I ventured off to the St Paul side of town again on this dreary, overcast December evening over to venerable Hutton Arena off of Snelling Avenue to get my first look at the Hamline Pipers as they prepared to take on visiting St. Kate's. The Pipers thus far anyway have looked pretty strong; garnering a 3-1 record out of the gate with the first blemish of the season coming this last Saturday when they came out on the short end of the stick versus CSB up in St. Joe. It's been something of a mixed bag for the Wildcats meanwhile as they were entering this contest with a 3-2 record; the latest blemish coming at the hands of Concordia last Wednesday night. It always seems like when these two teams hook up, some wild and unpredictable things always seem to happen so I knew I had to buckle up and get ready.
Despite being held in check this last Saturday up at CSB, Hamline came out of the gates in the opening period smoking hot; bolting out to an early 11-3 lead that had the 'Cats on their heels from the get-go. Senior guard Michaela Stamer started things off by burying a three-point bomb from the right wing area at the 9:41 mark and on their ensuing possession, fellow senior forward Lydia Lecher would connect with a jumper from the left corner just inside the arc at the 9:12 mark that made it 5-0. Not too much later, the electric Lecher; showing why she should be in the conversation for MIAC POY honors, made a tough drive along the left baseline for a finish at the 8:34 mark to get the lead to 7-0. Junior forward Kate Van Helden would then get in on the fun with a score in the paint at the 7:42 mark to make it a 9-3 game and then junior guard Kate Trachsel would dart into the lane and get a short shot off the glass to kiss pefectly into the hole to stretch the Piper lead to 11-3 and St. Kate's Head Coach Don Mulhern; not at all liking how things were unfolding so far, took a match to a thirty-second timeout in hopes of patching up things in a hurry. The Wildcats were able to stop some of the bleeding at the 6:48 mark when lanky sophomore forward Emme Golembiewski used her length to snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 6:48 mark but Hamline would then establish a double-digit cushion as Lecher connected with a short, turnaround jumper in the lane at the 6:33 mark and two free throws by Stamer at the 6:05 mark made it a 15-5 ballgame. Then, flashy rising sophomore guard (CC) Camille Cummings would steal the spotlight - first by draining a heart-breaking "3" from the right wing area as the shot clock was expiring with 4:04 left that got the Piper lead to 18-7. With 2:54 left, Cummings would strike again with a daring drive into traffic and lay-up and with 1:54 left, Cummings would unleash more damaging artillery as the former Centennial standout would drain her second trey of the evening - this one coming from the right wing area again that had Hamline up 23-11. The 'Cats would finally get to the charity stripe late in the first period to whittle off some of the deficit as strong sophomore reserve guard Maddie Young would get a pair of free throws to go down after getting fouled with 1:06 left and one more after getting fouled with :30.2 left. Fellow sophomore reserve guard Kaylee Miron would do her part as well by dropping a pair of freebies after getting fouled with :08.2 left that at least had St. Kate's back to within single digits again down 24-16 but that deficit was back up to ten as Hamline's Stamer knocked down a pair of freebies with just :01.4 left and the Pipers had obviously set the tone - and tempo - in this contest so far and showed no signs of letting up anytime soon.
With that tone and tempo in mind, the Wildcats' Mulhern decided to adopt a different strategy once the second period got underway and he had his squad employ some full- and half-court pressure and going to a 2-3 "match-up zone defense in the half court in hopes of slowing down this potent Piper offensive attack. That strategy appeared to pay off initially as Hamline went scoreless for nearly five minutes. Unfortunately for St. Kate's, while the opportunities were certainly there to bite into this cushion, they were never able to cash in on those opportunities so the math was still working against them. Hamline's Lecher finally broke the ice at the 5:22 mark with a three-point bomb from the left wing area and while that score didn't necessarily thaw out things for either side, the Wildcats were still coming up empty on far too many possessions. Young would finally connect with a lay-up off of an inbounds pass with 3:18 left and Miron would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 2:33 left but St. Kate's would still be down double digits at 29-19. And the Pipers would up that lead before the halftime break. Freshman reserve guard Lauren Cooper would get sent to the charity stripe after she was fouled behind the arc with 2:21 left and got two free throws to go down out of the deal and then Lecher would deliver another one of her trademark dagger lefty treys - this one from the right top area with 1:40 left that had Hamline up 34-19. The Wildcats would get one more point on the scoreboard with :30.5 left when slender junior forward Sydney Elliot got one free throw to go down after getting fouled but St. Kate's was still on the wrong side of the ledger down 34-20 as both teams headed to their locker rooms.
The Pipers came out in the beginning of the third period showing no signs of turning off the heat anytime soon. Van Helden would get one free throw to go down at the 9:01 mark after getting fouled and then Lecher would deliver another lefty three-point bomb - this one from the right wing area at the 8:37 mark that got the Hamline lead up to 38-20. The Wildcats would try and counter with a three-point bomb of their own - this one delivered by slender junior forward Greta Schimnowski from the 8:07 mark from the left wing area but the desired effect was minimized as the Pipers came right back a short time later at the 6:15 mark on a "3" by Trachsel from the right corner that had Hamline up 41-23. By this point, the Wildcats certainly looked to be on the brink of getting blown out of this contest but to their credit, St. Kate's finally found some solid footing on the offensive end. Two three-point bombs by freshman guard Hattie Fox - one from the top of the key at the 6:00 mark and another one from the left top area with 4:53 left, had the deficit down to thirteen at 42-29. Golembiewski would add a pair of free throws after getting fouled with 4:19 left and now, down by just eleven at 42-31, there was finally a ray of hope on the Wildcat side. But that hope was quickly doused by Hamline as a Stamer "3" from the left wing area with 3:29 left and a Trachsel drive into the lane and floater with 2:43 left upped the Piper lead to 47-31. St. Kate's would try again thanks to Elliot as the former Rochester Lourdes standout would bang home a "3" from the left wing area with 2:08 left and would make a daring drive into the lane and get a short jumper off the glass to go down with 1:32 left that reduced the deficit down to thirteen at 49-36 but the 'Cats couldn't get closer as Hamline unleashed another devastating run. Two free throws by Van Helden after she was fouled with 1:17 left and a lay-up in transition by Trachsel with :45 left upped the Piper lead to 53-36. With :27 left, Cumming would deliver another blow as she would bury a cold-blooded "3" from the top of the key that made it a twenty-point game at 56-36. St. Kate's would bite off a bit of that with :09 left as sophomore reserve guard Kristen Lawton knocked down a jumper from the free throw line but the damage had been done.
The Wildcats would make one last futile bid to close the gap once the fourth period got going as Schimnowski would drain a "3" from the right top area at the 9:00 mark and then senior point guard Karis Zezza; who had struggled for the most part of this contest with her shooting touch, got a tough score in the paint at the 7:05 mark that had the deficit down to fifteen at 58-43. But that lead was safely restored by Hamline when Cummings delivered yet another heart-breaking "3" - this one from the right top area at the 6:26 mark to make it a 61-43 game. St. Kate's was unwilling to break out the proverbial white flag just yet, however, as Zezza would make a hard drive for a finish at the 5:10 mark and would follow that up with a short turnaround jumper with 2:33 left. Junior forward Rachel Randleman would add a "3" from the left top area with 1:55 left but down 65-50 by this point, they would be nothing more than incremental bites into the cushion they were facing. The Pipers would apply the finishing touches on this one as Trachsel would connect on a lay-up in transition with 1:45 left and Cummings would get sent to the charity stripe after getting fouled with 1:32 left and got two free throws to go down to make it 69-50. Lecher would connect with a lay-up in transition with 1:00 left and she would also add a pair of free throws after getting fouled with :20.4 left as Hamline pocketed a convincing 73-56 victory.
I was able to catch up with the Wildcats' Mulhern afterward and he was understandably frustrated at how this game went on a lot of different fronts. There were a couple of fouls called in the second half that he took exception to but it really boiled down to his squad's inability to limit a potent Hamline transition attack and the three-point bombs that they had to absorb which contributed to the loss. He couldn't help but lament at the woeful shooting night his team had; going 18-56 from FG range for 32.1% which we all know won't win you very many games nor will going 7-19 behind the arc for 36.8% either. Free throw shooting was one of the few bright spots for St. Kate's on this night as they were 13-16 for 81.3% but beyond that, there wasn't really too much else to write home about from a Wildcat standpoint. When you look at Hamline, you see so many positives and they way they can score in bunches and in so many different ways and you can't help but come away impressed. New Head Coach Josh Hersch definitely has one heckuva team and they really haven't changed their modus operandi from when Alex Focke was running the show. Is this a team that can upend a Concordia; a GAC - and get themselves on the brink of a MIAC title?........Maybe.....But I'm not willing to put myself on that ledge just yet. I think we still need to see more from this team and we know that they've had issues before on the defensive side of things and when they get forced to play more of a half-court game. And as I mentioned earlier, they suffered their first loss of the season up at CSB this last weekend so we need to know as well if they can get the job done on the road. Still, there's a lot of positives when it comes to this team and if you don't get out there and catch them at least once this season, you're missing out.
And what a night it was for Hamline's Lecher as she recorded a "double-double" by dropping 20 points to lead all scorers and snaring 12 rebounds as well. What a pleasant surprise Cummings has been for this Hamline team as she poured in 16 points and simply slayed St. Kate's from downtown. Trachsel was solid as well with her 15 points and Stamer was reliable and steady as always with her 12 points. St. Kate's meanwhile had to lean heavily on Fox as she led the Wildcats with 10 points.
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