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!
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