SMU vs Macalester 1-3-26

Brianna Nusbaum and the SMU Cardinals are flying high

Made the run over to Leonard Center on the campus of Macalester College on this overcast early January day to cover my first game in the new year of 2026 that featured one of the hottest young teams in the MIAC - SMU - taking on host Macalester.  The Cardinals were coming into this game with a stellar 9-1 record; their only loss coming to UW-La Crosse back in mid-November.  It's been a much different story for the Scots meanwhile as they were coming into this contest with a 1-8 overall record with the only positive mark on the ledger coming back in late November when they knocked off Northwestern.  Still, this contest was looming as a possibly dangerous game for SMU coming into today and with only a handful of opportunities available to improve its NPI ratings, the Cardinals could ill afford any kind of stumble in this outing.  

Both teams would get early scores in the early minutes of the opening period - SMU sophomore forward Ryle Sternquist's drive and lay-up at the 9:38 mark and the Scots' answering on sophomore guard Sydnee Smith's score in the paint at the 7:29 mark - that had the game leveled at deuce but the Cardinals would not mess around on this day and quickly went to work to up their margin.  Junior forward Kali Olson would get a short shot in the paint to go down at the 7:10 mark and one free throw by Sternquist after she was fouled at the 5:31 mark had SMU up 5-2.  A lay-up in transition by freshman reserve guard Hadley Sammons at the 5:16 mark extended the lead to 7-2 before Macalester was able to crawl back to within a single possession on a score in the paint by Sydnee Smith at the 5:00 mark.  The Cardinals, however, would continue to grow their lead as sophomore combo guard/forward Julia Koch would bang home her first trey of this ballgame from the left corner with 3:42 left which got the attention of the Scots first-year Head Coach AD Donovan who took a match to a thirty-second timeout in hopes of some quick adjustments on the defensive end of the floor.  Unfortunately for the Macalester faithful, not many solutions seemed to be at hand as the Cardinals would follow up on the latest score as sophomore point guard Brianna Nusbaum weaved through traffic and got a pretty one-handed floater in the lane to go down with 2:24 left that now had SMU up 12-4.  Macalester would manage to narrow the deficit when freshman reserve guard Megan Matthews got a short pull-up jumper to go down with 1:46 but the Cardinals added to their ledger with just :01.8 left in this first period as Nusbaum would bury a cold-hearted "3" from the top of the key that had SMU enjoying a 15-6 advantage.

Hope was briefly restored among the Scot faithful inside Leonard Center on this day when sophomore guard Emma Karlin buried a "3" from the left top area at the 9:40 mark of the second period but those hopes were soon dashed as SMU proceeded to go on an 8-2 burst.  Kali Olson would snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 8:38 mark and then Koch; the Omro, Wisconsin native, did more slaying from downtown as she would get one "3" from the right corner area at the 8:05 mark and would follow that up later with another bomb from the left corner at the 6:45 mark that now had the Cardinals up 23-11.  To its credit, Macalester would trim the deficit down to nine a short time later when senior reserve forward Ellie Corbett drained a "3" from the left top area at the 6:19 mark that made it a 23-14 ballgame and the Scots would stay in that nine-point margin when Matthews connected on a short shot in the lane at the 5:27 mark at 25-16.  Unfortunately for the Scots, SMU would close out this second period on a 9-3 push.  A routine score in the paint by Kali Olson at the 5:03 mark and a pretty drive and finish by senior guard Lindsey Lettner with 3:57 left restored the double-digit cushion at 29-16.  With 2:05 left, Koch would be sizzling again behind the arc as she drilled her fourth trey of this contest from the left corner area.  Less than a minute later, Koch would show that she's more than just a one trick pony as she would make a hard drive for a finish with 1:08 left.  Macalester would add to its total with just :30.6 left as Sydnee Smith connected on a lay-up but the Cardinals still took a hefty 34-19 lead into the locker room at the half.  

Both teams would trade scores at the beginning of the third period as SMU's Nusbaum knocked down a jumper from the left wing area at the 8:38 mark and the Scots' Karlin unleashed a "3" from the right top area at the 7:47 mark.  The problem for Macalester, however, was that the math was so far working against them and they needed many more of these to get back to within striking distance and the Cardinals simply were in no mood to let that happen on this day.  Freshman forward Ayla Olson got one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 6:27 mark and then Sternquist would connect on a jumper from the free throw line area at the 5:32 mark that had SMU up 39-22.  Then Nusbaum would work more magic as she would first connect on a lay-up off of an inbounds pass with 3:56 left and would also connect on a short, turnaround jumper with 2:27 left.  Ayla Olson would also connect on a lay-up with 1:47 left that now had the Cardinals up comfortably 45-26.  Macalester would try and counter on a three-point bomb by freshman reserve guard Faith Accardo from the left corner with 1:19 left but SMU's Nusbaum would answer shortly thereafter with a hard drive and finish with :59 left and even though the Scots would add to its total thus far on a score in the paint by sophomore combo guard/forward Cady Davis with :43 left, Macalester still found themselves on the wrong end of a 47-31 score.  

The Cardinals were not letting their collective foot off the gas pedal once the fourth period got underway.  Ayla Olson would bang home a "3" from the right corner area at the 9:47 mark that helped spark an 11-2 burst that effectively erased any doubts about how this game was going to go.  Scores in the paint - one by Koch at the 9:15 mark and another by Kali Olson at the 8:45 mark - had SMU up 54-33.  Nusbaum would cap this run by first knocking down a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 6:19 mark and getting a short jumper in the lane to go down at the 5:35 mark that padded the Cardinals lead at 58-33.  Macalester was still fighting hard despite the fact that this game was now beyond reach as Sydnee Smith would connect on a lay-up with 3:41 left and Davis would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 2:02 left.  Both the Scots' Donovan and SMU Head Coach Courtney Shelton now had their reserves in for clean-up duty for the last two minutes.  Cardinals sophomore reserve guard Emma Mann would knock down a jumper from the free throw line as the shot clock was expiring with 1:27 left and Macalester junior reserve guard Kendall Bernbaum would snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 1:12 left so when the buzzer finally sounded, SMU had secured an important road dub with a 60-38 victory.  

I was able to catch up with SMU's Shelton shortly afterward and after I congratulated her and her team on the convincing win on this day, I couldn't help but ask her if this rapid ascension by her team to the top echelon of MIAC Women's Basketball was something that she saw happening so soon.  "I hope I don't sound selfish saying this, but yes, I did see this coming" she said.  Shelton added that she knew she had a good nucleus of players when she took the SMU job prior to last season and so far anyway, this team is showing that last year's appearance in the MIAC Playoffs was indeed no fluke.  I have to admit that I had my doubts as well but it you take a look at MIAC team statistics, you'll see the Cardinals at the top of the heap in team offense and team scoring margin as well as combined team rebounds and team offensive rebounds.  Moreover, they're near the top in several other categories as well and, most importantly, they're off to their best start in a long, long time .  True, it's only early January and a lot of things can happen between now and late February but when you look at the makeup of this Cardinals roster and you see that it's dominated by freshmen and sophomores, it becomes even clearer that they're far from reaching their ceiling.  For me, the only knock I might have on this SMU team is that they're not particularly deep beyond their normal rotation and that could be problematic for them later on down the road.  But considering where this program has been and where they are right now, it's safe to say that SMU hit a home run when they hired Shelton to take the reigns of this program.  For the near term, however, there'll be little time for celebrating this latest conquest as the Cardinals have to make the return trip up US Highway 61 and the CPKC River Sub mainline to the Twin Cities to face Bethel this coming Wednesday evening (1-7) and when I brought up the fact that SMU appears to have only a few opportunities to really strengthen its NPI ranking with Shelton, she was quick to agree that her squad absolutely has to make the most of those chances and that Wednesday night's game is going to be a big challenge.  

As you can imagine, the box score on this one shows that the Cardinals pretty much dominated this contest in most facets of the game as SMU had a whopping 46-32 advantage on the boards and a decided 28-14 advantage in points in the paint.  Throw in a 13-2 advantage for the Cardinals in those all-important "second chance" points and you get a pretty good idea of how this contest went.  Perhaps the only fly in the ointment for SMU on this day is that Macalester forced 19 Cardinal turnovers on this day but lets give credit to the Scots on this because their aggressive style of defense can be problematic for opponents.  Neither team got to the charity stripe often on this day but SMU shot 4-8 for a straight 50% and I'm sure that's something that Shelton and her staff will want to address this week in practice.

The Cardinals did have a reasonably-balanced scoring attack on this day as Nusbaum's 17 points led all scorers but Koch tallied 16 points on this day; including going 4-5 from downtown and Ayla Olson had an impressive day as well as she recorded a "double-double" of 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Macalester leaned heavily on Sydnee Smith as she paced the Scots with 10 points on this day.