Here's a roundup of this afternoon's action in the MIAC:
It didn't take long for host UST to take control of its game with visiting Augsburg as the Tommies built a 24-10 lead at the end of the first period and that lead would bulge to 47-17 by the halftime break as UST waltzed to an easy 89-42 victory to keep pace in the MIAC race; tied with Bethel for second place at 3-1 who are both behind league-leading and unbeaten GAC. It was a rough afternoon for this young, inexperienced Auggie team that ran into a literal buzzsaw against a very talented and experienced UST team as a suffocating Tommie defense forced Augsburg into shooting a paltry 13-53 from FG range for 24.5%. Another interesting stat that stands out like a sore thumb - UST had a whopping 40-12 advantage in points in the paint on this day. Freshman guard Katelyn Stanley again had a very solid outing as her 14 points led all scorers and paced the Tommies on this day. Junior forward Brynne Rolland was right behind with her 13 points and freshman post Kate Burns had 10 points. Augsburg junior forward Jen Masello was the only Auggie in double figures scoring-wise on this day with her 12 points.
Meanwhile, up the road at Robertson Center, Bethel senior guard Bella Williams tied a single-game program record with her 11 steals as a relentless Royal defense kept CSB in check as Bethel recorded an 81-69 victory. The Royals would break open a relatively close game in the second period with a key 14-0 run which the Bennies never recovered from. While CSB did a good job on the boards on this day; getting a 36-29 advantage, that facet of the contest was pretty much negated by the fact that CSB was forced into 25 turnovers on this day which, more often than not, will kill a team's chances. Bethel also enjoyed a huge 54-27 edge in points in the paint as well. The Royals definitely spread the wealth from a scoring standpoint on this afternoon with sophomore guard Kat Brown-Erdal leading the way with her 16 points and senior forward Elizabeth Schwarz right behind with her 15 points. Fellow senior forward Makenna Pearson finished with 12 points while junior guard Jennifer Hicks tallied 11 points. CSB also featured four players with double figures on this day. Sophomore post Tori Szathmary had 16 points to pace the Bennies while senior guard Maddie Schmitz had another solid outing with her 13 points. Freshman guard Carla Meyer continues to shine and she had 12 points while junior guard Kate Seyer had 10 points.
The best game in the 2:00 P.M. slot was just a short drive down Snelling Avenue over at Hutton Arena as visiting SMU made its way up US Highway 61 and the Canadian Pacific Railway River Sub mainline and got a nail-biting 72-69 victory over host Hamline. The Pipers had the upper hand early on; grabbing an 18-15 lead by the end of the first period but the Cardinals were able to steady the ship to take a 26-23 lead late in the second period and led 28-26 at the halftime break. SMU seemed to have things under control by the 7:07 mark when junior guard Brooklyn Paulson drained a "3" for a 42-30 Cardinal lead. But that double-digit lead quickly shrunk as the third period progressed as Hamline went on a 17-4 run to take a 47-46 lead on a score in the paint by sophomore guard Alyssa Williamson with 1:23 left in the third period. And although SMU would regain the lead at 50-49 to begin the fourth period, you just had a feeling that a lot of unpredictability remained in this game. Sure enough, Hamline would take a 53-50 lead early on in the fourth period but just when you thought that maybe the Pipers were ready to usurp control of this one, a determined Cardinals team was able to dig in as they went on a 12-2 run to get a 62-55 lead midway through the fourth period. Two free throws by senior guard Claire Patterson with 4:18 left seemed to have SMU in very good shape up by nine at 66-57 but a pesky Hamline team would throw one more scare into the visitors; closing the gap to one point in the waning seconds before two game-clinching free throws by senior guard Ewelina Schlomann sealed the deal. SMU held a 45-32 advantage on the boards this day which played a big part of this road win and while neither team shot that great on this day, the Cardinals were 21-24 from the charity stripe; the two biggest at the end. SMU had a fairly balanced attack on this day with senior post Maggie Robertson leading the way with 14 points while Paulson was right behind with her "double-double" of 13 points and 11 rebounds and senior point guard Hallie Schmeling; whose younger sister played in the Wisconsin State Tournament for Onalaska on this day as well, had a very solid day with her 12 points. Schlomann finished with 11 points on this day and while senior guard Isabel Bettag didn't get into the scoring column on this day, she did pull down 11 rebounds. Freshman forward Jaiden Kline out of Osseo led all scorers with her 20 points and a "double-double" as well with 11 rebounds to pace Hamline on this day while junior guard Gabby Robinson had 13 points while sophomore forward Tess Hauer finished with 10 points.
One game in the 4:00 P.M. slot as well on this Saturday that had Concordia making the long trek down to St Peter to take on host GAC. As long a trip it was down for the Cobbers, the bus ride back later on had to be brutal as the Gusties rolled to an easy 74-42 victory. GAC slowly but surely took control of this one early on as Head Coach Laurie Kelly's deep and experienced squad forced a young Cobber team into various miscues along the way. Concordia found themselves down 36-20 at the halftime break and things really snowballed for the Cobbers in the third period as they were outscored by GAC 19-3. The real surprise to me on this day was the emergence of junior post Betsy Schoenrock who is finally starting to come into her own after missing last year with an injury as she paced the Gusties with her 13 points while senior guard Marisa Gustafson and sophomore forward Caitlin Rorman both finished with 11 points. Senior forward Paige Richert had a solid outing as well grabbing 10 rebounds. Concordia meanwhile relied heavily on junior forward Mary Sem for scoring production and she certainly didn't disappoint as she poured in 21 points to easily lead all scorers on this day. But it was a rough day at the OK Corral when it came to perimeter shooting for Concordia as they finished this day going 14-48 from FG range for 27.5% and 3-20 from downtown for 15%. Ouch. So, while this Concordia team is definitely looking toward a brighter future, there's still some growing pains that they'll have to endure. But for the Gusties, one could arguably make the argument that the future is now to quote former LA Rams Head Coach George Allen as this GAC team may be the deepest that Kelly has had; save for her 2017 and 2018 teams. It's a shame that there's nothing to play for postseason-wise but perhaps the games coming up this next week - vs Bethel on Monday night at home in St Peter and then at UST two nights later - will probably be the closest thing they can experience to a real tournament test.
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