Made the trip up US Highway 10 and the BNSF Staples Sub mainline to the St. Cloud area on this Wednesday afternoon to take in the scrimmage that would take place at Claire Lynch Hall on the campus of CSB in suburban St. Joseph between visiting Northwestern out of the UMAC and host CSB. I arrived in plenty of time to meet and talk with both Northwestern Head Coach Aaron Kahl and CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin beforehand and get settled into the stands to get prepared. This was a unique opportunity to watch both of these teams and to see their overall makeup. This particular scrimmage would consist of four 10 minute periods with normal timekeeping and one 10 minute period with running time. Also, free throws would be limited to one free throw attempt in an effort to help speed things along.
In the first ten minute stanza, the Bennies would break the ice first at the 9:23 mark as senior guard/wing Megan Morgan banged home a "3" from the right wing area at the 9:23 mark but Northwestern would cut the deficit to one on a lay-up by freshman guard Lydia Schmitter at the 8:22 mark. The Eagles' Kahl had his squad employing his trademark 2-3 "matchup" zone defense which initially stymied the normally potent CSB attack and it wasn't until the 6:00 mark that the Bennies finally started to figure out how to attack it as sophomore guard Drew Busbee connected on a jumper along the left baseline and a lay-up by lanky freshman reserve forward/post Emma Theisen at the 5:39 mark extended the CSB lead to 7-2. Northwestern was able to get things tightened up a bit as one free throw by junior forward Carli Elrod after she was fouled with 4:45 left and a nifty lay-up by freshman reserve guard Ella Frazier with 4:20 left cut the Bennie lead down to 7-5. Northwestern's hopes appeared to brighten when freshman reserve forward Karley Loven got one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 3:51 left that cut the deficit down to one at 7-6 but CSB would control things the rest of the way in this first scrimmage as Busbee would unleash a three-point bomb from the right corner with 3:22 left and Morgan would follow suit with back-to-back three-point bombs - one from the left top area with 1:58 left and another from the left wing area with 1:27 left - that now had the Bennies up 16-6. Northwestern would get two more scores on a pretty steal and lay-up the other way by sophomore guard Brenna Vogel with 1:02 left and a short jumper from the right side by junior combo guard/forward Katelyn Lindberg with :21 left but my tally on this had CSB winning this one by a count of 16-10.
Northwestern would get off to a very good start in the second ten minute stanza with a 6-0 burst. Frazier would make a pretty drive for a finish at the 9:10 mark as would Schmitter at the 8:44 mark. A short time later, the Eagles' Schmitter would strike again with a tough score in the paint that capped this initial run before CSB could get things tightened up. Busbee would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 7:45 mark and sophomore point guard Lauren Arnold would snare a steal and race the other way for a lay-up at the 7:10 mark that had the Bennies back to within a single possession down 6-3. Busbee would also manage a steal and lay-up the other way that cut the deficit down to a point at 6-5 and that prompted Northwestern's Kahl to call a timeout to get his team calmed down a bit and to emphasize protecting the rock. But even that stoppage in play failed to deter CSB as Busbee would snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 5:11 mark to push the Bennies into the lead at 7-6 one one free throw by willowy senior forward Kira Young after she was fouled with 4:40 left had CSB up 8-6. Senior guard Megan Driste would connect on a lay-up in transition with 4:23 left that capped this 10-0 Bennie run to make it 10-6 before Northwestern finally patched up some of the bleeding on an Elrod lay-up with 3:25 left. But the Bennies would continue to get some cushion as Morgan would get a tough score in the paint with 3:14 left and an offensive rebound and putback by Driste with 1:15 left had CSB up 14-10. The Bennies would extend the lead to 16-10 on a jumper from the right wing area by Young with :48 left and one free throw by Busbee after she was fouled with :13.2 left got CSB's lead to 17-11. The Eagles would get a late score by sophomore reserve combo guard/forward Emma Korinek with :02 left but I had CSB taking this second scrimmage by a 17-13 count.
In the third ten minute stanza, Northwestern would again strike first as Korinek would drill a "3" from the right wing area at the 8:53 mark but that was quickly met as the Bennies' Arnold unleashed a three-point bomb of her own from the right corner area at the 8:33 mark. Arnold would follow that up with a lay-up in transition after a turnover by the Eagles that now had CSB up 5-3. Undaunted, Northwestern would embark on a 6-0 push. Elrod got one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 6:54 mark and a lay-up in transition by Schmitter at the 6:21 mark had the Eagles in front 6-5. Northwestern would cap this run as Loven muscled her way into the paint for a score that drew a foul and her ensuing free throw made it 9-5 but the Bennies would quickly recover thanks to back-to-back three-point bombs by Driste - one from the left corner at the 5:06 mark and the other from the right corner with 3:11 left - that pushed CSB back out in front 11-9. The Eagles would level this stanza at 11 a piece on a score in the paint by Lindberg with 2:50 left but the Bennies still appeared to have the upper hand as a short jumper by Morgan with 2:36 left and one free throw by junior reserve forward Emily Crandall after she was fouled with 2:12 left had CSB up 14-11 but Northwestern would quickly get this stanza knotted up at 14 when freshman reserve combo guard/forward Aubrey Langrehr banged home a "3" from the left wing area with 1:54 left. But the Bennies' Morgan had other ideas and she quickly answered with one of her trademark lefty three-point bombs - this one from the top of the key with 1:45 left - that had CSB up 17-14. The Eagles would close to one point on a lay-up by Korinek with 1:28 left but the Bennies would once again lean on Morgan and her heroics and she came through with yet another three-point bomb - this one from the right top area with :37.6 left as I had CSB coming away with a 20-16 win in this one.
The Bennies would control things from the outset of the fourth ten minute stanza; bolting out to a 6-0 lead. Young would connect on a lay-up at the 9:43 mark and a pretty drive and finish by Driste at the 8:24 mark had CSB up 4-zip. An offensive rebound and putback by Busbee at the 8:02 mark capped this early burst by the Bennies before Northwestern could cut into the deficit on a three-point bomb by sophomore guard Marin Blom at the 7:41 mark. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they were unable to find the same spark that they had in both the second and third stanzas which allowed CSB to build on its advantage. Freshman reserve guard Kate Ebert would connect on a lay-up with 4:06 left to make it 10-4 and a lay-up by Crandall with 1:47 left maintained the six-point edge at 12-6. With 1:31 left, Ebert would snare an offensive rebound for a putback and with 1:00 left, freshman reserve combo forward/post Annika Schafer slithered into the paint for a score that stretched the Bennies lead to 16-6. Northwestern would get a late score on a lay-up by freshman reserve forward Olivia Heikes with :23 left but I had this one tallied in CSB's favor by a 16-8 count.
The fifth stanza on this night was in running time and CSB would control this one from start to finish. Busbee would start things off for the Bennies on a lay-up in transition at the 9:34 mark and a pretty drive and finish by Morgan at the 8:30 mark had CSB up 4-0. Arnold would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 7:03 mark and a pretty drive along the right baseline and finish by Young with 3:00 left stretched the Bennie lead to 7-0. Lanky freshman reserve combo forward/post Emma Theisen would bury a "3" from the left top area with 1:19 left and with :16.3 left, Arnold would drain a "3" of her own from the right corner area to make it 13-0 before Northwestern got a late score with just :01.6 left on a score in the paint by Heikes as CSB took this one as well by a 13-2 count.
Northwestern Outtakes: If you take a look at the Eagles roster, you'll see that it's dominated by freshmen and sophomores with only two juniors. Kahl, in fact, was quick to point out to me afterward that Lindberg (who transferred in from UM-Morris) is the only one on the team with considerable college basketball experience under her belt. So it's no wonder why you'll likely see the Eagles be a very up-and-down team this season and Kahl was quick to point that out. Yet, when you watch this team, you do see potential for this squad to do some very positive things. The big thing is, can they gain some consistency as this season progresses that will allow them to at least be a factor in the UMAC title chase? That's something that remains to be seen. Kahl even told me afterward that he felt that his squad did better on this night than even he thought they might although he also admitted that CSB's length proved problematic for them and this Northwestern team doesn't have a lot of size. In any event, Kahl and his staff will have to develop depth quickly by the time they delve into UMAC play. Besides this scrimmage with CSB on this night, the Eagles will play a string of MIAC opponents in the non-conference portion of their schedule with Hamline, Carleton, Augsburg, Macalester and GAC all in the offing in November and December. Additionally, Northwestern will open with Central College out of the ARC next weekend at Ericksen Center and in early December they'll also host Maranatha Baptist out of Wisconsin. Shortly after that is an interesting home contest with Emmaus University out of Dubuque, IA and they'll also get to go out to Massachusetts for three games in late December/early January to play Lasell University, UMass-Boston and Regis College.
CSB Outtakes: Save for the three seniors on this squad (Driste, Morgan and Young), this is also a very young team dominated by freshmen and sophomores. However, the backcourt is solid as a rock with both Morgan, Driste and the sophomore - Arnold - running the point guard spot and this team has length and a lot of it. I think overall Durbin was pleased with his team's performance for the most part but he did admit there were instances when they tried to rush things which invariably led to errors. Still, when you look at the overall makeup of this team, it's hard to envision them not being a factor in the MIAC race. Again, it's all going to boil down to consistency when it comes to CSB and if they can keep things on an even keel. Last year we saw CSB starting off the season going 8-1 in their first nine games but then had to endure a brutal four-game skid in January before righting the ship for the most part the rest of the way. The Bennies start things off next weekend with UM-Morris and Bethany Lutheran coming to St. Joe (St. Scholastica is the fourth team in this four-team get-together). Then a very challenging home game on Wednesday 11-12 with UW-Eau Claire out of the WIAC paying a visit to Claire Lynch. The weekend of 11-15/16 will see CSB going down to Mt. Vernon, IA on US Highway 30 and the UP Overland Route mainline as the Bennies will take on two teams out of the ARC - Dubuque on 11-15 and Nebraska Wesleyan on 11-16. A conference game against St. Olaf down in Northfield gets squeezed into the schedule on 11-19 but for Thanksgiving, CSB goes out to the Front Range at Colorado Springs where they'll face two teams who were in the NCAA Tournament this last season - Colorado College out of the SCAC on 11-28 and perennial powerhouse Whitman out of the NWC the next day (11-29) so those two games should provide something of a measuring stick for CSB before they delve full-time into conference play.
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