Made the trip down US Highway 169 and the Union Pacific's Mankato Sub mainline to St. Peter to catch this early season clash between visiting Concordia and host GAC. I arrived early so I could enjoy a great lunch at the world-famous GAC Cafeteria (still the best food in the MIAC) and then got settled into Lund Arena to catch the second half of the men's game and get myself ready for the women's game. The Cobbers have been on the skids as of late; dropping their last three games after a 3-0 start while the Gusties were coming into this contest with an unblemished 6-0 record. So while GAC came into this game as a heavy favorite, they still had to guard against complacency.
The Gusties would draw first blood in this contest as fifth-year senior forward Izzy (Izzy Izzy, you're making me dizzy) Quick would connect on a jumper from the right elbow area at the 9:36 mark of the opening period but right back came Concordia on its ensuing possession as strong senior forward Greta Tollefson buried a "3" from the right corner at the 9:17 mark to push the Cobbers out in front 3-2. GAC would retake the lead a minute later at the 8:17 mark on a short jumper from the left side by senior point guard Kylie Baranick but the Gusties immediate fortunes seemed to take a hit a bit later at the 7:31 mark when fifth-year senior guard Syd Hauger collected her second foul of the afternoon and GAC Head Coach Laurie Kelly was not going to take any chances and quickly got her yanked to the bench. This cat-and-mouse game would continue as the Cobbers regained the advantage on a pretty drive and finish by senior guard Jordyn Kahler to make it 5-4 but the Gusties would come right back as willowy fifth-year senior guard Emma (not evil) Kniefel would connect on a short jumper in the lane in transition at the 6:48 mark and also would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 6:15 mark to put GAC out in front 7-5. But right back came the Cobbers as Kahler would bang home a "3" from the right wing area at the 5:47 mark that had Concordia back out in front 8-7. A bit later at the 5:16 mark, Kahler - the former Wahpeton, ND standout - connected with a jumper from the left wing area that pushed the Cobber lead to 10-7. Not to be outdone, GAC would strike back as Kniefel connected with a short jumper off the glass off of an inbounds pass with 4:26 left and then senior reserve forward Morgan Kelly would knock down a short jumper off the glass with 3:09 left to put the Gusties out in front again by an 11-10 count. Now it was time for Concordia to answer and they did as freshman reserve guard Peyton Breidenbach drained a "3" from the top of the key with 1:26 left as the Cobbers regained the advantage at 13-11. Fittingly, GAC would get this game leveled at 13 a piece when sophomore reserve guard Emily Bowron connected on a lay-up with 1:15 left as this game morphed into the second period with a lot of questions left to be answered.
The Gusties finally found some semblance of offensive efficiency once the second period got underway as a quick 6-0 push gave them a little bit of separation. Strong senior forward Rachel Kawiecki muscled into the paint for one score at the 9:20 mark to put GAC out in front and a trademark steal and lay-up the other way by Kniefel at the 8:53 mark along with a pretty lay-up by sophomore reserve guard Kendyl Queensland at the 8:14 mark had the Gusties up 19-13. Concordia quickly got things tightened up thanks to Kahler as she would knock down a jumper from the free throw line area at the 8:00 mark and would also get a pair of free throws to go down after getting fouled at the 7:23 mark to get back to within a single possession down 19-17. The Gusties would once again attempt to open up some space as a short jumper off the glass by Kniefel at the 7:02 mark and one free throw by Morgan Kelly at the 5:48 mark gave GAC a bit more breathing room with a 22-17 lead but the Cobbers would come right back and get within a single possession again. Breidenbach would connect on a pretty pull-up jumper in transition at the 5:00 mark to cut the deficit to three at 22-19 and an offensive rebound and putback by senior guard Carlee Sieben with 3:37 left kept Concordia in that three-point range down 24-21. The Gusties' Kniefel would come up big a short time later on a lay-up by Kniefel that also drew a foul and the ensuing "and one" by the former Medford standout upped GAC's lead to 27-21. Concordia would trim a point off of the deficit on one free throw by sophomore reserve guard Alexa Snesrud with :36.7 left when she was fouled and both teams would head for their locker rooms with the Gusties holding a 27-22 edge and it was arguably a glass half-full proposition for both sides. Yes, you had the lead if you were GAC but there was a lot about this first half that just didn't seem "right" somehow. And if you were Concordia, yes, your effort looked good and you were most definitely still in the thick of things but there were still opportunities and points left on the table that may have had you out in front had you converted on them.
The Cobbers hopes definitely brightened in the early moments of the third period when Kahler drilled a "3" from the left wing area at the 8:27 mark that pulled them back to within a single possession down just 27-25 but that score may have been the wake-up call that GAC needed as they reeled off a 6-0 push. Consecutive scores by Kawiecki - a short turnaround jumper from the right side at the 8:12 mark and a score in the paint at the 7:34 mark - pushed the Gustie lead to six at 31-25 and a short jumper in the lane by Quick at the 7:01 mark increased the lead to 33-25 and Concordia Head Coach Kim Wagers; perhaps seeing visions of what happened to her team on Wednesday night over at Bethel, called a thirty-second timeout to get her squad calmed down for two reasons: (1) To try and get things tightened up again and (2) get them calmed down a bit as well because the heart and soul of this team; senior forward Makayla Anderson, went down with an apparent ankle injury at the 7:19 mark so the Cobbers were arguably dealing with a double whammy in a relatively short span of time. Concordia would get a momentary reprieve when junior guard and three-point sharpshooter Taylor Safranski connected on a tough running jumper as the shot clock was expiring at the 6:01 mark that trimmed the deficit to six but then the Gusties would respond with a 9-0 push. Quick would get on free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 5:41 mark and a lay-up by the always-reliable Baranick at the 5:25 mark had GAC up 36-27. Then Kniefel would deliver one of her trademark dagger three-point bombs - this one coming from the left top area with 4:37 left that gave the Gusties their first double-digit advantage at 39-27. If that wasn't bad enough for Concordia, they then had to watch the youngster Breidenbach go down with an apparent knee injury with 2:04 left and she had to be helped off the floor. GAC's Quick would book-end this latest run by dropping a pair of freebies after getting fouled with :59 left to make it a 41-27 game and although the Cobbers got a score from Kahler when she snared an offensive rebound of her own miss and got a putback to go in with :23.5 left, it was about as nightmarish a third period for Concordia as you could imagine, not to mention they were on the wrong end of a 41-29 score.
The Cobbers would get a bit of a lift once the fourth period got underway as (1) Sieben would bury a "3" from the left wing area at the 9:45 mark and (2) Anderson was now back on the floor for Concordia as well. The bad news was that there was still a lot of deficit to make up for and that would grow even more when the Gusties' Baranick uncorked a three-point bomb from the left top area at the 8:03 mark to make it 44-32. The Cobbers would trim the deficit down to ten when Anderson connected with a short turnaround jumper at the 7:37 mark but at this point Concordia needed a sustained run with stops and they just couldn't get it. GAC would continue to consolidate on its gains as Kniefel connected on a tough jumper along the right baseline at the 7:14 mark and one free throw by Queensland after she was fouled at the 6:27 mark gave the Gusties a 47-34 advantage. Concordia's Tollefson would attempt to take matters into her own hands as she got one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 5:29 mark and got a short turnaround jumper to go down as well as the shot clock was expiring with 3:14 left. But again, not enough to significantly alter things significantly with the Cobbers still staring at a ten-point deficit at 47-37 with time now becoming a factor as well. And now GAC was in position to put the finishing touches on this one which they did. Hauger would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled with 2:56 left as would Kawiecki after she was fouled with 2:14 left. Quick would put her mark on this game with a daring drive into traffic for a finish with 1:29 left and Kawiecki would get a lay-up off of an inbounds pass with :51.4 left. Hauger's two free throws after she was fouled with :34.3 left would put the daisy on this one as the Gusties bagged a 57-42 victory.
When I was able to catch up with GAC's Laurie Kelly afterward, we were both in agreement that this wasn't what you would call a stellar offensive performance by the Gusties on the offensive end as there were struggles at time (but credit the Cobbers with some of that which I'll get to in a bit). But whatever struggles they had at times, they made up for it on the defensive end. "You can't have off-days on defense" Kelly said and she's absolutely spot-on with that assessment. I think this game kind of exemplifies what makes GAC so good is that even if there are struggles in some aspects of their overall game, they can find ways to make up for that with their defense and today was no exception. And I think what makes that possible is the great leadership that they have on the floor with three fifth-year seniors - Kniefel, Quick and Hauger. Then you have seniors like Baranick, Kawiecki, and Morgan Kelly and from a pure leadership perspective, it just doesn't get much better than this. Here's the other thing that I discussed with Kelly afterward as well. I really like how the younger players are getting opportunities to grow and get experience as well and here I'm talking about players like Queensland, Bowron, sophomore forward Whitley Ronn and the new kid on the block, freshman guard Anna Goodman who could be the next big thing for the Gusties. There's several other players who'll get their chance to prove themselves as well so things are definitely bright down in St. Peter. The good news at the moment is that, on paper anyway, the short path to the first of the year isn't that taxing with St. Olaf and two teams out of the UMAC - Nortthwestern and Bethany Lutheran in the offing before GAC delves back into conference play in January.
Meanwhile, another disappointing setback for Concordia but with much different overtones compared to this last Wednesday night. First, I saw a MUCH-improved defensive effort from the Cobbers on this day and I think that effort played a big part in GAC shooting only 16-50 from FG range for 32% and 6-21 from behind the arc for 28.6% which together would normally put you in a much more favorable situation. Just the overall energy - especially after the opening tip - was just so much better on this day and you saw how the Cobbers were getting into the passing lanes and causing a fair amount of disruption on a normally-potent Gustie offense. Overall, many more positives on this day as compared to last Wednesday evening. However, there's still some issues that Concordia has got to find a way to fix - most importantly taking care of the rock as the Cobbers were guilty of 24 turnovers on this day which is far too many against a team like GAC. The Gusties had a slight overall rebounding edge at 28-25 which may or may not mean that much depending on your point of view. However, the Gusties were able to get 20 points off of those Cobber turnovers and GAC also enjoyed a whopping 28-14 advantage in points in the paint. Wagers and her staff have to feel some angst as well about the fact that Concordia didn't get to make much of a dent at the charity stripe on this day as they were 4-6 for 66.7%. GAC can't be totally absolved here of transgressions either as the Gusties shot only 13-19 for 68.4% and Kelly and her staff certainly don't want that aspect to come back to bite them come February or March. But from a Concordia perspective, you at least come away with a heckuva lot more positives from this game than you ever did this last Wednesday night. And the good news for Wagers and her staff is that these issues can be worked on and fixed. As I explained to Assistant Coaches Lauire Sieben and Terry Porter, when you play a team like GAC - especially on the road - your margin for error is so small that you almost need the "perfect" game; have almost the perfect "storm" to steal a game of this magnitude. Two immediate concerns for Concordia right now are Anderson who aggravated an ankle sprain that she suffered a couple of weeks ago and Breidenbach who had ice on that knee after she came out of the locker room so let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best for both of them.
Another stellar outing for GAC's Kniefel on this Saturday as she led her team - and all scorers - with her 19 points and she also got plenty of help from Kawiecki with her 10 points in a reasonably balanced offensive effort. Quick may have struggled a bit at times on this day but when you look at the box score, it wasn't all doom and gloom for her as she finished with nine points and eight rebounds; just barely missing out on a double-double. The Cobbers were paced by Kahler and her 16 points.
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