Was over at Bethel's Robertson Center on this cold Thursday night to take in one of the MIAC Playoff Semifinal games - this one featuring visiting and fourth-seeded SMU which advanced with its blowout win over GAC on Tuesday night going up against host and second-seeded Bethel. The Royals; who lost last year to SMU in Winona, now had the rematch at home against the Cardinals and needed this game to not only get over the hump and into their very first MIAC Championship Game but also to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive as well.
Defense was the watchword in the opening minutes of this contest as the Royals stymied SMU and were able to grab a 5-0 lead thanks to a score in the paint by junior post Rachel Parupsky at the 18:46 mark along with free throws by both sophomore guard Shanni Moorse and junior point guard Hannah Niewald. Two Parupsky freebies at the 13:28 mark had Bethel up 7-3 but the Cardinals; employing a tough man-to-man defense of their own, battled back and were able to grab an 8-7 lead on consecutive scores by freshman forward/post Molly O'Toole; on of them a three-pointer from the right wing at the 12:48 mark. The Royals, however, would recover and embark on an 11-2 run fueled by a Niewald "3" and a drive and finish by the Fridley native that made it 18-10 with 8:21 left. SMU would trim the deficit to four with 6:54 left when O'Toole connected with a lay-up in transition but sophomore forward Kalli Zimmerman helped fuel another Bethel push with three scores over the next four minutes; including a "3" from the top of the key with 2:36 left that made it a 32-20 game and things were looking rosy for the Royals at this point. But the Cardinals - and specifically O'Toole - had other ideas and it was O'Toole who single-handedly brought SMU back from the brink just before the half as she scored all ten points that included back-to-back treys in a 10-3 Cardinal push that cut Bethel's lead to 35-30 at the half and suddenly the issue was very much in doubt.
A score in the paint by junior guard Shelby Auseth at the 19:37 mark of the second half drew SMU tantalizingly close; trailing only by three at 35-32 and the Cardinals managed to stay within striking distance over the next three minutes. With Bethel holding a 42-36 lead on Parupsky's score in the paint at the 16:47 mark, Zimmerman knocked down two freebies after being fouled at the 15:59 mark that pushed the lead to eight at 44-36 but this resourceful SMU team would not cave in just yet. Two free throws by sophomore point guard Emma Schaefer; who had that brilliant night vs GAC just two nights ago, knocked down two free throws at the 14:17 mark and a score in the paint by freshman reserve post Kayla Lardy at the 13:39 mark that helped shrink the Royals lead to six at 48-42. A "3" by junior reserve guard Micaela Meredith from the right corner at the 11:08 mark kept the Cardinals right in the thick of things; trailing only 52-47. It was here, however, that Bethel made its decisive move of the night; as a "3" from the left corner by Moorse at the 10:54 mark ignited an 11-4 burst that ended on treys by junior guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz and freshman reserve guard Angie Kirchoff that gave the Royals a twelve-point 63-51 lead with 7:47 left and effectively put SMU behind the 8-ball. The Cardinals sagged down the stretch thanks to a suffocating Bethel defense and could never get back within single digits again. Bethel meanwhile was able to build on its lead down the stretch. An offensive rebound and putback by Parupsky with 5:52 left coupled with scores by both Schultz and Zimmerman upped the Royal advantage to 69-51 left. Insurance freebies by both Schultz and Zimmerman sealed the deal for a 72-56 Bethel victory that sends the Royals to their first-ever MIAC Championship Game.
Los Angeles Rams
Saturday, February 28, 2015
UMAC Playoff Semifinal Recap - Martin Luther vs Northwestern 2-25-15
One of the key UMAC playoff semifinals pitted visiting Martin Luther against host Northwestern for the right to advance to Saturday's UMAC Championship Game. I was over at Northwestern's Ericksen Center for this one and was anxious to see if the Eagles could take the first step in a repeat appearance in the Big Dance.
After a sparkling rendition of the National Anthem sung by current Eagle senior guard Chanel Madson and former Eagle and now volunteer Assistant Coach Mollie Sir, Northwestern got down to business; employing Head Coach Aaron Kahl's hybrid 2-3 zone defense that gave the visiting Knights fits early on as they struggled to find their shooting touch. Two scores by Madson and junior post Regan Cooper gave the Eagles a 6-2 lead by the 16:10 mark but Martin Luther eventually battled back and knotted the score at 6-all when freshman reserve post Jade St. Germaine got into the paint to finish at the 13:29 mark. The Knights would claim a 9-7 lead at the 12:51 mark when sophomore reserve forward Faith Schroeder connected with a lay-up at the 12:51 mark. Northwestern would reclaim the lead at 10-9 when Madson drained a "3" from the left top area at the 12:21 mark and the Eagles expanded that lead to six at 16-10 with 9:43 left. Martin Luther would close the gap to one point trailing 16-15 when junior guard Erin Schmeling drilled a "3" from the left top area with 6:25 mark. The Eagles, however, would then embark on an 8-0 run that was fueled by two Madson treys to grab a 24-15 lead with 4:49 left and that lead would expand to twelve at 32-20 with 2:24 left on a score in the paint by sophomore reserve forward Emily Van Lith. A score in transition by Madson with 1:38 left and one free throw by junior forward Kim Campbell with :34.9 let Northwestern take a cozy 35-20 lead into the locker room at the half.
A Cooper lay-up at the 18:44 mark of the second half and a "3" from the top of the key by lanky senior forward/post Jacki Smith allowed the Eagles to enjoy their largest lead of the evening at 42-22 but Martin Luther would slowly battle their way back. A jumper by junior forward Leah Ness from the free throw line at the 16:09 mark and a "3" from the right wing by sophomore reserve guard/forward Mariah Schoof at the 15:37 mark trimmed the Northwestern lead to 43-27 and a "3" by freshman reserve forward Hailey Johnson from the right corner made further inroads as the Eagle advantage was cut further to 44-30. Another Schoof trey - this one from the top of the key at the 12:25 mark and two free throws by sophomore reserve forward Faith Schroeder with 11:26 left cut that large Northwestern lead in half as the Knights now trailed only 45-35. Martin Luther's comeback hopes, however, appeared doom when Ness went down with an apparent knee injury right at the 10:00 mark and although the Eagles were able to increase their lead back to sixteen over the next four minutes without Ness on the floor, Northwestern was not completely out of the woods just yet. Pairs of free throws by Schmeling and junior post Sara Willems cut the deficit to twelve with 4:36 left making it a 56-44 game and a lay-up in transition by freshman guard Grace Schultz had the Eagle lead down to ten again at 56-46 with 4:07 left. Northwestern left the door slightly open for the Knights when they were unable to connect with shots that could have possibly closed the deal right there and, as such, the Knights made one last gasp attempt to bring it all the way back. Schultz snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:25 left and repeated that feat with :34.2 left that had Martin Luther trailing only 56-50. Alas, the Knights comeback attempt would fall short as they were now forced to foul to try to keep their slim hopes alive. Smith knocked down a pair of freebies with :28.5 left to make it a 58-50 game and although Schmeling got one last "3" to go down with :17.5 left that cut the Eagles lead to five at 58-53, Cooper was fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass and she came through at the charity stripe for two more points for Northwestern to give them a 60-53 win as the Eagles advance to Saturday's UMAC Championship Game at home again UM-Morris.
After a sparkling rendition of the National Anthem sung by current Eagle senior guard Chanel Madson and former Eagle and now volunteer Assistant Coach Mollie Sir, Northwestern got down to business; employing Head Coach Aaron Kahl's hybrid 2-3 zone defense that gave the visiting Knights fits early on as they struggled to find their shooting touch. Two scores by Madson and junior post Regan Cooper gave the Eagles a 6-2 lead by the 16:10 mark but Martin Luther eventually battled back and knotted the score at 6-all when freshman reserve post Jade St. Germaine got into the paint to finish at the 13:29 mark. The Knights would claim a 9-7 lead at the 12:51 mark when sophomore reserve forward Faith Schroeder connected with a lay-up at the 12:51 mark. Northwestern would reclaim the lead at 10-9 when Madson drained a "3" from the left top area at the 12:21 mark and the Eagles expanded that lead to six at 16-10 with 9:43 left. Martin Luther would close the gap to one point trailing 16-15 when junior guard Erin Schmeling drilled a "3" from the left top area with 6:25 mark. The Eagles, however, would then embark on an 8-0 run that was fueled by two Madson treys to grab a 24-15 lead with 4:49 left and that lead would expand to twelve at 32-20 with 2:24 left on a score in the paint by sophomore reserve forward Emily Van Lith. A score in transition by Madson with 1:38 left and one free throw by junior forward Kim Campbell with :34.9 let Northwestern take a cozy 35-20 lead into the locker room at the half.
A Cooper lay-up at the 18:44 mark of the second half and a "3" from the top of the key by lanky senior forward/post Jacki Smith allowed the Eagles to enjoy their largest lead of the evening at 42-22 but Martin Luther would slowly battle their way back. A jumper by junior forward Leah Ness from the free throw line at the 16:09 mark and a "3" from the right wing by sophomore reserve guard/forward Mariah Schoof at the 15:37 mark trimmed the Northwestern lead to 43-27 and a "3" by freshman reserve forward Hailey Johnson from the right corner made further inroads as the Eagle advantage was cut further to 44-30. Another Schoof trey - this one from the top of the key at the 12:25 mark and two free throws by sophomore reserve forward Faith Schroeder with 11:26 left cut that large Northwestern lead in half as the Knights now trailed only 45-35. Martin Luther's comeback hopes, however, appeared doom when Ness went down with an apparent knee injury right at the 10:00 mark and although the Eagles were able to increase their lead back to sixteen over the next four minutes without Ness on the floor, Northwestern was not completely out of the woods just yet. Pairs of free throws by Schmeling and junior post Sara Willems cut the deficit to twelve with 4:36 left making it a 56-44 game and a lay-up in transition by freshman guard Grace Schultz had the Eagle lead down to ten again at 56-46 with 4:07 left. Northwestern left the door slightly open for the Knights when they were unable to connect with shots that could have possibly closed the deal right there and, as such, the Knights made one last gasp attempt to bring it all the way back. Schultz snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:25 left and repeated that feat with :34.2 left that had Martin Luther trailing only 56-50. Alas, the Knights comeback attempt would fall short as they were now forced to foul to try to keep their slim hopes alive. Smith knocked down a pair of freebies with :28.5 left to make it a 58-50 game and although Schmeling got one last "3" to go down with :17.5 left that cut the Eagles lead to five at 58-53, Cooper was fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass and she came through at the charity stripe for two more points for Northwestern to give them a 60-53 win as the Eagles advance to Saturday's UMAC Championship Game at home again UM-Morris.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
MIAC Playoff Quarterfinal - GAC vs SMU 2-24-15
Bolted out of work early yesterday afternoon to make the trek down U.S. Highway 61 and the Canadian Pacific Railway's River Sub mainline down to Winona for the MIAC Quarterfinal Playoff game between visiting Gustavus and host St. Mary's. While I knew that the Gusties were coming into this one under possibly the worst circumstances a team could come into a playoff situation with, I still held out hope that they might be able to come out with resolve and fight and make this a close one. But nothing could have prepared them for the Cardinal blitzkrieg they would encounter on this Tuesday evening.
GAC definitely got off on the right foot when freshman point guard Mikayla Miller drained a "3" from the right top area at the 19:44 mark that gave the Gusties an early 3-0 lead. SMU freshman forward/post Molly O'Toole tied it at 3-all at the 19:28 mark with her "3" from the left corner off of an inbounds pass and senior guard Octavio Brown nudged the Cardinals ahead 5-3 on her lay-up in transition after a steal at the 19:09 mark. GAC junior forward Lindsey Johnson knotted the score at 5-all with her short jumper. But this is where SMU made its first decisive move of the night with a 9-0 burst. An O'Toole score in the paint at the 18:43 mark and a "3" from the left wing by senior guard Sara Schoenthaler at the 17:53 mark made it a 10-5 game. Junior reserve guard Micaela Meredith connected with a short jumper along the right baseline at the 16:46 mark and then sophomore point guard Emma Schaefer, enroute to a sensational performance on this night, knocked down a jumper from the left elbow area at the 16:07 mark to make it 14-5 Cardinals and GAC Head Coach Laurie Kelly; knowing full well that she had to stop the bleeding, called a halt to the action to talk it over with her team. This SMU run wouldn't have been quite so damaging if not for the fact that the Gusties missed several easy "bunnies" down low in the opening minutes that might have had them right in the thick of things. As it was, the Cardinals were just getting started. After the first timeout, junior guard Shelby Auseth uncorked a three-point bomb at the 15:05 mark and then freshman reserve post Kayla Lardy muscled into the paint for a score at the 14:38 mark that made it a 19-6 ballgame and Kelly burned a thirty-second timeout as she realized that this one was spiraling out of control early.
The Gusties finally shook off a few cobwebs when sophomore forward Morgan Iverson's knocked down two freebies at the 14:01 mark and Miller finally broke GAC's drought from field goal range with her score in the paint at the 13:38 mark that had the Gusties back in single-digit range trailing 19-10. A Miller drive and finish in transition at the 12:11 mark and a lay-up by sophomore guard Hannah Howard that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw kept GAC in that single-digit range trailing 24-15. Iverson's two free throws at the 10:03 mark kept the Gusties in that 9-10 point range trailing 27-17 and, more importantly, GAC was in the bonus by this point so there was still some reason for hope. But here things would slowly start falling apart again for the Gusties. Another Lardy score in the paint with 9:12 mark and two Meredith freebies with 8:11 left made it 31-19 SMU. After another GAC timeout, Schaefer let loose with a three-point bomb from the left wing with 7:01 left that made it 35-19 and free throws by Schaefer, Auseth and Brown had the Cardinals up 40-23. The Gusties tried to counter on consecutive scores by both Iverson and Miller that sliced SMU's lead down to 40-27 with 3:33 left but GAC simply could not get a sustained run that might have cut things back to single digits. And a big part of that reason was that the Cardinals were particularly stingy on defense; often limiting the Gusties to one shot and making them take bad shots as well. Pairs of free throws by sophomore reserve post Sam Jones and Meredith had the lead back at sixteen at 46-30 with :37.6 left and, after a missed jumper by Miller with :12 left, Schaefer snared the defensive rebound and hustled down the floor for a drive and finish with just :00.8 left that not only gave SMU a healthy 48-30 halftime lead but also brought the house down at SMU's gymnasium as well. And that would not be the only time that Schaefer would do that on this night, either. A quick glance at the first half box revealed GAC's first half woes: 10-29 from FG range for a paltry 34.5%, an 18-13 edge in rebounding for the Cardinals, and the fact that SMU shot a blazing 14-23 for 60.9% from FG range and an even more amazing 6-8 performance from three-point land for 75%. Those numbers tell the story right there.
Down by 18 to begin the second half, the Gusties needed something - anything - that might give them a needed boost to get things going in the second half and get back to within striking distance. But, with their senior and emotional leader, Maddie Ehrich, relegated to the bench in street clothes, that boost would not be forthcoming. Schaefer drained another "3" from the right corner at the 18:40 mark and O'Toole scored in the paint at the 17:30 mark and got her fouled in the process as well and the obligatory free throw now gave the Cardinals a twenty-point cushion at 54-34. Jones was able to score in the paint off of an inbounds pass at the 17:05 mark and then Schaefer once again brought the SMU student section and fans to their feet with an explosion when, at the 16:32 mark, she did a sweet behind-the-back dribble to outmaneuver her opponent and connected with a lay-up that now made it a 58-34 game and the rout was officially on. The Cardinals maintained this 24-point edge over the next three minutes until GAC's Miller finally found the range behind the arc from the right wing area at the 13:13 mark that slimmed SMU's lead down to 64-45 but again, the Gusties simply could not mount anything consistent that might have even planted the faintest seeds of doubt amongst the Cardinals. Another 6-0 burst; a jumper from the FT line by Jones at the 12:33 mark along with two O'Toole freebies at the 12:09 mark along with a lay-up in transition by Schaefer at the 10:17 mark had the lead up to 25 at 70-45 and it would be smooth sailing the rest of the way.
Things would deteriorate even further for GAC when Miller; the Goodhue product already saddled with three fouls by this point, picked up her fourth foul with 8:33 left and then, out of sheer frustration more than anything else, picked up her fifth and final foul just a little more than thirty seconds later that relegated her to the bench for the rest of the evening. With the Gusties now in a fee-fall without their starting point guard on the floor, SMU was able to put it into cruise control mode the rest of the way. Up 75-50 after a Schaefer lay-up with 7:27 left, Brown scored on a drive and finish with 6:30 left and then two scores by Auseth - a short jumper with 5:57 left and a three-point bomb from the left wing with 5:32 left - ballooned the lead to 28 at 82-54. Schaefer put the exclamation point on her fabulous 26-point scoring performance on this night with a "3" from the right corner with 4:24 left for an 85-54 Cardinal lead. Both SMU Head Coach Mandy Pearson and the Gusties' Kelly unloaded their benches in the last few minutes that gave the reserves an opportunity to get their names in the book. Junior reserve post Anna Lundquist got the Gusties a score with 2:48 left with her bucket in the paint and sophomore reserve guard Brigette Audette added to the SMU total with one free throw with 1:27 left. GAC junior reserve forward Kelle Nett snared an offensive rebound with :51.9 left for a putback but, when the buzzer sounded and the carnage had finally been cleared, SMU had recorded a resounding 90-58 victory to advance to the MIAC Playoff semifinals on Thursday night.
I managed to get a minute with Schaefer afterward before she was snared away by friends to ask her what Pearson and her staff stressed to the team beforehand. "Defense!" she replied and the Gusties 19-51 FG shooting for 37.3% along with 21 GAC turnovers indicates that they fulfilled Pearson's wishes for this game to the hilt. This win tonight coupled with Augsburg's upset of Concordia in Moorhead on this night now sends the Cardinals to number-two seed Bethel for a semifinal tilt on Thursday night and I asked Pearson what was going to have to happen for them on Thursday night to knock off a great Bethel team. She stressed that another strong defensive performance is going to be critical to their hopes and, just as important, showing poise on the road is going to huge as well as she pointed out that Bethel is also a great defensive team that can make you take bad shots. It's kind of ironic when I think about it now but recently, in one of my recent MIAC power rankings, I made the point that SMU had to show me something. Well, on this night, they definitely showed me something and I was very, very impressed with what I saw. I couldn't help but point out to Pearson afterward that, once junior point guard Bridget Pethke gets healthy, she's going to have not only one but TWO very good point guards and that that is kind of a nice problem to have. She laughed in agreement but also pointed out that these two (Pethke and Schaefer) work very well together and are great teammates as well. Needless to say, you have to think that the Cardinals will be flying high again once Pethke is fully healed and ready to go. Can they beat Bethel on Thursday night? I can't put it past them; particularly if Schaefer has another breakout game like she did on this night.
Meanwhile, for the Gusties, what an incredibly disappointing finish to a season that saw them get off to a great start and win eight out of nine games in the period from early December through mid-January when they were playing their best basketball before the wheels started coming off for this young team. Ehrich's injury in that next-to-last regular season game with Macalester was the devastating final blow for GAC. The big question for me is who replaces Ehrich as that "leader" that the Gusties so desperately need? I don't know who that'll be off the top of my head......Maybe Miller might be best suited for that position but it's too early to tell at this point. But whoever it is, they'll be stepping into some very big shoes as Ehrich; in her one year as a Gustie, had a huge impact on this program and she'll be sorely missed. I'm just glad that she had an opportunity to do what she did. I asked Assistant Coach Dan Wolfe afterward what has to happen for GAC to be back in elite status. His reply was quite simple: "We have to go out and get some very good players and we have to make the players we have right now get better." I still think this team has a ton of potential for the future; especially going into next year with Johnson as a senior and the aforementioned Miller with a year of experience under her belt. At the same time, this conference keeps getting better as a whole so it will have to be more than just incremental improvements by GAC to get them over the hump.
GAC definitely got off on the right foot when freshman point guard Mikayla Miller drained a "3" from the right top area at the 19:44 mark that gave the Gusties an early 3-0 lead. SMU freshman forward/post Molly O'Toole tied it at 3-all at the 19:28 mark with her "3" from the left corner off of an inbounds pass and senior guard Octavio Brown nudged the Cardinals ahead 5-3 on her lay-up in transition after a steal at the 19:09 mark. GAC junior forward Lindsey Johnson knotted the score at 5-all with her short jumper. But this is where SMU made its first decisive move of the night with a 9-0 burst. An O'Toole score in the paint at the 18:43 mark and a "3" from the left wing by senior guard Sara Schoenthaler at the 17:53 mark made it a 10-5 game. Junior reserve guard Micaela Meredith connected with a short jumper along the right baseline at the 16:46 mark and then sophomore point guard Emma Schaefer, enroute to a sensational performance on this night, knocked down a jumper from the left elbow area at the 16:07 mark to make it 14-5 Cardinals and GAC Head Coach Laurie Kelly; knowing full well that she had to stop the bleeding, called a halt to the action to talk it over with her team. This SMU run wouldn't have been quite so damaging if not for the fact that the Gusties missed several easy "bunnies" down low in the opening minutes that might have had them right in the thick of things. As it was, the Cardinals were just getting started. After the first timeout, junior guard Shelby Auseth uncorked a three-point bomb at the 15:05 mark and then freshman reserve post Kayla Lardy muscled into the paint for a score at the 14:38 mark that made it a 19-6 ballgame and Kelly burned a thirty-second timeout as she realized that this one was spiraling out of control early.
The Gusties finally shook off a few cobwebs when sophomore forward Morgan Iverson's knocked down two freebies at the 14:01 mark and Miller finally broke GAC's drought from field goal range with her score in the paint at the 13:38 mark that had the Gusties back in single-digit range trailing 19-10. A Miller drive and finish in transition at the 12:11 mark and a lay-up by sophomore guard Hannah Howard that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw kept GAC in that single-digit range trailing 24-15. Iverson's two free throws at the 10:03 mark kept the Gusties in that 9-10 point range trailing 27-17 and, more importantly, GAC was in the bonus by this point so there was still some reason for hope. But here things would slowly start falling apart again for the Gusties. Another Lardy score in the paint with 9:12 mark and two Meredith freebies with 8:11 left made it 31-19 SMU. After another GAC timeout, Schaefer let loose with a three-point bomb from the left wing with 7:01 left that made it 35-19 and free throws by Schaefer, Auseth and Brown had the Cardinals up 40-23. The Gusties tried to counter on consecutive scores by both Iverson and Miller that sliced SMU's lead down to 40-27 with 3:33 left but GAC simply could not get a sustained run that might have cut things back to single digits. And a big part of that reason was that the Cardinals were particularly stingy on defense; often limiting the Gusties to one shot and making them take bad shots as well. Pairs of free throws by sophomore reserve post Sam Jones and Meredith had the lead back at sixteen at 46-30 with :37.6 left and, after a missed jumper by Miller with :12 left, Schaefer snared the defensive rebound and hustled down the floor for a drive and finish with just :00.8 left that not only gave SMU a healthy 48-30 halftime lead but also brought the house down at SMU's gymnasium as well. And that would not be the only time that Schaefer would do that on this night, either. A quick glance at the first half box revealed GAC's first half woes: 10-29 from FG range for a paltry 34.5%, an 18-13 edge in rebounding for the Cardinals, and the fact that SMU shot a blazing 14-23 for 60.9% from FG range and an even more amazing 6-8 performance from three-point land for 75%. Those numbers tell the story right there.
Down by 18 to begin the second half, the Gusties needed something - anything - that might give them a needed boost to get things going in the second half and get back to within striking distance. But, with their senior and emotional leader, Maddie Ehrich, relegated to the bench in street clothes, that boost would not be forthcoming. Schaefer drained another "3" from the right corner at the 18:40 mark and O'Toole scored in the paint at the 17:30 mark and got her fouled in the process as well and the obligatory free throw now gave the Cardinals a twenty-point cushion at 54-34. Jones was able to score in the paint off of an inbounds pass at the 17:05 mark and then Schaefer once again brought the SMU student section and fans to their feet with an explosion when, at the 16:32 mark, she did a sweet behind-the-back dribble to outmaneuver her opponent and connected with a lay-up that now made it a 58-34 game and the rout was officially on. The Cardinals maintained this 24-point edge over the next three minutes until GAC's Miller finally found the range behind the arc from the right wing area at the 13:13 mark that slimmed SMU's lead down to 64-45 but again, the Gusties simply could not mount anything consistent that might have even planted the faintest seeds of doubt amongst the Cardinals. Another 6-0 burst; a jumper from the FT line by Jones at the 12:33 mark along with two O'Toole freebies at the 12:09 mark along with a lay-up in transition by Schaefer at the 10:17 mark had the lead up to 25 at 70-45 and it would be smooth sailing the rest of the way.
Things would deteriorate even further for GAC when Miller; the Goodhue product already saddled with three fouls by this point, picked up her fourth foul with 8:33 left and then, out of sheer frustration more than anything else, picked up her fifth and final foul just a little more than thirty seconds later that relegated her to the bench for the rest of the evening. With the Gusties now in a fee-fall without their starting point guard on the floor, SMU was able to put it into cruise control mode the rest of the way. Up 75-50 after a Schaefer lay-up with 7:27 left, Brown scored on a drive and finish with 6:30 left and then two scores by Auseth - a short jumper with 5:57 left and a three-point bomb from the left wing with 5:32 left - ballooned the lead to 28 at 82-54. Schaefer put the exclamation point on her fabulous 26-point scoring performance on this night with a "3" from the right corner with 4:24 left for an 85-54 Cardinal lead. Both SMU Head Coach Mandy Pearson and the Gusties' Kelly unloaded their benches in the last few minutes that gave the reserves an opportunity to get their names in the book. Junior reserve post Anna Lundquist got the Gusties a score with 2:48 left with her bucket in the paint and sophomore reserve guard Brigette Audette added to the SMU total with one free throw with 1:27 left. GAC junior reserve forward Kelle Nett snared an offensive rebound with :51.9 left for a putback but, when the buzzer sounded and the carnage had finally been cleared, SMU had recorded a resounding 90-58 victory to advance to the MIAC Playoff semifinals on Thursday night.
I managed to get a minute with Schaefer afterward before she was snared away by friends to ask her what Pearson and her staff stressed to the team beforehand. "Defense!" she replied and the Gusties 19-51 FG shooting for 37.3% along with 21 GAC turnovers indicates that they fulfilled Pearson's wishes for this game to the hilt. This win tonight coupled with Augsburg's upset of Concordia in Moorhead on this night now sends the Cardinals to number-two seed Bethel for a semifinal tilt on Thursday night and I asked Pearson what was going to have to happen for them on Thursday night to knock off a great Bethel team. She stressed that another strong defensive performance is going to be critical to their hopes and, just as important, showing poise on the road is going to huge as well as she pointed out that Bethel is also a great defensive team that can make you take bad shots. It's kind of ironic when I think about it now but recently, in one of my recent MIAC power rankings, I made the point that SMU had to show me something. Well, on this night, they definitely showed me something and I was very, very impressed with what I saw. I couldn't help but point out to Pearson afterward that, once junior point guard Bridget Pethke gets healthy, she's going to have not only one but TWO very good point guards and that that is kind of a nice problem to have. She laughed in agreement but also pointed out that these two (Pethke and Schaefer) work very well together and are great teammates as well. Needless to say, you have to think that the Cardinals will be flying high again once Pethke is fully healed and ready to go. Can they beat Bethel on Thursday night? I can't put it past them; particularly if Schaefer has another breakout game like she did on this night.
Meanwhile, for the Gusties, what an incredibly disappointing finish to a season that saw them get off to a great start and win eight out of nine games in the period from early December through mid-January when they were playing their best basketball before the wheels started coming off for this young team. Ehrich's injury in that next-to-last regular season game with Macalester was the devastating final blow for GAC. The big question for me is who replaces Ehrich as that "leader" that the Gusties so desperately need? I don't know who that'll be off the top of my head......Maybe Miller might be best suited for that position but it's too early to tell at this point. But whoever it is, they'll be stepping into some very big shoes as Ehrich; in her one year as a Gustie, had a huge impact on this program and she'll be sorely missed. I'm just glad that she had an opportunity to do what she did. I asked Assistant Coach Dan Wolfe afterward what has to happen for GAC to be back in elite status. His reply was quite simple: "We have to go out and get some very good players and we have to make the players we have right now get better." I still think this team has a ton of potential for the future; especially going into next year with Johnson as a senior and the aforementioned Miller with a year of experience under her belt. At the same time, this conference keeps getting better as a whole so it will have to be more than just incremental improvements by GAC to get them over the hump.
Monday, February 23, 2015
MIAC Playoff Preview 2-23-15
Seems hard to believe that another MIAC regular season has come to a close yet here we are on the eve of the MIAC Playoffs. Things are not quite as complicated as they were last year but there's still some very interesting twists and turns that took place this last weekend that made things shake out the way they did and could possibly have an impact on how things turn out. So, here we go with a look at the six participants:
6. Augsburg - This is the first playoff appearance for Head Coach Bill McKee and his Augsburg program and, after just missing out the last few years the Auggies finally got over the hump and made the cut. Augsburg did better on the road this season than they have in the past few years; getting five wins although none of those road wins came against MIAC Playoff participants. They did beat Concordia at home back in mid-January and also scored a big win at home against likely UMAC winner Northwestern back in December. They get the rematch up at Moorhead again against the Concordia team that beat them this last Saturday and if the Auggies are going to advance, they have to get big production from their 1-2 punch of Jessica Lillquist and Bridget Bednar. And Abbey Luger not only has to score, she has to wreak havoc defensively as well. The good news for the Auggies is that the pressure really isn't on them so, presumably anyway, they should be able to roll the dice and take some calculated risks in their game against Concordia tomorrow night. The bad news is that the sixth seed historically has not done well in the MIAC Playoffs and that this is the Auggies first experience with it.
Sure sign of trouble - If the Auggies get down by double digits early. The Lillquist/Bednar duo has to control the paint and if they don't their experience will be a short one.
5. GAC - It seems like it was just yesterday that I had hopped on the Gustie Express; full of hope and promise that this young, exciting team would set the MIAC on fire on their way to the MIAC Championship Game and an invite to the Dance. But that fire and hope got doused and reality slowly began to sink in after Bethel came down to St. Peter and dumped the Gusties by a 65-52 count. UST came to town a week later and delivered their annual thumping and the hangover continued when GAC went to Hamline a few days later. The Gusties appeared to recover somewhat despite the loss up at Concordia and looked to be a firm lock at the number three spot. But then came the devastating ACL injury to senior guard Maddie Ehrich; arguably their leader on the floor, in the win over Macalester and then the inexplicable loss at home to CSB on Saturday that, because of the tie-breaker scenario, dropped GAC from the number three spot all the way down to the fifth spot. Yikes. This is NOT how I had envisioned things turning out for the Gusties yet this is exactly what happened and now it seems like the proverbial balloon has suddenly burst. I think the future is bright for this young team but the fix that they now find themselves in just too much to overcome; certainly without Ehrich anyway. Not that it's totally impossible, but it's unlikely. Somebody needs to step up for this team - right now - and I'm not sure just who that would be although you would have to think that Lindsey Johnson; given some the great performances that she had earlier in the season (particularly at St. Kate's) might be the logical choice. Freshman point guard Mikayla Miller has a ton of potential but for her to bear that burden at this stage would be a lot to ask. I wish I could offer a better prognosis for this team but unfortunately I can't.
Sure sign of trouble - If the Gusties come out with the same lack of intensity and energy that they showed in some of their losses this year, break out the violin.
4. SMU - The Cardinals have endured some of their own misfortunes as well this year after a fabulous season last year that saw them win the MIAC regular season title and host the MIAC Championship Game - and also get an invite to the Big Dance as well. But you had to figure that things would be a little rougher this year without last year's POY Courtney Euerle anchoring the post. What SMU could not have counted on, of course, was point guard Bridget Pethke going down with an ACL injury of her own that really set the tone for the rest of the season. Early February was a rough stretch and they had to go to overtime to hold off Concordia at home. Still, they have solid production on the floor with the likes of Shelby Auseth and understudy Emma Schaefer at the point guard spot. Freshman post Molly O'Toole is going to be a great one, no doubt about it. The Cardinals have been tough to beat in Winona; dropping only one conference game this year to Bethel back in early December but it has been an entirely different proposition on the road. In the final analysis, I can certainly see SMU holding serve at home against GAC tomorrow night but they'll almost certainly find the door slammed shut on them when they go up to UST.
Sure sign of trouble - If things suddenly start to go awry for them in the second half as they did up at CSB. They'll need to play a full 40 minutes - and possibly more - if they are to get to the semis.
3. Concordia - Not that it's necessarily a surprise to see the Cobbers holding the third spot. Rather, it's how they got into this position given the up-and-down season that they had. In the end, things worked out well for Jessica Rahman's team and the good news for them is that they get to host a playoff game in cavernous Memorial Auditorium where the prospects of coming out with a "W" are definitely in their favor. The funny thing is, I think Concordia would be a much more dangerous team to face if they were operating out of, say, the fifth spot; especially in a scenario if they were able to get a road win and get some big momentum going into the semis. Still, I doubt the Cobbers are complaining too much about the situation. They have the best three-point shooter in the conference in senior Alley Fisher and a solid starting rotation with several bench players who can contribute with good minutes. Senior Erin Januschka has had to bear the heavy responsibility of holding the post spot that was anchored by the now-graduated pair of Alex Lippert and Kelsey Walloch. If there's one dark horse in the MIAC Playoffs, it's this group and you can never count out a Jessica Rahman-coached team. Still, I have to think that someone other than Fisher or Erin Januschka is going to have to step up and have a huge game or two if Concordia is to do the unthinkable. And who might that be - Hannah Jeske? Olivia Johnson? Maybe Greta Walsh? I don't know. But someone has to, IMHO.
Sure sign of trouble - If Fisher's three-point bombs aren't falling early and Erin Januschka gets bottled up down low.
2. Bethel - The Royals took yet another step forward in moving into elite status; garnering a 20-win regular season that arguably could have and probably should have been more had it not been for a slip-up at St. Kate's and a one-point loss to Ashford back in early December. That road loss at CSB shortly after the first of the year is likely still a sore spot for Head Coach Jon Herbrecthsmeyer. Still, the impressive 11-game win streak set the tone for the Royals and, despite the loss at home to UST, they recovered against Carleton in the regular season finale to get themselves into a very good spot. They have one of the best post players in the conference in Rachel Parupsky who can not only score but swat shots and passes like a chaperone at a debutante outing. A solid backcourt duo with Hannah Niewald and Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz who can both drive to the hole and reign terror from behind the arc. Also, up and coming sophomore Shanni Moorse is definitely someone you want to keep your eye on as she has had some outstanding performances as of late. I think all they need to do is to win their semifinal game (likely against Concordia) and, with 21 wins, it's going to be very, very hard to keep them out of the Big Dance. A rematch with UST would almost undoubtedly be in the offing after that and this one would be at their place. Bethel has the ability to win this thing but, in order to do it, they're going to have to play a complete, clean game. It's as simple as that. But this is the chance they've been wanting to have and now they have it.
Sure sign of trouble - If they start giving up a bevy of three-pointers like they did in the loss to UST at home early on and if the turnover bugaboo rears its ugly head.
1. UST - Not too much negative you can find with a team that is 25-0 (18-0 MIAC) and currently ranked number two in the country. Let's just get this out of the way right now - The Tommies are one HELLUVA basketball team with very, VERY few weaknesses and if they're ever going to win the whole ball of wax, you would have to think that this would be the year to do it. You've got Maggie Weiers and Anna Smith; both heavily experienced veteran seniors, holding down the front line. A great point guard in Jen Dockter and a solid three-point threat in backcourt partner Katie Stone; not to mention a host of bench players who could easily be starters on a lot of teams in the conference. Yeah, they're THAT good. And, the only real scares they had were at home back after Thanksgiving against UW-Stevens Point and this last Wednesday night against Bethel and they found a way to win in both of those contests. For the most part, the Tommies have routinely plowed the road against their opponents and you would have to think that this pattern will hold until at least the MIAC Championship Game where they'll like have the rematch with Bethel. For UST, it's just a matter of staying focused and bringing the intensity and energy for each game. And, according to Head Coach Ruth Sinn, her squad LOVES this time of the year.
Sure sign of trouble - It may be a bit of a reach, but this team has a nasty little habit of fouling and getting a bit lackadaisical with the ball from time to time. The fouling aspect could be critical if they find themselves in a close one with Bethel in the MIAC Championship Game.
Well, there you have it. Fire away with thoughts.
6. Augsburg - This is the first playoff appearance for Head Coach Bill McKee and his Augsburg program and, after just missing out the last few years the Auggies finally got over the hump and made the cut. Augsburg did better on the road this season than they have in the past few years; getting five wins although none of those road wins came against MIAC Playoff participants. They did beat Concordia at home back in mid-January and also scored a big win at home against likely UMAC winner Northwestern back in December. They get the rematch up at Moorhead again against the Concordia team that beat them this last Saturday and if the Auggies are going to advance, they have to get big production from their 1-2 punch of Jessica Lillquist and Bridget Bednar. And Abbey Luger not only has to score, she has to wreak havoc defensively as well. The good news for the Auggies is that the pressure really isn't on them so, presumably anyway, they should be able to roll the dice and take some calculated risks in their game against Concordia tomorrow night. The bad news is that the sixth seed historically has not done well in the MIAC Playoffs and that this is the Auggies first experience with it.
Sure sign of trouble - If the Auggies get down by double digits early. The Lillquist/Bednar duo has to control the paint and if they don't their experience will be a short one.
5. GAC - It seems like it was just yesterday that I had hopped on the Gustie Express; full of hope and promise that this young, exciting team would set the MIAC on fire on their way to the MIAC Championship Game and an invite to the Dance. But that fire and hope got doused and reality slowly began to sink in after Bethel came down to St. Peter and dumped the Gusties by a 65-52 count. UST came to town a week later and delivered their annual thumping and the hangover continued when GAC went to Hamline a few days later. The Gusties appeared to recover somewhat despite the loss up at Concordia and looked to be a firm lock at the number three spot. But then came the devastating ACL injury to senior guard Maddie Ehrich; arguably their leader on the floor, in the win over Macalester and then the inexplicable loss at home to CSB on Saturday that, because of the tie-breaker scenario, dropped GAC from the number three spot all the way down to the fifth spot. Yikes. This is NOT how I had envisioned things turning out for the Gusties yet this is exactly what happened and now it seems like the proverbial balloon has suddenly burst. I think the future is bright for this young team but the fix that they now find themselves in just too much to overcome; certainly without Ehrich anyway. Not that it's totally impossible, but it's unlikely. Somebody needs to step up for this team - right now - and I'm not sure just who that would be although you would have to think that Lindsey Johnson; given some the great performances that she had earlier in the season (particularly at St. Kate's) might be the logical choice. Freshman point guard Mikayla Miller has a ton of potential but for her to bear that burden at this stage would be a lot to ask. I wish I could offer a better prognosis for this team but unfortunately I can't.
Sure sign of trouble - If the Gusties come out with the same lack of intensity and energy that they showed in some of their losses this year, break out the violin.
4. SMU - The Cardinals have endured some of their own misfortunes as well this year after a fabulous season last year that saw them win the MIAC regular season title and host the MIAC Championship Game - and also get an invite to the Big Dance as well. But you had to figure that things would be a little rougher this year without last year's POY Courtney Euerle anchoring the post. What SMU could not have counted on, of course, was point guard Bridget Pethke going down with an ACL injury of her own that really set the tone for the rest of the season. Early February was a rough stretch and they had to go to overtime to hold off Concordia at home. Still, they have solid production on the floor with the likes of Shelby Auseth and understudy Emma Schaefer at the point guard spot. Freshman post Molly O'Toole is going to be a great one, no doubt about it. The Cardinals have been tough to beat in Winona; dropping only one conference game this year to Bethel back in early December but it has been an entirely different proposition on the road. In the final analysis, I can certainly see SMU holding serve at home against GAC tomorrow night but they'll almost certainly find the door slammed shut on them when they go up to UST.
Sure sign of trouble - If things suddenly start to go awry for them in the second half as they did up at CSB. They'll need to play a full 40 minutes - and possibly more - if they are to get to the semis.
3. Concordia - Not that it's necessarily a surprise to see the Cobbers holding the third spot. Rather, it's how they got into this position given the up-and-down season that they had. In the end, things worked out well for Jessica Rahman's team and the good news for them is that they get to host a playoff game in cavernous Memorial Auditorium where the prospects of coming out with a "W" are definitely in their favor. The funny thing is, I think Concordia would be a much more dangerous team to face if they were operating out of, say, the fifth spot; especially in a scenario if they were able to get a road win and get some big momentum going into the semis. Still, I doubt the Cobbers are complaining too much about the situation. They have the best three-point shooter in the conference in senior Alley Fisher and a solid starting rotation with several bench players who can contribute with good minutes. Senior Erin Januschka has had to bear the heavy responsibility of holding the post spot that was anchored by the now-graduated pair of Alex Lippert and Kelsey Walloch. If there's one dark horse in the MIAC Playoffs, it's this group and you can never count out a Jessica Rahman-coached team. Still, I have to think that someone other than Fisher or Erin Januschka is going to have to step up and have a huge game or two if Concordia is to do the unthinkable. And who might that be - Hannah Jeske? Olivia Johnson? Maybe Greta Walsh? I don't know. But someone has to, IMHO.
Sure sign of trouble - If Fisher's three-point bombs aren't falling early and Erin Januschka gets bottled up down low.
2. Bethel - The Royals took yet another step forward in moving into elite status; garnering a 20-win regular season that arguably could have and probably should have been more had it not been for a slip-up at St. Kate's and a one-point loss to Ashford back in early December. That road loss at CSB shortly after the first of the year is likely still a sore spot for Head Coach Jon Herbrecthsmeyer. Still, the impressive 11-game win streak set the tone for the Royals and, despite the loss at home to UST, they recovered against Carleton in the regular season finale to get themselves into a very good spot. They have one of the best post players in the conference in Rachel Parupsky who can not only score but swat shots and passes like a chaperone at a debutante outing. A solid backcourt duo with Hannah Niewald and Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz who can both drive to the hole and reign terror from behind the arc. Also, up and coming sophomore Shanni Moorse is definitely someone you want to keep your eye on as she has had some outstanding performances as of late. I think all they need to do is to win their semifinal game (likely against Concordia) and, with 21 wins, it's going to be very, very hard to keep them out of the Big Dance. A rematch with UST would almost undoubtedly be in the offing after that and this one would be at their place. Bethel has the ability to win this thing but, in order to do it, they're going to have to play a complete, clean game. It's as simple as that. But this is the chance they've been wanting to have and now they have it.
Sure sign of trouble - If they start giving up a bevy of three-pointers like they did in the loss to UST at home early on and if the turnover bugaboo rears its ugly head.
1. UST - Not too much negative you can find with a team that is 25-0 (18-0 MIAC) and currently ranked number two in the country. Let's just get this out of the way right now - The Tommies are one HELLUVA basketball team with very, VERY few weaknesses and if they're ever going to win the whole ball of wax, you would have to think that this would be the year to do it. You've got Maggie Weiers and Anna Smith; both heavily experienced veteran seniors, holding down the front line. A great point guard in Jen Dockter and a solid three-point threat in backcourt partner Katie Stone; not to mention a host of bench players who could easily be starters on a lot of teams in the conference. Yeah, they're THAT good. And, the only real scares they had were at home back after Thanksgiving against UW-Stevens Point and this last Wednesday night against Bethel and they found a way to win in both of those contests. For the most part, the Tommies have routinely plowed the road against their opponents and you would have to think that this pattern will hold until at least the MIAC Championship Game where they'll like have the rematch with Bethel. For UST, it's just a matter of staying focused and bringing the intensity and energy for each game. And, according to Head Coach Ruth Sinn, her squad LOVES this time of the year.
Sure sign of trouble - It may be a bit of a reach, but this team has a nasty little habit of fouling and getting a bit lackadaisical with the ball from time to time. The fouling aspect could be critical if they find themselves in a close one with Bethel in the MIAC Championship Game.
Well, there you have it. Fire away with thoughts.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
MIAC Power Rankings For Sunday 2-22-15
Here's the final power rankings for the regular season just completed yesterday:
1. UST
2. Bethel
3. (tie) GAC & Concordia
4. SMU
5. Augsburg
6. CSB
7. (tie) Hamline & St. Olaf
8. St. Kate's
9. Carleton
10. Macalester
This last round of power rankings was not as easy as it looked just from glancing at the final MIAC regular season standings. UST, clearly head and shoulders above everyone else is firmly entrenched at the number one spot and Bethel, despite having its eleven-game win streak snapped by the Tommies on Wednesday night, recovered on Saturday to beat Carleton and remains comfortably at the number two position. I have to believe that last Wednesday night's game between the two teams was undoubtedly a preview of things to come in the upcoming MIAC playoffs and I would be shocked if these two don't duke it out again in the MIAC Championship game next Saturday.
But after that, things get pretty convaluted and the Gusties must still be wandering around the town of St. Peter wondering WTF just happened. WHAT an absolutely disastrous regular season finish and entry into the MIAC Playoffs for the Black & Gold. Yes, they did get the expected win this last Wednesday night at home against Macalester but it may have been a pyrrhic victory at best as senior guard Maddie Ehrich went down with an ACL injury effectively ending her career. A damn bloody shame beyond the obvious but, just as bad for the Gusties, they fell flat on their collective faces yesterday at home against visiting CSB and dropped a costly, costly 69-60 decision that not only cost them at having third place alone in the final standings but also knocked them out of what looked to be a sure bet at a number three seed AND a home playoff game all the way down to the number five seed because of the funky tie-breaker system the MIAC employed. It was simply the worst-case scenario nightmare unfolding for the Gusties. While the injury to Ehrich is a devastating loss without question, GAC, IMHO, should have been able to take care of business at home yesterday against CSB which was playing nothing more than a spoiler role (and oh, did they EVER spoil things for GAC) and they failed to do so. With that, the Cobbers, by virtue of their wins this last week including yesterday's home win against Augsburg, slide up to share the third spot in my power rankings with GAC and, more importantly, secure the number three seed and a home game in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs. The other big beneficiary of GAC's misfortunes in all this is SMU and they recovered just enough to salvage what was becoming a disastrous finish to bag wins against bottom-feeders Carleton and Macalester to get the number four spot in my power rankings and - more importantly - the number four seed in the MIAC Playoffs and a home game against the aforementioned GAC team this coming Tuesday night.
A big congratulations is in the offing for Augsburg for securing that sixth playoff spot by virtue of their big win up in St. Joe against CSB this last Wednesday night; the first playoff appearance ever for the Auggies. It's definitely a big step forward for Head Coach Bill McKee's program that has been on the cusp of breaking through the last few years. While yesterday's win at GAC may have smoothed things over a bit for CSB, the Blazers still have to be the biggest disappointment in the MIAC for the second straight season given the collection of talent they have and missing the MIAC Playoffs for the second year in a row has to be an almost unthinkable proposition for a CSB program accustomed to success. St. Olaf predictably came up short at the most critical times this season and Hamline simply wasn't the same once Jordan Sammons was knocked out of action with that broken finger. The big surprise coming down the stretch may have been resurgent St. Kate's which finished the season with three straight victories after enduring a nine-game skid.
Tomorrow, I'll handicap the upcoming MIAC Playoffs and give my prognostications for each of the six teams involved. Should be fun as always.
Fire away with thoughts.
1. UST
2. Bethel
3. (tie) GAC & Concordia
4. SMU
5. Augsburg
6. CSB
7. (tie) Hamline & St. Olaf
8. St. Kate's
9. Carleton
10. Macalester
This last round of power rankings was not as easy as it looked just from glancing at the final MIAC regular season standings. UST, clearly head and shoulders above everyone else is firmly entrenched at the number one spot and Bethel, despite having its eleven-game win streak snapped by the Tommies on Wednesday night, recovered on Saturday to beat Carleton and remains comfortably at the number two position. I have to believe that last Wednesday night's game between the two teams was undoubtedly a preview of things to come in the upcoming MIAC playoffs and I would be shocked if these two don't duke it out again in the MIAC Championship game next Saturday.
But after that, things get pretty convaluted and the Gusties must still be wandering around the town of St. Peter wondering WTF just happened. WHAT an absolutely disastrous regular season finish and entry into the MIAC Playoffs for the Black & Gold. Yes, they did get the expected win this last Wednesday night at home against Macalester but it may have been a pyrrhic victory at best as senior guard Maddie Ehrich went down with an ACL injury effectively ending her career. A damn bloody shame beyond the obvious but, just as bad for the Gusties, they fell flat on their collective faces yesterday at home against visiting CSB and dropped a costly, costly 69-60 decision that not only cost them at having third place alone in the final standings but also knocked them out of what looked to be a sure bet at a number three seed AND a home playoff game all the way down to the number five seed because of the funky tie-breaker system the MIAC employed. It was simply the worst-case scenario nightmare unfolding for the Gusties. While the injury to Ehrich is a devastating loss without question, GAC, IMHO, should have been able to take care of business at home yesterday against CSB which was playing nothing more than a spoiler role (and oh, did they EVER spoil things for GAC) and they failed to do so. With that, the Cobbers, by virtue of their wins this last week including yesterday's home win against Augsburg, slide up to share the third spot in my power rankings with GAC and, more importantly, secure the number three seed and a home game in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs. The other big beneficiary of GAC's misfortunes in all this is SMU and they recovered just enough to salvage what was becoming a disastrous finish to bag wins against bottom-feeders Carleton and Macalester to get the number four spot in my power rankings and - more importantly - the number four seed in the MIAC Playoffs and a home game against the aforementioned GAC team this coming Tuesday night.
A big congratulations is in the offing for Augsburg for securing that sixth playoff spot by virtue of their big win up in St. Joe against CSB this last Wednesday night; the first playoff appearance ever for the Auggies. It's definitely a big step forward for Head Coach Bill McKee's program that has been on the cusp of breaking through the last few years. While yesterday's win at GAC may have smoothed things over a bit for CSB, the Blazers still have to be the biggest disappointment in the MIAC for the second straight season given the collection of talent they have and missing the MIAC Playoffs for the second year in a row has to be an almost unthinkable proposition for a CSB program accustomed to success. St. Olaf predictably came up short at the most critical times this season and Hamline simply wasn't the same once Jordan Sammons was knocked out of action with that broken finger. The big surprise coming down the stretch may have been resurgent St. Kate's which finished the season with three straight victories after enduring a nine-game skid.
Tomorrow, I'll handicap the upcoming MIAC Playoffs and give my prognostications for each of the six teams involved. Should be fun as always.
Fire away with thoughts.
Crown vs Northwestern Synopsis 2-21-15
I made the short hop from Bethel's Robertson Center over to Northwestern's Ericksen Center to catch what I could of the 3:00 P.M. game between visiting Crown and host Northwestern. I got settled in right before halftime with Crown holding a 30-28 lead.
Given the fact that Crown came into this contest with a 3-21 record (3-10 in UMAC play), I had pretty much assumed that the Eagles would have been cruising along to an easy win on this Senior Day that honored seniors Chanel Madson and Jacki Smith. Instead, the Storm, playing with nothing to lose, was giving Northwestern fits and the Eagles; trailing 30-26 in the last minute of first half play, got a bit reprieve when freshman reserve guard Jessica Cole connected on a lay-up with :22 left to narrow the deficit to two points trailing 30-28. Maybe it was the hangover Northwestern was experiencing over last night's thrilling win over UM-Morris that left them emotionally depleted. Maybe it was because the Eagles simply took Crown a bit lightly on this day. In any event, Northwestern needed to come out in the second half with a renewed determination, intensity and a sense of urgency as well once the second half got underway. And the Eagles did just that. Smith got into the paint for a score at the 19:48 mark that knotted the score at 30-all and sophomore guard Tiffany Stubbs put Northwestern up for good with her drive and finish at the 19:19 mark. A Madson "3" from the right wing at the 18:40 mark had the Eagles up 35-30 and Storm Head Coach Kevin Boozikee; sensing that things were getting out of hand for his squad, called a timeout to assess the situation and to get his team calmed down. But Northwestern would put the finishing touches on this all-important 10-0 burst when the lanky Smith uncorked a "3" from the left top area and got fouled in the process as well and although the ensuing freebie attempt missed its intended mark, the Eagles now possessed a 38-30 advantage and the tide had clearly turned. Crown, with its back now to the wall, tried to make inroads on the deficit. Sophomore guard Jessica Klaustermeier connected with a lay-up at the 16:50 mark and fellow sophomore guard Desiree Davis knocked down a short jumper at the 15:52 mark that narrowed Northwestern's lead to 39-34. But back-to-back Madson treys - one from the right top area at the 15:01 mark and another from the left top area at the 14:31 mark - now had the Eagles up 45-34 and Boozikee had to burn his second timeout for the Storm.
Two free throws by freshman post Madison Stricklin briefly had the Storm back in single-digit range; trailing 45-36 at the 13:34 mark but two free throws by Cole at the 13:05 mark and a score in the paint by sophomore reserve forward Emily Van Lith increased Northwestern's lead to 49-36 at the 12:23 mark. Two free throws by junior forward Kim Campbell at the 10:33 mark and an offensive rebound and putback of a missed lay-up in transition by Cole at the 10:11 mark now made it a fifteen-point lead at 53-38. A score in the paint by junior post Regan Cooper maintained the fifteen-point cushion at 55-40 and the collective frustration on the Crown team began spilling over when Boozikee had an animated discussion with the officials on some of the calls and no-calls being made. Back-to-back scores by Davis - one free throw with 5:55 left and a drive and finish off of an inbounds pass with 5:42 left - cut the Eagles lead down to eleven at 57-46 but a Stubbs "3" from the left corner with 5:29 left jumped the Northwestern lead back up to fourteen at 60-46 and the Storm simply was unable to mount a consistent offensive threat. Davis did get one charity stripe to go down with 3:56 left and a "3" by freshman guard Andrea Besa from the right top area did get the deficit back down to ten trailing 62-52 but the Eagles were able to make one last step on the gas pedal to secure the victory. Madson connected with a lay-up in transition with 2:29 left for a 64-52 lead and then the Westbrook native connected on a lay-up in transition with 1:38 left that got her fouled as well. The obligatory freebie sealed Crown's fate and free throws in the waning seconds gave the Eagles a 71-56 win - and a share of the UMAC regular season title as well with UM-Morris. More importantly, the win also gives Northwestern the number one seed in the upcoming UMAC Playoffs this next week.
A very happy celebratory Eagle Head Coach Aaron Kahl explained that he told his team to loosen up and play its game and have fun out there in the second half - and it worked. Kahl felt that his team was perhaps a bit uptight after the hard-fought victory over UM-Morris on Friday night but, to their credit, the Eagles responded with a big second half; especially Madson. Now the UMAC Playoffs loom ahead and Northwestern will be hosting Martin Luther; a team the Eagles swept during the regular season. I asked Kahl how big that is taking on a team for a third time in a season and Kahl shrugged off any notion that his Northwestern team would be prohibitive favorites. "It's the playoffs now!" Kahl responded.
Given the fact that Crown came into this contest with a 3-21 record (3-10 in UMAC play), I had pretty much assumed that the Eagles would have been cruising along to an easy win on this Senior Day that honored seniors Chanel Madson and Jacki Smith. Instead, the Storm, playing with nothing to lose, was giving Northwestern fits and the Eagles; trailing 30-26 in the last minute of first half play, got a bit reprieve when freshman reserve guard Jessica Cole connected on a lay-up with :22 left to narrow the deficit to two points trailing 30-28. Maybe it was the hangover Northwestern was experiencing over last night's thrilling win over UM-Morris that left them emotionally depleted. Maybe it was because the Eagles simply took Crown a bit lightly on this day. In any event, Northwestern needed to come out in the second half with a renewed determination, intensity and a sense of urgency as well once the second half got underway. And the Eagles did just that. Smith got into the paint for a score at the 19:48 mark that knotted the score at 30-all and sophomore guard Tiffany Stubbs put Northwestern up for good with her drive and finish at the 19:19 mark. A Madson "3" from the right wing at the 18:40 mark had the Eagles up 35-30 and Storm Head Coach Kevin Boozikee; sensing that things were getting out of hand for his squad, called a timeout to assess the situation and to get his team calmed down. But Northwestern would put the finishing touches on this all-important 10-0 burst when the lanky Smith uncorked a "3" from the left top area and got fouled in the process as well and although the ensuing freebie attempt missed its intended mark, the Eagles now possessed a 38-30 advantage and the tide had clearly turned. Crown, with its back now to the wall, tried to make inroads on the deficit. Sophomore guard Jessica Klaustermeier connected with a lay-up at the 16:50 mark and fellow sophomore guard Desiree Davis knocked down a short jumper at the 15:52 mark that narrowed Northwestern's lead to 39-34. But back-to-back Madson treys - one from the right top area at the 15:01 mark and another from the left top area at the 14:31 mark - now had the Eagles up 45-34 and Boozikee had to burn his second timeout for the Storm.
Two free throws by freshman post Madison Stricklin briefly had the Storm back in single-digit range; trailing 45-36 at the 13:34 mark but two free throws by Cole at the 13:05 mark and a score in the paint by sophomore reserve forward Emily Van Lith increased Northwestern's lead to 49-36 at the 12:23 mark. Two free throws by junior forward Kim Campbell at the 10:33 mark and an offensive rebound and putback of a missed lay-up in transition by Cole at the 10:11 mark now made it a fifteen-point lead at 53-38. A score in the paint by junior post Regan Cooper maintained the fifteen-point cushion at 55-40 and the collective frustration on the Crown team began spilling over when Boozikee had an animated discussion with the officials on some of the calls and no-calls being made. Back-to-back scores by Davis - one free throw with 5:55 left and a drive and finish off of an inbounds pass with 5:42 left - cut the Eagles lead down to eleven at 57-46 but a Stubbs "3" from the left corner with 5:29 left jumped the Northwestern lead back up to fourteen at 60-46 and the Storm simply was unable to mount a consistent offensive threat. Davis did get one charity stripe to go down with 3:56 left and a "3" by freshman guard Andrea Besa from the right top area did get the deficit back down to ten trailing 62-52 but the Eagles were able to make one last step on the gas pedal to secure the victory. Madson connected with a lay-up in transition with 2:29 left for a 64-52 lead and then the Westbrook native connected on a lay-up in transition with 1:38 left that got her fouled as well. The obligatory freebie sealed Crown's fate and free throws in the waning seconds gave the Eagles a 71-56 win - and a share of the UMAC regular season title as well with UM-Morris. More importantly, the win also gives Northwestern the number one seed in the upcoming UMAC Playoffs this next week.
A very happy celebratory Eagle Head Coach Aaron Kahl explained that he told his team to loosen up and play its game and have fun out there in the second half - and it worked. Kahl felt that his team was perhaps a bit uptight after the hard-fought victory over UM-Morris on Friday night but, to their credit, the Eagles responded with a big second half; especially Madson. Now the UMAC Playoffs loom ahead and Northwestern will be hosting Martin Luther; a team the Eagles swept during the regular season. I asked Kahl how big that is taking on a team for a third time in a season and Kahl shrugged off any notion that his Northwestern team would be prohibitive favorites. "It's the playoffs now!" Kahl responded.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Carleton vs Bethel 2-21-15
Made my way back over to Bethel's Robertson Center on this Saturday for the regular season finale as the Carleton Knights made their way up I-35 and the Union Pacific's "Spine Line" mainline to the Twin Cities to take on host Bethel. This would be my first and only look at the Knights this season and, although they were coming into this game with an 8-15 record (6-10 in the MIAC), I knew they had potential to raise the level of their game and were much better than their record. For Bethel, I wanted to see how they would respond after Wednesday night's tough loss at the hands of mighty UST and if there might be any hangover from that game. This was also Senior Day at Bethel as three Royals players were playing their last regular season home game - Lisa O'Connor, Kailey Eid and Lindy Parker. Additionally, Robertson Center was provided with an additional treat on this day as well. We all know what a great shot blocker and scorer junior post Rachel Parupsky is but what I didn't know is that this girl can sing as well and she did a sparkling rendition of the National Anthem that fired up the crowd prior to tip-off.
But once the game commenced, it would be Carleton who would come out on a high note. Senior guard Skylar Tsutsui helped the Knights draw first blood as she drained a "3" from the left corner at the 18:44 mark. A jumper in the lane by junior guard Michele Arima at the 17:45 mark and a "3" from the left wing by fellow junior guard Gabby Stienstra made it an 8-4 game. Bethel cut the Knight lead to 8-6 on a lay-up by junior guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz at the 16:50 mark but Arima would strike again for Carleton at the 16:34 mark when she slithered into the paint for a score and a 10-6 ballgame. A Schultz "3" from the top of the key at the 16:10 mark once again cut the Knight lead down to a scant point at 10-9 but another Tsutsui "3"; this one from the left wing area at the 15:43 mark put the lead back to four at 13-9 and Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer had seen enough to know that his squad was not getting the job done on defense and during the timeout he gave his squad an earful about not getting out to defend the "3"; the almost exact same scenario that unfolded against UST three nights earlier. That talking to definitely proved to be the fire that needed to be lit for Bethel as the Royals responded with a 16-0 run over the next five minutes. Sophomore guard Shanni Moorse; who had that fabulous 18-point performance in the losing effort against UST on Wednesday night, got the ball rolling with her "3" from the left corner at the 15:30 mark and a score in the paint by Parupsky gave the Royals their first lead of the game at 14-13 at the 14:47 mark. Sophomore forward Kalli Zimmerman snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 14:28 mark for a 16-13 Bethel lead and an alarmed Carleton Head Coach Cassie Kosiba wasted no time in calling a halt to the action to try and stem the tide that had suddenly turned against her team. But the Royals were just getting warmed up on this venture. Another Parupsky score in the paint coupled with one Moorse freebie and a score in the paint by Parker now made it a 21-13 game and Kosiba took a match to the Knights second timeout of the first half. A Zimmerman lay-up at the 11:22 mark that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw and a drive along the left baseline and pretty one-handed floater by junior guard Hannah Niewald at the 10:58 mark finished the run and now had Bethel up 26-13. Presumably, the early cobwebs had been shaken off for good.
Carleton managed to climb back to within single digits on two Steinstra free throws at the 10:18 mark along with an offensive rebound and putback of her own miss by freshman post Kayla Frank that made it a 26-17 ballgame with 9:43 left. The Knights would cut the deficit to seven at 26-19 on Tsutsui's drive into the lane and finish with 9:08 left but Bethel appeared to be on the upswing again as Parupsky knocked down two freebies with 8:20 left and then snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 7:29 left that made it a ten-point 30-20 lead. Parker's offensive rebound for a putback increased the margin to twelve at 32-20 with 7:15 left and the Royals forged their largest lead of the day at 36-22 when Parupsky connected on a nifty short turn-around jumper with 6:08 left. By this point, Bethel was on verge of blowing this one open but instead the Royals appeared to get a bit complacent and they unwittingly opened a door for Carleton to get right back into the ballgame. A short shot Tsutsui with 5:41 left and a jumper by freshman reserve forward Katherine Miles from the free throw line with 4:04 left trimmed the Bethel lead to 38-26. With 3:34 left, freshman reserve forward Sarah Waldfogel connected with a jumper from the free throw line as well that slimmed the Royals lead down to 38-28. Bethel looked like it might get a bit of a spark when sophomore reserve guard Anna Munsterteiger made a hard drive and finish with 3:17 left and when Niewald was fouled with 2:07 left the Royals found themselves in the bonus along with a 40-30 lead. But Niewald couldn't knock down the front end and the Knights embarked on a 8-0 flurry in the course of a little over a minute that completely changed the complexion of the contest. A Steinstra "3" from the left corner with 1:57 left and a drive and finish by freshman reserve guard and Los Angeles native Wendy Lo with 1:31 left cut Bethel's lead down to five at 40-35. With :51.4 left, Steinstra made a hard drive and finish and got fouled in the process as well and the obligatory free throw suddenly made it a one-possession game at 40-38. A score in the paint by Parupsky with :43 left stopped the bleeding by the Royals but that nice cushion and momentum that Bethel had hoped to take into the locker room at the half had vanished into thin air as Carleton now found themselves down by only four at 42-38.
For the Knights and Kosiba and her staff, this had to be a beautiful situation to be in because Carleton, with nothing to lose, could play loose and leave it all out there on the court with no real consequences. And they had been able to recover when down double digits by the midway point of the first half. Just as she had in the first half, Tsutsui, in her last game of her great Carleton career, drew the first blood of the second half with a drive and finish at the 19:49 mark and a "3" from the left wing area at the 18:24 mark by the Northridge, California native now had the Knights back out in front 43-42. Bethel would get the lead back on Moorse's short shot off of an inbounds pass at the 18:02 mark but an Arima jumper in the lane with 17:31 left and another Tsutsui "3" from the left top area at the 16:13 mark now had Carleton up 48-44 and a shell-shocked Bethel home crowd was now on edge. The Knights would still maintain a four-point edge at 52-48 on Tsutsui's drive and finish off the glass at the 14:18 mark but Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer avoided reaching for the panic button and calling a timeout and the Royals were able to find a way to dig down and rise to the occasion. Back-to-back scores in the paint by Parupsky - one at the 13:52 mark and another at the 12:43 mark - knotted the score at 52-all and a Schultz trey from the left corner at the 11:48 mark had Bethel up 55-52. Tsutsui would try and save the day for Carleton with back-to-back scores of her own - a drive and finish at the 11:26 mark and a "3" from the left wing at the 11:00 mark that had the Knights back out in front again by a count of 57-55. Both sides would trade one-point leads on their ensuing possessions but another Schultz "3" - this one from the right top area at the 10:12 mark - had the Royals back up for good at 61-59.
Still, Bethel was far from being out of the woods just yet as a slim lead and a pesky Carleton team made things very uncertain and things became even more troublesome when Zimmerman got tagged with her fourth foul of the day with 8:58 left and was forced to sit a spell on the bench. Much to the relief of the home crowd, though, the Royals were able sail through potential disaster and get into slightly calmer waters. A Parker jumper along the right baseline with 8:02 left and a Niewald lay-up with 7:29 left gave Bethel a five-point lead at 67-62 and, although the Knights were able to close the gap to one point again on scores by Lo, Miles and Frank, the critical juncture seemed to come at the 5:41 mark when Niewald was fouled. The Fridley native knocked down the first freebie and, although the second attempt was errant, she was able to snare the long rebound and get the ball to Parupsky who connected with a jumper in the lane with 5:36 left to forge a 72-68 Royals lead. Both Zimmerman and Niewald were able to get one free throw to go down on their attempts with 4:53 and 3:58 left, respectively. A Zimmerman drive and finish with 3:21 left had Bethel up 76-70 and still another Schultz trey - this one from the left corner with 2:20 left after the Royals snared three offensive rebounds in one possession, were the paving to ultimate victory. Steinstra tried to delay the inevitable with her jumper from the left elbow with 1:58 left but a short jumper by Niewald with 1:01 left kept the margin at seven at 81-74 and now Carleton was forced to foul at every opportunity. With Bethel in the double-bonus, the Royals were able to keep the Knights at bay. Two Moorse free throws with :41.5 left and a Schultz free throw with :31.3 left increased the lead to eight at 84-76. Tsutsui got the last points of her great Carleton career on one freebie with :15.7 left but it would not be nearly enough as Bethel came through with an 84-77 victory to garner their 20th win of the season.
Both Bethel Assistant Coach Steve Reiter and Herbrechtsmeyer expressed some disappointment with some of the inconsistent play of their squad during the game; particularly in the early going when they just didn't seem to have the energy or intensity needed. While the turnover margin was markedly improved in this outing, free throw shooting was still a sore spot for the Bethel staff; only marginally better at 19-30 for 63.3%. Herbrechtsmeyer also pointed out Carleton's shooting percentage at 28-52 for 53.8% and noted that his squad normally plays defense better than that. I asked Herbrectsmeyer, as his Royals get a bit of a respite before preparing for next week Thursday night's semifinal playoff game, on what they had to do to prepare, he replied quite simply, "Be better". The Knights meanwhile, ended their season with an 8-17 record and 6-12 in the MIAC and also now have to bid a fond farewell to Tsutsui who has done so much for this Carleton program in her four years there. Kosiba echoed those sentiments afterward and I asked her if she felt this squad took a step forward this year. Kosiba felt that they definitely had and she feels that this team is slowly but surely taking steps in the right direction. She also pointed to her young underclassmen and bubbled with enthusiasm about the things they are poised to do. Whether or not the Knights can return to their glory days that they enjoyed back in the early- and mid-2000's remains to be seen. Depth is still an issue and these young players still have to develop a little more. But Kosiba; who was on one of those early great Carleton teams, knows what it takes and will not rest until the Knights get there.
But once the game commenced, it would be Carleton who would come out on a high note. Senior guard Skylar Tsutsui helped the Knights draw first blood as she drained a "3" from the left corner at the 18:44 mark. A jumper in the lane by junior guard Michele Arima at the 17:45 mark and a "3" from the left wing by fellow junior guard Gabby Stienstra made it an 8-4 game. Bethel cut the Knight lead to 8-6 on a lay-up by junior guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz at the 16:50 mark but Arima would strike again for Carleton at the 16:34 mark when she slithered into the paint for a score and a 10-6 ballgame. A Schultz "3" from the top of the key at the 16:10 mark once again cut the Knight lead down to a scant point at 10-9 but another Tsutsui "3"; this one from the left wing area at the 15:43 mark put the lead back to four at 13-9 and Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer had seen enough to know that his squad was not getting the job done on defense and during the timeout he gave his squad an earful about not getting out to defend the "3"; the almost exact same scenario that unfolded against UST three nights earlier. That talking to definitely proved to be the fire that needed to be lit for Bethel as the Royals responded with a 16-0 run over the next five minutes. Sophomore guard Shanni Moorse; who had that fabulous 18-point performance in the losing effort against UST on Wednesday night, got the ball rolling with her "3" from the left corner at the 15:30 mark and a score in the paint by Parupsky gave the Royals their first lead of the game at 14-13 at the 14:47 mark. Sophomore forward Kalli Zimmerman snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 14:28 mark for a 16-13 Bethel lead and an alarmed Carleton Head Coach Cassie Kosiba wasted no time in calling a halt to the action to try and stem the tide that had suddenly turned against her team. But the Royals were just getting warmed up on this venture. Another Parupsky score in the paint coupled with one Moorse freebie and a score in the paint by Parker now made it a 21-13 game and Kosiba took a match to the Knights second timeout of the first half. A Zimmerman lay-up at the 11:22 mark that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw and a drive along the left baseline and pretty one-handed floater by junior guard Hannah Niewald at the 10:58 mark finished the run and now had Bethel up 26-13. Presumably, the early cobwebs had been shaken off for good.
Carleton managed to climb back to within single digits on two Steinstra free throws at the 10:18 mark along with an offensive rebound and putback of her own miss by freshman post Kayla Frank that made it a 26-17 ballgame with 9:43 left. The Knights would cut the deficit to seven at 26-19 on Tsutsui's drive into the lane and finish with 9:08 left but Bethel appeared to be on the upswing again as Parupsky knocked down two freebies with 8:20 left and then snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 7:29 left that made it a ten-point 30-20 lead. Parker's offensive rebound for a putback increased the margin to twelve at 32-20 with 7:15 left and the Royals forged their largest lead of the day at 36-22 when Parupsky connected on a nifty short turn-around jumper with 6:08 left. By this point, Bethel was on verge of blowing this one open but instead the Royals appeared to get a bit complacent and they unwittingly opened a door for Carleton to get right back into the ballgame. A short shot Tsutsui with 5:41 left and a jumper by freshman reserve forward Katherine Miles from the free throw line with 4:04 left trimmed the Bethel lead to 38-26. With 3:34 left, freshman reserve forward Sarah Waldfogel connected with a jumper from the free throw line as well that slimmed the Royals lead down to 38-28. Bethel looked like it might get a bit of a spark when sophomore reserve guard Anna Munsterteiger made a hard drive and finish with 3:17 left and when Niewald was fouled with 2:07 left the Royals found themselves in the bonus along with a 40-30 lead. But Niewald couldn't knock down the front end and the Knights embarked on a 8-0 flurry in the course of a little over a minute that completely changed the complexion of the contest. A Steinstra "3" from the left corner with 1:57 left and a drive and finish by freshman reserve guard and Los Angeles native Wendy Lo with 1:31 left cut Bethel's lead down to five at 40-35. With :51.4 left, Steinstra made a hard drive and finish and got fouled in the process as well and the obligatory free throw suddenly made it a one-possession game at 40-38. A score in the paint by Parupsky with :43 left stopped the bleeding by the Royals but that nice cushion and momentum that Bethel had hoped to take into the locker room at the half had vanished into thin air as Carleton now found themselves down by only four at 42-38.
For the Knights and Kosiba and her staff, this had to be a beautiful situation to be in because Carleton, with nothing to lose, could play loose and leave it all out there on the court with no real consequences. And they had been able to recover when down double digits by the midway point of the first half. Just as she had in the first half, Tsutsui, in her last game of her great Carleton career, drew the first blood of the second half with a drive and finish at the 19:49 mark and a "3" from the left wing area at the 18:24 mark by the Northridge, California native now had the Knights back out in front 43-42. Bethel would get the lead back on Moorse's short shot off of an inbounds pass at the 18:02 mark but an Arima jumper in the lane with 17:31 left and another Tsutsui "3" from the left top area at the 16:13 mark now had Carleton up 48-44 and a shell-shocked Bethel home crowd was now on edge. The Knights would still maintain a four-point edge at 52-48 on Tsutsui's drive and finish off the glass at the 14:18 mark but Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer avoided reaching for the panic button and calling a timeout and the Royals were able to find a way to dig down and rise to the occasion. Back-to-back scores in the paint by Parupsky - one at the 13:52 mark and another at the 12:43 mark - knotted the score at 52-all and a Schultz trey from the left corner at the 11:48 mark had Bethel up 55-52. Tsutsui would try and save the day for Carleton with back-to-back scores of her own - a drive and finish at the 11:26 mark and a "3" from the left wing at the 11:00 mark that had the Knights back out in front again by a count of 57-55. Both sides would trade one-point leads on their ensuing possessions but another Schultz "3" - this one from the right top area at the 10:12 mark - had the Royals back up for good at 61-59.
Still, Bethel was far from being out of the woods just yet as a slim lead and a pesky Carleton team made things very uncertain and things became even more troublesome when Zimmerman got tagged with her fourth foul of the day with 8:58 left and was forced to sit a spell on the bench. Much to the relief of the home crowd, though, the Royals were able sail through potential disaster and get into slightly calmer waters. A Parker jumper along the right baseline with 8:02 left and a Niewald lay-up with 7:29 left gave Bethel a five-point lead at 67-62 and, although the Knights were able to close the gap to one point again on scores by Lo, Miles and Frank, the critical juncture seemed to come at the 5:41 mark when Niewald was fouled. The Fridley native knocked down the first freebie and, although the second attempt was errant, she was able to snare the long rebound and get the ball to Parupsky who connected with a jumper in the lane with 5:36 left to forge a 72-68 Royals lead. Both Zimmerman and Niewald were able to get one free throw to go down on their attempts with 4:53 and 3:58 left, respectively. A Zimmerman drive and finish with 3:21 left had Bethel up 76-70 and still another Schultz trey - this one from the left corner with 2:20 left after the Royals snared three offensive rebounds in one possession, were the paving to ultimate victory. Steinstra tried to delay the inevitable with her jumper from the left elbow with 1:58 left but a short jumper by Niewald with 1:01 left kept the margin at seven at 81-74 and now Carleton was forced to foul at every opportunity. With Bethel in the double-bonus, the Royals were able to keep the Knights at bay. Two Moorse free throws with :41.5 left and a Schultz free throw with :31.3 left increased the lead to eight at 84-76. Tsutsui got the last points of her great Carleton career on one freebie with :15.7 left but it would not be nearly enough as Bethel came through with an 84-77 victory to garner their 20th win of the season.
Both Bethel Assistant Coach Steve Reiter and Herbrechtsmeyer expressed some disappointment with some of the inconsistent play of their squad during the game; particularly in the early going when they just didn't seem to have the energy or intensity needed. While the turnover margin was markedly improved in this outing, free throw shooting was still a sore spot for the Bethel staff; only marginally better at 19-30 for 63.3%. Herbrechtsmeyer also pointed out Carleton's shooting percentage at 28-52 for 53.8% and noted that his squad normally plays defense better than that. I asked Herbrectsmeyer, as his Royals get a bit of a respite before preparing for next week Thursday night's semifinal playoff game, on what they had to do to prepare, he replied quite simply, "Be better". The Knights meanwhile, ended their season with an 8-17 record and 6-12 in the MIAC and also now have to bid a fond farewell to Tsutsui who has done so much for this Carleton program in her four years there. Kosiba echoed those sentiments afterward and I asked her if she felt this squad took a step forward this year. Kosiba felt that they definitely had and she feels that this team is slowly but surely taking steps in the right direction. She also pointed to her young underclassmen and bubbled with enthusiasm about the things they are poised to do. Whether or not the Knights can return to their glory days that they enjoyed back in the early- and mid-2000's remains to be seen. Depth is still an issue and these young players still have to develop a little more. But Kosiba; who was on one of those early great Carleton teams, knows what it takes and will not rest until the Knights get there.
UST vs Bethel 2-18-15
Made my way over to Bethel's Robertson Center on this very cold Wednesday night for this very hot matchup between undefeated and #2-ranked UST which has a stranglehold on first place in the MIAC and host Bethel which has a lock on second-place in the MIAC and came into this contest with a solid 19-4 record. This game would be a huge opportunity for the Royals to show that they not only belong in the upper echelon but are also deserving of a bid to the NCAA Tournament as well. If they could somehow pull off the upset on this night, they would certainly solidify their chances for an invite to the Big Dance.
Ideally, Bethel needed to get off to a great start in this one but it was the experienced Tommies that dished out the early punishment; courtesy of senior post Maggie Weiers. A "3" from the top of the key by the New Prague native at the 19:05 mark and a "3" by junior guard Katie Stone from the left wing area had UST up 6-3 by the 18:28 mark. At the 17:57 mark, Weiers made a hard drive and pretty move along the right baseline to finish and followed that up with a jumper from the left top area; just inside the arc at the 17:32 mark to put the Tommies up 10-3. Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer; obviously sensing danger at this juncture, called a timeout to get his squad settled down and avoid further damage. The Royals appeared to get a lift when sophomore guard Shanni Moorse drained her first trey of the night at the 17:03 mark from the right wing area and added a free throw as well at the 16:42 mark that cut the deficit to five trailing 12-7. But UST is very good at planting the seeds of doubt in an opponent early on in a contest and they gradually widened their lead. Two free throws by senior forward Anna Smith at the 16:34 mark upped the lead to 14-7 and a "3" by the former Bloomington Jefferson standout from the top of the key at the 16:11 mark made it a 17-9 game. A Weiers drive and finish at the 15:43 mark made it 19-11 before consecutive scores by Bethel junior guard Hannah Niewald shrunk the Tommie lead to 19-15 by the 14:28 mark. But UST calmly went back to work again. A Weiers lay-up at the 13:57 mark and two Smith freebies at the 13:42 mark got the lead back to eight at 23-15 and a Smith lay-up at the 12:33 mark maintained the eight-point advantage at 25-17. Senior point guard Jen Dockter knocked down one charity stripe shot after getting fouled at the 11:59 mark and then senior reserve forward Elaine Warner made a hard drive and finish that extended the lead to 28-17. Southpaw senior reserve guard Hannah Hughes then drained a "3" from the left top area at the 10:37 mark for a 31-19 Tommie lead and Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer wasted no time in calling another halt to the action.
UST had a scary moment with 9:57 left when Smith rolled her right ankle and had to be assisted off the court but the Royals still were having a devilish time trying to cut into the deficit. But one bright spot for Bethel was emerging in this first half as Moorse; the Burnsville native and former Apple Valley standout, was instrumental in the Royals resurgence coming down the stretch before halftime. Although a score in the paint by the Tommies Warner with 8:37 left increased UST's lead to 33-21, Moorse got a good look from the right wing area behind the arc with 8:08 left and uncorked her second trey of the evening that temporarily cut the Tommie lead back to single digits. Junior post Rachel Parupsky knocked down two freebies with 7:37 left that further cut into UST's lead to trail by seven at 33-26. But a short jumper off the glass by Dockter with 7:06 left and a Stone "3" from the left corner with 4:58 left helped but the Tommies back up by ten at 38-28 and it just didn't seem like Bethel could sustain any kind of run that would get them close before halftime. Somehow though, the Royals were able to dig deep and find that extra ounce of fight within them that enabled them to get close. Moorse dropped two free throws with 4:41 left that not only got Bethel back to within single digits but the Royals were now in the bonus as well. Niewald connected with a lay-up with 3:44 left and then Moorse drained her third three-pointer of the first half; this one coming from the left corner with 3:14 left that trimmed UST's lead down to five at 40-35. A Moorse drive into the lane with 2:18 left and finish wowed the partisan Bethel contingent and two free throws by junior guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz shrunk the Tommie advantage down to three at 42-39. UST avoided a late first half disaster when Stone knocked down one more trey from the left wing area with :41 left but a score in the paint by Parupsky with :21.1 left had Bethel within striking distance trailing 45-41 which, considering the canyon that the Royals had dug themselves early on in this contest, wasn't bad. Bethel arguably gave up way too many three-pointers to the Tommies in the first half alone as UST was 6-8 from behind the arc. And, although the Royals owned the glass in the first half, they were also guilty of ten turnovers as well which hurt their cause early on.
Still, the bottom line at this point was that Bethel was close and, if they could clean up some things and get off to a solid start in the second half, they might get things to go their way. And the first two minutes in the second stanza suggested that the Royals might do just that. Moorse had the hot hand in the first half and she showed no signs of slowing down as she was able to snare an offensive rebound of her own miss at the 19:28 mark for a putback that had the Tommies lead reduced to a slim 45-43 count and a Parupsky lay-up at the 17:51 mark had Bethel within a tantalizing point trailing 46-45. UST's Dockter countered with a lay-up at the 17:28 mark to increase the lead to three at 48-45 but Tommie Head Coach Ruth Sinn; not at all convinced that her squad was playing with the intensity needed, called a timeout to talk to her team. That stoppage in play was just what the doctor ordered for UST and the purple-clad Tommies recovered. A Weiers free throw at the 16:28 mark and a Stone jumper along the left baseline at the 15:54 mark increased the lead to four at 51-47 and a Weiers jumper from the left elbow at the 15:07 mark made it 53-47. Weiers helped UST maintain the six-point edge at 55-49 with her drive and finish off of an inbounds pass at the 14:11 mark. The lead increased to seven points at 57-50 on Dockter's lay-up at the 13:28 mark and a pretty turnaround jumper in the lane by Weiers at the 12:12 mark maintained the seven-point edge at 59-52. Warner was sent to the charity stripe at the 10:48 mark where her obligatory free throws not only increased the lead to nine at 61-52 but also put the Royals in a situation where they were now out of fouls to give. Parupsky's jumper from the top of the key just inside the arc at the 10:29 mark helped Bethel trim the deficit to seven trailing 61-54 but Herbrechtsmeyer; not liking how things were going by this point, felt that a timeout was needed.
A Warner "3" from the left wing with 9:45 left made it a ten-point 64-54 Tommie lead and, although the Royals would never stop battling in their valiant comeback attempt, a shaky performance from the charity stripe would be their ultimate undoing in this game. Freshman reserve guard Angie Kirchoff connected with a jumper along the left baseline with 9:20 left and sophomore forward Kalli Zimmerman slithered into the paint for a score that drew Bethel closer trailing 64-58 and got fouled in the process as well but she could not get the ensuing freebie to go down. Parupsky connected with a jumper from the free throw line with 7:15 left that cut UST's lead down to 66-60 and Schultz did connect with two free throws after being fouled with 6:49 left that gave the home crowd plenty of reason for hope trailing 66-62. But, here again, the Tommies seemed to have an answer when they most needed it. Dockter drained a "3" from the top of the key with 6:35 left and followed that up with a lay-up with 6:08 left that increased the UST lead to nine at 71-62. Parupsky was fouled with 5:58 left but could only get the back end to go down thus only trimming the Tommie lead to 71-63. UST senior reserve forward Alyssa (nothing vanilla) Favilla connected with a jumper in the lane with 5:24 left that made it a ten-point game again at 73-63 and although Niewald connected with a lay-up in transition with 5:15 left for the Royals, two Dockter free throws maintained that ten-point cushion at 75-65 with 4:47 left and Bethel could no longer be content to just trade baskets with the Tommies. They had to somehow get stops and get on a run and they had to do it now.
Determined not to go down without a fight, the Royals made one last surge. Schultz made a pretty drive along the left baseline for a finish with 3:57 left and Zimmerman got one freebie to go down with 3:29 left that got Bethel back to within single digits trailing 77-70. A jumper by Moorse from the right wing area in transition cut UST's lead down to five at 77-72 with 2:58 left and a frenzied Bethel home crowd was on its feet yelling "Defense!!! Defense!!" But the Tommies remained collected, calm and cool in those final two minutes and they shut the door on the last remaining ray of hope the Royals had. With 1:46 left, Dockter connected with a jumper in the lane that upped the lead back to seven at 79-72 and after senior guard Laura Margarit came up with a big steal on the ensuing Bethel possession, Weiers was able to connect on a jumper in the lane with 1:02 left that all but sealed the deal for UST with a nine-point 81-72 advantage. Zimmerman was able to knock down a "3" from the top of the key with :47.4 left and also got a last-gasp lay-up with just :00.8 left to make the final score 81-77 but the Royals could only wonder afterward what might have been had they been able to clean up two critical aspects of this game - turnovers and free throws.
A disappointed Bethel Assistant Coach Dwight Nelson could only wince when looking at the box score afterward; quickly pointing out the abysmal 15-26 from the charity stripe for 57.7% which clearly won't get the job done against an elite team like UST. He also pointed out that the Royals indeed gave up way too many three-pointers; particularly in the first half when the Tommies started building a lead. Nelson felt that they just had to have this game given the fact that Bethel is currently ranked seventh in the West Region rankings behind Claremont Mudd-Scripps and fears that just making it to the MIAC Championship Game may not be enough - even with 21 wins. Herbrechtsmeyer, too, could only point to the box score that revealed the rather ugly numbers from the free throw line. He also faulted his team's roll-screen defense as well that was a factor in allowing those three-point opportunities that the Tommies had early on. As far as the road ahead and what may or may not be in the offing should Bethel make it to the MIAC Championship Game, he expressed disappointment that despite the fact his squad went on an eleven game tear in one of the toughest DIII conferences in America, it may not be enough to get an invite to the 64-team field should they make it to the MIAC Championship Game (and you can bet that I'll DEFINITELY have something to say if that indeed turns out to be the case). Meanwhile, UST's Sinn was definitely relieved and happy with the win. She was in total agreement when I pointed out to her that this game had an NCAA Tournament-like atmosphere and feel to it and also felt it was something that her team needed to experience - to be in a close game coming down the stretch in a hostile environment. And they responded when they had to. Without question, this is the time when you want to raise the level of your game in these critical situations and I felt that the Tommies did just that. Sinn also had plenty of praise for Bethel as well and said that they without question belong in the NCAA Tournament. So at least with this game, we may very well watched a preview of things to come once the MIAC Playoffs roll around and it would be a shocker if these two squads don't square off again for all the marbles in the MIAC on 1-28-15.
Ideally, Bethel needed to get off to a great start in this one but it was the experienced Tommies that dished out the early punishment; courtesy of senior post Maggie Weiers. A "3" from the top of the key by the New Prague native at the 19:05 mark and a "3" by junior guard Katie Stone from the left wing area had UST up 6-3 by the 18:28 mark. At the 17:57 mark, Weiers made a hard drive and pretty move along the right baseline to finish and followed that up with a jumper from the left top area; just inside the arc at the 17:32 mark to put the Tommies up 10-3. Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer; obviously sensing danger at this juncture, called a timeout to get his squad settled down and avoid further damage. The Royals appeared to get a lift when sophomore guard Shanni Moorse drained her first trey of the night at the 17:03 mark from the right wing area and added a free throw as well at the 16:42 mark that cut the deficit to five trailing 12-7. But UST is very good at planting the seeds of doubt in an opponent early on in a contest and they gradually widened their lead. Two free throws by senior forward Anna Smith at the 16:34 mark upped the lead to 14-7 and a "3" by the former Bloomington Jefferson standout from the top of the key at the 16:11 mark made it a 17-9 game. A Weiers drive and finish at the 15:43 mark made it 19-11 before consecutive scores by Bethel junior guard Hannah Niewald shrunk the Tommie lead to 19-15 by the 14:28 mark. But UST calmly went back to work again. A Weiers lay-up at the 13:57 mark and two Smith freebies at the 13:42 mark got the lead back to eight at 23-15 and a Smith lay-up at the 12:33 mark maintained the eight-point advantage at 25-17. Senior point guard Jen Dockter knocked down one charity stripe shot after getting fouled at the 11:59 mark and then senior reserve forward Elaine Warner made a hard drive and finish that extended the lead to 28-17. Southpaw senior reserve guard Hannah Hughes then drained a "3" from the left top area at the 10:37 mark for a 31-19 Tommie lead and Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer wasted no time in calling another halt to the action.
UST had a scary moment with 9:57 left when Smith rolled her right ankle and had to be assisted off the court but the Royals still were having a devilish time trying to cut into the deficit. But one bright spot for Bethel was emerging in this first half as Moorse; the Burnsville native and former Apple Valley standout, was instrumental in the Royals resurgence coming down the stretch before halftime. Although a score in the paint by the Tommies Warner with 8:37 left increased UST's lead to 33-21, Moorse got a good look from the right wing area behind the arc with 8:08 left and uncorked her second trey of the evening that temporarily cut the Tommie lead back to single digits. Junior post Rachel Parupsky knocked down two freebies with 7:37 left that further cut into UST's lead to trail by seven at 33-26. But a short jumper off the glass by Dockter with 7:06 left and a Stone "3" from the left corner with 4:58 left helped but the Tommies back up by ten at 38-28 and it just didn't seem like Bethel could sustain any kind of run that would get them close before halftime. Somehow though, the Royals were able to dig deep and find that extra ounce of fight within them that enabled them to get close. Moorse dropped two free throws with 4:41 left that not only got Bethel back to within single digits but the Royals were now in the bonus as well. Niewald connected with a lay-up with 3:44 left and then Moorse drained her third three-pointer of the first half; this one coming from the left corner with 3:14 left that trimmed UST's lead down to five at 40-35. A Moorse drive into the lane with 2:18 left and finish wowed the partisan Bethel contingent and two free throws by junior guard Sydney "Bam Bam" Schultz shrunk the Tommie advantage down to three at 42-39. UST avoided a late first half disaster when Stone knocked down one more trey from the left wing area with :41 left but a score in the paint by Parupsky with :21.1 left had Bethel within striking distance trailing 45-41 which, considering the canyon that the Royals had dug themselves early on in this contest, wasn't bad. Bethel arguably gave up way too many three-pointers to the Tommies in the first half alone as UST was 6-8 from behind the arc. And, although the Royals owned the glass in the first half, they were also guilty of ten turnovers as well which hurt their cause early on.
Still, the bottom line at this point was that Bethel was close and, if they could clean up some things and get off to a solid start in the second half, they might get things to go their way. And the first two minutes in the second stanza suggested that the Royals might do just that. Moorse had the hot hand in the first half and she showed no signs of slowing down as she was able to snare an offensive rebound of her own miss at the 19:28 mark for a putback that had the Tommies lead reduced to a slim 45-43 count and a Parupsky lay-up at the 17:51 mark had Bethel within a tantalizing point trailing 46-45. UST's Dockter countered with a lay-up at the 17:28 mark to increase the lead to three at 48-45 but Tommie Head Coach Ruth Sinn; not at all convinced that her squad was playing with the intensity needed, called a timeout to talk to her team. That stoppage in play was just what the doctor ordered for UST and the purple-clad Tommies recovered. A Weiers free throw at the 16:28 mark and a Stone jumper along the left baseline at the 15:54 mark increased the lead to four at 51-47 and a Weiers jumper from the left elbow at the 15:07 mark made it 53-47. Weiers helped UST maintain the six-point edge at 55-49 with her drive and finish off of an inbounds pass at the 14:11 mark. The lead increased to seven points at 57-50 on Dockter's lay-up at the 13:28 mark and a pretty turnaround jumper in the lane by Weiers at the 12:12 mark maintained the seven-point edge at 59-52. Warner was sent to the charity stripe at the 10:48 mark where her obligatory free throws not only increased the lead to nine at 61-52 but also put the Royals in a situation where they were now out of fouls to give. Parupsky's jumper from the top of the key just inside the arc at the 10:29 mark helped Bethel trim the deficit to seven trailing 61-54 but Herbrechtsmeyer; not liking how things were going by this point, felt that a timeout was needed.
A Warner "3" from the left wing with 9:45 left made it a ten-point 64-54 Tommie lead and, although the Royals would never stop battling in their valiant comeback attempt, a shaky performance from the charity stripe would be their ultimate undoing in this game. Freshman reserve guard Angie Kirchoff connected with a jumper along the left baseline with 9:20 left and sophomore forward Kalli Zimmerman slithered into the paint for a score that drew Bethel closer trailing 64-58 and got fouled in the process as well but she could not get the ensuing freebie to go down. Parupsky connected with a jumper from the free throw line with 7:15 left that cut UST's lead down to 66-60 and Schultz did connect with two free throws after being fouled with 6:49 left that gave the home crowd plenty of reason for hope trailing 66-62. But, here again, the Tommies seemed to have an answer when they most needed it. Dockter drained a "3" from the top of the key with 6:35 left and followed that up with a lay-up with 6:08 left that increased the UST lead to nine at 71-62. Parupsky was fouled with 5:58 left but could only get the back end to go down thus only trimming the Tommie lead to 71-63. UST senior reserve forward Alyssa (nothing vanilla) Favilla connected with a jumper in the lane with 5:24 left that made it a ten-point game again at 73-63 and although Niewald connected with a lay-up in transition with 5:15 left for the Royals, two Dockter free throws maintained that ten-point cushion at 75-65 with 4:47 left and Bethel could no longer be content to just trade baskets with the Tommies. They had to somehow get stops and get on a run and they had to do it now.
Determined not to go down without a fight, the Royals made one last surge. Schultz made a pretty drive along the left baseline for a finish with 3:57 left and Zimmerman got one freebie to go down with 3:29 left that got Bethel back to within single digits trailing 77-70. A jumper by Moorse from the right wing area in transition cut UST's lead down to five at 77-72 with 2:58 left and a frenzied Bethel home crowd was on its feet yelling "Defense!!! Defense!!" But the Tommies remained collected, calm and cool in those final two minutes and they shut the door on the last remaining ray of hope the Royals had. With 1:46 left, Dockter connected with a jumper in the lane that upped the lead back to seven at 79-72 and after senior guard Laura Margarit came up with a big steal on the ensuing Bethel possession, Weiers was able to connect on a jumper in the lane with 1:02 left that all but sealed the deal for UST with a nine-point 81-72 advantage. Zimmerman was able to knock down a "3" from the top of the key with :47.4 left and also got a last-gasp lay-up with just :00.8 left to make the final score 81-77 but the Royals could only wonder afterward what might have been had they been able to clean up two critical aspects of this game - turnovers and free throws.
A disappointed Bethel Assistant Coach Dwight Nelson could only wince when looking at the box score afterward; quickly pointing out the abysmal 15-26 from the charity stripe for 57.7% which clearly won't get the job done against an elite team like UST. He also pointed out that the Royals indeed gave up way too many three-pointers; particularly in the first half when the Tommies started building a lead. Nelson felt that they just had to have this game given the fact that Bethel is currently ranked seventh in the West Region rankings behind Claremont Mudd-Scripps and fears that just making it to the MIAC Championship Game may not be enough - even with 21 wins. Herbrechtsmeyer, too, could only point to the box score that revealed the rather ugly numbers from the free throw line. He also faulted his team's roll-screen defense as well that was a factor in allowing those three-point opportunities that the Tommies had early on. As far as the road ahead and what may or may not be in the offing should Bethel make it to the MIAC Championship Game, he expressed disappointment that despite the fact his squad went on an eleven game tear in one of the toughest DIII conferences in America, it may not be enough to get an invite to the 64-team field should they make it to the MIAC Championship Game (and you can bet that I'll DEFINITELY have something to say if that indeed turns out to be the case). Meanwhile, UST's Sinn was definitely relieved and happy with the win. She was in total agreement when I pointed out to her that this game had an NCAA Tournament-like atmosphere and feel to it and also felt it was something that her team needed to experience - to be in a close game coming down the stretch in a hostile environment. And they responded when they had to. Without question, this is the time when you want to raise the level of your game in these critical situations and I felt that the Tommies did just that. Sinn also had plenty of praise for Bethel as well and said that they without question belong in the NCAA Tournament. So at least with this game, we may very well watched a preview of things to come once the MIAC Playoffs roll around and it would be a shocker if these two squads don't square off again for all the marbles in the MIAC on 1-28-15.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
MIAC Power Rankings For Sunday 2-15-15
Here's the latest round of power rankings for this Valentines and President's Day weekend (where I get tomorrow off from work!) as we edge closer to the end of the regular season.
1. UST
2. Bethel
3. GAC
4. Concordia
5. SMU
6. Augsburg
7. CSB
8. St. Olaf
9. Hamline
10. Carleton
11. St. Kate's
12. Macalester
You can't blame me for wondering yesterday if UST might have been on upset alert after the long arduous ride up U.S. Highway 10 and the BNSF's Staples Sub mainline to Moorhead to take on the Cobbers. But the Tommies gutted out a tough 62-50 win to move to 23-0 on the season and that lofty number two national ranking still intact - and deservedly so. But now comes perhaps an even bigger test for Ruth Sinn's squad - the upcoming tilt with Bethel this Wednesday night over at Robertson Center. The Royals; enjoying a ten-game win streak moved to 19-4 on the year after yesterday's home win against Augsburg. You have to figure that this game will likely be a preview of things to come in the MIAC Playoffs as the Royals are now locked-in on the second seed.
GAC gets the nod at the number three position on my rankings and the Gusties appear to be a lock for the number three seed as well for the upcoming MIAC Playoffs - as long as they take care of business this next week against both Macalester and CSB which I anticipate that they will. It's not a bad spot to be in either and, considering that GAC has had to settle for the sixth spot the last couple of years, this is definitely a huge step forward. Unfortunately for the Gusties, they will have to set the world on fire in order to garner an invite to the Big Dance this time around and they're arguably a year away from contending for the title. I give the edge to Concordia for the fourth spot in my rankings today - and also for that fourth spot in the MIAC Playoffs as well. They got a split this last week which, with UST coming into town yesterday, isn't a terrible proposition. The Cobbers hit the road on Wednesday night going to St. Olaf before closing out the regular season at home against a dangerous Augsburg team. Doable, but possibly taxing as well. SMU, however, has taken it on the chin lately and those lopsided losses this last week have had to make for some long, dark, depressing rides on U.S. Highway 61 and the Canadian Pacific's River Sub mainline back to Winona. The Cardinals do have a shot at redemption - and that fourth spot in the MIAC Playoffs as well - with home dates against Carleton and Macalester this week. But they have to show me something in these last two regular season games.
Meanwhile, is there a more confounding team in this conference than CSB? You had to think that this last Wednesday night's big home win over SMU would have been the springboard to snaring that sixth spot. But yesterday's 56-55 loss at Carleton yesterday sent the Blazers right back to the brink. So it looks like it is all on the line for both CSB and visting Augsburg this coming Wednesday night up at Claire Lynch. Despite the loss to Bethel yesterday, I like how the Auggies are playing right now and CSB is going to have their hands full down low trying to contain both Bridget Bednar and Jessica Lillquist. And I can see Abbey Luger trying her best to wreak havoc on the Blazers. No doubt that CSB will need a huge game from Mattie Lueck in this one - and she has the ability to deliver as well. Should be a great one - and a great week to wrap up the MIAC regular season!
Fire away with thoughts.
1. UST
2. Bethel
3. GAC
4. Concordia
5. SMU
6. Augsburg
7. CSB
8. St. Olaf
9. Hamline
10. Carleton
11. St. Kate's
12. Macalester
You can't blame me for wondering yesterday if UST might have been on upset alert after the long arduous ride up U.S. Highway 10 and the BNSF's Staples Sub mainline to Moorhead to take on the Cobbers. But the Tommies gutted out a tough 62-50 win to move to 23-0 on the season and that lofty number two national ranking still intact - and deservedly so. But now comes perhaps an even bigger test for Ruth Sinn's squad - the upcoming tilt with Bethel this Wednesday night over at Robertson Center. The Royals; enjoying a ten-game win streak moved to 19-4 on the year after yesterday's home win against Augsburg. You have to figure that this game will likely be a preview of things to come in the MIAC Playoffs as the Royals are now locked-in on the second seed.
GAC gets the nod at the number three position on my rankings and the Gusties appear to be a lock for the number three seed as well for the upcoming MIAC Playoffs - as long as they take care of business this next week against both Macalester and CSB which I anticipate that they will. It's not a bad spot to be in either and, considering that GAC has had to settle for the sixth spot the last couple of years, this is definitely a huge step forward. Unfortunately for the Gusties, they will have to set the world on fire in order to garner an invite to the Big Dance this time around and they're arguably a year away from contending for the title. I give the edge to Concordia for the fourth spot in my rankings today - and also for that fourth spot in the MIAC Playoffs as well. They got a split this last week which, with UST coming into town yesterday, isn't a terrible proposition. The Cobbers hit the road on Wednesday night going to St. Olaf before closing out the regular season at home against a dangerous Augsburg team. Doable, but possibly taxing as well. SMU, however, has taken it on the chin lately and those lopsided losses this last week have had to make for some long, dark, depressing rides on U.S. Highway 61 and the Canadian Pacific's River Sub mainline back to Winona. The Cardinals do have a shot at redemption - and that fourth spot in the MIAC Playoffs as well - with home dates against Carleton and Macalester this week. But they have to show me something in these last two regular season games.
Meanwhile, is there a more confounding team in this conference than CSB? You had to think that this last Wednesday night's big home win over SMU would have been the springboard to snaring that sixth spot. But yesterday's 56-55 loss at Carleton yesterday sent the Blazers right back to the brink. So it looks like it is all on the line for both CSB and visting Augsburg this coming Wednesday night up at Claire Lynch. Despite the loss to Bethel yesterday, I like how the Auggies are playing right now and CSB is going to have their hands full down low trying to contain both Bridget Bednar and Jessica Lillquist. And I can see Abbey Luger trying her best to wreak havoc on the Blazers. No doubt that CSB will need a huge game from Mattie Lueck in this one - and she has the ability to deliver as well. Should be a great one - and a great week to wrap up the MIAC regular season!
Fire away with thoughts.
St. Kate's vs Macalester 2-14-15
The second game on tap on this Valentines Day was the 3:00 P.M. tilt between St. Kate's and Macalester. After leaving Hutton Arena, I made my way down Snelling Avenue and got settled into Macalester's Leonard Center which was decked out with pink on "Play For Kay" Day and had a healthy contingent of students on hand as well. This was Senior Day as well and Scot senior Annie Drabot was playing her last home game. I got settled in at the 16:04 mark of this contest with St. Kate's holding an early 6-4 lead.
Drabot's two free throws at the 15:29 mark knotted the score at 6-all but it was here that the Wildcats embarked on a 7-0 run. Sophomore forward Kennedy Jennings connected on a lay-up in transition at the 14:55 mark and then freshman guard Meg Clark drained a "3" from the right corner at the 14:21 mark for an 11-6 St. Kate's lead. Sophomore forward Mari Lee's lay-up in transition at the 13:54 mark made it 13-6 and Scot Head Coach Kelly Roysland felt compelled to call a thirty-second timeout to get her squad calmed down again. But a jumper by freshman guard Audra Clark in the lane at the 13:32 mark and a score in the paint by Lee at the 12:49 mark now made it 17-6 and Roysland; not liking this development at all, called a full timeout. Macalester was able to trim down the deficit a bit as two scores in the paint by freshman post Regan Fruh at the 11:52 and 10:45 mark got the Scots back to within single digits trailing 18-10 but the Wildcats went on a 6-0 push over the next minute and a half. Lee connected on a lay-up in transition at the 10:14 mark as did Meg Clark with 9:41 left after a steal. Jennings also got a lay-up with 9:07 left for a 24-10 St. Kate's lead and it looked as if the purple-clad Wildcats finally had something going their way for a change.
The Scots would manage to get within single digits again as Fruh; enroute to a fantastic performance on this day, got a score in the paint with 8:19 left and then snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 7:45 left. Two Fruh freebies with 6:53 left and a score in the paint by junior guard Erin Murray drew Macalester closer trailing 29-21 with 5:04 left. But the Wildcats had another flurry of scores in store for their opponent. Audra Clark banged home a "3" from the right wing area with 4:49 left and followed that up with two free throws with 4:20 left and a score in the paint as well with 3:56 left for a 36-23 St. Kate's lead. Junior guard/forward Shauna Horsch's "3" from the right wing area with 3:28 left gave the Wildcats a sixteen-point advantage at 39-23 and the Scots could have been in a hole right then and there. Macalester trimmed the deficit down to ten points as sophomore guard Grace Dickman connected on a lay-up with 2:31 left and both Fruh and Drabot got freebies to go down that cut the Wildcat lead down to 39-29 with 1:53 left. But St. Kate's had one last push before halftime as consecutive scores by Meg Clark - a "3" from the left corner with 1:31 left and a lay-up in transition with 1:14 left - upped the lead to fifteen at 44-29. Horsch got one score in the paint with :32 left that allowed St. Kate's to hold a 46-31 advantage at the halftime break.
Oddly enough, Wildcat Head Coach Sean Pinkerton did not shed his sportcoat until the early stages of the second half. Maybe it was because it was so bloody cold outside. Or maybe it was because he wouldn't start feeling the heat until later on in the second half. In any event, St. Kate's got a solid start coming out of the gate in the second half. Horsch was able to score inside after she recovered a loose ball in the backcourt at the 19:18 mark and then scored at the 18:16 mark on a pretty give-and-go play for a 50-32 Wildcat lead. At the 16:46 mark, Horsch; the Inver Grove Heights native, drilled a "3" from the top of the key at the 16:46 mark that gave St. Kate's its largest lead of the day at 53-32. The Scots would quickly trim that lead down to seventeen on a score in the paint by Fruh at the 16:35 mark and a short jumper in transition at the 14:55 mark by Dickman but at the moment anyway, it looked as if the Wildcats were in firm control and that this game would be a ho-hum affair between two squads at the bottom of the MIAC simply playing out the stretch.
But someone forgot to tell that to Roysland and her Macalester squad and it quickly became apparent that this team is much, much better than their dismal 3-19 (0-15 MIAC) record would suggest. And St. Kate's; which hasn't had many opportunities as of late to manage a double-digit lead, would have to find out as well - almost the hard way. Still, the 'Cats had to be feeling fairly good about things when sophomore sensation guard/forward LaShay Holt connected with a lay-up at the 14:18 mark and connected on another pretty give-and-go play that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw at the 13:09 mark for a seemingly cozy 58-42 advantage. But the Scots would now feed the 'Cats a healthy dose of Fruh down low and the lead slowly dwindled. Two Fruh scores in the paint - one at the 12:59 mark and another at the 12:13 mark - cut the St. Kate's lead down to 60-46 and sophomore guard Lauren Clamage knocked down two free throws at the 11:35 mark that cut the Wildcat lead down to twelve at 60-48 and also saddled Jennings with her third foul of the afternoon. Certainly no reason to panic by this point but Pinkerton still felt a need to call a timeout at this point to get his squad back on track.
A short jumper by Holt at the 10:59 mark got the lead back to fourteen at 62-48 but Macalester was just starting to "feel it". Fruh score in the paint again at the 10:48 mark and then Clamage was fouled in a transition opportunity at the 10:29 mark by Jennings that not only allowed her to sink two free throws but also now Jennings was tagged with her fourth foul as well. Fruh continued to be a nightmare for Pinkerton and his staff of Tim Kjar and Tim Peper as one offensive rebound for a putback that got her fouled and allowed her to sink a freebie with 9:23 left and another score in the paint with 8:05 left cut further into the St. Kate's lead as it was now a 64-58 game. A lay-up by Dickman with 7:26 left got the Scots closer trailing 65-60. Murray was fouled with 7:09 left and although she could only get the front-end to go down, her errant second attempt was snared by Drabot and she quickly put the ball back up for a score with 7:07 left that had the Macalester student section roaring and, more importantly, cut the Wildcat lead down to 66-63. St. Kate's appeared to recover somewhat from that scare as Holt launched one of her two-handed three-point attempts that found its mark from the left corner with 6:44 left and Audra Clark was able to get a score into the paint with 6:35 left that made it a 71-63 game and two Holt free throws with 6:02 left upped the lead back to ten at 73-63.
But the Scots were far from finished. Freshman reserve guard Vivi Gregorich connected with a lay-up with 5:19 left and got two free throws to go down after she was fouled in transition with 4:36 left that cut St. Kate's lead down to 73-67. The Wildcats appeared to recover for good again when Meg Clark got one free throw to go down with 4:10 left and although her second attempt was off the mark, Holt was there to snare the offensive rebound and get a putback out of it with 4:05 left that upped the St. Kate's lead to nine at 76-67. Macalester would throw one last scare into their guests, though, as yet another score in the paint by Fruh with 3:39 left and a Dickman free throw with 3:29 left cut the deficit to six at 76-70. Another explosion by the Macalester student section occurred with 3:25 left when Fruh was on the receiving end of an inbounds pass down low and she promptly scored that further cut the Wildcat lead down to a tenuous 76-72. This time, the Wildcats would find their savior of the day as Horsch made a hard drive along the right baseline and got a reverse lay-up to go down with 2:15 left that now made it a 78-72 game. A jumper by Murray with 2:01 left would once again cut the 'Cat lead down to four at 78-74. The diminutive Audra Clark, however, would dampen the Scots hopes as she scored in the paint with 1:47 left and was fouled in the process and her free throw made not only made it an 81-74 ballgame but it now forced Macalester to play hurry-up on offense which led to untimely turnovers that effectively killed their chances. Fortunately for the Wildcats, they had just a big enough lead in the last minute to offset a plethora of missed free throws in the last minute. Two free throws by Clamage with :57.6 left and one last score in the paint by Fruh with :32 left made the deficit six trailing 86-80 but the Scots could get no closer. Two free throws by Audra Clark with :29.7 left and one Holt freebie with :16.3 left gave St. Kate's a scary 89-80 win that snapped their nine-game losing streak.
While a relieved Pinkerton was definitely glad to get the "W" for his players and staff, there were other aspects of the game that left him less than pleased; particularly going only 22-43 from the charity stripe for 51.2%. Rebounding had to be an issue as well as the 'Cats took their lumps on that front as Macalester had a decided 48-37 advantage. And Fruh's ability to score into the paint like she did on this day would cause most coaches to drive to the nearest Walgreen's for a bottle of Tylenol PM. Still, I had to ask Pinkerton if it might have been a case where his squad; not having a whole lot of experience handling big leads and success, might have played a part. He pondered the idea for a moment and grudgingly admitted that it could have. Meanwhile, a courageous comeback effort by the Scots came up short on this late afternoon and you could sense the disappointment on Roysland afterward. Fruh finished with a game high 33 points on this day and she made life absolutely miserable for St. Kate's in the paint. Roysland could only point to mistakes at key times; turnovers that may have kept Macalester from getting even closer or going ahead at the crucial moments. Still, I think Roysland can take a lot of positives going forward from this game and you can bet that as this team gets more experience, they're going to be causing more headaches for their MIAC opponents.
Drabot's two free throws at the 15:29 mark knotted the score at 6-all but it was here that the Wildcats embarked on a 7-0 run. Sophomore forward Kennedy Jennings connected on a lay-up in transition at the 14:55 mark and then freshman guard Meg Clark drained a "3" from the right corner at the 14:21 mark for an 11-6 St. Kate's lead. Sophomore forward Mari Lee's lay-up in transition at the 13:54 mark made it 13-6 and Scot Head Coach Kelly Roysland felt compelled to call a thirty-second timeout to get her squad calmed down again. But a jumper by freshman guard Audra Clark in the lane at the 13:32 mark and a score in the paint by Lee at the 12:49 mark now made it 17-6 and Roysland; not liking this development at all, called a full timeout. Macalester was able to trim down the deficit a bit as two scores in the paint by freshman post Regan Fruh at the 11:52 and 10:45 mark got the Scots back to within single digits trailing 18-10 but the Wildcats went on a 6-0 push over the next minute and a half. Lee connected on a lay-up in transition at the 10:14 mark as did Meg Clark with 9:41 left after a steal. Jennings also got a lay-up with 9:07 left for a 24-10 St. Kate's lead and it looked as if the purple-clad Wildcats finally had something going their way for a change.
The Scots would manage to get within single digits again as Fruh; enroute to a fantastic performance on this day, got a score in the paint with 8:19 left and then snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 7:45 left. Two Fruh freebies with 6:53 left and a score in the paint by junior guard Erin Murray drew Macalester closer trailing 29-21 with 5:04 left. But the Wildcats had another flurry of scores in store for their opponent. Audra Clark banged home a "3" from the right wing area with 4:49 left and followed that up with two free throws with 4:20 left and a score in the paint as well with 3:56 left for a 36-23 St. Kate's lead. Junior guard/forward Shauna Horsch's "3" from the right wing area with 3:28 left gave the Wildcats a sixteen-point advantage at 39-23 and the Scots could have been in a hole right then and there. Macalester trimmed the deficit down to ten points as sophomore guard Grace Dickman connected on a lay-up with 2:31 left and both Fruh and Drabot got freebies to go down that cut the Wildcat lead down to 39-29 with 1:53 left. But St. Kate's had one last push before halftime as consecutive scores by Meg Clark - a "3" from the left corner with 1:31 left and a lay-up in transition with 1:14 left - upped the lead to fifteen at 44-29. Horsch got one score in the paint with :32 left that allowed St. Kate's to hold a 46-31 advantage at the halftime break.
Oddly enough, Wildcat Head Coach Sean Pinkerton did not shed his sportcoat until the early stages of the second half. Maybe it was because it was so bloody cold outside. Or maybe it was because he wouldn't start feeling the heat until later on in the second half. In any event, St. Kate's got a solid start coming out of the gate in the second half. Horsch was able to score inside after she recovered a loose ball in the backcourt at the 19:18 mark and then scored at the 18:16 mark on a pretty give-and-go play for a 50-32 Wildcat lead. At the 16:46 mark, Horsch; the Inver Grove Heights native, drilled a "3" from the top of the key at the 16:46 mark that gave St. Kate's its largest lead of the day at 53-32. The Scots would quickly trim that lead down to seventeen on a score in the paint by Fruh at the 16:35 mark and a short jumper in transition at the 14:55 mark by Dickman but at the moment anyway, it looked as if the Wildcats were in firm control and that this game would be a ho-hum affair between two squads at the bottom of the MIAC simply playing out the stretch.
But someone forgot to tell that to Roysland and her Macalester squad and it quickly became apparent that this team is much, much better than their dismal 3-19 (0-15 MIAC) record would suggest. And St. Kate's; which hasn't had many opportunities as of late to manage a double-digit lead, would have to find out as well - almost the hard way. Still, the 'Cats had to be feeling fairly good about things when sophomore sensation guard/forward LaShay Holt connected with a lay-up at the 14:18 mark and connected on another pretty give-and-go play that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw at the 13:09 mark for a seemingly cozy 58-42 advantage. But the Scots would now feed the 'Cats a healthy dose of Fruh down low and the lead slowly dwindled. Two Fruh scores in the paint - one at the 12:59 mark and another at the 12:13 mark - cut the St. Kate's lead down to 60-46 and sophomore guard Lauren Clamage knocked down two free throws at the 11:35 mark that cut the Wildcat lead down to twelve at 60-48 and also saddled Jennings with her third foul of the afternoon. Certainly no reason to panic by this point but Pinkerton still felt a need to call a timeout at this point to get his squad back on track.
A short jumper by Holt at the 10:59 mark got the lead back to fourteen at 62-48 but Macalester was just starting to "feel it". Fruh score in the paint again at the 10:48 mark and then Clamage was fouled in a transition opportunity at the 10:29 mark by Jennings that not only allowed her to sink two free throws but also now Jennings was tagged with her fourth foul as well. Fruh continued to be a nightmare for Pinkerton and his staff of Tim Kjar and Tim Peper as one offensive rebound for a putback that got her fouled and allowed her to sink a freebie with 9:23 left and another score in the paint with 8:05 left cut further into the St. Kate's lead as it was now a 64-58 game. A lay-up by Dickman with 7:26 left got the Scots closer trailing 65-60. Murray was fouled with 7:09 left and although she could only get the front-end to go down, her errant second attempt was snared by Drabot and she quickly put the ball back up for a score with 7:07 left that had the Macalester student section roaring and, more importantly, cut the Wildcat lead down to 66-63. St. Kate's appeared to recover somewhat from that scare as Holt launched one of her two-handed three-point attempts that found its mark from the left corner with 6:44 left and Audra Clark was able to get a score into the paint with 6:35 left that made it a 71-63 game and two Holt free throws with 6:02 left upped the lead back to ten at 73-63.
But the Scots were far from finished. Freshman reserve guard Vivi Gregorich connected with a lay-up with 5:19 left and got two free throws to go down after she was fouled in transition with 4:36 left that cut St. Kate's lead down to 73-67. The Wildcats appeared to recover for good again when Meg Clark got one free throw to go down with 4:10 left and although her second attempt was off the mark, Holt was there to snare the offensive rebound and get a putback out of it with 4:05 left that upped the St. Kate's lead to nine at 76-67. Macalester would throw one last scare into their guests, though, as yet another score in the paint by Fruh with 3:39 left and a Dickman free throw with 3:29 left cut the deficit to six at 76-70. Another explosion by the Macalester student section occurred with 3:25 left when Fruh was on the receiving end of an inbounds pass down low and she promptly scored that further cut the Wildcat lead down to a tenuous 76-72. This time, the Wildcats would find their savior of the day as Horsch made a hard drive along the right baseline and got a reverse lay-up to go down with 2:15 left that now made it a 78-72 game. A jumper by Murray with 2:01 left would once again cut the 'Cat lead down to four at 78-74. The diminutive Audra Clark, however, would dampen the Scots hopes as she scored in the paint with 1:47 left and was fouled in the process and her free throw made not only made it an 81-74 ballgame but it now forced Macalester to play hurry-up on offense which led to untimely turnovers that effectively killed their chances. Fortunately for the Wildcats, they had just a big enough lead in the last minute to offset a plethora of missed free throws in the last minute. Two free throws by Clamage with :57.6 left and one last score in the paint by Fruh with :32 left made the deficit six trailing 86-80 but the Scots could get no closer. Two free throws by Audra Clark with :29.7 left and one Holt freebie with :16.3 left gave St. Kate's a scary 89-80 win that snapped their nine-game losing streak.
While a relieved Pinkerton was definitely glad to get the "W" for his players and staff, there were other aspects of the game that left him less than pleased; particularly going only 22-43 from the charity stripe for 51.2%. Rebounding had to be an issue as well as the 'Cats took their lumps on that front as Macalester had a decided 48-37 advantage. And Fruh's ability to score into the paint like she did on this day would cause most coaches to drive to the nearest Walgreen's for a bottle of Tylenol PM. Still, I had to ask Pinkerton if it might have been a case where his squad; not having a whole lot of experience handling big leads and success, might have played a part. He pondered the idea for a moment and grudgingly admitted that it could have. Meanwhile, a courageous comeback effort by the Scots came up short on this late afternoon and you could sense the disappointment on Roysland afterward. Fruh finished with a game high 33 points on this day and she made life absolutely miserable for St. Kate's in the paint. Roysland could only point to mistakes at key times; turnovers that may have kept Macalester from getting even closer or going ahead at the crucial moments. Still, I think Roysland can take a lot of positives going forward from this game and you can bet that as this team gets more experience, they're going to be causing more headaches for their MIAC opponents.
St. Olaf vs Hamline 2-14-15
Made my way over to venerable Hutton Arena armed with a Subway lunch on this frigid Valentines Day Saturday for this all-important match-up between visiting St. Olaf and host Hamline. This game would basically be an elimination game for that all-important sixth spot with the loser playing out the stretch and the winner still having a snowball's chance in hades. This was also Senior Day at Hamline as three seniors were going to be playing their last game at Hutton Arena. Sadly, Jordan Sammons, one of those seniors, was not dressed as she suffered a broken finger earlier in the month at Bethel and would be relegated to the bench as an unofficial assistant coach. The color pink was also prominently displayed on this day as well as the "Play For Kay" theme would be the mantra at several schools on this day.
The Pipers would grab a 2-0 lead at the 18:23 mark when sophomore guard Chelsey Bonsante connected with a jumper along the left baseline but that would be the only lead that the Pipers would enjoy on this day. Sharp-shooting Ole junior guard Afton Wolter banged home a "3" from the right wing area at the 17:02 mark and then strong sophomore forward Betsey Daly muscled into the paint for a score at the 16:11 mark. Junior point guard Lauren Gutierrez drained a "3" from the right top area at the 14:51 mark that gave St. Olaf an 8-2 lead and Hamline Head Coach Kerri Stockwell; sensing disaster early, called a quick timeout to assess the situation with her staff and team. Junior guard Emily Behrman's drive and jumper in the lane at the 14:37 mark cut the Ole lead to 8-4 but St. Olaf had no intentions of letting their foot off the gas pedal anytime soon. Free throws by reserve sophomore guard Kari Keogh and senior post Nikki Frogner upped the Ole lead to 11-4 by the 10:57 mark and a score in the paint by sophomore reserve post Molly Riedel with 9:03 left made it a 13-4 game. Another Wolter three-point bomb; this one from the left wing area with 8:17 left made it 16-6 and St. Olaf was on their way.
The main problem for Hamline on this day - certainly in the first half anyway - was that they were simply colder than a rock from the perimeter and when they tried to make forays into the paint, they couldn't finish there either. Ole Head Coach Dave Stromme had his team in a 1-2-2 zone defense and with the Pipers shooting blanks from outside, there was little need to stretch the defense that effectively plugged up the middle. This allowed the Oles to slow down the tempo of the game which they prefer and also gave them opportunities to exploit the smaller Hamline team while in their half-court sets. With 6:46 left, Gutierrez connected with a lay-up and got fouled in the process and, after another Piper timeout, she sank the obligatory free throw for a 19-6 St. Olaf lead. A Frogner score in the paint score in the paint with 5:46 left and a jumper from the top of the key off the glass by Riedel made it 23-11. Gutierrez uncorked a three-point bomb of her own from the top of the key with 2:37 left and the strong 5'8" Daly scored in the paint with 2:01 left for a 28-13 Ole lead. Riedel connected with a short jumper off the glass with 1:17 left and two more Keogh free throws with :40.9 left let St. Olaf take a commanding 32-15 lead into the locker room at the half. A quick check of the first half box score revealed the gory details for the Pipers: 4-25 shooting from FG range for 16% and a frightening 1-12 from three-point land for 8.3%. And the Oles pounded the boards as well with a 28-11 advantage in that count. That was a sure recipe for disaster and that's what this game was turning into for Hamline.
St. Olaf kept a heavy foot on the gas pedal once the second half got underway. Junior guard Woo Bandel made a hard drive along the left baseline for a finish at the 19:30 mark and Gutierrez connected with a lay-up at the 17:42 mark for a 36-15 Ole lead. Daly connected with a short shot at the 17:07 mark and then Gutierrez drained another "3" from the left top area that now had St. Olaf up 41-19. An exasperated Stockwell was compelled to call her first timeout of the second half but it would only delay the inevitable. Wolter connected with a lay-up at the 16:09 mark and then Daly unleashed a three-point bomb from the top of the key at the 14:33 mark for a 46-19 Ole lead and Stockwell took a match to another timeout.
This was just one of those days where seemingly everything was going right for St. Olaf and nothing was going right for the Pipers. A Daly lay-up at the 13:16 mark and a Keogh "3" from the left corner at the 12:36 mark along with a Wolter lay-up at the 11:12 mark bulged the lead to 53-19. Hamline could have arguably thrown in the towel right then and there but this Piper squad is a proud team and they were going to battle to the end, especially on senior day with their leader on the bench with a cast on her left hand and wrist. Sophomore guard Chloe Graves got two free throws to go down at the 10:43 mark and then slithered into the paint for a score with 9:38 left that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw. Freshman post Alex Peterson; who struggled mightily with her shooting in the first half, made a drive into the paint and finished with 8:56 mark. Though still trailing by 30-plus at this point, the Pipers continued to battle on and finally found some of their shooting touch down the stretch. Bonsante knocked down a short shot with 7:46 left and Graves connected on a lay-up in transition with 7:13 left. A jumper by Peterson from the top with 6:08 left and a Graves "3" from the left corner with 5:23 left along with a Bonsante free throw with 4:38 left helped chop some of the fat off the deficit. Graves was able to get another three-point bomb from the right wing area to go down with 3:34 left and added two free throws with 2:32 left. Bonsante dropped a three-point bomb with 2:11 left but the Oles had inflicted enough damage early on this contest that garnered them a cushy 72-47 victory once the final buzzer sounded.
A subdued Stockwell could only offer that it was simply "one of those days" for her squad and it had to be frustrating to think what might have been for them had Sammons not suffered that broken finger against Bethel. Sammons; who became Hamline's all-time scoring leader earlier this season has been one of the most electrifying players that the MIAC has seen in a long time and she will be missed. You simply cannot replace someone like Jordan Sammons - period. What she brought to the floor - not only with scoring ability but also with defense and the ability to wreak havoc on opponents with steals was fun to watch. On the flip side, this was by far and away the best performance by St. Olaf that I had seen in the last few years. While I think that getting that sixth spot is probably out of reach by this point, there is hope for the future down in Northfield. Don't be surprised if Stromme is able to reach into his Colorado pipeline to round up another group of Front Range ballers.
The Pipers would grab a 2-0 lead at the 18:23 mark when sophomore guard Chelsey Bonsante connected with a jumper along the left baseline but that would be the only lead that the Pipers would enjoy on this day. Sharp-shooting Ole junior guard Afton Wolter banged home a "3" from the right wing area at the 17:02 mark and then strong sophomore forward Betsey Daly muscled into the paint for a score at the 16:11 mark. Junior point guard Lauren Gutierrez drained a "3" from the right top area at the 14:51 mark that gave St. Olaf an 8-2 lead and Hamline Head Coach Kerri Stockwell; sensing disaster early, called a quick timeout to assess the situation with her staff and team. Junior guard Emily Behrman's drive and jumper in the lane at the 14:37 mark cut the Ole lead to 8-4 but St. Olaf had no intentions of letting their foot off the gas pedal anytime soon. Free throws by reserve sophomore guard Kari Keogh and senior post Nikki Frogner upped the Ole lead to 11-4 by the 10:57 mark and a score in the paint by sophomore reserve post Molly Riedel with 9:03 left made it a 13-4 game. Another Wolter three-point bomb; this one from the left wing area with 8:17 left made it 16-6 and St. Olaf was on their way.
The main problem for Hamline on this day - certainly in the first half anyway - was that they were simply colder than a rock from the perimeter and when they tried to make forays into the paint, they couldn't finish there either. Ole Head Coach Dave Stromme had his team in a 1-2-2 zone defense and with the Pipers shooting blanks from outside, there was little need to stretch the defense that effectively plugged up the middle. This allowed the Oles to slow down the tempo of the game which they prefer and also gave them opportunities to exploit the smaller Hamline team while in their half-court sets. With 6:46 left, Gutierrez connected with a lay-up and got fouled in the process and, after another Piper timeout, she sank the obligatory free throw for a 19-6 St. Olaf lead. A Frogner score in the paint score in the paint with 5:46 left and a jumper from the top of the key off the glass by Riedel made it 23-11. Gutierrez uncorked a three-point bomb of her own from the top of the key with 2:37 left and the strong 5'8" Daly scored in the paint with 2:01 left for a 28-13 Ole lead. Riedel connected with a short jumper off the glass with 1:17 left and two more Keogh free throws with :40.9 left let St. Olaf take a commanding 32-15 lead into the locker room at the half. A quick check of the first half box score revealed the gory details for the Pipers: 4-25 shooting from FG range for 16% and a frightening 1-12 from three-point land for 8.3%. And the Oles pounded the boards as well with a 28-11 advantage in that count. That was a sure recipe for disaster and that's what this game was turning into for Hamline.
St. Olaf kept a heavy foot on the gas pedal once the second half got underway. Junior guard Woo Bandel made a hard drive along the left baseline for a finish at the 19:30 mark and Gutierrez connected with a lay-up at the 17:42 mark for a 36-15 Ole lead. Daly connected with a short shot at the 17:07 mark and then Gutierrez drained another "3" from the left top area that now had St. Olaf up 41-19. An exasperated Stockwell was compelled to call her first timeout of the second half but it would only delay the inevitable. Wolter connected with a lay-up at the 16:09 mark and then Daly unleashed a three-point bomb from the top of the key at the 14:33 mark for a 46-19 Ole lead and Stockwell took a match to another timeout.
This was just one of those days where seemingly everything was going right for St. Olaf and nothing was going right for the Pipers. A Daly lay-up at the 13:16 mark and a Keogh "3" from the left corner at the 12:36 mark along with a Wolter lay-up at the 11:12 mark bulged the lead to 53-19. Hamline could have arguably thrown in the towel right then and there but this Piper squad is a proud team and they were going to battle to the end, especially on senior day with their leader on the bench with a cast on her left hand and wrist. Sophomore guard Chloe Graves got two free throws to go down at the 10:43 mark and then slithered into the paint for a score with 9:38 left that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw. Freshman post Alex Peterson; who struggled mightily with her shooting in the first half, made a drive into the paint and finished with 8:56 mark. Though still trailing by 30-plus at this point, the Pipers continued to battle on and finally found some of their shooting touch down the stretch. Bonsante knocked down a short shot with 7:46 left and Graves connected on a lay-up in transition with 7:13 left. A jumper by Peterson from the top with 6:08 left and a Graves "3" from the left corner with 5:23 left along with a Bonsante free throw with 4:38 left helped chop some of the fat off the deficit. Graves was able to get another three-point bomb from the right wing area to go down with 3:34 left and added two free throws with 2:32 left. Bonsante dropped a three-point bomb with 2:11 left but the Oles had inflicted enough damage early on this contest that garnered them a cushy 72-47 victory once the final buzzer sounded.
A subdued Stockwell could only offer that it was simply "one of those days" for her squad and it had to be frustrating to think what might have been for them had Sammons not suffered that broken finger against Bethel. Sammons; who became Hamline's all-time scoring leader earlier this season has been one of the most electrifying players that the MIAC has seen in a long time and she will be missed. You simply cannot replace someone like Jordan Sammons - period. What she brought to the floor - not only with scoring ability but also with defense and the ability to wreak havoc on opponents with steals was fun to watch. On the flip side, this was by far and away the best performance by St. Olaf that I had seen in the last few years. While I think that getting that sixth spot is probably out of reach by this point, there is hope for the future down in Northfield. Don't be surprised if Stromme is able to reach into his Colorado pipeline to round up another group of Front Range ballers.
St. Kate's vs UST 2-11-15
This Wednesday night found me over at UST's Anderson Athletic Center and Schoenecker Arena for Part II of the Neighborhood Rivalry between visiting St. Kate's which made the short hop down to play host UST. The Wildcats had played the Tommies tough in their first meeting shortly after the first of the year and even though they were riding an eight-game skid, they had given several of their last few opponents fits and they figured to have some surprises up their sleeves for UST which came into this game with an unblemished record and a lofty number two-ranking nationally as well. This was also a big night at Schoenecker Arena as well as this was "Dunk For MS" night which was helping to raise funds in the fight against multiple sclerosis. Several of the Tommie players were wearing either orange socks or orange shoes in their support and the coaching staff was wearing some orange as well.
St. Kate's fired the shot of this battle as freshman guard Audra Clark drained a "3" from the right top area at the 19:25 mark. A lay-up in transition by sophomore guard/forward Kennedy Jennings had the Wildcats up 5-2 at the 17:10 mark and although UST narrowed the deficit to 5-4 on senior forward Anna Smith's score in the paint at the 16:46 mark, the Tommies were arguably out to a very sloppy start; missing four easy shots early on in this contest. UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn; not at all pleased with the way things were going, called a timeout to try and get her squad back on track. That stoppage in play appeared to get the Tommies attention as they responded with a 7-0 burst over the next two minutes. Smith connected with a short jumper in the lane at the 15:36 mark to give UST its first lead at 6-5 and then junior guard Katie Stone banged home a "3" from the left corner at the 15:03 mark. Senior posts Maggie Weiers' score in the paint at the 14:24 mark expanded the lead to 11-5 but, just as they had in their previous meeting, the Wildcats had every intention of staying right in the thick of things. Audra Clark drained her second trey of the night from the top of the key at the 13:53 mark and junior guard/forward Shauna Horsch got her first "3" of the night at the 13:11 mark that cut the Tommie lead to 13-11. While St. Kate's may have been feeling good about themselves at this point, they arguably may have felt even better had they connected with a couple of easy lay-up opportunities that they let slip through their fingers.
The Tommies appeared to be on the verge of opening up some distance on the 'Cats when senior point guard Jen Dockter uncorked a "3" from the right corner at the 12:06 mark to make it a 16-11 ballgame. Lefty senior reserve guard Hannah Hughes dropped a trey as well from the opposite corner with 9:56 left for a 19-12 lead but once again St. Kate's was able to claw their way back to make things close. Audra Clark connected with a jumper in the lane with 9:42 left and got fouled in the process as well and her ensuing freebie cut the deficit to four points. Willowy sophomore forward Kennedy Jennings got one free throw to go down with 8:28 left and flashy sophomore guard/forward LaShay Holt dropped two charity stripe shots with 6:59 left after she was fouled that trimmed UST's lead down to 21-18. Here, however, UST was finally able to open up a bit more breathing room on this pesky Wildcat squad. Dockter drove into traffic down low for a finish with 6:05 left and Weiers connected with a lay-up with 5:52 left. Senior reserve forward Elaine Warner snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 5:26 left and then Dockter snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up to complete a 9-2 run that now made it a 30-20 ballgame and St. Kate's Head Coach Sean Pinkerton; who had shed the sportcoat early on in this contest, called a timeout to try and get his squad calmed down. But Dockter would connect from three-point land in the left top area with 3:04 left and then it was Stone doing the same from the right top area with :39 left. Two Dockter freebies with :21.1 left had the Tommies up 38-22 but Holt was able to make the last noise of this first half for the Wildcats with a "3" from the left wing area with just :01 left on the clock to make it a 38-25 game once the horn sounded ending the first half.
UST was able to build on its lead once the second half started but it didn't come without a fly or two in the ointment. A Weiers lay-up at the 19:45 mark and a Stone jumper from the right wing area at the 18:55 mark upped the Tommie lead to 42-26. Smith knocked down two free throws at the 18:18 mark but Smith also collected her fourth foul of the night at the 18:07 mark and Sinn had no choice but to sit her for a good spell of the second half. Stone made a foray into the lane for a finish with a one-handed floater at the 16:53 mark for a 46-28 UST lead but Warner; a key cog for the Tommie rebounding effort coming off the bench, picked up her third foul of the evening at the 14:48 mark. St. Kate's meanwhile slyly whittled away at the deficit. Trailing 46-34, freshman guard Meg Clark connected with a lay-up in transition and got fouled in the process and the ensuing freebie got the 'Cats back to within single digits trailing 46-37. Horsch connected with a jumper from the left elbow at the 13:48 mark and then Holt launched one of her patented two-handed three-point bombs from the right corner at the 12:06 mark that had the Wildcats within reach trailing 52-42 and things were getting a tad bit uncomfortable for the home team.
But this UST team; even when it doesn't necessarily bring its "A" game to the table, does know how to "push the button" so to speak, when it has to. The southpaw Hughes connected with a lay-up at the 11:48 mark and also got one free throw to go down after being fouled at the 11:09 mark that gave the Tommies a 55-44 lead. Smith, back on the floor by this point, got a lay-up at the 10:36 mark and then Dockter got a lay-up in transition at the 10:06 mark that gave UST a fifteen point lead at 59-44. A Weiers score in the paint with 9:22 left and two Dockter charity stripe shots made it 63-47 with 8:53 left. While Dockter did pick up her fourth foul of the night with 7:50 left, Hughes came to rescue again as she drilled a "3" from the right wing with 6:23 left for a 66-47 Tommie advantage. St. Kate's tried desperately to claw back into things late: A score in the paint by Holt with 6:07 left and a Horsch "3" from the right corner with 4:36 left cut the deficit to fourteen trailing 66-52 but once again Hughes came through with shining colors for her teammates as she uncorked another three-point bomb - this one from the left top area with 4:03 left that effectively shut the door on the 'Cats and gave UST a 69-52 lead. Weiers got a score in the paint with 3:45 left and Dockter; back in the contest with those four fouls, got an insurance lay-up with 2:08 left as the Tommies recorded a 73-56 win at the buzzer that pushed their record to 21-0 and 15-0 in the MIAC.
A disappointed St. Kate's Head Coach Sean Pinkerton; while proud of the effort his squad gave on this night, couldn't help but wonder if some of those missed opportunites that the Wildcats had in that first half in the form of missed lay-ups, might have at least changed the complexion of the contest. "They're just so good" Pinkerton lamented afterward. "If you make one mistake, they're on it just like that." Sinn meanwhile, though happy with the win, also expressed some disappointment as well. I had to ask her if the fouling issue was something that she talked about with her squad at the half and afterward and she quickly nodded in the affirmative. Turnovers - seventeen on the night - was another sore spot. "We've GOT to clean those things up" Sinn said. I also asked her about the challenging road ahead as well. "Our team likes to be challenged with these kinds of games" she replied enthusiastically. She talked about how her squad (and others) gets into the so-called "dog days" of late January/early February and how they need to have something to pick them up. Certainly, the upcoming games on the road with both Concordia and Bethel will provide the Tommies with a playoff-like atmosphere that will no doubt be huge for them as the MIAC playoffs loom ahead.
St. Kate's fired the shot of this battle as freshman guard Audra Clark drained a "3" from the right top area at the 19:25 mark. A lay-up in transition by sophomore guard/forward Kennedy Jennings had the Wildcats up 5-2 at the 17:10 mark and although UST narrowed the deficit to 5-4 on senior forward Anna Smith's score in the paint at the 16:46 mark, the Tommies were arguably out to a very sloppy start; missing four easy shots early on in this contest. UST Head Coach Ruth Sinn; not at all pleased with the way things were going, called a timeout to try and get her squad back on track. That stoppage in play appeared to get the Tommies attention as they responded with a 7-0 burst over the next two minutes. Smith connected with a short jumper in the lane at the 15:36 mark to give UST its first lead at 6-5 and then junior guard Katie Stone banged home a "3" from the left corner at the 15:03 mark. Senior posts Maggie Weiers' score in the paint at the 14:24 mark expanded the lead to 11-5 but, just as they had in their previous meeting, the Wildcats had every intention of staying right in the thick of things. Audra Clark drained her second trey of the night from the top of the key at the 13:53 mark and junior guard/forward Shauna Horsch got her first "3" of the night at the 13:11 mark that cut the Tommie lead to 13-11. While St. Kate's may have been feeling good about themselves at this point, they arguably may have felt even better had they connected with a couple of easy lay-up opportunities that they let slip through their fingers.
The Tommies appeared to be on the verge of opening up some distance on the 'Cats when senior point guard Jen Dockter uncorked a "3" from the right corner at the 12:06 mark to make it a 16-11 ballgame. Lefty senior reserve guard Hannah Hughes dropped a trey as well from the opposite corner with 9:56 left for a 19-12 lead but once again St. Kate's was able to claw their way back to make things close. Audra Clark connected with a jumper in the lane with 9:42 left and got fouled in the process as well and her ensuing freebie cut the deficit to four points. Willowy sophomore forward Kennedy Jennings got one free throw to go down with 8:28 left and flashy sophomore guard/forward LaShay Holt dropped two charity stripe shots with 6:59 left after she was fouled that trimmed UST's lead down to 21-18. Here, however, UST was finally able to open up a bit more breathing room on this pesky Wildcat squad. Dockter drove into traffic down low for a finish with 6:05 left and Weiers connected with a lay-up with 5:52 left. Senior reserve forward Elaine Warner snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 5:26 left and then Dockter snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up to complete a 9-2 run that now made it a 30-20 ballgame and St. Kate's Head Coach Sean Pinkerton; who had shed the sportcoat early on in this contest, called a timeout to try and get his squad calmed down. But Dockter would connect from three-point land in the left top area with 3:04 left and then it was Stone doing the same from the right top area with :39 left. Two Dockter freebies with :21.1 left had the Tommies up 38-22 but Holt was able to make the last noise of this first half for the Wildcats with a "3" from the left wing area with just :01 left on the clock to make it a 38-25 game once the horn sounded ending the first half.
UST was able to build on its lead once the second half started but it didn't come without a fly or two in the ointment. A Weiers lay-up at the 19:45 mark and a Stone jumper from the right wing area at the 18:55 mark upped the Tommie lead to 42-26. Smith knocked down two free throws at the 18:18 mark but Smith also collected her fourth foul of the night at the 18:07 mark and Sinn had no choice but to sit her for a good spell of the second half. Stone made a foray into the lane for a finish with a one-handed floater at the 16:53 mark for a 46-28 UST lead but Warner; a key cog for the Tommie rebounding effort coming off the bench, picked up her third foul of the evening at the 14:48 mark. St. Kate's meanwhile slyly whittled away at the deficit. Trailing 46-34, freshman guard Meg Clark connected with a lay-up in transition and got fouled in the process and the ensuing freebie got the 'Cats back to within single digits trailing 46-37. Horsch connected with a jumper from the left elbow at the 13:48 mark and then Holt launched one of her patented two-handed three-point bombs from the right corner at the 12:06 mark that had the Wildcats within reach trailing 52-42 and things were getting a tad bit uncomfortable for the home team.
But this UST team; even when it doesn't necessarily bring its "A" game to the table, does know how to "push the button" so to speak, when it has to. The southpaw Hughes connected with a lay-up at the 11:48 mark and also got one free throw to go down after being fouled at the 11:09 mark that gave the Tommies a 55-44 lead. Smith, back on the floor by this point, got a lay-up at the 10:36 mark and then Dockter got a lay-up in transition at the 10:06 mark that gave UST a fifteen point lead at 59-44. A Weiers score in the paint with 9:22 left and two Dockter charity stripe shots made it 63-47 with 8:53 left. While Dockter did pick up her fourth foul of the night with 7:50 left, Hughes came to rescue again as she drilled a "3" from the right wing with 6:23 left for a 66-47 Tommie advantage. St. Kate's tried desperately to claw back into things late: A score in the paint by Holt with 6:07 left and a Horsch "3" from the right corner with 4:36 left cut the deficit to fourteen trailing 66-52 but once again Hughes came through with shining colors for her teammates as she uncorked another three-point bomb - this one from the left top area with 4:03 left that effectively shut the door on the 'Cats and gave UST a 69-52 lead. Weiers got a score in the paint with 3:45 left and Dockter; back in the contest with those four fouls, got an insurance lay-up with 2:08 left as the Tommies recorded a 73-56 win at the buzzer that pushed their record to 21-0 and 15-0 in the MIAC.
A disappointed St. Kate's Head Coach Sean Pinkerton; while proud of the effort his squad gave on this night, couldn't help but wonder if some of those missed opportunites that the Wildcats had in that first half in the form of missed lay-ups, might have at least changed the complexion of the contest. "They're just so good" Pinkerton lamented afterward. "If you make one mistake, they're on it just like that." Sinn meanwhile, though happy with the win, also expressed some disappointment as well. I had to ask her if the fouling issue was something that she talked about with her squad at the half and afterward and she quickly nodded in the affirmative. Turnovers - seventeen on the night - was another sore spot. "We've GOT to clean those things up" Sinn said. I also asked her about the challenging road ahead as well. "Our team likes to be challenged with these kinds of games" she replied enthusiastically. She talked about how her squad (and others) gets into the so-called "dog days" of late January/early February and how they need to have something to pick them up. Certainly, the upcoming games on the road with both Concordia and Bethel will provide the Tommies with a playoff-like atmosphere that will no doubt be huge for them as the MIAC playoffs loom ahead.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
MIAC Power Rankings For Sunday 2-8-15
Here's the latest power rankings after yet another wild and wacky week in the always-tough MIAC:
1. UST
2. Bethel
3. GAC
4. SMU
5. Concordia
6. (tie) Augsburg & CSB
7. (tie) St. Olaf & Hamline
8. Carleton
9. St. Kate's
10. Macalester
The Tommie bulldozer keeps plowing right along; undefeated and unscathed, knocking everything out of its way. Presumably, that trend should continue on Wednesday night against St. Kate's but a roadie to Moorhead next Saturday to go up against the Corn is in the offing and that's always a dangerous proposition for anyone going up there - no matter who you are. Bethel meanwhile has now won nine straight; including yesterday's home win over CSB as the Royals are edging closer and closer to securing that second seed. They could easily stretch that streak to eleven with a trip down Snelling Avenue to Macalester on Wednesday night before hosting Augsburg next Saturday. A preview of things to come could likely be on 2-18-15 when the Royals host UST.
I give the Gusties the nod at the third spot after they took care of business at Carleton this last Wednesday night and then dispatched St. Olaf yesterday in the friendly confines of Lund Center. They're not completely out of the running for that second spot yet but a very tough week lies ahead for GAC: at Concordia on Wednesday night and then home on Saturday to host SMU. Speaking of the Cardinals, although I have them in the fourth spot today, I have to give them major props after yesterday's wild overtime win over Concordia; a game which they could have easily lost. It somehow makes up for the last two drubbings suffered at the hands of Bethel and UST, respectively. They NEEDED this one and they got it. Concordia needed this game as well and didn't get it and it must have been an awfully long and exhausting trip back up to Moorhead thinking about what might have been. The Cobbers could still get one of the top four seeds but they're not only going to have to take care of business on their end, they're going to have to get some help too - and a LOT of it. And even though the next two opponents for the Corn will be at home in cavernous Memorial Auditorium, don't expect either GAC or UST to be in a charitable mood. The bottom line here is that yesterday's loss in Winona most likely now has Concordia staring at the fifth seed.
Things got very, very interesting for that sixth spot after yesterday's games. CSB had a terrible week; dropping a home game to St. Olaf last Wednesday and then getting unceremoniously dumped by Bethel over at Robertson Center yesterday. One can forgive the loss to Bethel, of course, but the home loss to St. Olaf may be the game that does in the Blazers playoff hopes as SMU will come calling this coming Wednesday night in St. Joe. Augsburg managed to get themselves in very good shape - at least for the time being anyway - for that sixth spot with that thrilling come-from-behind win in overtime yesterday against St. Kate's. But now comes the VERY hard part for the Auggies: Four straight roadies; including the huge showdown at Skoglund Center this coming Wednesday night against St. Olaf. The Oles are unpredictable and have been able to win some games that you normally wouldn't expect them to win; including up at St. Joe this last Wednesday night against CSB. If Afton Wolter and Betsey Daly are hot from behind the arc, look out! Hamline is still alive as well as they hung on for dear life against Macalester yesterday and they have to take care of business at venerable Hutton Arena this coming week - and a little help from others wouldn't hurt either. Needless to say, the fight for that sixth spot could very well be the most intriguing part of the late season stretch in the MIAC.
Fire away with thoughts.
1. UST
2. Bethel
3. GAC
4. SMU
5. Concordia
6. (tie) Augsburg & CSB
7. (tie) St. Olaf & Hamline
8. Carleton
9. St. Kate's
10. Macalester
The Tommie bulldozer keeps plowing right along; undefeated and unscathed, knocking everything out of its way. Presumably, that trend should continue on Wednesday night against St. Kate's but a roadie to Moorhead next Saturday to go up against the Corn is in the offing and that's always a dangerous proposition for anyone going up there - no matter who you are. Bethel meanwhile has now won nine straight; including yesterday's home win over CSB as the Royals are edging closer and closer to securing that second seed. They could easily stretch that streak to eleven with a trip down Snelling Avenue to Macalester on Wednesday night before hosting Augsburg next Saturday. A preview of things to come could likely be on 2-18-15 when the Royals host UST.
I give the Gusties the nod at the third spot after they took care of business at Carleton this last Wednesday night and then dispatched St. Olaf yesterday in the friendly confines of Lund Center. They're not completely out of the running for that second spot yet but a very tough week lies ahead for GAC: at Concordia on Wednesday night and then home on Saturday to host SMU. Speaking of the Cardinals, although I have them in the fourth spot today, I have to give them major props after yesterday's wild overtime win over Concordia; a game which they could have easily lost. It somehow makes up for the last two drubbings suffered at the hands of Bethel and UST, respectively. They NEEDED this one and they got it. Concordia needed this game as well and didn't get it and it must have been an awfully long and exhausting trip back up to Moorhead thinking about what might have been. The Cobbers could still get one of the top four seeds but they're not only going to have to take care of business on their end, they're going to have to get some help too - and a LOT of it. And even though the next two opponents for the Corn will be at home in cavernous Memorial Auditorium, don't expect either GAC or UST to be in a charitable mood. The bottom line here is that yesterday's loss in Winona most likely now has Concordia staring at the fifth seed.
Things got very, very interesting for that sixth spot after yesterday's games. CSB had a terrible week; dropping a home game to St. Olaf last Wednesday and then getting unceremoniously dumped by Bethel over at Robertson Center yesterday. One can forgive the loss to Bethel, of course, but the home loss to St. Olaf may be the game that does in the Blazers playoff hopes as SMU will come calling this coming Wednesday night in St. Joe. Augsburg managed to get themselves in very good shape - at least for the time being anyway - for that sixth spot with that thrilling come-from-behind win in overtime yesterday against St. Kate's. But now comes the VERY hard part for the Auggies: Four straight roadies; including the huge showdown at Skoglund Center this coming Wednesday night against St. Olaf. The Oles are unpredictable and have been able to win some games that you normally wouldn't expect them to win; including up at St. Joe this last Wednesday night against CSB. If Afton Wolter and Betsey Daly are hot from behind the arc, look out! Hamline is still alive as well as they hung on for dear life against Macalester yesterday and they have to take care of business at venerable Hutton Arena this coming week - and a little help from others wouldn't hurt either. Needless to say, the fight for that sixth spot could very well be the most intriguing part of the late season stretch in the MIAC.
Fire away with thoughts.
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