MIAC Saturday Afternoon Roundup - 2-27-21

Here's a roundup of this afternoon's action in the MIAC:

It didn't take long for host UST to take control of its game with visiting Augsburg as the Tommies built a 24-10 lead at the end of the first period and that lead would bulge to 47-17 by the halftime break as UST waltzed to an easy 89-42 victory to keep pace in the MIAC race; tied with Bethel for second place at 3-1 who are both behind league-leading and unbeaten GAC.  It was a rough afternoon for this young, inexperienced Auggie team that ran into a literal buzzsaw against a very talented and experienced UST team as a suffocating Tommie defense forced Augsburg into shooting a paltry 13-53 from FG range for 24.5%.  Another interesting stat that stands out like a sore thumb - UST had a whopping 40-12 advantage in points in the paint on this day.  Freshman guard Katelyn Stanley again had a very solid outing as her 14 points led all scorers and paced the Tommies on this day.  Junior forward Brynne Rolland was right behind with her 13 points and freshman post Kate Burns had 10 points.  Augsburg junior forward Jen Masello was the only Auggie in double figures scoring-wise on this day with her 12 points. 

Meanwhile, up the road at Robertson Center, Bethel senior guard Bella Williams tied a single-game program record with her 11 steals as a relentless Royal defense kept CSB in check as Bethel recorded an 81-69 victory.  The Royals would break open a relatively close game in the second period with a key 14-0 run which the Bennies never recovered from.  While CSB did a good job on the boards on this day; getting a 36-29 advantage, that facet of the contest was pretty much negated by the fact that CSB was forced into 25 turnovers on this day which, more often than not, will kill a team's chances.  Bethel also enjoyed a huge 54-27 edge in points in the paint as well.  The Royals definitely spread the wealth from a scoring standpoint on this afternoon with sophomore guard Kat Brown-Erdal leading the way with her 16 points and senior forward Elizabeth Schwarz right behind with her 15 points.  Fellow senior forward Makenna Pearson finished with 12 points while junior guard Jennifer Hicks tallied 11 points.  CSB also featured four players with double figures on this day.  Sophomore post Tori Szathmary had 16 points to pace the Bennies while senior guard Maddie Schmitz had another solid outing with her 13 points.  Freshman guard Carla Meyer continues to shine and she had 12 points while junior guard Kate Seyer had 10 points.

The best game in the 2:00 P.M. slot was just a short drive down Snelling Avenue over at Hutton Arena as visiting SMU made its way up US Highway 61 and the Canadian Pacific Railway River Sub mainline and got a nail-biting 72-69 victory over host Hamline.  The Pipers had the upper hand early on; grabbing an 18-15 lead by the end of the first period but the Cardinals were able to steady the ship to take a 26-23 lead late in the second period and led 28-26 at the halftime break.  SMU seemed to have things under control by the 7:07 mark when junior guard Brooklyn Paulson drained a "3" for a 42-30 Cardinal lead.  But that double-digit lead quickly shrunk as the third period progressed as Hamline went on a 17-4 run to take a 47-46 lead on a score in the paint by sophomore guard Alyssa Williamson with 1:23 left in the third period.  And although SMU would regain the lead at 50-49 to begin the fourth period, you just had a feeling that a lot of unpredictability remained in this game.  Sure enough, Hamline would take a 53-50 lead early on in the fourth period but just when you thought that maybe the Pipers were ready to usurp control of this one, a determined Cardinals team was able to dig in as they went on a 12-2 run to get a 62-55 lead midway through the fourth period.  Two free throws by senior guard Claire Patterson with 4:18 left seemed to have SMU in very good shape up by nine at 66-57 but a pesky Hamline team would throw one more scare into the visitors; closing the gap to one point in the waning seconds before two game-clinching free throws by senior guard Ewelina Schlomann sealed the deal.  SMU held a 45-32 advantage on the boards this day which played a big part of this road win and while neither team shot that great on this day, the Cardinals were 21-24 from the charity stripe; the two biggest at the end.  SMU had a fairly balanced attack on this day with senior post Maggie Robertson leading the way with 14 points while Paulson was right behind with her "double-double" of 13 points and 11 rebounds and senior point guard Hallie Schmeling; whose younger sister played in the Wisconsin State Tournament for Onalaska on this day as well, had a very solid day with her 12 points.  Schlomann finished with 11 points on this day and while senior guard Isabel Bettag didn't get into the scoring column on this day, she did pull down 11 rebounds.  Freshman forward Jaiden Kline out of Osseo led all scorers with her 20 points and a "double-double" as well with 11 rebounds to pace Hamline on this day while junior guard Gabby Robinson had 13 points while sophomore forward Tess Hauer finished with 10 points.

One game in the 4:00 P.M. slot as well on this Saturday that had Concordia making the long trek down to St Peter to take on host GAC.  As long a trip it was down for the Cobbers, the bus ride back later on had to be brutal as the Gusties rolled to an easy 74-42 victory.  GAC slowly but surely took control of this one early on as Head Coach Laurie Kelly's deep and experienced squad forced a young Cobber team into various miscues along the way.  Concordia found themselves down 36-20 at the halftime break and things really snowballed for the Cobbers in the third period as they were outscored by GAC 19-3.  The real surprise to me on this day was the emergence of junior post Betsy Schoenrock who is finally starting to come into her own after missing last year with an injury as she paced the Gusties with her 13 points while senior guard Marisa Gustafson and sophomore forward Caitlin Rorman both finished with 11 points.  Senior forward Paige Richert had a solid outing as well grabbing 10 rebounds.  Concordia meanwhile relied heavily on junior forward Mary Sem for scoring production and she certainly didn't disappoint as she poured in 21 points to easily lead all scorers on this day.  But it was a rough day at the OK Corral when it came to perimeter shooting for Concordia as they finished this day going 14-48 from FG range for 27.5% and 3-20 from downtown for 15%.  Ouch.  So, while this Concordia team is definitely looking toward a brighter future, there's still some growing pains that they'll have to endure.  But for the Gusties, one could arguably make the argument that the future is now to quote former LA Rams Head Coach George Allen as this GAC team may be the deepest that Kelly has had; save for her 2017 and 2018 teams.  It's a shame that there's nothing to play for postseason-wise but perhaps the games coming up this next week - vs Bethel on Monday night at home in St Peter and then at UST two nights later - will probably be the closest thing they can experience to a real tournament test.    

MIAC Wednesday Evening Roundup - 2-24-21

 Busied myself watching the three games online last night and although one was a blowout, the other two - one in particular - were very good.

Down in Winona, the visiting Gusties would surge to a 27-7 lead by the opening period as there was little doubt as to how this one was going to go as GAC rolled to an easy 81-51 win over SMU.  A savage Gustie defensive effort held SMU to 17-57 for 29.8% from FG range and only 3-22 from downtown for 13.6%.  And GAC pounded the Cardinals on the boards as well by a 52-24 count as well.  The Gusties certainly shared the wealth scoring-wise on this night with sophomore guard Anna Sanders somewhat surprisingly leading the way with her 16 points while fellow sophomore guard Maddy Rice finished with ten and willowy senior guard Marisa Gustafson tallied 10 points as well.  Senior post Maggie Robertson paced SMU on this night with her 11 points.  

Meanwhile on the east side of Minneapolis, the visiting Bethel Royals; looking to bounce back after the upset loss to Concordia up at Moorhead on Sunday evening, found themselves embroiled in a tough battle with a very young Augsburg team that kept things tight for most of the contest before the Royals slowly started taking control of things in the fourth period to get a hard-earned 66-59 win.  Bethel relied heavily on the one-two punch of sophomore guard Kat Brown-Erdal and senior forward Elizabeth Schwarz as both led all scorers with their 18 points a piece.  Augsburg got 14 points from both freshman guard Kalena Myers and junior forward Jen Masello.  While both teams were plagued by the turnover bugaboo on this night that likely had head coaches Jon Herbrechtsmeyer and Ted Riverso reaching for the Tylenol PM once they got home, Bethel's 51-41 advantage on the boards likely saved the Royals on this night.  One alarming stat that I noticed as well:  Bethel was only 11-22 from the charity stripe on this night.  Augsburg was only marginally better going 13-18 for 72.2%.  

But easily the game of the night took place up in St Joe between two old rivals in one final meeting as host CSB pulled off a huge upset of unbeaten UST by a final score of 88-83 as CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin recorded his 700th victory at the helm of the program.  The Bennies held a 45-38 lead at the half but you knew UST would come out strong in the third period and they in fact did grab a short-lived 51-50 lead but the Tommies simply were unable to fend off a determined and spirited CSB team that just showed a ton of heart and spunk and never faltered or panicked down the stretch when UST would manage to tighten things up.  To me, the thing that stood out just watching this game online was CSB's ability to penetrate into the heart of the Tommie defense with their guards who were able to beat their defenders off the dribble whether it be from the perimeter or along the baseline.  Had they been relegated to simply throwing up shots from the perimeter, it may have been a totally different story but not on this night.  The other thing that stood out to me is the young cast of characters on this CSB team that stepped up on this night.  We all know about senior forward Maddie Schmitz and she certainly did her part with her "double-double" of 12 points and 10 rebounds but how about freshman guard Carla Meyer leading this Bennie team with her 16 points?  Or junior guard Madison Doran with 14 points or perhaps fellow junior guard Kate Seyer with her 13 points?  Or sophomore post Tori Szathmary tallying 11 points on this night?  Some new faces for sure on this CSB team that I haven't either seen or heard about before but probably had better get used to seeing these names and faces again.  My guess is that UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn ultimately had to point the finger at her team's defensive lapses on this night that saw the Bennies shoot 29-61 for 47.5% and 9-18 from behind the arc for a straight 50%.  The Tommies didn't suffer that many turnovers (13) but they sure seemed to come at incredibly bad times for them.  Senior forward Kaia Porter carried this UST team on her back last night with 20 points to lead all scorers while fellow senior guard Macy Hatlestad tallied 13 points.  Fellow senior guard Noelle Tomes and junior post Brynne Rolland both finished with 11 points and freshman guard Katelyn Stanley added 10 points. 

MIAC Update For Wednesday 2-24-21

Had a few things going on earlier in the week that prevented me from posting anything until now but am following three games online tonight:  GAC vs SMU, UST vs CSB and Bethel vs Augsburg.  Weird times it is during this pandemic but am trying to make the best of it and will hopefully have a roundup on tonight's action sometime late tomorrow afternoon or early evening.  

I do regret, however, not posting up something on the Bethel vs Concordia game from Sunday night that saw the Cobbers post a 65-62 upset victory in overtime.  I won't go as far as to say that this is a signature win for second-year Head Coach Kim Wagers but it certainly is a big step in the right direction and it's becoming clearer that there's something special brewing up in Moorhead.  The fact that the Cobbers had the lead for most of the game; lost that lead in the fourth period with Bethel seemingly in position to close things out and then mustered a great comeback to send it into overtime where Concordia took it to another level to get the win.  Keep your eye on this team.  They are going to be doing some exciting things.

All the action is on right now so hop on while you can.  

MIAC Sunday Afternoon Roundup - 2-21-21

 Was definitely challenging trying to watch two MIAC games at once on this Sunday afternoon but had both the UST - SMU and CSB - GAC games on that started at 2:00 this afternoon and wanted to provide a roundup of both games.

Down in Winona, it was definitely a game of runs as the Cardinals bolted out to a 5-0 lead only to see UST go on a 9-0 burst.  SMU would manage to keep things close, however, and would hold a 14-13 lead going into the second period.  A "3" by junior Brooklyn Paulson would give SMU a four-point 19-15 lead early in the second period but UST would soon recover and manage to grab a 28-26 lead on two free throws by junior post Brynne Rolland.  The Cardinals appeared to be right where they wanted to be but the Tommies had other plans and two back-breaking "3's" - one by senior guard Macy Hatlestad and another by junior guard Julia Bjurman helped give UST a 35-28 halftime lead.  The Tommies would eventually push their lead to double-digits in the third period as they rolled to an 80-51 victory.  Rolland led a very balanced UST attack on this day with her 16 points and freshman guard Katelyn Stanley finished with 10 points.  SMU was paced by Paulson and senior guard Claire Patterson as they both finished with 12 points.  The Tommies had a sizeable 50-39 edge on the boards and it was tough for SMU to penetrate into the paint on the offensive end.

Meanwhile in St. Peter, the host Gusties broke open what was a close game at the end of the first period with GAC leading 25-20; outscoring the Blazers (I know they're the Bennies but they'll always be the Blazers to me) 20-4 in the second period to hold a sizable 45-24 lead at the half.  That lead would bulge to 60-33 by the end of the third period and although CSB would do a good job in the fourth and final period of narrowing the gap, the damage had already been done as GAC recorded a 76-66 victory.  Another big day for sophomore forward Caitlin Rorman as she tallied 19 points to lead all scorers and senior forward/post Paige Richert had a great day with a "double-double" of 10 points and 14 rebounds to help pace the Gusties.  CSB had three players in double figures scoring-wise on this afternoon.  Junior guard Kate Seyer led the way with her 18 points and senior forward Maddie Schmitz had 14 points while junior guard Madison Doran was right behind with her 13 points on this day.  1-14 shooting from FG range in the second period doomed CSB plus the Gusties pounded the Blazers on the board as well by a 50-32 count. 

Bethel made the trip up U.S. Highway 10 and the BNSF's Staples Sub mainline to Moorhead for a 6:00 P.M. clash with Concordia so I hope to have something on that game sometime tomorrow evening. 

My Revised Plan Going Forward

 With the NSIC regular season winding down this weekend and with the MIAC slated to get going again tomorrow (Sunday 2-21), my revised plan is to refocus on the MIAC with Sunday's slate of games.  This whole thing has been so unpredictable from the start that it's been really hard to have a firm plan because things keep changing so much.  So I'll be keeping track of the two games going on tomorrow afternoon and the one tomorrow evening.  According to the MIAC schedule, we'll have a game on Tuesday evening and then three more on Wednesday evening plus a game on Thursday evening.  It won't be easy to get this mess straightened out for sure but I'll give the conference credit for at least making an attempt to do so.

Let's see what happens....

NSIC Roundup From Saturday 2-13-21

 Am a little late getting this in but wanted to provide the scores from Saturday's NSIC Women's Hoops action:

Minot State - 65

Northern State - 56

Beavers overcome 11-point deficit and go on a 40-point tear in the fourth period to claim an epic comeback victory up in Minot.

Winona State - 68

Concordia St Paul - 67

Golden Bears inexplicably blow a 59-40 lead at the end of the third quarter as Winona State outscores Concordia St Paul 28-8 in the final period; including a last-second buzzer-beater by senior Emma Fee.

Southwest Minnesota State - 85

Wayne State - 49

Mustangs get big road win with a great defensive effort.

Augustana - 80

Sioux Falls - 74

Vikings claim sweep of their crosstown rival in the NSIC's version of UCLA vs USC. 

Minnesota State - 72

Upper Iowa - 48

Mavericks get sweep of Upper Iowa at home with easy win. 

St Cloud State - 72

Minnesota-Crookston - 55

Huskies Head Coach Lori Fish notches 200th victory with the win yesterday at home.

UM-Duluth - 73

Bemidji State - 62

Bulldogs stay unblemished at 9-0 and extend their home win-streak to 31 games with victory yesterday.

Moorhead State - 76

Mary - 75

Dragons win a nail-biter in Bismarck as freshman Karley Motschenbacher hit game-winning free throw with :02 left.  

MIAC Women's Hoops Season Currently In Limbo

 As you probably already have seen, all MIAC women's basketball games that were scheduled for today (Saturday 2-13) were all postponed due to various COVID-19 issues that are currently lingering in the conference on both the men's and women's side.  I certainly don't profess to be "in the know" about everything that is going on but from the discussions I have had with some coaches and others that are reasonably good sources, I'm not terribly optimistic about the rest of this truncated season.  I won't say with an absolute certainty that the MIAC will take a knife to most (if not all) winter sports but given the relatively short window that these teams have to work with, it's hard for me to envision getting this mess straightened out.  Again, I don't know what's going to happen for sure, but I'm just not optimistic at this point.  As soon as I do hear something, I will certainly be on here with the latest.  Right now, the next slated game is this next Wednesday (2-17) when CSB visits Augsburg.  Stay tuned....

With that in mind, my amended plan (at least for right now) is to get back onto the NSIC Women's Basketball front as much as I can unless things improve dramatically on the MIAC Women's Basketball front.  When you're balancing work with trying to get some indoor tennis practice and workouts in as well, it's not easy (especially when you've been pounding on the hard courts since the freaking Ford Administration like I have and you feel like you're 100 when you get back home :p ).  But I at least want to get one or two game recaps in during the week plus a rundown in scores which I've been a bit lazy at as of late.