A wild Wednesday night to wrap up this year's edition of the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:
6:15 P.M. Games
GAC Alumni - 43
Augsburg - 42
CSB - 48
Bethel - 47
Carleton - 70
St. Olaf - 48
7:00 P.M. Games
GAC Black - 59
Hamline - 44
St. Kate's - 51
The Melting Pots - 33
GAC Gold - 67
Old But Not That Old - 60
7:40 P.M. Games
Concordia St Paul - 52
Macalester - 42
Guards Of The Galaxy - 92
UW-River Falls - 64
Northwestern - 53
Hamline - 50
There sure wasn't much time to get buckled up and catch my breath in the 6:15 P.M. slot with two very good games going on. Over on Court 1, the GAC Alumni team was taking on the Augsburg team and while it took a bit for both teams to get their offensive groove going with the GAC Alumni holding a 4-2 edge midway through the first period and a 6-5 lead at the end of the first period would suggest, the Augsburg team would get things going on their end with their high-octane attack to forge a 17-11 lead midway through the second period. But the GAC Alumni team would wake up as well and launch an attack that would close the gap to a single possession down 21-19 by the halftime break. The GAC Alumni team would quickly get this game leveled at 21 early on in the third period and a three-point bomb by Kendall Thompson (GAC '19) pushed the GAC Alumni team back out in front 24-21 at the 6:35 mark of the third period. The GAC Alumni team would hold a 29-27 lead with 2:30 left in the third period and they would enjoy a 32-28 advantage by the end of the third period. But keeping the Augsburg team down for long was proving to be a tough proposition and they would get this game knotted at 34-all midway through the fourth period and you just knew that this one was going to go down to the wire. With 4:12 left in regulation, the Augsburg team got a big boost when speedy junior-to-be Kalena Myers bolted through traffic to connect with a lay-up that drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" put the Augsburg team up 39-36. Undaunted, the GAC Alumni team would get this game leveled at 40 with 1:55 left and one free throw by Miranda Rice (GAC '18) put the GAC Alumni team back out in front again by a 41-40 score. The Augsburg team would take it right back, however, on their ensuing possession at 42-41 but it would be Rice coming to the GAC Alumni team's rescue again on their ensuing possession as her lay-up with :09.8 left gave the GAC Alumni team a 43-42 advantage. One more chance for the Augsburg team to steal the show on this night and Myers would wheel and deal through traffic and would try and connect on a pretty reverse lay-up just before the buzzer but the shot attempt rimmed out and the GAC Alumni team escaped with yet another nail-biter......While all of this was going down, yet another doozy was brewing over on Court 2 between the Bethel team and the CSB team in a match-up of two fierce MIAC rivals. The CSB team would grab a 4-2 advantage early on in the contest and they would up their lead to 8-2 by the 7:17 mark of the opening period. The Bethel team would come right back and narrow the deficit to a single possession down 8-6 by the midway point of the first period and the Bethel team would hold a 13-12 advantage in the latter stages of this first period but the CSB team would use a 7-0 burst to hold a 19-13 advantage by the end of the third period. The CSB team would increase its lead to 21-13 early on in the second period and they would hold a ten-point cushion at 25-15 by the 7:00 mark of the second period. The CSB team would maintain this ten-point edge up 32-22 with 2:00 left in the second period and things were looking very good for the CSB team as they held a 34-22 advantage by the halftime break. The CSB team would still enjoy a 36-24 lead near the midway point of the third period but the Bethel team would finally awake from its slumber and get on a big run down the stretch of the third period that had them right back in the thick of things down 40-36 by the start of the fourth period. The CSB team's lead would begin to slowly shrink even more as they would be clinging to a 40-38 advantage early on in the fourth period and hanging on by a sliver up 42-41 by the midway point of the fourth period. The Bethel team would finally have this game tied at 47 with 1:15 left with seemingly more than enough time to complete this comeback deal. But one free throw by the CSB team with under a minute remaining allowed them to hang on for a thrilling 48-47 win......Things were a bit calmer over on Court 3 where two old MIAC crosstown rivals faced off against each other with the Carleton team taking on the St. Olaf team. The Carleton team would have things going their way early on in this contest as they would hold a 5-0 lead early on in the first period and although the St. Olaf team would cut into that deficit being down 7-5 midway through the opening period, the Carleton team would launch a game-changing 10-0 run to own a 17-5 advantage late in the first period and that lead would increase to 22-7 by the end of the first period. By the midway point of the second period, the Carleton team was in full control up 28-11 and by the halftime break the Carleton team was rolling up 42-20. The St. Olaf team tried to tighten things up in the third period and although they reduced the deficit to seventeen at 46-29 by the midway point of the third period, they still had a long way to go and a short time to get there and another burst by the Carleton team emphasized that point as they increased their lead to 58-33 by the end of the third period. By the midway point of the fourth period, things were pretty much academic with the Carleton team enjoying a 64-46 advantage as they had it in cruise control the rest of the way.
In the 7:00 P.M. slot, an interesting contest was going on between two MIAC rivals that both have high hopes for this next season as the GAC Black team was taking on the Hamline team and both teams had their offenses going right out of the gate. A drive and finish by junior-to-be Syd Hauger allowed the GAC Black team to get this contest knotted at 11-all by the 7:11 mark of the first period and that would give the GAC Black team a big boost as they would use a 7-1 push down the stretch to own an 18-12 advantage by the end of the first period. The Hamline team went right back to work and got the deficit down to two at 20-18 midway through the second period but the GAC Black team would find a second wind to establish some more breathing room with a 27-20 advantage in the latter stages of the second period and by the halftime break they still enjoyed a 29-24 lead. The GAC Black would build its lead to nine at 38-29 near the midway point of the third period thanks to a three-point bomb by senior-to-be Anna Sanders. The Hamline team would make another bid to get things tightened up again but Sanders would again come through for the GAC Black team with another bomb from behind the arc that helped get them a 43-36 advantage by the end of the third period. Hauger would make another important contribution near the midway point of the fourth period with a short jumper off the glass that had the GAC Black team up 51-42 and the Hamline team could never recover as the GAC Black team was able to get a comfortable victory.....Another intriguing game was unfolding over on Court 2 between The Melting Pots team and the St. Kate's team. The St. Kate's team would hold a 6-3 lead near the midway point of the opening period thanks to a tough score in the paint by senior-to-be Bree Glynn but The Melting Pots team would get this one leveled at nine a piece shortly thereafter. But the St. Kate's team would use some hot three-point shooting down the stretch to grab an 18-14 lead by the end of the first period. The Melting Pots team would then proceed to go into a funk offensively once the second period got underway and that allowed the St. Kate's team to expand its lead which it did; getting a 30-16 advantage near the midway point of the second period and by the halftime break, the St. Kate's team was enjoying a 36-20 advantage. The St. Kate's team would continue to control things; up 40-25 midway through the third period and growing that lead to 46-28 by the end of the third period. By the midway point of the fourth period, the St. Kate's team was cruising; up 51-30 enroute to an easy win.....Over on Court 3, the Old But Not That Old team was taking on one of the other Gustavus teams in this summer league - the GAC Gold team and despite the size and experience advantage held by the Old But Not That Old team, the GAC Gold team would hold a 4-3 edge early on in the opening period and then explode with a 16-0 run to hold a 20-3 lead in the latter stages of the first period and by the end of the first period, the GAC Gold team was up 22-7. The GAC Gold team saw its lead grow to 33-15 midway through the second period and by the halftime break the GAC Gold team was cruising; up 45-27. The GAC Gold team still had things going its way with a 50-36 advantage midway through the third period but the Old But Not That Old team slyly started picking away at the deficit and in the latter stages of the third period, they had the deficit trimmed down to ten points at 54-44 and by the end of the third period, they had climbed back to within single-digit range down 56-49. The GAC Gold's lead got cut to six at 62-56 midway through the fourth period and things looked a little dicey for them at that point but they refused to fold and the Old But Not That Old team could never get closer than that down the stretch as the GAC Gold team hung on for the win.
Over on Court 1 in the 7:40 P.M. slot, a MIAC/NSIC clash was taking place between the Macalester team and the Concordia St Paul team. The latter would hold a 6-2 advantage midway through the opening period and the Concordia St Paul team would grow its lead to 13-6 by the end of the first period. The Macalester team would make a bid to tighten things up when recent Macalester grad Celine Sabbagh (Macalester '22) buried a three-point bomb that cut the deficit to six at 15-9 in the early stages of the second period but the Concordia St Paul team would re-establish some more breathing room with a 5-0 spurt that had them up 20-9 a short time later. The Concordia St Paul team would still hold a double-digit advantage up 24-14 in the latter stages of the second period and by the halftime break they would find themselves up 28-16. The Macalester team would make a bid to tighten things up again once the third period got underway; climbing back into single-digit range down 34-26 midway through the third period and getting a 5-0 spurt to climb back to within a single possession down 34-31 with 2:04 left in the third period. But this bid by the Macalester team would run out of gas shortly thereafter as the Concordia St Paul team used a 5-0 push of its own to rebuild its lead to 39-31 by the end of the third period. The Macalester team would fight hard to stay in single-digit range but it would be an uphill climb as the fourth period got underway. A "3" would have the Concordia St Paul team up 46-37 at the 6:10 mark of the fourth period and by the midway point of the fourth period the Concordia St Paul team would hold a 48-40 advantage. Down the stretch, the Macalester team's hopes would begin to fade as the Concordia St Paul team established a ten-point cushion up 52-42 late in the contest as they held on for the win.....The other blowout on this night took place on Court 2 during this time slot as the UW-River Falls team was taking on the Guards Of The Galaxy team and it was all Guards Of The Galaxy from the outset as they raced out to an 18-3 lead by the midway point of the opening period and held a 28-9 lead in the latter stages of the first period. Despite a 5-0 push by the UW-River Falls team down the stretch, they were still on the wrong end of a 28-14 score by the end of the first period. The Guards Of The Galaxy team would get its lead to 38-20 midway through the second period and by the halftime break but the UW-River Falls team would make a bid down the stretch to get closer again and a "3" just before the buzzer had the deficit down to twelve at 47-35 by the halftime break. There was still some hope for the UW-River Falls team down 58-45 by the midway point of the third period but that hope quickly vanished into thin air as the Guards Of The Galaxy team went on a big run to hold an insurmountable 75-50 advantage by the end of the third period. By the midway point of the fourth period, things were pretty much academic with the Guards Of The Galaxy team holding a 77-55 lead as they rolled to an easy win......I suppose it was only fitting that the other wild game on this night would take place over on Court 3 between the Northwestern team and the Hamline team which was doing double-duty on this night. The Northwestern team would have a bit of an upper hand by the midway point of of the opening period up 6-5 but then the Hamline team reeled off a 12-0 blitz that pushed them out in front 18-5 by the end of the first period. The Hamline would be up 22-12 midway through the second period and still had a fairly comfortable 26-17 advantage by the halftime break. But the Northwestern team would start picking away at this deficit once the third period got underway and by the midway point of the third period, the Hamline team's lead was down to five at 30-25 and a three-point bomb by the Northwestern team got them closer down 32-28 with 4:55 left in the third period. The Hamline team would recover from this initial comeback bid by the Northwestern team and get on a spurt that gave them some more breathing room up 41-32 by the end of the third period. But the Northwestern team showed that it had no plans to go anywhere anytime soon and they launched yet another comeback attempt; cutting the deficit to six at 41-35 by the 7:20 mark of the fourth period and making further inroads down 41-37 a minute later at the 6:20 mark. The Hamline team would try desperately to create more space for itself; holding a 48-43 lead with 2:45 left in regulation but things would soon spiral out of control for them as the Northwestern team now had momentum on its side. The Northwestern team would climb back to within a single possession down 48-45 with 2:20 left and with 1:00 left in regulation, the Hamline team's fortunes had now become perilous with them trying to hang on to a one-point lead at 50-49. With :17 left in regulation, the Northwestern team regained the lead for the first time since the first period with a 51-50 advantage but the Hamline team appeared to have new life when a foul was called on their ensuing possession with :09.4 left. Unfortunately for them, both free throw attempts missed their mark and now they had to foul which they did with :05.6 left. The Northwestern team got both free throw attempts to go down to make it 53-50 so now it came down to an all-or-nothing proposition for the Hamline team and with just under a second left, senior-to-be Chan'el Anderson-Manning got a decent look from behind the arc and although her shot attempt looked true, it rimmed out at the buzzer as the Northwestern team got a thrilling come-from-behind victory.
Just want to thank Bruce Smith of the Midtown YWCA and all the referees and score/timekeepers for their contributions to another successful Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League!
No comments:
Post a Comment