Made a return trip to Butler Center on the campus of St. Catherine University on this overcast, gloomy Saturday afternoon to take in this important game between visiting CSB and host St. Kate's. The Bennies were coming into this contest sporting a pretty solid 9-3 record but were coming off a tough loss at home to Bethel on Wednesday night. But it wasn't any better on the St. Kate's side either as they were coming into this game on a two-game skid - losing that tough defensive battle to league-leading GAC last week Saturday and then getting absolutely hammered by Concordia up in Moorhead on Wednesday night. Two teams with playoff aspirations and two teams that needed desperately to get back to winning ways. I got settled into Butler Center in plenty of time; all clad in my LA Rams gear in anticipation for the Wildcard Playoff game on Monday night against the hometown Minnesota Vikings.
Unlike last week's defensive slugfest in this same venue, offensive fireworks were abound this time around but it was the Bennies doing all the firing from the opening tip; starting off this opening period on an 11-0 burst. Freshman point guard Lauren Arnold started off this run with a lay-up at the 9:40 mark and two more relatively easy lay-ups - one by senior combo guard/forward Olivia Boily at the 8:57 mark and another by senior guard Sophia Jonas at the 8:30 mark - pushed the CSB lead to 6-0 and acting Wildcats Head Coach Paul Richie called a thirty-second timeout in hopes of some quick fixes. But the Bennies continued to find cracks in the St. Kate's defense and continued with this foray. Strong junior guard Megan Morgan used a burst of speed to connect with a lay-up of her own at the 8:01 mark and then Jonas would put a feather in the cap of this early big burst with a three-point bomb from the left corner at the 7:33 mark to stretch this CSB lead to 11-0. The 'Cats finally dusted the cobwebs gathering on its basket thanks to junior guard Maddie Young as she would connect on a lay-up at the 6:41 mark and would follow that up with a tough drive and finish at the 5:40 mark but the Bennies would soon find a second wind on the offensive end. Arnold would connect on her second lay-up attempt of the afternoon at the 5:30 mark and a lefty three-point bomb by Morgan from the left corner with 4:27 left got the CSB cushion built back to double digits again at 16-6. Freshman reserve guard Tatum Findley would get in on the act as well as she used a burst of speed to connect on a lay-up with 3:47 left that also drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" had the Bennies up 19-6. St. Kate's would get things whittled down a bit as sophomore guard sensation Hattie Fox would make a daring drive into traffic for a finish with 3:33 left and Maddie Young would snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:40 left that briefly had the Wildcats back in single-digit range again down 19-10 but CSB quickly went back to work. Morgan would connect on a pretty reverse lay-up with 2:14 left and with 1:08 left Jonas would connect on her second three-point bomb of this day so far - this one from the left top area - that gave the Bennies their largest lead yet at 24-10. Morgan's offensive rebound for a putback with :23 left maintained this fourteen-point cushion at 26-12 and although St. Kate's got a bit of a reprieve on a short running jumper in the lane by junior reserve guard Kristen Oberle with just :04 left, the Wildcats had some serious repair work to do down 26-14.
As much as St. Kate's offensive prowess was neutralized in the first period, they started finding some much-needed solutions once the second period got underway. Slender senior forward Greta Schimnowski started things off by dropping a pair of free throws after she was fouled at the 9:45 mark and fellow senior forward Rachel Randleman would get one to go down after she was fouled at the 9:18 mark that got the 'Cats back into single-digit range down 26-17. CSB would try and pad this cushion as Jonas made a nifty drive along the right baseline for a finish at the 8:56 mark but the Wildcats were finally showing their trademark aggressive trademark drive-and-dribble offensive along with some timely three-point shooting as well. Randleman would bang home a "3" from the left top area at the 8:35 mark that cut the deficit to eight at 28-20 and then Fox would slither into the paint for a score at the 8:02 mark to keep St. Kate's in that eight-point range down 30-22. Sophomore reserve forward Lily Peper would keep the Wildcats in that eight-point range with her jumper from the top just inside the arc at the 7:25 mark at 32-24 and then St. Kate's made further inroads. Schimnowski would get into the paint for a score at the 6:48 mark that cut the deficit to six at 32-26 which seemed to at least momentarily wake up the Bennies. Arnold would snare a steal and race the other way for a lay-up at the 6:11 mark that rebuilt the lead to eight at 34-26 and then Jonas would connect on an incredibly tough long lay-up from the right side at the 5:15 mark that maintained this eight-point edge at 36-28. Jonas would inflict more damage on the home team when she uncorked a "3" from the right top area with 4:34 left that pushed the lead back to nine at 39-30 and everything seemed A-OK once again in Bennieland. However, much to the chagrin of CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin and his staff, the 'Cats kept coming. Oberle would knock down one freebie after getting fouled with 4:23 left and Peper would get a pair of free throws to go down after getting fouled with 3:58 left. With 3:20 left, Schimnowski would once again slither into the paint for a score and one free throw by Maddie Young after she was fouled with 2:42 left suddenly had the deficit down to just four at 40-36. With 2:08 left, lanky junior forward Emme Golembiewski would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 2:08 left and with :42.5 left, Maddie Young got a pair of free throws to go down that now had the deficit down to a scant point at 40-39. With just :17 left, Butler Center erupted when Randleman got a three-point bomb to go down (thanks to a very friendly bounce on the rim) that finally pushed St. Kate's into the lead at 42-40; completing this unforseen 12-1 run. The Bennies would regain the advantage with just :01.3 left when Arnold buried a "3" from the left top area as CSB took a 43-42 lead into the locker room at the half but momentum clearly seemed to be on the side of the Wildcats at this point.
Given the tight nature of this contest now, the third period consisted of basically being a cat-and-mouse game with both sides trading one-point leads. St. Kate's would take the lead back at the 8:50 mark at 44-43 when Maddie Young made a daring drive into the paint for a finish but that lead didn't last long as the Bennies took it right back at the 8:33 mark when Arnold connected on a lay-up to make it 45-44. The 'Cats took it right back on a pair of free throws by Randleman after she was fouled at the 7:49 but CSB got it back when Boily muscled into the paint for a score at the 7:04 mark that made it 47-46. St. Kate's promptly stole the lead back on a lay-up by Fox at the 5:23 mark to make ti 48-47 but that didn't last long either as Arnold would make a daring drive into the lane and would get a short running jumper to go down off the glass with 4:57 left as the Bennies took it right back at 49-48. St. Kate's promptly took the lead back when Maddie Young snared an offensive rebound of her own miss and got a putback with 3:47 left that now had the Wildcats back up 50-49. Right back came CSB as freshman reserve guard Tatum Findley would make a drive along the right baseline and get a finish with 3:15 left that gave the Bennies a 51-50 advantage. This time, however, CSB was at least able to pad the lead a bit as Boily would follow up by connecting on a jumper along the left baseline with 2:51 left that had the Bennies up 53-50. Findley would get one free throw to go down after she was fouled with 1:25 left that had CSB up 54-52 and then Jonas would connect on a short, turnaround jumper in the lane with :55.6 left that gave the Bennies a 56-52 lead. But all that hard work at trying to build even just a small cushion was wiped way by St. Kate's as Oberle would bang home a "3" from the top of the key with just :03.2 left as were essentially back at Square One with the Bennies now nursing a one-point 56-55 lead.
The Wildcat promptly took the lead right back at the 9:15 mark of the fourth period when Schimnowski unleashed a three-point bomb from the right top area that gave St. Kate's a 58-56 advantage and the 'Cats were able to grow the lead to four when Peper connected on a short jumper in the lane at the 8:46 mark and now with CSB suddenly staring at a four-point deficit at 60-56, the Bennies' Durbin promptly called for a thirty-second timeout to make some quick adjustments. This short stoppage in play seemed to have the desired effect for CSB as they were able to grab the lead back. Boily would make a hard drive for a finish at the 8:19 mark and then Jonas would bury a heart-breaking "3" from the right corner at the 7:44 mark that put the Bennies back on top 61-60. The 'Cats took it right back on a jumper from the right elbow area by Oberle at 7:10 mark but CSB would take the lead back at 63-62 when Boily grabbed an offensive rebound and got a putback out of it at the 6:47 mark and it seemed like this game had reverted back to what it was in the third period. Little did we realize though that the Bennies would go ice cold from the perimeter until the very end. St. Kate's wasn't much better either coming down the home stretch but they made the plays when it counted. Still, it seemed as if the Bennies had the slightest of edges - particularly when Wildcat freshman reserve guard Jordyn Peed had to retreat to the bench after picking up her fourth foul with 4:29 left. But CSB would miss out on seven - SEVEN - scoring opportunities in this critical home stretch not to mention a pair of free throws. That would leave the door open for the Wildcats to capitalize and did they ever when it counted. Fox, who slayed CSB last year with her half-court heave-ho at the buzzer here at Butler Center to force overtime, would come up big again. She would make a daring drive into traffic with 3:29 left and although she couldn't get her shot to go, she did draw a foul and both free throw attempts would be true that got St. Kate's the lead back at 64-63. With 2:12 left, Fox would find an opening from the right corner behind the arc and she promptly drained a heart-breaking "3" that upped the Wildcat lead to 67-63. Then, with 1:46 left, Schimnowski would bury one of her trademark three-point bombs - this one from the right wing area - that not only pushed the St. Kate's lead to 70-63 but had Butler Center erupting as well. The Bennies' Durbin, now seeing the window of opportunity all but gone, quickly took a match to a timeout in hopes of finding some quick fixes but there were none to be had on this day. Boily would finally break the prolonged CSB dry spell with :02.1 left on her short jumper but the Wildcats didn't object at all to giving that one up as they claimed an exciting 70-65 victory.
After things had calmed down a bit afterward, I did manage to catch up with CSB's Durbin who had been pacing back and forth a bit after he came out of the locker room; still visibly unhappy with the final outcome of this one and who could blame him? Unfortunately, I know the feeling all too well from my competitive tennis-playing days when I would be on the wrong end of a tough match and couldn't help but wonder "what if" in so many different ways. I had to ask him about the costly dry spell his team had to endure coming down the stretch of this game because it seemed to me like the Bennies had settled for some three-point shot attempts that they didn't necessarily have to settle for. But Durbin trusts players like Jonas and Morgan to make big plays when they have to (and he should with the experience and skill that they have). I asked him how his team begins the recovery process after this tough week; dropping two tough games. "It's gotta start in practice" he responded and you know they'll be back in the gym on Sunday with renewed determination and spirit. To be sure, CSB has got some walking wounded on their end; notably senior forward Morgan Chmielewski whom I had the pleasure of getting acquainted with this last fall when I visited one of their practices up in St. Joe this last October. That doesn't help matters either. Meanwhile, I was able to speak briefly with St. Kate's Richie afterward and he said that they key to getting his team into position to win this game was getting proper rotation on the defensive end and better spacing on the offensive side so they could do their drive-and-dribble thing more effectively. Head Coach Don Mulhern; who's still recovering from surgery, was proud of the "grit" factor his team showed when I touched base with him last night. They really showed it - first in coming back from being down double digits and second coming down the stretch of the fourth period when things were still hanging in the balance. They found a way.
The final box score on this one is a bit weird because you'll see that CSB had a decided edge in points in the paint at 40-32 and getting more high-percentage shots can and will play a big part in helping you to victory. But you'll also see where St. Kate's had a decided advantage in those all-important second-chance points (grit) at 16-7 and bench points as well at 20-10. The Wildcats also had a solid advantage on the boards on this day at 41-32 and that obviously played a big role, too. Again, if I'm CSB, I look at the FG shooting (27-58 for 46.6%) and three-point shooting (6-20 for 30%) as being the primary contributors to the loss on this day. And going 5-10 from the charity stripe for 50% didn't help either although St. Kate's can't completely be absolved of any transgressions on this front either as they were 16-23 for 69.6%. The difference was that the Wildcats made plays in that critical stretch late in the fourth period and CSB wasn't able to.
The other thing that strikes you in looking at the box score is how incredibly well-balanced the St. Kate's attack was on this day. Maddie Young's 15 points paced the Wildcats on this day but she had plenty of help to rely on. Schimnowski poured in 12 while both Fox and Randleman tallied 11 points and Peper wasn't far behind with her 10 points. CSB, too, had a very balanced attack on this day. Jonas led all scorers with her 16 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double and Arnold; the fast-rising freshman, was right behind with her 15 points. Boily was solid with her 12 points and Findley; the other freshman, finished with 10 points.
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