Made the trip over to the St. Paul side of town on this Wednesday evening to Butler Center on the campus of St. Catherine's University to take in the regular season finale between visiting SMU and host St. Kate's. Both teams were coming off absolute heartbreaking defeats on Monday night. The Cardinals lost on an improbable buzzer-beater at Carleton while the Wildcats checked into Heartbreak Hotel as well; suffering a tough, two-point loss up at CSB. So with both teams hoping to not only rebound from those disappointments but also go into the upcoming expanded MIAC Playoffs with a bit of a head of steam made this an intriguing contest. It was also Senior Night at St. Kate's as seniors Brooke Torvik, Katie Benjamin, Sam Orth and Mackenzie Kurczek were honored in the pre-game ceremony.
And given that Kurczek had suffered a knee injury earlier in the season, St. Kate's Head Coach Don Mulhern wanted to get her out on the court in one of the starting positions and the Cardinals gamely stood down on the tip so that the ball could be tipped to Kurczek who in turn gamely held the ball for a five-second violation to even the table. How much of an emotional effect that had on the Wildcats is uncertain but, at the beginning anyway, they struggled mightily on the offensive end. SMU would grab an early 4-0 lead as sophomore guard Macey Petron would snare a steal and dash the other way for a lay-up at the 7:09 mark and then speedy freshman guard Izzy Goettelman would make a quick dart into traffic and get a finish off the glass at the 6:25 mark for the aforementioned score. Making matters even more worrisome for St. Kate's was that Torvik had to hobble off to the sideline too after Petron's steal with an apparent ankle injury and it was uncertain at the time whether she'd be able to return. The 'Cats finally broke their extended drought at the 5:40 mark when junior forward Bree Glynn snared an offensive rebound for a putback in transition and sophomore reserve guard Karis Zezza would get this game leveled at four a piece when she snuck into the paint for a score with 4:40 left. Still, the Cardinals would hold the upper hand as freshman reserve guard Maggie Newhouse knocked down a pair of free throws with 3:38 left after getting fouled and senior guard Brooklyn Paulson would follow suit after she was fouled with 3:03 left that had SMU up 8-6. The Wildcats, however, would usurp the advantage before this opening period was over as Orth would snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:47 left to get the game tied and with just :00.1 left on the clock, Glynn wowed the Butler Center crowd with a jumper from the left wing area to put St. Kate's up 10-8 in this - so far anyway - low scoring affair that you didn't exactly need an abacus to keep track of things.
Despite the fact that SMU had lost its grip on its slim lead and despite the fact that the MIAC's leading scorer - Paulson - hadn't been able to get into a groove yet, the Cardinals still appeared to be right in the thick of things at the end of the first period but once the second period got going, things began to slowly but surely unravel for SMU as the Wildcats tightened their grip. Freshman reserve forward Greta Schimnowski would connect with a lay-up at the 9:05 mark and while the Cardinals continued to misfire, St. Kate's Schimnowski would get another chance to strike which she did - from behind the arc at the right wing area at the 6:16 mark that stretched the lead to seven at 15-8. SMU's Paulson would finally find her touch from three-point land on the Cardinals' ensuing possession with a bomb from the right corner at the 6:00 mark but right back came St. Kate's as Glynn would slither into the paint for a score to make it 17-11. SMU's Paulson would come right back with a jumper from the top of the key; just inside the arc at the 5:27 mark that had the gap narrowed to four points at 17-13 with the Cardinals still in striking distance. It was at this juncture, however, where things really fell apart for SMU. The Wildcats sophomore reserve forward Sarah Lavell would first connect with a lay-up with 4:51 left and then Orth would connect with a lay-up after a Cardinal turnover with 4:28 left that got the St. Kate's lead to eight at 21-13. SMU Head Coach David Foley was visibly frustrated on a variety of fronts but nothing caught his angst more than when the Wildcats' Torvik and the Cardinals' Paulson were involved in an inadvertent collision at the mid-court area that sent both players to the floor with no foul called. Foley expressed his displeasure with the officials a bit too vociferously and was promptly slapped with a technical foul with 3:43 left. St. Kate's Benjamin would get her two obligatory charity stripe attempts to go down that now gave the 'Cats a double-digit cushion at 23-13. With 2:16 left, Orth would bury a "3" from the right wing area that upped the lead to 26-13 and the Cardinals' Foley had seen more than enough to know that a full timeout was warranted in order to try and stop the bleeding from this key 9-0 run that really changed the complexion of this ballgame. SMU's Goettelman would finally break the Cardinals drought when she got one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 1:43 left but things would get even worse for the Winona gang before the halftime break. The Wildcats' Lavell would connect with a short shot off the glass with 1:25 left and a pretty drive into the lane and hook shot finish by Glynn with :52 left made it 30-14. To top it all off, Lavell would connect with a lay-up in transition with just :00.1 that also drew a foul and although the former Centennial standout could get the obligatory free throw to go down, St. Kate's took a 32-14 lead into the locker room at the half while SMU looked utterly dazed as they were clearly the victim of Murphy's Law in this second period.
Ordinarily, you'd have thought that things would have improved for the Cardinals once the third period got underway but they didn't as St. Kate's continued with its onslaught. Orth would bury her second trey on this night - this one coming from the right wing area at the 8:48 mark that sparked a 12-2 run. Glynn would snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 8:00 mark and then Schimnowski would bang home a "3' from the top of the key at the 7:21 mark to make it 40-16. Glynn would snare a steal and race the other way for a lay-up at the 6:32 mark and a bit later, Lavell would connect on a lay-up that ballooned the Wildcat lead to 44-16 and SMU's Foley had no choice to take a match to a timeout as the rout was underway. To their credit, the Cardinals were able to make a few dents into this sizable deficit. Paulson would knock down a jumper from the free throw line at the 5:44 mark and would also drain a "3" from the right wing area with 4:51 left as well. Newhouse would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 4:20 left and Petron would drill a "3" from the left corner with 3:33 left that had the deficit reduced to twenty-one at 46-25. Freshman reserve guard Graysin Hartjes would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 2:12 left and freshman reserve forward Kylie Lacey would connect with a jumper along the left baseline with :33 left but again, all SMU could do at this point was make some dents in an already sizable deficit and that point was driven home even more when the Wildcats' Schimnowski buried a dagger "3" from the right top area with :19 left as St. Kate's took a hefty 49-28 lead going into the fourth period.
Not much changed once the fourth period got going either. Back-to-back scores by the Wildcats - an offensive rebound and putback by Lavell at the 9:20 mark and a score in the paint by Torvik at the 8:52 mark - left little doubt about how things were going to turn out with a 53-28 lead by St. Kate's. The Cardinals did show some more proficiency on offense; albeit too late as Goettelman would make a drive for a finish at the 7:52 mark and freshman reserve forward Alyssa Coleman would get into the paint for a score at the 7:23 mark. Coleman would also connect with a lay-up as well at the 6:17 mark and Goettelman would bang home a "3" from the right wing area with 4:07 left. Freshman reserve guard Carissa Miller would also drain a "3" from the right wing area with 2:13 left but down twenty at 60-40, it was all about trying to make things look a bit more respectable now for SMU as this night belonged to the Wildcats who wanted to send their seniors out on their home court in style. Freshman reserve guard Marissa Fronk would get into the books for St. Kate's as she would connect with a jumper along the left baseline that drew a foul in the process along with the ensuing "and one" with 1:45 left. The best moment of this one was when Mulhern inserted Kurczek with :29.3 left to give her one last hurrah at Butler Center as the Wildcats ended the regular season on a very high note with a convincing 63-42 victory.
In retrospect, I think the thing that I took away from this game was that St. Kate's brought the energy tonight and Mulhern was in full agreement when I got to speak with him briefly afterward. To me anyway, that was the most obvious aspect of it. SMU on the other hand looked lethargic and out of sorts and had absolutely no response when the Wildcats went on that key second period run that changed the course of this game for good. The Cardinals' Foley admitted as much afterward when I caught up with him as well. In a sense, I can understand that, when you have a long day of classes and studying (and all the other things that student-athletes have to do) and then get on the bus, perhaps a bit tired and drained, for a long roadie up to the Cities and feel absolutely out of sorts on the court and get boatraced in the process, well it can be a humbling experience. God knows I've had that happen to me on the tennis court before. At the same time, if you're SMU, this is where you can't have excuses anymore and have got to be ready to go as the MIAC Playoffs start Saturday and it's all about survival now. So there's that. As you can imagine, the final box score was brutal for SMU as I'm sure the bus ride back down US Highway 61 and the Canadian Pacific Kansas City River Sub mainline was as well. Just some numbers to consider here - going 14-48 from FG range for 29.2% from FG range and 5-24 from downtown for 20.8% not to mention getting outscored in the paint by a 38-12 count. Eeeek. Those 19 turnovers and getting out-rebounded by a 32-26 count didn't help things either. The only red flag I could see for St. Kate's in this one was going 4-8 from the charity stripe for a straight 50%. That's something that should be better and I know I pick on free throw shooting a lot but you'd be surprised how those bad numbers from that area alone can come back to bite you.
It may have been Senior Night at St. Kate's but it was the junior, Glynn, who led the way with her 14 points. Lavell was another pleasant surprise for Mulhern and his staff as she collected 12 points while Schimnowski was right behind with 11 points and Orth tallied 10 points in her final game at Butler Center in what was a very balanced attack for the Wildcats. It was something of an "off" night for SMU's Paulson who had "only" 14 points but she was easily the leading scorer for the Cardinals on this night and she didn't get much help until it was too late.
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