NCAA Tournament 1st Round Game - Wisconsin Lutheran vs Illinois Wesleyan 3-1-19

Got out of work at 3:30 on this Friday afternoon and am thankful (Well, I guess anyway) that I drove to work as I had to battle some major snow and SLOW, slow driving on a snow-packed I-94 as I managed to snake my way from downtown Minneapolis over to the campus of UST on the St. Paul side of town (a trip that took me an hour on this day).  I was lucky enough to find a parking spot at one of the building parking lots on the west side of the campus and headed on foot over to Anderson Athletic Complex and Schoenecker Arena for the first night of the NCAA Tournament.  The first game on this night featured Wisconsin Lutheran; champion of the NACC with an impressive 26-1 record taking on Illinois Wesleyan which won the CCIW Championship Game and had a solid 23-4 record coming into the Big Dance.  Not knowing much about either the Warriors or the Titans, I knew this game would be a learning experience for me but that's one of the fun things about the NCAA Tournament in seeing unfamiliar teams for the first time; especially in the first couple of rounds.

Illinois Wesleyan would strike first in this contest as senior forward Maddie Merritt connected with a jumper from the top of the key just inside the arc at the 9:20 mark of the opening period but the Warriors soon had their opponents on their heels with a 9-0 burst.  Senior point guard Maddie Cruz started this run for Wisconsin Lutheran as she unleashed a "3" from the right wing area at the 8:35 mark and a jumper from the left wing area by fellow senior forward Maddy Elrod at the 7:03 mark got the Warrior lead to 5-2.  Junior guard/forward Kelly Tramburg knocked down a jumper from the left wing area with 4:49 left and a short jumper by strong sophomore reserve forward Amanda Brug with 3:40 left completed this key early run for Wisconsin Lutheran before the Titans could finally find some solid footing on a lay-up by senior guard Nina Anderson with 3:20 left.  Both teams were in a man-to-man defense and it was apparent early on that Illinois Wesleyan liked to attack on defense whenever possible in hopes of getting steals.  In fact, the Titans were creating turnovers but of all the early turnovers they forced, they certainly didn't have much to show for it on the other end as they misfired several times or suffered miscues on their own.  Wisconsin Lutheran got their lead to seven points again as Tramburg connected with a lay-up with 2:57 left before the Titans could finally scratch and claw their way back.  Athletic sophomore forward Raven Hughes slithered into the paint for one score with 2:38 left and two free throws by senior forward Ashley Schneider with 1:57 left had Illinois Wesleyan back in single-possession range again down 11-8.  But the Warriors soon stretched their safety net out to six points again when senior forward Jen Dowden drained a "3" from the left wing area with 1:06 left and a concerned Illinois Wesleyan Head Coach Mia Smith took a thirty-second timeout in hopes of making some quick defensive adjustments.  That short stoppage in play seemed to give the Titans new life and a fresh breath of air as they ended this first period with an 8-2 push.  Two Hughes free throws with :47.9 left reduced the deficit to four points and then sophomore reserve guard Kendall Sosa got a lay-up after a steal in the backcourt and got fouled in the process and her ensuing "and one" got the deficit down to a scant point at 14-13.  Wisconsin Lutheran got a bit more breathing room when freshman reserve guard Jenna Mace connected with a lay-up that drew a foul and resulted in the "and one" on the other end but the Titans ended this first period - and run - when Sosa drained a "3" from the right wing area with :10 left that got this thing tied up so while Illinois Wesleyan was now back on even terms with their opponent, they arguably did it the hard way.

When Illinois Wesleyan's Anderson knocked down a jumper from the right elbow area at the 8:53 mark of the second period, things momentarily looked brighter for the Titans as they assumed an 18-16 lead but that lead certainly didn't last very long as a resourceful Wisconsin Lutheran team quickly responded with a 7-0 push.  Tramburg banged home a "3" from the left wing area at the 8:35 mark to push the Warriors back out in front 19-18 and a score in the paint by Elrod at the 7:24 mark increased the lead to 21-18.  Tramburg would come up big again for Wisconsin Lutheran at the 5:02 mark with a lay-up in transition to increase the lead to five points at 23-18 and perhaps the only fly in the ointment right now for Warrior Head Coach Klay Knueppel was that Cruz had picked up her second foul of the evening during this run and had to come out.  Illinois Wesleyan managed to close within a single possession with 4:06 left when Hughes connected with a short turnaround jumper off the glass but the Titans continued to not only misfire with most of their shots but the amount of unforced errors and mistakes were continuing; much to the chagrin of Head Coach Mia Smith.  Despite all this, Illinois Wesleyan still managed to get things knotted up as an Anderson jumper from the left elbow area with 2:08 left and a Hughes lay-up with 1:22 left in this second period had this game tied at 25 a piece.  Still, the Warriors would have the final say before the halftime break with a 4-0 spurt.  Two Brug charity stripe shots with 1:05 left and a Brug lay-up in transition with :28 left allowed Wisconsin Lutheran to not only recapture the lead at 29-25 but took a lot of momentum with them into the locker room at the halftime break while the Warriors looked a bit dazed and confused with their own maladies.  A check of the first half box score shows that Wisconsin Lutheran had a decided edge on the boards by a 20-14 count and while turnorvers were pretty much even, the Titans thus far had shot only 9-25 from FG range for 36% and were 1-9 from downtown for an ice-cold 11.1% that mirrored the weather outside.

The early moments of the third period mirrored that of the second in which Illinois Wesleyan again looked to snare the momentum back.  One Anderson free throw at the 9:28 mark and a lay-up by Merritt at the 9:00 mark closed the gap to a single point at 29-28 and when the Titans finally poked their nose out in front at the 7:06 mark on an Anderson lay-up to make it 30-29, there was every reason for the Titan faithful in attendance on this cold, snowy night to believe that their team was finally on the verge of taking this game over - until they proceeded to completely have their offensive game go ice cold again with missed shots and turnovers galore that saw them go scoreless the rest of the third period.  And not that Wisconsin Lutheran was suddenly setting the world on fire with their shooting either but when Dowden drained a "3" from the left top area to give the Warriors the lead back at 32-30, that two-point deficit Illinois Wesleyan had to be the most frustrating time of all for the Titans as they simply were unable to get anything going on offense and when they were able to get the ball into the paint, they were simply shut down by a tough Wisconsin Lutheran defense.  And the Warriors made matters worse for their opponent before this third period was over as one Tramburg free throw with 2:26 left and a Brug lay-up with 1:39 left increased the lead to 35-30 going into the fourth period.

Ordinarily, a five-point lead is hardly an insurmountable advantage by any stretch but, given Illinois Wesleyan's continuing offensive woes, that gap seemed like a stagecoach ride from here to Vegas.  And the Warriors managed to increase that gap in the early minutes of the fourth period as Brug muscled her way into the paint for two key scores - one at the 9:16 mark and then again at the 7:38 mark that also drew a foul and resulted in an "and one" - that now had Wisconsin Lutheran up eight at 40-32.  After another foiled Titan possession, the Warriors then promptly upped their lead to double-digits at 42-32 when Dowden slithered into the paint for a score at the 7:03 mark.  Wisconsin Lutheran's Cruz picked up her fourth foul at the 5:43 mark but that paled in comparison to the problems that Illinois Wesleyan was facing at this point and it wasn't until the 4:06 mark when junior guard Sydney Shanks connected with a lay-up that the Titans finally found some semblance of offensive production.  Schneider connected with a jumper in the lane with 3:13 left that cut the deficit down to six points at 42-36 and Shanks was able to make a drive into the lane for a finish with 2:58 left that kept Illinois Wesleyan in that six-point range down 44-38.  With 1:32 left, Shanks would strike again with a drive into the lane for a finish that also drew a foul and offered up a chance for the Titans to somehow crawl back to within a single possession.  But Shanks misfired on the "and one" opportunity that kept the deficit at four at 44-40 and the Titans never could come up with any more magic tricks.  Wisconsin Lutheran's Tramburg would get fouled with 1:04 left where she got one insurance free throw to go down as would senior guard Lexi Reinke with :24.5 left.  Reinke would sink two more free throws for good measure with :13.3 left and the Warriors had pulled off the upset with a 48-40 victory.

It was quite the bitter pill for this Titan team that finished the season with a 23-5 record and a CCIW Championship Game trophy under their belts to have things come to such a sudden end and with an abysmal offensive performance to show for it on this night.  The pain was quite evident on the faces of Illinois Wesleyan's Smith along Merritt and Hughes when they came into the press room afterward.  Smith had a long pause once at the table; trying to gather her thoughts while fighting through the pain and disappointment of what just transpired.  "We finished the season 23-5.....And all throughout the season, I've appreciated what my kids have done.  I absolutely do not like the way we lost today....We lost very very uncharacteristic of what this program is and I'm saddened by that.....What happened, I don't know...We were 1-19 from the three-point line and that is not our style of ball...We normally work the ball inside to (Maddie) Merritt and we work around that....Defensively, we play better...We pick up these people...We guard people...We did not do that tonight......But probably the two statistics that are most important....The three-point shooting is one thing to blame but probably more important than anything is the fact that we had 12 assists and 23 turnovers and that's not this team."  Smith also felt that Wisconsin Lutheran beat her squad without their main players on this night as well and felt that the rest of their team really stepped up on this night.  I asked Smith specifically about the unfamiliarity aspect of playing an unfamiliar opponent at a neutral site; where you can study film and look at their roster but there's still that uncertainty once you get on the floor and the small window you have to get truly comfortable with what you're actually facing.  "I wish that I could say that it was....But in my opinion it is not...We knew what to expect and we knew what they were going to do."  Smith was quick to give Wisconsin Lutheran credit however as she pointed out that the Warriors "hustled in some areas where we did not."  I also asked Smith about the fact that; particularly in the second period, when the Titans were employing some full- and half-court pressure that was resulting in some Wisconsin Lutheran turnovers, that despite the effort her team was exerting in forcing those turnovers, they didn't have a lot to show for it.  "There you go" Smith replied.  "When you create turnovers, you have to turn them into points.....And again, uncharacteristic of us tonight with the way we handled that."  As hard as it sounds, the Titan faithful will have to live with this one for a while.  You know that they were a better team than what they showed on this and it simply didn't happen for them.   

Meanwhile, it was all smiles on this Wisconsin Lutheran end as Knueppel brought in both Reinke and Elrod to talk in about their latest conquest.  Knueppel:  "I guess for us all year we were underrated....We knew we could defend and coming into this game our goal was to keep them under 50 and they were 20th in the country in scoring....Another goal was not to turn the ball over...and give them lay-ups...We turned it over more than I'd like.....But we made them play half-court which is what we like."  Knueppel was especially proud of his seniors in this game.  "We have veteran guys that have been around and I'm proud of these guys....At halftime, we kind of clapping and I shut that down pretty fast" he added with a laugh.  "We talked about coming for two games and that was our goal."  I asked Knueppel about coming here to the UST pod for a second year in a row and if his team was better prepared this time around - both from a game strategy standpoint and from a mental standpoint as well.  "Last year was a little tougher from the injuries we had.......But coming here again we saw St. Thomas when we got here and we saw the MIAC/NCAA rep Jon (Herbrechtsmeyer) to help us out and we just kind of felt comfortable....We know where everything is and we just felt a lot better about where we were...These guys were fresh from where we went the first year...They wanted it bad....So yes, coming back here for a second time there was a comfort for us."  Knueppel also felt that it was important to control the tempo of the game and I mentioned to Knueppel that I thought it was critical how his squad was able to get physical down low in the paint against this Illinois Wesleyan team.  "We have some good size and in the NCAA Tournament you have to have size and you have to be able to get physical with guys....Our guards have some length which is good so their guard have a little bit harder time getting in there and scoring which is good.....We were a little worried about their guard getting in there and posting us up.....I just thought our pressure defense was there."  Here's a link for the Wisconsin Lutheran press conference in it's entirety.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDp0vtSZQEU&t=106s

A check of the final box score shows that Wisconsin Lutheran actually had more turnover than Illinois Wesleyan did at 27 to 23 but again, the Titans sure didn't have much to show for all those turnovers they got; getting only 15 points total.  Here's another stat that I'm sure made Illinois Wesleyan's Smith reach for that bottle of Tylenol PM that night:  The Warriors had a distinct edge in those points in the paint by a 24-18 margin and Wisconsin Lutheran also had a 7-4 advantage in those all-important "second-chance" points at 7-4.  Throw in the fact that Wisconsin Lutheran had a 43-33 edge in rebounding and that the Titans shot only 16-53 from FG range for 30.2% and were 1-19 (!) from downtown for 5.3% (yep, you read that right) pretty much gives you an idea of how this game went.  Brug was just huge for Wisconsin Lutheran on this night as she led the way with 15 points while Tramburg had 11 and Dowden finished with ten so it was a relatively balanced scoring effort from the Warriors.  No one on the Illinois Wesleyan team had double figures for scoring but Anderson and Hughes paced the way with their nine points, respectively.