So with the MIAC Women's basketball season currently in limbo (as I was afraid might happen - and more on that in another post), I felt it was time refocus back onto the NSIC scene and the game I picked to follow online on this Friday evening was the Winona State - Concordia St Paul game over at Gangelhoff Center on the St Paul side of town. The Warriors made the trip up the Mighty Mississippi and the Canadian Pacific Railway's River Sub mainline sporting a 2-6 record but had recorded a big 95-91 win over Minnesota State in Winona last Saturday so, supposedly anyway, that dub had re-energized this team. The Golden Bears were coming into this game with a solid 9-3 record that included last weekend's sweep of Upper Iowa down in Fayette, IA (not terribly far from my hometown).
The Golden Bears would get an early 5-2 lead in the opening period thanks to a "3" by willowy senior guard Riley Wheatcraft's "3" at the 8:11 mark but Winona State would close the gap to one point down 5-4 when senior forward Sydney Lodermeier connected with a lay-up at the 6:55 mark and a lay-up in transition by senior forward Taylor Hustad at the 6:18 mark kept the Warriors in that one-point range down 7-6. Junior guard Jenna Bruss would connect with a lay-up as well with 4:56 left and the Warriors were still in good shape down only by two at 10-8. It was here that Concordia St Paul was able to stretch its lead to get some more breathing space. Wheatcraft would drill another "3" with 4:43 left and two free throws by slender junior guard Meghan DuBois with 3:48 left had the Golden Bears up 15-8. DuBois; the former Park Center standout, would put the finishing touches on this first period as she would nail a "3" from the right corner with 1:12 left and connect on a tough drive and finish with :45 left and with Concordia St Paul seemingly clicking on all cylinders on offense, they were able to double-up Winona State 20-10 going into the second period.
Warriors Head Coach Scott Ballard probably wasn't too pleased in the huddle with his squad's defensive effort after that opening period and knew his team needed to make amends to close the gap once the second period got underway. Whatever his message was, Winona State seemed to get as they went to work. Sophomore guard Caitlin Riley would drain a "3" at the 9:33 mark and a score in the paint by Hustad at the 8:47 mark had the deficit cut in half at 20-15. The Golden Bears did manage to step on the gas at this point and rebuilt the lead to seven at 24-17 thanks to a score in the paint by senior Sidney Wentland at the 8:31 mark and a short jumper by Wheatcraft at the 8:01 mark. Right back came a determined Winona State team, however, as Bruss would bang home a "3" at the 6:20 mark and senior post Emma Fee would knock down a short jumper at the 5:42 mark that suddenly had the Warriors back to within a single possession down 24-22. With 4:24 left, freshman guard Mattie Schimenz would nail a "3" and this push by Winona State certainly made the Golden Bears look a bit vulnerable up by just one at 26-25. But instead of breaking out the proverbial panic button, Concordia St Paul hunkered down and went back to work. Freshman guard and former Lakeville North standout Sarah Kuma would drain a "3" with 3:28 left and a DuBois lay-up with 2:09 left had the Golden Bear lead back up to six at 31-25. Both teams weren't able to do much down the stretch but Concordia St Paul's lanky freshman post Lindsey Becher would make a huge play before the halftime buzzer with her steal and lay-up the other way as the Golden Bears took at 33-25 lead into the locker room at the intermission. It had to be a disappointment on the Winona State side thus far as they had managed to crawl back into this contest only to have some more defensive lapses down the stretch of the second period. And Ballard probably wasn't too happy about his team's 13 first half turnovers or not even getting to the charity stripe once in the first half.
Obviously, the challenge for the Warriors now was to see if they could repeat the push that they had at the beginning of the second period that had them right in the thick of things. Hustad would connect with a lay-up at the 9:12 mark and a Riley "3" at the 7:06 mark had the deficit down to six at 36-30 but that would be as close as Winona State would get as the Golden Bears would again come up big from behind the arc. One "3" by Wheatcraft from the right top area at the 6:19 mark and another one by Wentland at the 5:44 mark suddenly bulged the Concordia St Paul lead to twelve at 42-30. Then DuBois would launch one of her trademark three-point bombs - this one coming from the right corner at the 5:04 mark that stretched the lead to fifteen at 45-30. The Warriors would finally break their scoring drought on two charity stripe shots by Fee with 3:16 left in this third period but by now the damage had been done. And Concordia St Paul had no plans to let up off the gas pedal anytime soon. Sophomore guard Jadyn Hanson connected with a lay-up in transition with 2:16 left and a Becher score in the paint with 1:50 left had the Golden Bears up 49-33 and although Winona State's Schimenz would add two late scores before this third period was over, Concordia St Paul was in full control up 49-37.
To erase any lingering doubts, the Golden Bears would unleash a quick 6-0 push to start the fourth period. Sophomore forward Sydney Zgutowicz would contribute two lay-ups - one at the 9:35 mark and another at the 9:08 mark and then DuBois would finish up a transition opportunity with a lay-up at the 8:40 mark as Concordia St Paul's lead grew to eighteen at 55-37. Another Wheatcraft "3" at the 7:54 mark along with another DuBois lay-up in transition at the 6:33 mark gave the Golden Bears their largest lead of the night at 60-39. Winona State could only make incremental dents down the stretch. Schimenz would nail a "3" at the 6:09 mark and sophomore post Ava Sergio would get a score in the paint at the 5:10 mark. Hustad would add a lay-up in transition with 4:44 left and freshman forward Taylor Fautsch would drain a "3" with 2:56 left but it was simply too little too late by this point. Concordia St Paul Head Coach Amanda Johnson was able to get her reserves into the ballgame in the waning minutes and freshman guard Alyssa Daugherty would connect on a lay-up in transition as the Golden Bears took this Friday night fest by a final count of 70-55.
Although Winona State did have a slight 34-32 edge on the boards on this night, that number seemed to be negated by 22 turnovers. Adding to that, Concordia St Paul had a whopping 25-13 edge on points off of turnovers as well. Another number that stands out to me is that, despite some spotty play at times down low this season, the Golden Bears enjoyed a 34-24 edge in points in the paint. Transition opportunities were important as well for Concordia St Paul on this night as they enjoyed a 14-8 edge in fast break points. DuBois' 17 points on this night led all scorers and Wheatcraft's heroics from downtown (going 4-6 from behind the arc) allowed her to tally 14 points. Wentland, too, had a solid night with her 10 points. Hustad's 12 points paced Winona State on this night while Schimenz finished with 10 points.
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