Here's a review of the opening playoff games I was able to cover on this last Tuesday evening over at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:
6:15 P.M. Games
Anoka-Ramsey - 47
Northwestern - 42
Hamline - 44
Luther - 30
7:15 P.M. Games
GAC Black - 59
UW-Eau Claire - 44
UW-River Falls - 58
Bethel - 35
GAC Gold - 50
St. Scholastica - 37
Only two games in the 6:15 P.M. slot on this night but the drama that unfolded on Court 1 more than made up for it and was easily the best game on this Tuesday night as the Anoka-Ramsey team and the Northwestern team went at it. The Northwestern team would have the upper hand early on; grabbing an early 3-0 lead on a three-point bomb right off the bat and they would hold a 3-2 advantage by the 7:30 mark of the first period. But this tricky and unpredictable Anoka-Ramsey team would provide a hint of things to come later on as they would forge ahead 6-4 near the midway point of the first period. The Northwestern team would have a strong response to this first challenge as they would go on a 7-0 push to hold an 11-6 advantage lead with 1:20 left and they would maintain this five-point edge up 13-8 by the end of the first period. The Northwestern team would hold this same lead at the 7:30 mark of the second period and they would be able to gradually stretch this lead out a bit up 19-11 with 3:10 left although the pesky Anoka-Ramsey team would manage to whittle the deficit back down to five points at 20-15 by the halftime break. The Northwestern team would again up its lead once the third period got underway at 22-15 by the 8:00 mark and they would be holding this same 22-15 advantage by the midway juncture of the third period. For a brief moment, it appeared that the Northwestern team had finally managed to shake their opponent when they got their lead to nine at 26-15 but once again, the Anoka-Ramsey team had vastly different ideas and they would unleash back-to-back three-pint bombs to cut the Northwestern team's lead to 26-21 with 3:40 left. Even though the Northwestern team would build a bit more breathing room by the end of the third period up 33-27, you just had a feeling that this would be a tenuous lead. That notion was reinforced once the fourth period got going as the Northwestern teams lead would be cut to four at 38-34 by the 7:45 mark and by the midway point of the fourth period, the Anoka-Ramsey team had finally crawled back to within a single possession down 40-37. With 3:45 left, things definitely started looking dangerous for this Northwestern team as their lead was down to a scant point at 40-39 and even though they would hold a 42-40 lead with 1:20 left in regulation, this Anoka-Ramsey team which had come up short on several other occasions would finally break through. With just under a minute left, they would get this game tied at 42 a piece and a nifty lay-up and an "and one" with :35 left finally pushed the Anoka-Ramsey team up for good at 45-42. They would add one insurance score in the waning moments as they came away with a big upset victory........Over on Court 3, an interesting clash was taking place between the Hamline team and the Luther team and although it lacked the drama that was going down on Court 1, it still was a fun one to watch. The Hamline team would assume an early 4-2 lead by the 8:15 mark of the opening period and they would eventually get that lead stretched out to 8-2 when sophomore-to-be and former Centennial standout Camille Cummings connected on a pretty lay-up near the midway point of the first period. With 1:20 left, the Hamline team established a ten-point cushion at 14-4 and by the end of the first period, the Hamline lead was at 16-7. Things would continue to go the Hamline team's way once the second period got going and they would enjoy a 25-11 advantage midway through the second period and by the halftime break, that lead would grow to 28-11. By the 8:00 mark of the third period, the Hamline team was now sitting on a cushy twenty-point cushion up 31-11 that would only continue to grow as they would be up 35-13 with 3:20 left in the third period and by the end of the third period, the lead had ballooned to 40-15. The Luther team finally found some semblance of offense once the fourth period got going as they had the deficit down to eighteen points at 40-22 but they had dug themselves into way too deep of a hole as the Hamline team had things in cruise control the rest of the way.
A full slate of games in the 7:15 P.M. slot and over on Court 1, a much-anticipated match-up between the GAC Black team and the UW-Eau Claire team was taking place. The UW-Eau Claire team would hold a slim 4-3 advantage at the 7:50 mark of the opening period and they would still be clinging to that one-point edge at 12-11 with 3:10 left. But the GAC Black team would turn the tables on their opponent as they would fight back and grab a one-point lead of their own at 14-13 by the end of the first period. But the GAC Black team was leaving nothing to chance and they started to get some separation once the second period got underway; and a key 12-1 push had them up 26-14 midway through the second period. With just 1:00 left in the second period, the GAC Black team had grown its lead to 33-17 and by the halftime break, they would add one insurance score to be holding a 35-17 advantage. But before anyone could count out the UW-Eau Claire team, they were able to make a big run of their own once the third period got underway; trimming the deficit to fourteen at 37-23 by the 8:15 mark and with 3:30 left in the third period, the once-sizable lead by the GAC Black team had been cut to four at 41-37. Things definitely looked precarious for the GAC Black team when the UW-Eau Claire team finally crawled back to within a single possession down 41-39 with 2:55 left but when challenged, the GAC Black team held firm and a big "3" by senior-to-be Syd Hauger helped get the GAC Black team a bit more breathing room up 46-39 by the end of the third period. Curiously, the UW-Eau Claire team was never able to recover from that near-miss and the GAC Black team was able to grow its lead again; up 50-39 midway through the fourth period enroute to the victory.......The battle ensuing over on Court 2 was another MIAC/WIAC clash - a rematch between the Bethel team and the UW-River Falls team from just a few weeks ago. And this game would pretty much follow the same pattern as the one before; although you didn't exactly need an abacus to keep track of things at the beginning. The UW-River Falls team would hold a 2-0 lead at the 6:50 mark of the first period and would be up 5-2 by the midway point. By the end of the first period, both teams started showing more offensive prowess but it would be the UW-River Falls team holding a 13-8 advantage. The UW-River Falls team kicked things into second gear in the second period; getting their lead to 23-12 near the midway point and by the halftime break, they had increased that lead to 27-15. The Bethel team continued to struggle offensively and the UW-River Falls team would take advantage getting their lead to 31-18 by the 7:10 mark before the Bethel team could finally launch a bit of a push to get things back into single-digit range down 31-23 near the midway point of the third period. But the Bethel team was unable to sustain this momentum and the UW-River Falls team got things going again down the stretch to get a double-digit advantage once again at 39-27 by the end of the third period. The UW-River Falls team would hold a 43-30 lead by the 7:45 mark of the fourth period and would stretch it out to 50-34 by the midway point of the fourth period as they would roll to an easy win...........Over on Court 3, the GAC Gold team was taking on the St. Scholastica team and the latter would hold a 4-3 advantage at the 6:12 mark of the opening period but the GAC Gold team would have the better of things down the stretch of this opening period as they would be up 11-8 by the end of the first period. The GAC Gold team would maintain this three-point edge up 13-10 midway through the second period but the St. Scholastica team would get this contest leveled at 13 a piece with 3:50 left on a pretty drive and finish by graduated senior Katie Vaske. But again it would be the GAC Gold team finishing strong as they would hold a 19-15 lead by the halftime break. This game would continue to be close with the GAC Gold team holding a 21-17 lead by the 7:30 mark of the third period but things would start getting away from the St. Scholastica team as the GAC Gold team would get on a bit of a run that stretched their lead to 32-23 by the end of the third period. The GAC Gold would start running away with this one once the fourth period got underway; holding a twenty-point cushion at 43-23 midway through as they cruised down the stretch.
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