Wayne State vs Concordia St. Paul 2-15-19

I never want to take my eye too far off the NSIC Women's Basketball scene and this Friday night was an excellent night to head over to the St. Paul side of town at Gangelhoff Arena on the campus of Concordia St. Paul University for this important late regular season match-up between visiting Wayne State and host Concordia St. Paul.  The Golden Bears were all alone in first place in the NSIC South Division at 13-5 and 17-6 overall while the Wildcats were in the midst of a so-so season at 8-10 in conference play and 13-11 overall.  So while their title hopes were gone, they would certainly love to play the role of spoiler. 

Concordia would get the upper hand early on in the first period as a short shot off the glass by senior post Lindsay Dorr at the 9:27 mark and a lay-up by fellow senior point guard Anna Schmitt at the 7:24 mark had the Golden Bears up 4-2.  Wayne State, however, would grab their first lead of the evening as sophomore point guard Halley Busse drained a "3" from the left wing area at the 7:01 mark to make it 5-4.  The teams would trade one-point leads over the next five minutes and with Concordia St. Paul holding a 10-9 lead, the Wildcats were able to make a bit of a move.  Sophomore forward Erin Norling would knock down two free throws after getting fouled to help Wayne State regain the lead at 11-10 with 2:33 left and a "3" from the left wing area by freshman reserve point guard Kylie Hammer with 1:57 left pushed that lead to 14-10.  The Golden Bears would come right back to tie the game as sophomore forward and former Elk River standout Sidney Wentland made a hard drive into the lane for a finish with :39 left and a lay-up in transition by sophomore reserve forward Riley Wheatcraft after Wentland blocked a shot by Wayne State's Norling with :15 left tied this game at 14-all.  Still, the Wildcats were able to grab the lead again when Hammer connected with a lay-up with just :04 left as Wayne State took a 16-14 advantage into the second period. 

The Golden Bears appeared to be in a bit of a tough spot when Wayne State increased their lead to 18-14 in the early moments of the second period as lanky 6'4" freshman reserve post Amelia Ivester connected with a short jumper in the lane at the 9:25 mark.  Concordia St. Paul managed to get the game tied as Schmitt connected with a short jumper herself at the 9:07 mark and a hard drive and lay-up by up-and-coming sophomore reserve guard and former Park Center standout Meghan DuBois at the 8:32 mark but the Wildcats regained the lead when Hammer drained a "3" from the left wing area at the 7:35 mark for a 21-18 advantage.  Senior post Taylor Reiner helped Wayne State maintain the three-point edge with her score in the paint at the 5:52 mark and when Norling connected with a lay-up at the 5:27 mark to increase the lead to five at 25-20, there was some growing concern amongst the Golden Bear faithful in the stands.  However, Schmitt would quickly come to the rescue for her Concordia St. Paul team.  A short jumper from the right side at the 5:02 mark and a drive and finish by the former Waconia standout had the deficit down to one point at 25-24.  The Wildcats would get their lead to three as Norling connected with a lay-up with 3:41 left but the Golden Bears seemed to have a second win within them as they took charge down the stretch.  Senior sharp-shooting guard Lexi Lee buried a "3" from the left corner with 3:16 left to tie the game and a jumper along the right baseline by Dorr with 2:20 left kept Concordia St. Paul knotted with their opponent at 29 a piece.  Then it was another former Park Center standout grabbing the spotlight for the Golden Bears as sophomore reserve point guard Danielle Schaub first connected with a lay-up in transition after a steal (just as she did in her days with the Pirates) with 1:09 left and then unleashed a dagger "3' from the right top area with :29 left as Concordia St. Paul suddenly had a 34-29 lead in their back pocket as the teams headed to the locker room for the half.  Both teams were quite similar with their shooting in this first half as the Wildcats were 12-30 from FG range for 40% and 3-8 from behind the arc for 37.5%.  Concordia St. Paul was 16-39 for 41% from FG range and 2-12 from downtown for 16.7%.  Where the Golden Bears did have a sizable advantage, however, was on the boards by a 26-16 count and had only seven turnovers compared to the Wildcats nine. 

Concordia St. Paul wasted little time in the opening minutes of the third period taking control of this game for good with a key 12-2 push.  Lee found the range again from downtown with a bomb from the left top area at the 8:24 mark and a Wentland lay-up at the 7:19 mark had the Golden Bears up by ten at 39-29.  Wayne State tried to counter as lanky junior post Taylor Wangerin connected with a jumper from the free throw line but they were unable to stop this charge by the home team.  Lee would come up big again for Concordia St. Paul with another three-point bomb - this one from the right wing area at the 6:28 mark and would follow that up with a lay-up in transition after a steal that made it 44-31 and first-year Wildcat Head Coach Brent Pollari clearly saw this one slipping away and called a timeout in hopes of reversing this trend.  The Golden Bears would cap this run on two free throws by senior guard/forward Kyrah Fredenburg at the 5:01 mark before Wayne State could finally start cutting into the cushion they suddenly were now facing.  Sophomore reserve guard Haley Vesey banged home a "3" from the right wing area with 4:40 left and Norling would drain a "3" of her own from the top of the key with 4:14 left that provided some hope for the Wildcat faithful in the stand as they wiggled their way back into single-digit range again down 46-37.  Those hopes got some more foothold when Hammer would get two charity stripe shots to go down with 3:46 left that cut the deficit down to seven points at 46-39.  But those hopes soon dissipated when Concordia St. Paul regained control and closed out this third period on an 11-4 run.  Schmitt connected with a jumper from the right elbow area with 3:28 left and another three-point bomb by Lee - this one from the right wing area with 2:35 left - pushed the Golden Bear advantage to double digits again at 51-39.  A Schmitt drive into the lane and finish with 1:31 left maintained the twelve-point edge at 53-41 and two free throws by Fredenburg with :47 left pushed the lead to fourteen points at 55-41.  Then DuBois  would connect with a lay-up with :30 left to increase the lead to sixteen points at 57-41 and although Wayne State's Vesey would get a score in the paint with :05 left, the Wildcats were still on the wrong end of a 57-43 score going into the fourth period. 

And Concordia St. Paul left little doubt as to how this one was going to turn out as they started the fourth period with a 12-1 blitz.  Two Schmitt freebies at the 9:43 mark and a "3" from the right top area by sophomore reserve forward Ayla Lemke at the 9:03 mark made it 62-44 and the Wildcats' Pollari was soon clamoring for another timeout.  But the Golden Bears only added to Wayne State's increasing misery as a Schmitt "3" from the right top area at the 8:35 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by Wheatcraft at the 8:09 mark got the lead to 67-44.  Less than a minute later, Schaub would snare a steal in the backcourt and get the ball to Wheatcraft who got a lay-up out of it at the 7:21 mark to make it a 69-44 ballgame.  Busse finally got the Wildcats on the board again with two free throws at the 6:38 mark but that was met by two three-point bombs by Concordia St. Paul - one by Lee from the left corner at the 5:37 mark and another one by Schaub from the right corner at the 5:16 mark - and now the Golden Bears were up 75-47.  Wayne State would again try to counter on two scores - one by freshman reserve guard and former Maple Grove standout Autumn Mlinar with 4:59 left on a score in the paint off of an inbounds pass that drew a foul in the process that resulted in an "and one" along with a short jumper in the lane by Ivester with 4:13 left - but all these did were make small dents in an already large cushion.  And that cushion would grow again as Concordia St. Paul reeled off a 9-0 push.  DuBois nailed a "3" from the left corner with 3:39 left and followed that up with a steal and lay-up the other way with 3:21 left that also drew an intentional foul and DuBois was able to get one free throw out of it to make it 81-52.  Then it was Wheatcraft finding the range from downtown as her "3" from the left corner with 2:12 left got the lead to 84-52.  The Wildcats got two late scores out of this mess as Hammer unleashed a "3" from the top of the key with 1:25 left and Busse did likewise from the exact same spot with :15 left but Concordia St. Paul still took a hefty 84-58 win in the ledger when the final buzzer sounded. 

I think the thing that left a lasting impression on me from this latest conquest by the Golden Bears was Head Coach (and former Golden Bear standout) Amanda Johnson's willingness to start going into her bench at times that not only allowed her primary chain gang to get breathers but also allowed the development of younger players getting valuable minutes where they not only gained experience but provided valuable contributions as well.  Along with Wheatcraft, now we're starting to see the two former Park Center standouts - DuBois and Schaub - get chances to show what they can do and it really helps take the load off of Schmitt, Lee and Fredenburg.  Lemke, too, is proving she can come in and give valuable minutes on the front line that certainly takes some of the pressure off of Wentland.  Johnson likely learned her lesson - albeit the hard way - a couple of weekends ago when they lost a tough overtime game to Moorhead State - a game where her starters simply ran out of gas at the most critical juncture.  But this tweak paid dividends today and could pay even bigger dividends down the road in the NSIC Playoffs.  It was indeed a very solid night for Schmitt as she just missed out on a "double-double" with her 23 points and nine rebounds to lead all scorers and Lee wasn't far behind with her 17 points on a night that saw her reigning terror from behind the arc by going 5-9.  And then there was DuBois with ten points on a night that saw her starting to come into her own on the collegiate level which is definitely encouraging to see.  Wayne State was led by Norling's 16 points while Hammer finished with 13 points as she was 3-4 from three-point land.