Bethany Lutheran.  They're so well-coached; probably one of the best-coached teams I've seen.....They know exactly who they are and what they're trying to do and they're so consistent....They made things so hard for us.....We kind of got to that backs against the wall spot where we either had to come out swinging or we were going home....I'm just so proud of these two (Porath and Arneson)......We get to play another week which is probably the best thing about all this."  I asked both Porath and Arneson about what was going through their minds when that fourth period began being down by double digits.  Porath:  "I think our season has prepared us for this....I mean, we've been in so many close games where we've been down or up....We held our composure and we played this possession by possession; we knew that we're not going to win this game in one stop or one basket.....I mean, we just played really well together; found an open person and attacked them."  I asked Fischer about, despite the fact that his team got off to the kind of start it had hoped for, things got away from them in the second and third periods and what Bethany Lutheran was doing to them.  "They switched to a zone and we've actually played pretty well against zone this year....And I thought that slowed us down a little bit....We went from moving and cutting pretty well.....And the first quarter was how we liked to play; low-scoring and we were able to get stops....And I do like to think that we let our lack of offense affect our defense and we talked about that at halftime.....And then we get into the third quarter where we were missing a shot, having a dead possession or it was a turnover or a terrible shot and then we'd walk down the floor and hang our heads about it and they made us pay for it.....So I thought we lost our composure there in the third quarter and it was just a backs against the wall and we had to come out swinging and these guys do that."  I also got to ask Arneson about the battle down low against Bethany Lutheran's Geistfeld.  "Well, she's just a great player.....She can shoot the three, she can drive and defend; she can do everything.....We talked about going on her defensively and we had to focus on her."  Arneson also got a laugh during the press conference when she was asked about how tough it was to stay out of foul trouble in this one.  "Well, I've always been a fouler so, I've been through this once or twice before.....My team needed me in the second half - defensively and I knew they needed me offensively as well." 

Bethany Lutheran's Jones was joined by both Skrien and Pytleski in their portion of the postgame press conference.  Jones:  "Well, we threw a lot at them.....But I think the girls played hard and I know they (UW-Oshkosh) made a pretty good surge in the fourth quarter.....And that Porath girl, Leah, she kind of put that team on her back......We tried the best we could; we were switching defenses up and that fourth quarter kind of got us."  I asked Jones about what UW-Oshkosh did specifically that caught them off guard in that crucial fourth period.  "Well, I think that one thing they did is that they changed up a little bit on our matchup defense....We lost a couple girls on assignments.....Offensively, we had some freshmen in there.....They made some mistakes but really it's just the whole team....I think it's just a great situation for our kids to get here and to play that well.....Each year we set goals and we were starting to set goals in the locker room right after this loss and we want to get back here and we want to win."  I asked both Pytleski and Skrien how hard it was going from the "hunter" mode as they were last night against Bethel to the "hunted" mode as they were tonight with a double-digit lead going into the fourth period.  Pytleski:  "I think it was definitely a different feeling when we were going up against a number six in the nation (Bethel).....But there wasn't anybody we were going to overlook by any means.....And they (UW-Oshkosh) weren't someone we were going to overlook."  I also asked Skrien about when she decided to transfer out of UW-River Falls to Bethany Lutheran; a place much closer to her hometown of Nicollet.  "It's been the best decision I've ever made.....I made the mistake of not going there right out of high school....But it's definitely been great."  Jones also had nothing but praise for these two as he called them leaders and both speak their minds. 

When you glance at the final box score on this one, there isn't a lot that necessarily stands out at first glance.  As an example, UW-Oshkosh had a slight edge on the boards at 35-32 but as dig deeper into the box score, you do start seeing some things that likely had a big hand in Bethany Lutheran's downfall at the most critical juncture.  One was the turnovers on this night where the Vikings were guilty of 19 and the Titans had only 10 turnovers.  And then you see that UW-Oshkosh got 20 points off of those turnovers.  Another big item you find when you dig deeper:  UW-Oshkosh held a sizable edge in points in the paint by a 32-16 margin.  And while Bethany Lutheran certainly shot well in that second period and still shot respectably in the third period, the shooting fell of precipitously in that fourth period and they finished going 19-49 for 38.8% from FG range and 9-26 from behind the arc for 34.6%.  Free throw shooting wasn't as good on this night either as the Vikings finished 13-18 for 72.2%.  But the stats always don't show everything either.  What can you say about Porath and her takeover ability in this game?  She definitely did put her team on her back and now they're still dancing their way to the Sweet Sixteen.  She easily led all scorers on this night with her 27 points while Arneson had a "double-double" with 12 points and 11 rebounds.  Freitag also had a solid night as well with her 11 points.  On the Bethany Lutheran front, it was Olson's 18 points leading the way while Geistfeld finished with 14 points.