Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-23-21

 Here's the results of the games I was able to cover this last Wednesday night at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:

6:00 P.M. Games

Carleton - 69

UW-River Falls - 64

GAC Black - 54

CSB - 42

6:50 P.M. Games

St. Kate's - 56

Augsburg - 51

GAC Alumni - 53

Northwestern - 51  OT

7:45 P.M. Games

Hamline def St. Olaf

GAC Gold def Java

Over on Court 1 in the 6:00 P.M. slot, a good game was going down between the UW-River Falls team and the Carleton team.  The Carleton team would grab a 7-4 advantage by the 17:20 mark of the first half but the UW-River Falls team certainly wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and they would turn the tables by the 12:30 mark to hold an 11-9 lead and big three-point bomb would expand that lead to four points at 16-12 by the 11:00 mark.  The Carleton team would strike back and retake the lead at 20-19 but the UW-River Falls team would unleash another offensive explosion that would have them up 29-25 with 7:14 left.  But then the Carleton team would answer that with an 8-0 run that had them up 33-29 with 5:40 left.  Fittingly, this one would stay tight down the stretch of the first half with the Carleton team clinging to a 34-33 at the halftime break.  The Carleton team appeared to have the upper hand in this one when they established a 40-33 lead early on in the second half but the UW-River Falls team was able to shake off those early second half doldrums and go on a 10-2 run to hold a 43-42 lead by the 13:30 mark.  Things would be knotted at 47 a piece near the midway point of the second half and it seemed that this one could possibly come down to a photo finish when the Carleton team was hanging on to a 55-54 lead with 4:35 left.  But down the home stretch, the UW-River Falls team finally started running out of gas and this allowed the Carleton team to get just enough separation up 65-59 with 1:30 left as they would claim a tough win.  Over on Court 2, the GAC Black team would jump out to a 5-0 lead on the CSB team by the 17:50 mark of the first half but the CSB team would turn the tables to hold a 7-6 advantage at the 13:10 mark and by the midway point of the first half, the CSB team expanded their lead to 11-6.  But just when the GAC Black team appeared a bit vulnerable, they finally started to find themselves again on the offensive end that allowed them to get this one tied up at 14 a piece with 3:56 left; punctuated by a three-point bomb by junior-to-be Maddy Rice.  A short time later, Rice would strike again from behind the arc that would help give the GAC Black team at 17-16 lead with 2:00 left.  But this gamey CSB team would throw a counterpunch in the form of a 7-0 run down the last two minutes of this first half to hold a 23-17 lead by the halftime break.  The GAC Black would answer quickly once the second half got underway; going on a 8-0 run to retake the lead at 25-23 and that only fueled the fire of this GAC Black team as they would expand their lead to 37-28 by the 14:15 mark.  The CSB team had one more big push left in them as they would narrow things up to a single possession down 34-31 midway through the second half but the GAC Black team would again step on the gas and widen their lead to nine points at 43-34 with 6:00 left and never looked back from there.  

While the games in the 6:00 P.M. slot were fun ones, they could not match the drama and excitement of the two games in the 6:50 P.M. slot.  On Court 1, a good one was going on between the St. Kate's team and the Augsburg team that saw the St. Kate's team up 7-3 at the 16:21 mark of the first half but the Augsburg team wouldn't let the deficit get stretched out too much thanks to senior-to-be Selena Lor's three-point bomb that kept the Augsburg team within striking distance down 12-8.  But the St. Kate's team would find another gear and grow its lead to eight at 21-13 with 7:35 left and with just 2:50 left, the St. Kate's team appeared to be in full control enjoying a 30-19 advantage so things were definitely looking good at the half for them up 32-22.  But the Augsburg team would slyly whittle away at this deficit and cut it down to six points at 34-28 by the 17:30 mark of the second half and a short time later, they were back to within a single possession down 34-31.  Alarmed, the St. Kate's team got a bit more breathing room established with a 41-34 lead by the 13:03 mark but putting this Augsburg team away was proving to be a much tougher chore than they had bargained for.  With 8:00 left, the Augsburg team had closed the gap to five points down 45-40 and a short time later, Lor would again unleash terror from behind the arc with another three-point bomb that suddenly had the Augsburg team back to within a single possession again down 45-43.  With 7:15 left, the Augsburg team had grabbed a 45-45 lead but both teams would trade small leads coming down the stretch.  With 2:35 left, the St. Kate's team was clinging to a 52-51 lead and two free throws with 1:14 left gave the St. Kate's team a 54-51 advantage.  The Augsburg team was unable to recapture the earlier magic they had and the St. Kate's team escaped with a harrowing victory.  But the game of night; maybe of this whole summer league, took place over on Court 2 between the GAC Alumni team and the Northwestern team.  Unlike in the games it had played earlier in this summer league, the GAC Alumni team got off to a fast start this time around; up 6-0 at the 18:15 mark of the first half and thanks to a pretty drive and finish by Kelsey Carpenter (GAC '17), the GAC Alumni team would hold a 16-9 advantage by the 13:10 mark.  With 7:40 left, the GAC Alumni team was enjoying a 21-12 advantage.  With 4:44 left, Kelsey Carpenter would uncork one of her trademark three-point bombs that had the GAC Alumni team in good shape up 28-20 but the Northwestern team finally started making inroads on this deficit - in a hurry, too.  With 1:35 left, the GAC Alumni lead had shrunk to four at 28-24 and by the halftime break, the Northwestern team had completed this 8-0 run that had the score leveled at 28 a piece.  The contest would be deadlocked at 31 a piece by the 16:45 mark of the second half but two three-point bombs had the Northwestern team up 38-33 at the 14:20 mark and by the midway point of the second half, the Northwestern team certainly seemed to have the upper hand up 43-37.  But counting the GAC Alumni team out is always a dangerous proposition and they wasted little time getting this one tied up again at 43 a piece thanks to a tough drive and finish by Lindsey Johnson (GAC '16) with 4:15 left.  This helped fuel a push that saw the GAC Alumni team take a 47-43 lead when Miranda Rice (GAC '18) got into the paint for a score.  But leave it up to this Northwestern team as they responded with a 6-0 burst to grab a 49-47 lead with 1:10 left.  Right back came the GAC Alumni team as they would assume a 51-49 lead with :40 left.  Still, the Northwestern team would have enough left in them to get this one tied at 51-all with :26.5 left.  The GAC Alumni team was unable to convert on its last possession in regulation so off to the two-minute overtime period we went.  Whatever failings the GAC Alumni team may have had on that last possession in regulation, they more than made up for it with :49 left in the overtime period when they played the percentages and fed Rice down low who bullied her way in for the winning score as the GAC Alumni team took a thrilling 53-51 overtime victory.  Definitely a well-played game by both teams and fun to watch!

In the excitement that followed afterward, I did something a little different in the 7:45 P.M. slot and got to sit down with St. Kate's Head Coach Don Mulhern who was in attendance on this night.  We talked a lot about the state of MIAC Women's Hoops and what the future of the conference will be going forward without UST as a part of it now that they have officially made their move to DI.  We were pretty much in agreement on who the top teams in the conference will be this next season (GAC and Bethel) but after that it seems to be pretty much a crapshoot at the moment.  We had differing opinions and ideas as to all the things that have happened in the last couple of years with the UST thing and what might have prevented it.  But that's good because you can have differing opinions and ideas on certain things and still have a great respect for one another.  It's definitely going to be a new era for the MIAC with St. Scholastica coming over from the UMAC this next season.  My own guess is that, sooner or later, another team or two might decide to throw in their lot with the MIAC as well.  Just who and when and how remains to be seen. Oh, the Hamline team took a decisive victory over the St. Olaf team on Court 1 while the GAC Gold team did likewise with the Java team on Court 2.

Had to take off before the two games in the 8:40 P.M. slot took place......Another round of games coming up this next Wednesday evening so get on down to the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League to catch all the action!       

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-16-21

 Wasn't able to get over to catch Tuesday night's action but definitely was over for Wednesday night's action and here's the results of the games I was able to cover:

6:00 P.M. Games

Bethel - 53

St. Olaf - 26

UW-River Falls - 62

St. Kate's - 50

6:50 P.M. Games

Macalester - 62

CSB - 55

GAC Alumni - 52

Augsburg - 49

Bethel - 40

Concordia St Paul - 39

7:45 P.M. Games

Northwestern - 60

Java - 32

GAC Gold - 47

Hamline - 35

Not much drama-wise in the 6:00 P.M. slot.  Over on Court 1, the Bethel team was having its way with the St. Olaf team.  With the game tied at three a piece at the 17:00 mark of the first half, the Bethel team would knock down two quick three-point bombs that had them up 9-3 by the 12:45 mark and by the midway point of the first half, the Bethel team increased the lead to 14-5.  The St. Olaf team continued to struggle through most of this first half and with 5:30 left, the Bethel team increased their lead to 20-5.  About the only thing the St. Olaf team had to hang their hat on was a half court buzzer-beater but the Bethel team still enjoyed a 20-8 lead at the break.  The Bethel team would hold a 29-13 lead at the 16:53 mark of the second half and by the 12:00 mark that lead would be twenty at 35-15.  Midway through the second half, the Bethel team would be up 43-17 and a "3" by senior Makenna Pearson had the Bethel team up 49-19 with 6:29 left as they cruised to an easy win.  It was much the same story over on Court 2 where the UW-River Falls team used some hot three-point shooting early on to assume a 14-3 lead on the St. Kate's team by the 15:00 mark of the first half and the UW-River Falls team would have a ten-point cushion at 17-7 by the 12:00 mark.  The hot three-point shooting would continue for this UW-River Falls team as they would enjoy a 23-11 advantage midway through the first half before the St. Kate's team finally started showing some life offensively as they managed to crawl back into single-digit range down 29-20 with 5:30 left.  But this UW-River Falls team meant business on this night as they went right back to work and re-established the double-digit advantage at 35-22 by the halftime break.  And the UW-River Falls team had no intention of letting their foot off the gas pedal anytime soon as they were up 43-29 at the 16:29 mark of the second half and by the midway point of the second half, the UW-River Falls team was up comfortably at 57-36.  To their credit, the St. Kate's team made a courageous comeback attempt; getting the deficit down to fifteen at 60-45 with 5:00 left and a "3" with just over two minutes left reduced the deficit to twelve at 62-50 but they could never get any closer than that.

A busy, busy time in the 6:50 P.M. slot with three games going on.  On Court 1, an interesting clash was taking place between the Macalester team and the CSB team which saw the latter holding onto a slim 14-11 advantage by the 11:40 mark of the first half.  Things would continue to stay tight for the rest of the first half as well as the Macalester team would hold a 23-22 edge with 5:05 left but the CSB team would bounce back to hold a 29-26 lead by the halftime break.  Things would be tied early on in the second half at 31 a piece but the Macalester team would embark on a key 5-0 push to grab a 36-31 advantage by the 15:35 mark.  The CSB team was unable to answer and this opened the door for the Macalester team to widen its lead which it did as they held a 47-39 lead with 8:00 left.  With just 2:00 left in the contest, the Macalester team held a double-digit cushion at 60-49 as they recorded an important win.  Another tough battle was ensuing over on Court 2 between the Augsburg team and the GAC Alumni team as the Augsburg team would hold a 16-11 lead at the 12:30 mark of the first half and they still had things going their way up 20-14 midway through the first half.  Despite the slow start, the GAC Alumni team finally started finding itself and would hold a 25-22 lead lead with 4:00 left and would hold a 33-31 edge by the halftime break.  The Augsburg team would manage to get this one tied at 33 a piece at the 18:30 mark of the second half but the GAC Alumni team would open up a four-point lead at 40-36 by the 14:40 mark.  But this gamey Augsburg team had no intentions of going anywhere anytime soon and things would stay tight the rest of the way.  The GAC Alumni team would hold a 45-43 edge with 9:10 left in the contest and although they were able to up that lead to six at 49-43 with 6:30 left, the Augsburg team closed back to within a single possession within a minute left but they could never quite get over the hump.  Meanwhile, over on Court 3, a late entrant to the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League; the Concordia St Paul team, was taking on the Bethel team which was doing double-duty on this night.  Scoring would come at something of a premium early on in this contest and you didn't exactly need an abacus to keep track of things.  Nonetheless, the Concordia St Paul team would forge a 9-6 advantage midway through the first half but the Bethel team would stay within striking distance for the entire length of this first half and a tough score in the paint by Makenna Pearson that drew a foul along with the obligatory "and one" had the Bethel team down by only one at the halftime break 21-20.  The Concordia St Paul team would manage to establish a five-point edge at 27-22 at the 15:20 mark of the second half but putting this Bethel team in the rearview mirror would prove to be a bridge too far as things would be knotted at 31 a piece with 9:00 left.  With the Bethel team clinging to a 38-37 lead, newcomer freshman Courtney Nuest out of Becker would connect with a lay-up with 1:30 left to make it 40-37.  The Concordia St Paul team would close to just a one-point deficit at 40-39 on two free throws with :22 left but couldn't pull any magic tricks in the waning seconds as the Bethel team recorded its second victory of the night.

A slightly calmer stretch in the 7:45 P.M. slot with just the two-game format again.  On Court 1, things would be close early with the Northwestern team holding a 7-5 lead on the Java team by the 16:00 mark of the first half.  But things would change quickly as the Northwestern team unleashed a 10-0 run that suddenly had them up 17-5 midway through the first half.  The Northwestern team would unleash further damage when senior-to-be Kelsea Lund uncorked a three-point bomb to make it a 24-9 game with 6:30 left and by the halftime break, the Northwestern team had established a twenty-point cushion up 32-12.  The Northwestern team would hold a 38-17 lead by the 17:00 mark of the second half and by the 12:05 mark, the Northwestern team was rolling; enjoying a 43-21 advantage.  With 6:38 left, the Northwestern team upped that lead to 47-21 so there was little doubt as to how this one was going to wind up.  Over on Court 2, the GAC Gold team was taking on the Hamline team and it didn't take long for this incredibly talented and young GAC Gold team to shine as they would hold a 9-3 advantage at the 14:33 mark of the first half and a lay-up by sophomore-to-be Riley Queensland that drew a foul and resulted in an "and one" had the GAC Gold team up 12-4 at the 11:00 mark.  With 6:00 left, the GAC Gold team would hold a 16-7 advantage and a jumper by newcomer freshman-to-be Morgan Kelly punctuated an important push by this GAC Gold team as they upped their lead to 22-10 with 3:10 left.  The GAC Gold team would hold a seemingly comfortable 24-13 lead by the halftime break and when junior-to-be Anna Sanders drained a "3" early on in the second half, the GAC Gold team was in full command with a 30-16 lead.  But the Hamline team finally got some things going on its end as they managed to trim the deficit down to single digits at 32-23 by the 12:20 mark and a short time later, they would have the deficit down to seven at 32-25.  But getting things closer than that was just not going to happen on this night as the GAC Gold team would hold that seven-point edge at 37-30 with 7:00 left and less than a minute later, they had re-established the double-digit advantage at 41-30 and they would hold that safe cushion the rest of the way.  

Wasn't able to stick around for the 8:40 P.M. game between the GAC Black team and the Carleton team but another fun night of action will be taking place this next Wednesday night at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League.   

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-9-21

 Here are the results from Wednesday night's action over at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:

6:00 P.M. Games

GAC Black - 75

St. Olaf - 43

GAC Alumni - 42

St. Kate's - 41

6:50 P.M. Games

Carleton - 63

Macalester - 53

GAC Gold - 59

CSB - 39

7:45 P.M. Games

Java - 42

UW-River Falls - 39

Northwestern - 50

Bethel - 37

In the 6:00 P.M. slot over on Court 1, the GAC Black team would jump out to an early 5-0 lead on the St. Olaf team and the GAC Black team would grow that lead to 24-7 midway through the first half.  By the halftime break, the GAC Black team held a hefty 44-17 lead.  Not much would change once the second half got underway as the spread only grew larger as the GAC Black team held an insurmountable 61-32 lead at the 11:45 mark of the second half as they rolled to an easy win.  A much closer battle was ensuing over on Court 2, however, between the GAC Alumni team and the St. Kate's team.  The St. Kate's team would get off to a good start in this one; grabbing a 5-3 lead at the 16:40 mark of the first half and that lead would grow to 9-3 by the 13:20 mark.  The GAC Alumni would get things tightened up, however, thanks to a three-point bomb by Emily Carpenter (UW-Superior '20) with 8:25 left along with one free throw by Lindsey Johnson (GAC '16) a bit later reduced the deficit to a scant point at 14-13.  A tough score in the paint by Miranda Rice (GAC '18) kept the GAC Alumni team in that one-point range down 20-19 but the St. Kate's team was able to establish a bit more breathing room by the halftime break with a 23-19 advantage.  The St. Kate's team still had the upper hand early on in the second half holding a 26-22 lead but the GAC Alumni team would manage to get things tied up at 27 a piece by the 11:10 mark.  Then the GAC Alumni team would start taking control of things getting a 34-30 lead with 6:50 left and with 3:42 left, that lead would grow to eight at 40-32.  But the St. Kate's team was far from finished in this one as they would find a second wind at get the deficit cut to two points at 40-38 with 1:20 left and with just :11 left, the St. Kate's team would take a one-point lead at 41-40.  That lead wouldn't last long, however, as the GAC Alumni team would get to the charity stripe on their ensuing possession and two free throws put the GAC Alumni team up 42-41.  The St. Kate's team would get one more chance, however, as a foul was called with :01.2 left but both free throw attempts went awry and the GAC Alumni team held on for another tough win.  

In the 6:50 P.M. slot, a good battle was going down on Court 1 between the Macalester team and the Carleton team.  The Carleton team would get off to a very good start in this one; building a 23-13 lead midway through the first half but the Macalester team would briefly get things cut down to single-digits when senior-to-be Celine Sabbagh snared a steal for a lay-up the other way with 4:38 left.  But that little dent didn't deter the Carleton team as they re-established their double-digit lead to go up 38-26 by the halftime break.  The Macalester team would come out of the halftime break with renewed determination as they quickly got the deficit cut down to six at 38-32 by the 18:40 mark of the second half and by the 12:25 mark, the Macalester team was back to within a single possession down 41-38.  Perhaps alarmed by this development, the Carleton team awoke from their slumber and re-established the double-digit advantage with a 50-40 lead with 8:45 left and they would never look back from that point on.  Over on Court 2, the GAC Gold team was having a slightly easier time with their opponent; the CSB team.  The GAC Gold team would establish a 10-4 lead at the 12:48 mark of the first half and the lead would grow to ten points at 16-6 with 8:40 left.  With 4:56 left, that lead would grow to 20-6 before the CSB team was finally able to shake off some of the cobwebs they had early on offensively but the GAC Gold team still held a 28-17 advantage by the halftime break.  The GAC Gold team wasted little time once the second half got underway in pulling away and by the 12:00 mark, they were up 43-26 as the rolled to a relatively easy win.   

In the 7:45 P.M. slot, a good game was brewing between the UW-River Falls team and the Java team.  Early on anyway, the needle would be pointed squarely towards the UW-River Falls team as they bolted out to a 7-0 lead and a "3" with 8:40 left in the first half gave them a 12-4 advantage.  But in a short two-minute span, the UW-River Falls team saw that cushion evaporate as the Java team closed to a point down 12-11.  Undaunted, the UW-River Falls team went on a 9-0 run to hold a 21-11 lead with 3:00 left and they would enjoy a 23-15 lead at the halftime break.  The Java team would then take the initiative and slowly start cutting into the deficit as they had things down to five points at 23-18 early on in the second half and by the 17:00 mark, the Java team was back to within a single possession down 23-20.  The Java team would make further inroads when senior-to-be Katie Benjamin knocked down a jumper at the 15:20 mark that reduced the deficit to two at 25-25.  It took a bit but the Java team finally took their first lead at 31-30 with 9:07 left and although the UW-River Falls team would get things tied up at 35-all with 6:05 left, the Java team would have the upper hand down the stretch.  Holding a 41-39 lead with 2:00 left, the Java team staved off several three-point shot attempts by the UW-River Falls team and closed out with the tough victory.  Over on Court 2, the Northwestern team was surprising the Bethel team as the Northwestern team bolted out to a 7-2 lead early on in the first half and extended that lead to 9-2 by the 14:20 mark.  The Bethel team then managed to shake off some of the early doldrums they had offensively and went to work; getting the deficit down to one at 9-8 by the 10:20 mark.  But this Northwestern team would not be deterred as senior-to-be Megan Roberts would drain a "3" that gave the Northwestern team a bit more breathing space with a 16-12 lead and the Northwestern team would enjoy a 23-18 advantage at the halftime break.  The Northwestern team would not let its collective foot off the gas pedal once the second half got underway as they held a 29-22 advantage at the 14:00 mark and enjoyed a 33-27 lead midway through the second half.  The Northwestern team would up its lead to nine points at 38-29 with 7:19 left and a pretty drive and finish by senior-to-be Kelsea Lund gave the Northwestern team a double-digit advantage at 42-31 with 5:10 left.  Roberts would get another tough paint in the score late and the Northwestern team would score a somewhat unlikely 50-37 victory.

Wasn't able to hang around for the 8:40 P.M. game between the Hamline team and the Augsburg team although that appeared to be a good one brewing at 12-all early on in that one.  This next week is another Tuesday and Wednesday night affair so get on down to the Midtown YWCA to catch all the action. 

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Tuesday 6-8-21

 Here are the results for the opening night at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League.  Boy, does it ever feel good to be covering basketball - live AND in person - again.  My apologies for being a bit late in getting this in.  Guess that's what happens when you're working a lot like I am right now.  

6:00 P.M. Games

GAC Alumni - 65

Carleton - 60

St. Olaf - 53

Macalester - 51

6:50 P.M. Games

St. Kate's - 64

Java - 46

GAC Gold - 61

Augsburg - 45

7:45 P.M. Games

Hamline - 45

UW-River Falls - 41

Northwestern - 62

CSB - 41

8:40 P.M. Game

Bethel - 58

GAC Black - 45 OT

In the 6:00 P.M. slot over on Court 1, the Carleton team got off to solid start but the GAC Alumni team would recover to hold a 17-13 lead by the 14:05 mark of the first half.  The Carleton team would forge a 19-all deadlock by the 12:05 mark but then the GAC Alumni team would get on a push that would have them holding a 24-19 lead by the 10:40 mark and they would maintain this five-point edge with a 26-21 lead at the 9:20 mark.  Right back came this young Carleton team as they would slice the deficit to a scant point at 26-25 with 6:40 left in the first half and have the game knotted at 29 a piece with 3:45 left and although the GAC Alumni team would recover just enough to hold a 34-32 advantage at the halftime break, this Carleton team was throwing everything at this experienced group but the kitchen sink.  But the experience and size that this GAC Alumni team has started paying dividends in the second half as the lead would grow to four points at 35-31 by the 16:30 mark and by the 14:56 mark that lead would grow to eight at 42-34.  Then willowy forward Lindsey Johnson (GAC '16) showed that she hasn't lost her touch at all from behind the arc and she would unleash daggers with 9:25 left and again with 3:14 left that had the GAC Alumni team up 60-49.  To their credit, the Carleton team would battle back and trim the deficit back down to single digits but it wouldn't be enough as the GAC Alumni team held on for a tough 65-60 win.  So while that game certainly had its moments, I guess it'd be fair to say that the other game going on Court 2 between the Macalester team and the St. Olaf team at the same time saved the very best for last.  Macalester would have the upper hand from the beginning; building a 7-2 lead by the 15:00 mark of the first half and having breathing space with an 11-5 advantage by the 12:30 mark.  The Macalester team would still hold a five-point edge at 16-11 with 8:46 left but the St. Olaf team finally started to find some things offensively and forged an 18-all tie with 1:30 left.  Although the Macalester team would manage to get a small lead of 21-18 built up by the halftime break, a lot of the air in their balloon seemed to have gone out.  Still, the Macalester team had enough left in them to at least build their lead back up again once the second half got underway; getting a 31-24 advantage by the 16:00 mark and growing the lead to nine at 38-29 by the 11:35 mark.  When the Macalester team was up by eight at 47-39 with 6:55 left, they seemingly had everything going their way and certainly seemed in control.  But this St. Olaf team; whether by design or divine intervention, suddenly caught fire down the stretch and had the deficit reduced to single possession and would forge a 51-all tie with just under a minute left.  The crazy thing is that the Macalester team had chances to ice this one away for good from the charity stripe but was unable to do so.  That left the door open for the St. Olaf team to pull off a miracle finish with just :01.6 on an inbounds play as senior-to-be K'Lynn Lewis got the ball to junior-to-be Rachel Kelly and the Northfield native calmly drained the winning jumper from the right wing to give the St. Olaf team a thrilling 53-51 victory.  

No such drama on either court during the 6:50 P.M. slot.  Over on Court 1, the St. Kate's team would build a 17-7 lead on the Java team near the midway point of the first half and that lead would grow to 26-13 with 5:07 left.  The Java team would make some inroads on the deficit; getting back into single digits but the St. Kate's team still held a 29-20 lead by the halftime break.  The Java team appeared to be threatening again as they managed to reduce the deficit down to seven at 33-26 at the 16:20 mark of the second half but they would get no closer as the St. Kate's team slowly but surely built their advantage to 50-37 with 6:40 left and 3:00 left the St. Kate's team would have an insurmountable twenty-point cushion at 60-40 as they cruised to the finish line in this one.  A similar story was unfolding over on Court 2 as the GAC Gold team would get a 16-9 lead on the Augsburg team by the 12:15 mark of the first half and that lead would grow to 30-18 with 6:00 left and the GAC Gold team would have a ten-point cushion by the halftime break up 34-24.  The Augsburg team would finally start catching some fire in the early minutes of the second half as they reduced the deficit to three at 36-33 by the 16:30 mark but this young Augsburg team was unable to sustain the early run that they had.  The GAC Gold team had the lead back to six at 42-36 by the 12:30 mark and maintained the cushion up 46-39 with 9:29 left.  A key run by the GAC Gold team saw them rebuild that double-digit cushion up 55-41 and they never looked back after that.  

In the 7:45 P.M. slot over on Court 1, a good battle was developing between the Hamline team and the UW-River Falls team in a mock MIAC-WIAC clash.  The UW-River Falls team would certainly have the upper hand early on; holding a 10-2 advantage at the 15:15 mark of the first half but the Hamline team would shake off the early cobwebs and quickly close the gap to just one point down 12-11 with 7:50 left.  Things would stay tight for the rest of the first half with neither team gaining much of an advantage and fittingly things were deadlocked at 22 by the halftime break.  The UW-River Falls team did manage to build a four-point 31-27 advantage by the 12:30 mark of the second half and with 5:25 left, they were able to maintain that four-point edge up 37-33.  But a 5-0 burst by the Hamline team changed all that as that would enable them to grab a 38-37 advantage.  The UW-River Falls team was not ready to concede by any means and they would respond grabbing a 39-38 advantage with 1:58 left but right back came the Hamline team as a big three-pointer gave them a 41-39 lead.  UW-River Falls would manage to get the game tied again at 41-all but junior-to-be Chan'el Anderson-Manning would give the Hamline team the boost they needed at just the right time with a coast-to-coast lay-up with :32.5 left and two free throws to boot with :20 left as the Hamline team escaped with a fun 45-41 win.  Over on Court 2, things were tight early on between the Northwestern team and the CSB team with the game tied at 6-all at the 16:00 mark of the first half and the CSB team would hold a slim 17-14 lead with 8:10 left and hold that small three-point lead up 21-18 with 4:15 left.  The Northwestern team, however, would grab the upper hand down the stretch of this first half and by the halftime break they held a 23-21 lead.  The CSB team would manage to poke its nose out in front one more time in this game with a 28-27 advantage at the 16:18 mark of the second half but things soon started going south for the CSB team as Northwestern would get on a bit of a run to hold a 39-32 lead with 9:10 left.  That lead would grow to double-digits at 50-37 with 5:00 left as the Northwestern team was able to put things in cruise control the rest of the way.

Just one game in the 8:40 P.M. slot on Court 1 but am sure glad I hung around to cover it as the Bethel team was taking on the GAC Black team.  Not surprisingly, this one was a back-and-forth affair as the game would be tied at 4-all at the 15:00 mark of the first half and at 8 a piece by the 13:30 mark.  This one would be tied at 12 a piece by the 10:59 mark before the GAC Black team was finally able to open up a small advantage with a 19-18 lead with 8:15 left and the GAC Black team would grow the lead to four at 26-22 with 4:05 left and the GAC Black team would enjoy at 31-25 by the halftime break.  The GAC Black team would maintain the five-point edge up 36-31 early on in the second half and although the Bethel team appeared to be on the verge of a comeback as they cut the deficit down to two at 36-34 by the 17:40 mark, the GAC Black would find another burst as they would build a 45-37 lead at the 14:45 mark.  The Bethel team could have been in some serious trouble right then and there but again they found a way to battle back as they would get on a 6-0 burst of their own to cut the deficit down to two at 45-43 by the 12:12 mark.  This got this contest back on much more even terms like it was early on and things would stay tight down the stretch.  But just when it appeared that the GAC Black team was finally in position to close this one out with a 55-52 lead, the Bethel team was able to come up with a huge "3" in the waning seconds to knot this one at 55 a piece and when the GAC Black team was unable to cash in on their last possession in regulation, off to overtime we went.  Fittingly, in this short 2:00 minute overtime session, both teams played some serious defense and it almost looked as if the game might end up in a tie.  However, the Bethel team had vastly different ideas and with just three ticks left on the clock, they drained a three-pointer to claim this exciting contest. 

The Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Is Back!

After a year off due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League is back and starts up tomorrow evening at 6:00 P.M. at the Midtown YWCA.  There are 14 teams according to the schedule I have and here's a listing of what I see right now:

Augsburg

Bethel

Carleton

CSB

GAC Black

GAC Gold

GAC Alumni

Hamline

Java

Macalester

Northwestern

UW-River Falls

St. Kate's

St. Olaf

A pretty good assortment of teams IMHO which should make for some interesting action this summer.  As a note, both this week and next, games will be held on both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings before reverting to a Wednesday night schedule on 6-23.  Am sure hoping to have scores and reports for you as I'm just excited to be (finally) covering basketball again in what seems like eons.  

Let's go!