Made the run over to the St Paul side of town on this dreary (but at least not cold) Saturday over to the campus of Hamline University off of Snelling Avenue to take in yet another important conference tilt - this one featuring visiting Concordia which made its way down US Highway 10 and the BNSF Staples Sub mainline and host Hamline. After the loss to GAC down in St. Peter shortly after the first of the year, the Cobbers have since reeled off six straight wins coming into this contest and, judging from their last few outings, appeared to be hitting their stride at just the right time. It's been a much different tale for the Pipers meanwhile as they dropped five straight games after the first of the year and appeared to be circling the drain before they were finally able to seemingly salvage what appeared to be a lost season for them last Saturday when they upended CSB and then went down to Winona on Wednesday night and closed the deal on a close contest with SMU. Despite all this, and despite the fact that this game had all the makings of a classic "trap" game for Concordia, the smart money had to be riding on the gang from Fargo-Moorhead to keep its winning streak intact.
Whether it was the long trip down or whether the Cobbers took their opponent too lightly is up for debate but Hamline came out from the opening tip clearly more energized and they would set the tone from the get-go of this game with a 10-2 run to open up this first period. Electric senior forward Lydia Lecher would start things off with a short jumper off the glass at the 9:35 mark and then sophomore guard Sophie Stork would come up with back-to-back scores - a three-point bomb from the left corner at the 8:11 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way at the 7:55 mark to give the Pipers a 7-2 lead. Then senior guard Michaela Stamer would bang home a "3" from the top of the key at the 7:11 mark to get the lead to 10-2 and Concordia Head Coach Kim Wagers; sensing that something was terribly amiss with her team, called a thirty-second timeout in hopes of making some quick fixes to rectify the situation. The Cobbers finally stopped some of this early bleeding when junior forward Makayla Anderson was able to connect on a lay-up in transition after a steal with 4:49 left but being able to find some solid footing and get some stops to close the gap was proving to be problematic at best as Hamline continued with its offensive. Slender junior forward Faith Johnson would slither into the lane on a drive and finish at the 4:12 mark and then sophomore reserve guard (CC) Camille Cummings would be the next weapon that Piper Head Coach Josh Hersch would throw at his opponent on this day as the former Centennial standout buried her first three-point bomb of the day with 3:15 left to make it a 15-4 game. Concordia would climb back into single-digit range as senior guard Emily Beseman would knock down a pair of free throws with 2:59 left and sophomore reserve guard Molly Musland would connect on a lay-up with 2:42 left that had the gap narrowed to seven at 15-8 but then the Cobbers would have to absorb another onslaught by their opponent that quickly had the math working against them. Hamline's Cummings would again unleash terror from behind the three-point line - this time with a bomb from the right corner with 1:43 left and two free throws by sophomore guard Sophie Stork after she was fouled with :55.5 left got the lead back to double digits at 20-10. Then junior guard Kate Trachsel; who sometimes seems like the forgotten element of this very potent Piper attack, would bang home a "3' from the left wing area with :15.3 that made it a 23-10 ballgame. Concordia junior guard Carlee Sieben would try and salvage what was turning out to be a disastrous opening quarter for this Cobber team with a pair of free throws after getting fouled with just :00.2 left but trailing 23-12, it was quite plain to see that Concordia had a lot of work to do if they wanted to get things turned around in this contest.
The Cobbers hoped to stem the tide once the second period got going and a lay-up by Anderson at the 9:39 mark at least got the deficit slimmed down to nine at 23-14 but more trouble was brewing on the horizon as Hamline simply would not cool off. Johnson would use her length to snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 9:04 mark and then a three-point bomb by Trachsel from the right corner at the 7:00 mark gave the Pipers a two-touchdown lead at 28-14 and Concordia's Wagers had to take a match to another thirty-second timeout in hopes of making some quick defensive adjustments. The Cobbers finally started to get a bit of a flow going offensively as Anderson would knock down a jumper from the FT line area at the 6:32 mark and surprising freshman forward Genevieve Gruba would connect with a lay-up at the 6:02 mark that had the deficit down to twelve at 30-18. Anderson would also knock down a jumper in the lane with 4:23 left to keep Concordia in that twelve-point range down 32-20 and at least offer an opportunity to get back to within striking distance. But the Pipers had vastly different ideas about this whole thing and they closed out this second period with a 10-2 run that effectively had their opponent behind the proverbial 8-ball. Lecher would connect on a routine lay-up with 4:11 left and Stork would follow suit a bit later with 3:29 left that got Hamline's lead up to 36-20. Then it would be Cummings unleashing yet more terror behind the arc with two more three-point bombs - one from the right wing area with 2:43 left and another one from the left top area with 1:30 left - that gave the Pipers a commanding 42-22 lead as both teams headed back to their respective locker rooms and the Cobbers looked like they had been hit by a Mack truck - or a BNSF intermodal "Z" train on the way down. Concordia just looked totally out of sorts and you just knew something was terribly off and the fact that they ran into a white-hot Hamline team on this day did not make their prospects look any better.
And those prospects looked even more dim once the third period got underway as Hamline's Lecher would bury one of her trademark lefty "3's" - this one from the left wing area at the 9:39 mark that bloated the Piper lead to 45-22 before Concordia could at least try and restore a little order to this game as freshman reserve guard Alexa Snesrud connected on a short jumper in the lane off the glass at the 6:48 mark and a short, turnaround jumper in the lane by Anderson at the 6:05 mark shaved some of the fat off of the already-sizable deficit at 47-26 but right back came Hamline as another burst stretched this lead out even more. Freshman reserve guard Lauren Cooper drained a "3" from the left corner at the 5:33 mark and two free throws by Cummings after she was fouled with 3:49 left had the Piper lead at 52-26. Cummings would add a lay-up with 2:27 left that made it 54-28 before the Cobbers' Anderson could try and cut a little more fat off of this increasing deficit as the Bismarck, ND native would knock down a pair of freebies after getting fouled with 1:27 left and would add a lay-up with :44 left but even that was negated when Hamline's Stamer closed out this third period on a lay-up with just :03.9 left as the Pipers carried a 56-32 lead into the fourth period.
Despite what appeared to be an already forgone conclusion, Concordia still refused to break out the proverbial white flag as they made a bid to take a bite out of this twenty-plus point deficit they were staring at. Anderson would knock down another pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 9:43 mark and Beseman would connect on a lay-up after at steal at the 9:33 mark to get the deficit back to twenty at 56-36. Then Sieben would connect on a lay-up in transition after a steal at the 7:43 mark and, down 57-38, the Cobbers' Wagers would call a thirty-second timeout in hopes of bottling some of this late, newfound energy that appeared to be in the making. Junior forward Greta Tollefson would connect with a lay-up at the 7:11 mark and at the 6:38 mark, Beseman would strike with a steal and lay-up the other way that may have provided a wisp of hope with the deficit down to seventeen at 59-42. But any hope of bring this one all the way back was extinguished for good at the 5:50 mark when Hamline's Trachsel drained a casually cruel three-point bomb from the right top area that got the Piper lead back up to twenty at 62-42. Concordia would try one more time, however, as one free throw by Tollefson after she was fouled at the 5:31 mark and two more by Snesrud after she was fouled at the 5:23 mark had the deficit down to seventeen again at 62-45 and a lay-up by sophomore reserve guard Taylor Safranski with 4:23 left kept the Cobbers in that seventeen-point range down 64-47. But, try as they might, bringing this one back was going to be a bridge too far for Concordia as the Pipers would apply the finishing touches on this one. Cummings would drain her fifth three-point bomb on this day from the right corner with 3:37 left and would cap off this fabulous day for her with an incredibly pretty reverse lay-up as the shot clock was expiring with :40 left. Despite the fact that Concordia's Snesrud would tally the final points on this day on a pair of free throws after getting fouled with :23.1 left, it would be the Pipers who shined on this day as they bagged a huge 71-55 upset victory.
The utter shock and pain was clear to see on the faces of some of the Concordia players afterward although most were able to keep a poker face and at least attempt to look on the bright side of things. I was able to catch up with the Cobbers' Wagers after a bit and there wasn't a lot she could say as she knew full and well that this was not to be Concordia's day. You could almost look at this game as being the so-called "perfect storm" for the Cobbers - riding high on a six-game win streak and facing off with a team that had been struggling mightily for most of this month. The ubiquitous "trap" game if there ever was one. And, they stepped right into it and got caught. But it's even more frightening when you look at the final box score of this one and it's more than enough to make one reach for the bottle of Jack Daniels if you're on the Cobber Express. Consider: 19-52 from FG range for 36.5%. But if you think that's bad, get a load of this - the Cobbers were 1-16 (1-16!!!!) from three-point land for 6.3%. Just, no words. And then, getting absolutely HAMMERED on the boards by a 30-16 count by a team that's seventh in the conference in total rebounds? Those stats alone give you an idea of what an incredibly horrible day it was for Concordia. And that doesn't even include going 16-21 for 76.2% from the charity stripe which isn't terrible in itself but isn't great either. But let's be fair here and give credit where credit is due here for the Pipers. They controlled the tempo of this contest from the start and they played to their full potential. They simply brought the energy! That's reflected in their shooting as they were 24-48 from FG range for a straight 50% and 12-25 from behind the arc from a blazing 48% with Cummings personally applying a blowtorch to the Cobbers on this day. Still, I feel that there was something off for the Cobbers on this day and while I don't feel at liberty to discuss some of the specifics, this Concordia coaching staff and team has to be keenly aware of what this latest disaster means for them going forward. As one Concordia family member told me quite plainly afterward, "This is a wake-up call for them." And for Hamline, kudos to them for turning around what appeared to be no less than the Titanic going down and now getting three straight wins that may have them on something on a roll here.
Did I mention Hamline's Cummings? Oh my goodness - what an incredible day for her as her 23 points easily led all scorers and she was just white hot from downtown going 5-7 and would have been 7-7 had two of those misses not rimmed out. When she was at Centennial, I saw her as someone who could be a pretty solid piece for this Hamline team. Did I see her as the three-point threat she has turned into for the Pipers? Probably not but Hamline's Hersch has an absolute jewel in Cummings and with all these other pieces that he has, the rest of the conference had bloody well better be on alert because if they keep playing like this, saying that they're going to be a problem for the rest of the conference might be the understatement of the year. Here was the other surprising thing for the Pipers on this day - Trachsel's 14 points. I wouldn't necessarily expect her to be such a factor from a pure scoring standpoint but she sure was today. Both Lecher and Stork finished with nine points, respectively.
Concordia would be led on this day by Anderson who paced the Cobbers with 18 points.
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