Winter Storm Atticus had dropped 5-6" of new snow in my neck of the woods on Friday afternoon/evening but by daylight, the roads were fine and I made my way over to the St Paul side of town and Butler Center on the campus of St. Catherine's University University for this important early-season match-up between host St. Kate's and visiting GAC. The Wildcats had won three of their last four games; including a 71-55 home win against Carleton on Wednesday night. The Gusties meanwhile were coming into this contest with a so-so 5-2 record; and, more importantly, on the heels of a loss at Augsburg on Wednesday night where they got off to a horrible start that found them down 23-8 at the half. Obviously, GAC could ill-afford another slow start in this contest like they had a few nights ago over at Si Melby Hall if they wanted to get their ship sailing straight again.
Both teams would trade lay-ups in the early going of this opening period. Slender sophomore guard Emma Kniefel slithered through traffic for one for the Gusties at the 9:12 mark and senior forward Sam Orth would do likewise for the 'Cats at the 8:56 mark. Former Maple Grove standout and freshman point guard Kylie Baranick would then strike from downtown from the left wing area at the 8:37 mark for GAC to put the Black & Gold up 5-2 but right back came St. Kate's junior forward Bree Glynn connected with a jumper along the right baseline at the 8:14 mark that slimmed the deficit down to one at 5-4. Two lay-ups by Glynn; the former Totino-Grace standout - one at the 7:09 mark and another at the 6:06 mark - had this contest knotted at eight a piece but then the Gusties were finally able to open a little breathing space as freshman reserve forward/post Morgan Kelly would connect with a lay-up in transition at the 5:24 mark and then junior guard Anna Sanders would drain a "3" from the right wing area with 3:55 left that now had GAC up 13-8 and Wildcat's Head Coach Don Mulhern opted to take a thirty-second timeout to try and make some quick adjustments. St. Kate's would seem to have some new life when sophomore reserve guard Karis Zezza banged home a "3" from the right wing area with 3:33 left but that was quickly answered by the Gusties when Sanders again found her touch from downtown - this time from the left corner with 3:14 left to make it 16-11. Still, the 'Cats would get back to within a single possession again when senior post Katie Benjamin got into the paint for one score with 2:36 left but the Gusties would widen the lead once more with a jumper from the free throw line by strong senior forward Grace Benz with 1:42 left along with one charity stripe shot by freshman forward Rachel Kawiecki with 1:17 left. Both teams would miss out on opportunities in the final minute so off we went to the second period with GAC holding a rather uncertain 19-13 advantage.
The Gusties grabbed their largest lead of the day thus far early on in the second period when Morgan Kelly connected with a short, turnaround jumper along the left baseline at the 9:45 mark to make it a 21-13 game. Two free throws by Benz at the 7:46 mark after she was fouled and an offensive rebound and putback by Kawiecki at the 5:58 mark maintained that eight-point edge at 25-17. At the 5:02 mark, things really seemed to be going GAC's way when sophomore reserve guard Syd Hauger uncorked a three-point bomb from the right wing area to give the Gusties a ten-point lead at 27-17. GAC would continue controlling the tempo and with 3:30 left, Kniefel, with the incredibly quick first step that she has, made a hard drive for a lay-up to maintain the ten-point edge at 29-19 and although the Wildcats would get a reprieve when freshman reserve forward Greta Schimnowksi drained a "3" from the right corner with 2:47 left, GAC's Baranick would continue her heroics with another three-point bomb from the right corner that put the Gusties back up by ten again at 32-22. But never count St. Kate's out when they're down and Mulhern's squad showed again how dangerous they can be as they unleashed a 7-0 run to end this second period. Freshman reserve forward Sydney Elliot would drill a "3" from the left corner with 1:48 left and then senior guard Brooke Torvik would connect with a lay-up with :42 left that had the deficit down to five at 32-27. The Gusties had a chance to widen their lead with :31.4 left when Hauger was fouled but the Springfield native was unable to get either free throw attempt to go down. That effectively opened the door for the 'Cats and with just :02 left, Torvik would strike again on a lay-up off of an inbounds pass that now had St. Kate's going into the locker room back to within a single possession down just 32-29 and feeling much better about themselves than they had just a few minutes before.
GAC Head Coach Laurie Kelly decided to switch things up a bit on the defensive end coming out of the halftime break by having the Gusties employ a 1-2-2 zone defense which, in theory anyway, would take away what the Wildcats like to do best - the dribble and drive. But that strategy backfired as St. Kate's came out with renewed energy and focus and went right to work. Orth would first muscle into the paint for one score at the 9:27 mark that cut the deficit down to one point and then Torvik; the graduate senior who played her high school ball at Sauk Rapids-Rice, casually drained a three-point bomb from the top of the key at the 9:02 that suddenly propelled the Wildcats out in front by a 34-32 count and GAC's Laurie Kelly, not taking any chances of another Augsburg-like letdown, quickly called a timeout to get her troops reorganized. Still, the 'Cats would be able to stretch the lead to four thanks to Benjamin; the former Walker-Hackensack standout as she would first connect with a lay-up at the 8:30 mark to make it 36-32 and then get a score in the paint as well at the 7:10 mark to make it 38-34 and at this juncture, things were suddenly looking very bright for St. Kate's. But on this particular day, the Gusties would not falter or panic as they instead hunkered down and embarked on a game-changing 16-0 run that changed the complexion of this game for good. Kniefel would start this rampage as she would skillfully slither into traffic and get a finish off the glass at the 6:47 mark and then junior reserve guard Maddy Rice would unleash a three-point bomb from the left wing area at the 6:03 mark that propelled the Gusties back into the lead for good at 39-38. With 4:16 left, Hauger would take her cue and bang home a "3" from the left top area and a bit later, sophomore reserve forward and former Champlin Park standout Izzy Quick would get a score in the paint off of an inbounds pass with 3:39 left that put GAC up 44-38 and the Wildcats' Mulhern had seen enough to know that things were getting away from his team and forced him to take a match to a timeout. But even this stoppage in play did not deter the Gustie Express. Senior reserve guard Rachel Skyberg would knock down a jumper from near the free throw line with 3:06 left and then Hauger would unleash more three-point terror with a bomb from the top of the key with 2:34 left. One free throw by Rice with 2:09 left after she was fouled capped this run to make it 50-38 and although St. Kate's would finally break its drought when Benjamin grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback that drew a foul along with the obligatory "and one", two more free throws by the Gusties' Hauger with :28.4 left in the third period had GAC carrying a 52-41 advantage going into the fourth period.
The Wildcats would try and rekindle the magic they had found early on in the third period as a 4-0 burst had them back into single-digit range again. Glynn would connect with a lay-up at the 9:01 mark and then Benjamin would connect with a short shot off the window at the 8:06 mark that had St. Kate's potentially knocking on the door again down 52-45. The Gusties' Laurie Kelly; again not taking any chances, called a timeout and got her squad calmed down and the ship sailing straight again. Kawiecki would drop a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 6:53 mark and then Sanders would connect with a jumper in the lane with 4:52 left that got the lead back up to nine at 56-47. A bit later with 4:36 left, Skyberg would connect with a lay-up in transition that got the lead back into double-digit range again for GAC at 58-47. The 'Cats would make one more attempt to get the deficit slimmed down as freshman reserve guard Kylie Wood would sneak into the paint for one score with 4:14 left and an offensive rebound and lay-up by Glynn with 3:01 left had the deficit back down to seven again at 58-51 and still left a ray of hope for the Wildcat faithful. But the 'Cats could not get any closer down the stretch as the Gusties went to work to put the finishing touches on this contest. With 2:38 left, Kniefel; in arguably one of her best moves of the day, got her trademark first step burst and got into the hole for a finish to make it 60-51 and Hauger would add one freebie after getting fouled with 2:11 left to make it a ten-point game at 61-51. Baranick would add two free throws of her own after getting fouled with 1:52 left and Kniefel would put the daisy on this one with another drive and lay-up with :25.7 left as the Gusties got back on the winning track with a 65-55 victory.
I was able to speak with GAC Assistant Coach Dan Wolfe both before and after the game and one of the things that he pointed out was that it's really been a grind - certainly academically anyway - for the team as of late and that aspect kind of spilled over on their trip to the Cities on Wednesday this last week when the Gusties dug themselves into a canyon against Augsburg and although they made a remarkable effort to get themselves back into it and get the deficit down to two points early in the fourth period, the effort inevitably ran out of gas. "It's not always about who you play but when you play them" he said, referring to the Augsburg game. Still, Wolfe pointed out that the Gusties came out flat at the beginning of the third period and that's something that they've got to guard against. But I think that the Gusties were much better prepared for this contest on this day and came into this game with a much better mindset than they did on Wednesday night. But it's been something of an uphill battle for this team and coaching staff as I think they're still coming to grips with the fact that there's no Caitlin Rorman or Paige Richert to lean on. Plus the fact that arguably their best guard, sophomore Riley Queensland, is out for the season with that ACL injury she suffered shortly after practice began in October (Queensland told me before the game when I got to speak with her that she's likely looking at a 9-10 month recovery period). All this has effectively forced Head Coach Laurie Kelly to get her younger players into action quickly and it's arguably been a learning process at times but I think we're slowly seeing players such as Baranick, Hauger and Kawiecki earning their "wings"; a baptism by fire so to speak.....I was able to speak with Kniefel briefly afterward and congratulated her on a very well played game. Laurie Kelly hinted that Kniefel is still in the process of trying to do more as she's such an unselfish player and, if that's indeed the case, look out MIAC! Meanwhile on the St. Kate's side, Mulhern was left to ponder what might've been had they been able to maintain that lead they had gained early on in the third period when the Wildcats seemingly had the energy. Mulhern was in agreement with my assertion that, in a close game, it's usually the little things that come back to haunt you - a missed lay-up here, a missed easy bunny there, a silly turnover or two. I think that was definitely the case for St. Kate's today and although GAC had a distinct advantage in being able to insert 4-5 fresh players when needed, you still have to find ways to overcome these things to win these close games against a quality opponent.
Oddly enough, the final box score shows that the Wildcats actually shot "better" than what GAC did as St. Kate's went 23-47 for 48.9% from FG range compared to GAC's 23-49 for 46.9%. The Wildcats shot "better" from behind the arc too going 4 of 8 for an even 50% while the Gusties 7-16 for 43.8% from downtown. St. Kate's didn't get to the charity stripe very often in this game but when they did, they were perfect from there going 5 for 5 for 100% compared to GAC's 12-18 for 66.7%; a figure that GAC's Laurie Kelly will tell you that needs to get better. But that's about where any "advantages" for St. Kate's ended as the Gusties held a whopping 34-15 edge on the boards along with a 15-3 advantage in those all-important "second chance" points; a figure that St. Kate's Mulhern could only shake his head in utter disdain. GAC also had a sizable advantage in bench points at 27-19 as well.
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