CSB vs Hamline 2-14-26

Sophie Stork's big day not only helped Hamline get a big win at home against CSB but also helped the Pipers clinch a berth in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs as well. 

 Made a good drive on this sunny and warm Valentine's Day over to the St Paul side of town to venerable Hutton Arena on the campus of Hamline University for this crucial late regular season game between visiting CSB and host Hamline.  The Bennies have faltered since late January as they had to endure a costly three-game skid but righted the ship somewhat as of late coming into this contest with a two-game win streak; their latest victim being Macalester back in the comfy confines of Claire Lynch Hall on Wednesday night.  The Pipers meanwhile were winners of two out of their last three games and quite possibly the biggest win of their season so far came on Wednesday night when they upended Bethel at Robertson Center.  Both teams were coming into this contest with a sense of urgency in trying to secure their spot in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs and with seven teams vying for six spots, nothing was going to get handed to either team.  

CSB would draw first blood in this contest as sophomore point guard Lauren Arnold would bury a cold-blooded "3" from the top of the key at the 9:45 mark of the opening period before the Pipers could get this game knotted.  Senior combo guard/forward Sophie Stork would make a hard drive along the right baseline for a finish at the 8:41 mark and one free throw by senior sharp-shooting guard Camille Cummings after she was fouled at the 7:26 mark leveled things at three a piece.  But the Hamline faithful had to hold their collective breaths a bit later when Cummings was bringing the ball upcourt and had an awkward fall at the 6:45 mark and appeared to have tweaked her right ankle.  Fortunately for the Pipers, Cummings was able to get up okay and get back to the bench without any assistance.  With that worry in the rearview mirror, Hamline would assume its first lead of the day on a three-point bomb by Stork from the right wing area a short time later at the 6:28 mark before the Bennies found some more offense.  Arnold would sink a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 6:08 mark and less than a minute later, slender freshman post Emma Theisen would connect on a lay-up at the 5:27 mark that put CSB back out in front 7-6.  The Pipers went into a bit of drought at this point and that allowed the Bennies to up their lead to 10-6 when Theisen drained a "3" from the right wing area with 3:57 left.  Hamline would close the gap to one a short time later when junior guard Lauren Cooper buried a "3" from the left corner area with 3:35 left but CSB was able to up its lead to three at 12-9 when senior combo forward/post Kira Young slithered into the paint for a score with 3:25 left.  But it was here where the Pipers really woke up offensively and unleashed a bona fide artillery barrage on its opponent with a 22-2 run.  Cummings; back on the floor after the inadvertent stumble a bit earlier, used a burst of speed to connect on a lay-up with 2:59 left and after a foiled Bennie possession, Cummings would strike again - this time with one of her trademark three-point bombs - this one coming from the right wing area with 2:37 left that pushed Hamline back out in front 14-12.  With 2:04 left, Stork would strike from behind the arc with a bomb from the left top area that gave the Pipers a 17-14 lead.  With 1:31 left, Stork would connect on a lay-up to make it 19-14 and then with just :21.3 left in this first period, Stork again would unleash terror from behind the arc with a bomb from the left top area that now had Hamline up 22-14 and a dazed Bennie team had to find a way to catch their breath and get calmed down as well.  

The Pipers had resorted to two things that helped them get on this game-changing run - (1) using a 2-3 matchup zone defense that really bottled up CSB in their half-court offense and relegated them to jacking up reckless three-point shots and (2) employing their pressure defense that forced Bennie mistakes and Hamline really brought the heat when the second period got underway as they continued with this run.  Cummings would bang home back-to-back three-point bombs - one from the left top area at the 7:36 mark and another one a short time later at the 7:04 mark from the left corner area - that had the Pipers doubling up its opponent at 28-14.  CSB continued to sag on offense and at the 6:03 mark, Hamline's Stork would unleash more terror behind the arc with a bomb from the left top area that made it a 31-14 game and by this time Bennies' Head Coach Mike Durbin knew that the roof was caving in and had no choice but to take a thirty-second timeout in hopes of getting his squad calmed down.  CSB was finally able to brush away the cobwebs forming on its basket at the 5:12 mark when Young got into the paint for a score but down 31-16, the Bennies were going to need a lot more than that and unfortunately for them, their shots kept missing the intended mark.  That allowed the Pipers to build on their already-sizable lead as Cummings would connect on a lay-up with 4:46 left and then a lay-up by junior combo guard/forward Anna Rynkiewich with 3:40 left got Hamline's lead to 35-17.  CSB was able to take a couple of nibbles off of the deficit as Young would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 2:42 left as would Theisen after she was fouled with 1:49 left.  And the Pipers would bookend this great second period for them as junior forward Marina LaFreniere would connect on a lay-up with :11.8 left as Hamline took a 37-18 into the locker room at the halftime break.  

After an absolutely dreadful second period that saw the Bennies go 1-12 from FG range, CSB hoped to turn things around once the third period got underway.  And it certainly looked like they did as Arnold would knock down a jumper from the left elbow area at the 9:19 mark.  In fact, Arnold would strike again at the 7:33 mark with a drive into the lane and a one-handed finish.  But the bad news for the Bennies was that they weren't making much of a dent in the already-sizable deficit they were facing even though they were able to slow the Hamline scoring machine somewhat.  Still, the Pipers would get their lead to 41-22 when Stork made a hard drive and got a pretty reverse lay-up to go down at the 7:18 mark before CSB could take some more nibbles off of the deficit from the charity stripe.  Young would get a pair of free throws to go down after getting fouled at the 6:36 mark and sophomore guard Drew Buslee would also get two free throws to go down after getting fouled after she made a nifty steal in the backcourt.  But shooting from FG range was still proving to be burdensome for the Bennies and that allowed Hamline to go on a 6-0 push.  Stork would uncork her fourth three-point bomb on this day - this one coming from the left top area again with 4:10 left and less than a minute later with 3:16 left, Cummings would connect on a lay-up in transition that gave the Pipers a twenty-point cushion at 46-26.  A bit later with 2:26 left, LaFreniere would connect on a short shot in the lane that stretched Hamline's lead to 48-26 before CSB finally found some semblance of offense.  Theisen would get into the paint for a score with 2:01 left and then Arnold would bury a "3" from the left top area with 1:44 left that had the deficit down to seventeen at 48-31.  With 1:32 left, Arnold would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled but down 48-33, the Bennies were going to need a lot more and their opponent was unwilling to give that to them as the Pipers responded with a 6-2 push.  Cooper would connect on a lay-up in transition with 1:27 left as would senior reserve combo guard/forward Josie Wiebusch with :59.1 left that now had Hamline up 52-33.  With :25.2 left, Cummings would connect on a lay-up that had the Pipers up 54-35 before CSB got a late score on a drive into the lane and finish by Young with just :02.1 left but down 54-37, the Bennies probably had Jerry Reed's "East Bound And Down" running through their heads.   

CSB would manage to get the deficit cut to fourteen when sophomore guard Alyssa Sadlovsky buried a "3" from the left corner area at the 8:59 mark of the fourth period but unfortunately for the Bennies, Hamline had two quick answers for that thanks to sophomore reserve guard Emma Lamppa.  The former Rock Ridge standout would first knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 8:04 mark and would follow that up a bit later with a "3" from the left corner area at the 7:18 mark that pushed the Pipers lead to 59-40.  Undaunted, CSB would try again as Arnold would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 6:57 mark and Buslee would follow suit after she was fouled at the 6:53 mark that the deficit down to fifteen at 59-44.  Two more free throws by Arnold after she was fouled at the 6:03 mark kept the deficit at fifteen at 61-46 but getting closer than that was proving problematic not to mention the fact that clock was becoming the Bennies biggest enemy as well.  But the real dagger came a bit later at the 5:53 mark when Hamline got into the bonus as Cooper would get fouled and would proceed to knock down a pair of free throws that had the Pipers up 63-46.  One more free throw by sophomore reserve guard Josie Schmidt after she was fouled with 3:51 left grew Hamline's lead to 64-46 and now the Pipers were in position to put the finishing touches on this one.  Josie Schmidt would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 3:06 left and sophomore reserve combo guard/forward Megan Spencer would make a drive along the left baseline for a finish with 2:22 left that grew Hamline's lead to 67-48.  With the game now all but decided, both CSB's Durbin and Hamline Head Coach Josh Hersch got their reserves into the game for cleanup duty.  Bennie senior reserve guard Megan Driste would connect on a pretty reverse lay-up with 2:03 left and junior reserve forward Cora Beeler would get a three-point play the old-fashioned way as she would snare an offensive rebound for a putback and get fouled in the process and would also cash in on the ensuing "and one".  Piper freshman reserve guard Morgan Gokey would cap the scoring on this game by knocking down a pair of free throws after she was fouled with :21.1 left as Hamline not only secured a critical home win with the 69-53 victory but also clinched a MIAC Playoff berth as well.

When I was finally able to corral Hamline's Hersch after this game, you could tell he was beaming with pride and rightfully so after the incredible week his team had.  Let's remember, coming into this week, his squad had dropped three of their last four games and again, with seven teams vying for six playoff spots, someone was inevitably going to get left out and his team was able to dig deep when they had to as they pulled off a huge upset at Bethel on Wednesday night before today's win over CSB.  I did ask Hersch if there was any fear of any letdown by his team after the big win at Bethel on Wednesday night but he was quick to poo-poo that notion.  "We just came into this game today looking at it as another opportunity" he said.  And the Pipers certainly came out with the energy you would want as a coach and they put together a solid forty minutes.  Meanwhile for CSB, its was another setback in what may be the most frustrating season the Bennies have had in a long time.  When you look at this team, you know they're ordinarily more than good enough to at least get to the MIAC Playoffs but this team has not only had a lot of bad luck this season, they also lost one of their best players - senior guard Megan Morgan - to injury recently who's also one of the top two scorers on this team (right behind Arnold).  When you lose a player like that, you not only lose a lot offensively but you also lose a lot of leadership on the floor as well and it just sucks that a great player and person like her had to go down at such an inopportune time.  

You don't have to spend a lot of time looking at the box score to see how/why Hamline won this game.  You'll see that the Pipers had a decided edge in the rebounding department at 34-26 and Hamline also enjoyed a whopping 26-14 advantage in points in the paint as well.  Surprisingly, CSB did hold a decided edge in those all-important "second chance" points at 9-2 although that obviously didn't mean much on this day.  Despite the horrendous second period that CSB had to endure, this game still wasn't a forgone conclusion at that point in time.  But when you're only shooting 16-54 for 29.6% from FG range and 4-22 from downtown 18.2%, any hope of any real comeback attempt goes right out the window - especially when you consider that Hamline was shooting 25-46 from FG range for 54.3% from FG range and 10-16 from behind the arc for 62.5%.  I mean, there's your ballgame right there, folks.  I can't fault CSB's free throw shooting on this day as they were stellar here going 17-19 for 89.5%.  Hamline wasn't terrible in this department either as they were 9-12 for a straight 75% although one might argue that could be better but I digress.  

What a day it was indeed for Hamline's Stork as her 21 points not only paced the Piper attack but led all scorers as well.  And it was just another day at the office for Hamline's Cummings as she finished with 18 points including going 3-4 from downtown.  CSB's Arnold had to shoulder most of the load for the Bennies on this day as she led her team with 20 points while Young finished with 11 points.