Made my way over to Butler Center on the campus of St. Catherine's University on this sunny but cold January Saturday to take in the game between visiting Hamline which made the trek down Snelling Avenue and host St. Kate's. The Pipers saw its eight-game win streak snapped this last Wednesday night when Macalester came into venerable Hutton Arena and shocked a Piper team that was a bit short-handed with some players out due to COVID protocols. The Wildcats meanwhile got an important road win down in Winona this last Wednesday night; breaking a losing streak that they were mired in and were hoping to build off of that victory with pretty much everybody back in action after their own bout with COVID.
Whenever these two teams hook up, you can almost always expect the unexpected as has been my experience. They're usually very well played games and very close and today's game was no exception. Although both teams started off a bit cold with their shooting in the early moments of the opening period, the Pipers were able to build a 5-2 lead thanks to free throws by senior guard Gabby Robinson - two at the 8:29 mark and one more at the 8:06 mark - along with a lay-up by junior forward Tess Hauer at the 6:42 mark. But St. Kate's would come right back as senior forward Sam Orth knocked down free throws herself - one after getting fouled at the 6:28 mark and two more after she was fouled at the 5:39 mark - to get this one knotted at 5-all. Junior forward Bree Glynn's short, one-handed shot in the lane off the glass at the 5:02 mark pushed the Wildcats out in front 7-5. Right back came Hamline, however, as senior guard Sophie Findell would drain a "3" from the left wing area with 4:45 left to push the Pipers back out in front 8-7. St. Kate's would answer the bell as Glynn would craftily snare a steal and race the other way for a lay-up that drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" now had the Wildcats up 10-8. And right back came Hamline with another three-point answer - this one from sophomore guard Larisa O'Neil from the right wing area with 1:15 left that now had the Pipers back out in front 11-10. St. Kate's would get the last laugh of this first period, however, as Orth would snare an offensive rebound for a putback with :50 left and two freebies by freshman reserve guard Marissa Fronk with just :01.9 left allowed the Wildcats to carry an 14-11 advantage going into the second period.
The back-and-forth nature of this game would continue well into the second period as well. Piper sophomore sensation forward Lydia Lecher would uncork one of her patented lefty three-point bombs - this one from the top of the key at the 8:51 mark - to get this game leveled at 14 a piece. St. Kate's would respond quickly as freshman forward Greta Schimnowski would drill a "3" from the left top area at the 8:37 mark to propel the Wildcats back into the lead at 17-14. Now it was Hamline's turn to snare the lead right back. Sophomore reserve guard Michaela Stamer would make a drive into the lane for a tough finish at the 8:14 mark and Lecher would bang home her second trey of the game - again from the top of the key - at the 7:44 mark to put the Pipers back out in front at 19-17. Less than a minute later, Stamer would launch a three-point bomb of her own - this one from the top of the key as well at the 7:16 mark - as Hamline's lead was now at five at 22-17. But a five-point deficit wasn't going to faze the Wildcats one bit as they quickly went back to work. Glynn would make a pretty drive and finish at the 7:03 mark to pull St. Kate's back to within a single possession and a bit later, reserve senior post Katie Benjamin was able to get into the paint for a score at the 6:39 mark that reduced the deficit to one at 22-21. Two free throws by fifth-year senior Brooke Torvik at the 6:14 mark after she was fouled now had the Wildcats poking their nose out in front by a 23-22 count. Right back came Hamline. Hauer would connect with a short, turnaround jumper at the 5:58 mark and Hauer would follow that up with an offensive rebound for a putback with 4:45 left that gave the lead right back to the Pipers at 26-23. St. Kate's Schimnowski would get this game tied with her three-point bomb from the left corner with 4:33 left but Hamline would get the lead right back with Lecher's short, turnaround jumper with 2:43 left. With 2:03 left, the Wildcats would again get this game leveled at 28-all when Orth connected with a jumper along the left baseline off of an inbounds pass at the 2:03 mark and it looked as if it might be a "spin the bottle" proposition to see which team might have the lead at the half. It was here, however, where the Pipers made their first decisive push of the afternoon in the form of a 9-2 run. Fittingly, it would be Lecher stealing the show again as she would start this run with her third dagger "3" of the afternoon - this one from the right top area with 1:48 left and Lecher would follow that up with a lay-up in transition with 1:21 left to make it a 33-28. Robinson would connect with a lay-up in transition with :49 left and freshman reserve guard Makayla Harris' lay-up with just :07 left allowed a fired up Hamline team to take a 37-30 lead into the locker room at the half.
The extra breathing space that the Pipers had created for themselves with that late second period run was at least maintained in the early moments of the third period. Hamline Head Coach Alex Focke had also decided to switch up his defense as well; going from man-to-man to 1-2-2 or a 2-1-2 zone defense in hopes of taking away the drive and dribble aspect of the Wildcats offense. Lecher would unleash her fourth three-point bomb of this contest; this one coming from the right wing area at the 5:59 mark and one free throw by Findell after she was fouled with 4:14 left still had the Pipers in good shape up 41-35. It took St. Kate's a bit to figure out ways to attack this zone defense but they finally got some semblance of offense going again before this third period was in the books. Benjamin would connect with a short, turnaround jumper in the lane with 3:13 left and when Orth snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:23 left, the Wildcats found themselves back to within a single possession again down 41-39. Hamline had not one but two chances to widen the gap a bit but when Robinson would be unable to get free throw attempts when she was fouled with 1:59 and 1:53 left, respectively. That effectively left the door open for St. Kate's and with 1:37 left, freshman reserve forward Rachel Randleman would drain a "3" from the right wing area that suddenly pushed the Wildcats back out in front 42-41. That quickly caught the attention of this Hamline team as they quickly responded to try and restore order. O'Neil would uncork her second trey of this contest - this one coming from the left wing area with 1:25 left - that got the Pipers back out in front 44-42 and then Hauer would get a three-point play the old-fashioned way with her lay-up that drew a foul and the obligatory "and one" to make it 47-42. Still, St. Kate's was not content in letting this one get away from them as Randleman would respond with an offensive rebound and lay-up with just :17 left that left a lot of uncertainty in this contest with the Pipers clinging to a 47-44 advantage.
Indeed, the Wildcats would stay right in the thick of things in the early moments of the fourth period. Glynn would knock down a pair of free throws at the 9:04 mark after getting fouled and freshman guard Kylie Wood would connect with a jumper from the left corner; just inside the arc at the 7:26 mark that had the 'Cats right where they wanted to be down 50-48 with a ton of time left. Hamline started taking control of things again as Hauer would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 7:07 mark and Hauer would follow that up a bit later with a lay-up at the 6:36 mark that got the Pipers back to a six-point lead at 54-48. A Stamer "3" from the top of the key with 4:19 left increased Hamline's safety net with a 57-50 advantage but the Wildcats still had some more fight left in them and they would threaten again. Randleman would bang home a "3" from the right corner with 4:03 left and an offensive rebound and putback by Orth with 3:21 left had St. Kate's back to within a single possession again down 57-55. It was here where the comeback hopes of the Wildcats finally faded into the cold winter air outside on this January afternoon. Hamline's Hauer would knock down a pair of freebies after getting fouled with 3:02 left and then Stamer would finish off a transition opportunity with a lay-up that stretched the Piper lead back to six at 61-55. Stamer's drive and finish with 1:56 left maintained the six-point edge at 63-57 and then Findell would unleash a dagger "3" from the right corner with 1:13 left to make it 66-57. And when it counted, Hamline got the job done at the charity stripe to salt this one away for good. Hauer would knock down a pair of free throws with :32.3 left as would Robinson on a flagrant foul situation with :25.7 left. Findell would add two pairs of free throws - with :19.8 and :08.5 left as the Pipers got back on the winning track with a 74-64 victory.
I caught up with Hamline's Focke afterward and mentioned about the impressive games that both Hauer and Stamer had for his squad today. Indeed, the Pipers were without players such as junior Chan'el Anderson-Manning, seniors Paige Condie and Sarah Loken to name a few and Focke was unable to offer any timeline for when they might be back. But for Hamline which needed to have younger players step up when needed is huge for this program that's trying to make that next "step" - to get into the upper echelon of the MIAC - and stay there. Meanwhile, another disappointing setback for the Wildcats and Head Coach Don Mulhern who now has his squad pretty much back at full strength again after the bout with COVID. They were right there for most of the contest and they were just unable to make the plays or get the big shots when they needed them. To be sure, Hamline's zone defense after the halftime break kind of took away a big portion of their offense - the dribble and drive penetration and they probably took some three-point shots that they probably wish they could take back - a point I made to Mulhern afterward. Assistant Coach Travis Dedina lamented as well about how the Wildcats shot an impressive 86.7% from the charity stripe but didn't get there as many times as Hamline did. Even Orth mentioned that sometimes the squad focuses too much on one thing and not enough on other things during a game. A check of the final box score shows that beyond the free-throw shooting aspect, it was otherwise a dismal shooting day for the 'Cats as they finished 23-63 for 36.5% from FG range and 5 of 25 from downtown for 20% which tells you a lot about where St. Kate's fell short today. Interestingly the Wildcats did have the advantage in those "second-chance" points by a 17-6 margin and also had a 30-20 edge in points in the paint as well. But, Hamline did hold a 16-5 edge in points off of turnovers and going 11-24 from behind the arc for 45.8% helped push them over the top today.
It was a fantastic outing for Hamline's Hauer; who stepped up today in a big way as she led all scorers with her 20 points and Lecher, who terrorized St. Kate's with her 4-7 from behind the arc for 16 points on this day, was a huge factor as well and she just missed out on a "double-double" with her nine rebounds. Stamer was solid on this day with her 12 points and Findell came through at clutch times today and finished with 11 points. St. Kate's meanwhile leaned heavily on Glynn for point production as she led the way with her 15 points and Orth had a "double-double" with her 13 points and 12 rebounds.
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