NCAA Tournament 1st Round Game - UW-Superior vs Concordia 3-6-26

After multiple years of frustration, Concordia finally was able to celebrate its first NCAA Tournament Win since 1995 that propels them into the second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

 The nightcap on this opening Friday of the NCAA Tournament pitted UMAC Playoff Champion UW-Superior going up against Concordia which won the MIAC regular season title.  From a pure won-loss perspective, the Yellowjackets had a challenging regular season but they managed to get hot when it counted as they first downed UM-Morris and then dumped North Central in the UMAC Championship Game to gain that conference's AQ into the Dance.  The Cobbers meanwhile had compiled an impressive 23-4 record coming into this game that included the MIAC regular season title although they would ultimately fall short against Bethel in the MIAC Championship Game last week Saturday.  So Concordia was coming into this contest looking for their very first NCAA Tournament win since 1995 and to wipe away the sting from last weekend's setback as well.  

The Cobbers were arguably heavy favorites coming into this contest and they wasted little time in attempting to assert dominance in the early minutes of the opening period in the form of a 9-0 run right out of the gate.  Junior forward Genevieve Gruba would start this run by unleashing a three-point bomb from the right wing area at the 8:16 mark and senior guard Taya Jeffrey would follow suit with a "3" from the left wing area at the 7:47 mark.  Then fellow senior guard Molly Musland would bang home a "3" of her own from the top of the key to cap this early run which prompted UW-Superior Head Coach Eveline Parsons to take a match to a thirty-second timeout to make some adjustments before this game got out of hand.  This stoppage proved to be beneficial for the Yellowjackets as they managed to go on a 6-2 spurt.  Freshman reserve forward Abby Johnson maneuvered into the paint for one score with 4:56 left and a short, turnaround jumper as the shot clock was expiring by lanky junior reserve guard Hope Carlson with 3:16 left kept UW-Superior in that seven-point range down 11-4.  Fellow junior guard Maddie Reott would cap this surprising push with a daring drive into the lane for a finish with 2:44 left before Concordia could get out of its offensive rut.  Junior reserve guard Olivia Hanson was able to get a short jumper off the glass to go down with 2:05 left and two free throws by strong sophomore forward Maya Metcalf with 1:23 left restored the earlier nine-point advantage at 15-6.  But then the Yellowjackets showed their ability from behind the arc as senior guard MyKenzie Leccia buried a "3" from the left top area with 1:09 left.  Concordia would attempt to restore order inside cavernous Memorial Auditorium as lanky junior post Maci Wheeldon would snare an offensive rebound for a putback with :24.6 left that also drew a foul and the former Fargo Davies standout would cash in on the "and one" that again restored the earlier nine-point lead at 18-9.  But this pesky UW-Superior team would continue to show its worth as strong junior forward Charlotte Ferstl knocked down a jumper from the free throw line area with just :00.3 left on the clock that at least kept the 'Jackets in the thick of things down 18-11.  

And UW-Superior would manage to make further inroads at the beginning of the second period when Ferstl was able to use her 6'3" frame to snare an offensive rebound for a putback of her own miss at the 9:08 mark that cut the deficit to five at 18-13.  Alarmed, the Cobbers went right back to work to restore the separation they once enjoyed with a 7-2 push.  Metcalf would bury a "3" from the left top area at the 8:09 mark and then Gruba would drain her second trey of the evening from the right corner area at the 7:20 mark that again restored the nine-point lead at 24-15.  Speedy freshman reserve point guard Kaitlyn Rohloff would give Concordia its first double-digit lead of the night when she was able to get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 5:54 mark that made it a 25-15 ballgame.  The Yellowjackets would try and counter as Reott connected on a nifty reverse lay-up at the 5:23 mark but the Cobbers restored the ten-point edge on their subsequent possession on a score in the paint by Metcalf at the 5:10 mark.  Undaunted, UW-Superior would try again thanks to senior reserve forward Kylee Hewitt as she would slither into the paint for one score with 4:51 left and would then get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 3:55 left that had the deficit down to seven at 27-20.  With 2:50 left, the Yellowjackets would continue to stay in this seven-point range at 29-22 when Johnson was able to grab an offensive rebound for a putback.  But Concordia was able to end this second period with a 7-2 push that restored the double-digit lead.  Sophomore reserve forward Kaia Gack knocked down a short jumper with 2:38 left to start this run and then Kaitlyn Rohloff would bury a cold-hearted "3" from the right corner area with 1:06 left that gave the Cobbers their largest lead yet at 34-22.  A score in the paint by Metcalf with :29 left maintained the twelve-point lead at 36-24 which is what Concordia took into the locker room at the halftime break.  

The Cobbers looked like they might be in position to start running away with this thing in the early moments of the third period when Musland buried a "3" from the right corner area at the 9:47 mark that now had Concordia up with a cozy 39-24 lead and a score in the paint by Jeffrey at the 8:57 mark maintained the fifteen-point cushion at 41-26.  And two free throws by Metcalf after she was fouled at the 7:49 mark kept the separation at fifteen with a 43-28 advantage before UW-Superior could find solid footing.  But once they did, the Yellowjackets came back with a vengeance befitting of their nickname.  Senior guard Elsa Olson; quiet in the first half, came through with back-to-back scores that helped spark a shocking 14-2 run.  The former Park of Cottage Grove standout first buried a "3" from the left corner area at the 7:27 mark and would follow that up a short time later with a lay-up at the 6:44 mark that had the deficit down to ten at 43-33.  Less than a minute later, Ferstl would knock down a short jumper from the left side at the 5:57 mark that got UW-Superior back to within single digits at 43-35 and with 3:48 left, Olson would come through again with a daring drive into the lane for a finish that cut the deficit down to six at 43-37.  A Carlson score in the paint kept the 'Jackets in that six-point range down 45-39 and less than a minute later Johnson would muscle into the paint for a score with 2:33 left that now cut the deficit down to four at 45-41 and by this point, Concordia Head Coach Kim Wagers had seen more than enough to know that a thirty-second timeout was warranted.  Still, UW-Superior would get back to within a single possession a short time later when Carlson got one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 2:13 left before the Cobbers could finally climb out of their offensive doldrums.  Metcalf would get a pair of free throws to go down after getting fouled with 1:55 left and junior reserve guard Olivia Hanson would get one free throw to go down after she was fouled with 1:44 left that got Concordia some more breathing room up 48-42.  Gack would get one free throw to go down as well after she was fouled with 1:20 left and a short time later with :54.1 left, Hanson would come up with a pretty pull-up jumper from the free throw line area with :54.1 left that upped the lead to nine at 51-42 and now it was the Yellowjackets' Parsons turn to take a match to a thirty-second timeout after seeing her team fall behind again after being so close a short time ago.  But Concordia would get the double-digit advantage rebuilt when Gack got two more freebies to go down after getting fouled with :20.5 left that made it a 53-42 game.  So this third period was arguably something of a mixed bag for both teams - the Cobbers enjoying a cozy double digit advantage only to see that vaporize when their opponent made an unexpected run at them and then having to go through the arduous process of rebuilding that lead again and the Yellowjackets arguably being in between a rock and a hard place to start this period and then unleashing a big run that injected new life into them only to see it slip away and get firmly placed back to Square One again.  

Concordia's Gruba would expand on her team's lead when she got one free throw to go down at the 8:52 mark of the fourth period but the 'Jackets would launch another push in hopes of getting close again.  Leccia would drain a "3" from the left wing area at the 8:08 mark that got UW-Superior back to within single digits at 54-45 and an offensive rebound and putback by Johnson at the 7:33 mark provided more hope with the deficit cut to seven at 54-47.  But this time around, the Cobbers were not as generous to their opponent as they were in the third period and quickly went about restoring separation.  Two scores by Metcalf - one in the paint at the 7:12 mark and a three-point bomb from the left corner area at the 6:11 mark - got the lead back to twelve at 59-47 and a "3" by Gack from the right top area at the 5:18 mark increased the lead to thirteen at 62-49.  The 'Jackets would try again as Carlson connected on a pretty reverse lay-up at the 5:00 mark but then Concordia would inflict more damage from behind the arc as Jeffrey would bury a cold-hearted "3" from the left top area with 4:46 left that increased the Cobber lead to 65-51.  Once again, UW-Superior would try to launch an offensive as Johnson would grab an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:48 left but that would be negated with 1:59 left when Kaitlyn Rohloff knocked down a jumper along the right baseline that kept Concordia's safety net in good shape with a 69-56 advantage.  Still, the Yellowjackets would attempt one last gasp in trying to draw closer as Carlson would get a pair of free throws to go down after getting fouled with :35.6 left and a three-point bomb by Leccia from the left corner area with :19.2 left got UW-Superior back to within single digits again down 69-61 but the sands of time were now quickly running out for this young team and Cobber senior point guard Taylor Safranski made sure there were no further inroads by the opponent as she would sink pairs of insurance free throws with :14.3 left and :02.7 left in regulation as Concordia notched its first NCAA Tournament victory since 1995 with a 73-61 victory to advance into the second round.  

The postgame press conference on the Concordia side was attended by Wagers along with Metcalf and Safranski while the UW-Superior portion was attended by Parsons along with Hewitt, Olson, Leccia and senior reserve guard Colleen Claude.  The URL for this press conference is:  https://miacsportsnetwork.com/concordia/?B=3779929

There's definitely some items that stand out when you look at the final box score of this one.  The two primary items are (1) points in the paint where the Yellowjackets had a whopping 34-10 advantage and (2) rebounds where UW-Superior had a slight advantage at 39-37.  At least for me, I had to think that going into this game that the Yellowjackets were going to have to be strong in both of these areas to have a chance in this game and they were.  But, as Wagers alluded to during the press conference is that they were able to offset the points in the paint deficiency with being strong at the charity stripe - which they were going 17-21 for a straight 81% which is much more in line with how this team normally shoots free throws.  The trips to the free throw line for UW-Superior in contrast were few and far between as going 4-6 for 66.7% would suggest.  But the other thing that impressed me from the UW-Superior side was that they committed only 11 turnovers in this game which really isn't bad at all considering who they were playing.  In my mind, that's actually playing a relatively "clean" game.  While both teams were pretty even shooting from FG range (UW-Superior going 26-65 for a straight 40% and Concordia going 23-59 for a straight 39%), the Cobbers were much better behind the arc as they were 10-27 for a straight 37% compared to the Yellowjackets going 5-23 for 21.7%.  And as I mentioned prior to this game, I thought that Concordia's depth would ultimately wear on UW-Superior and the fact that the Cobbers had 28 bench points compared to 22 for the Yellowjackets reflects that.  I will say this about UW-Superior:  This is a much, much better team than what their final 12-16 overall record suggests.  True, they took their lumps in the early portion of the season but they slowly got better and better after they delved into conference play after the first of the year and peaked at exactly the right time - during the UMAC Playoffs - that allowed them to get the conference's AQ and a chance to dance in the Dance and even though they came up short in this particular outing, they made the most of their opportunity, IMHO.  Now the challenge for Parsons and her staff is to build on this particular experience and sell the program to recruits during the offseason.  Always a challenge of course and they will lose four seniors on this team to graduation.  But a solid nucleus remains in place and it'll be interesting to see how they build on this.  As for Concordia, it was just so critical for them to capture this game - their first NCAA Tournament win since the Clinton Administration and helps to ease some of the frustrations this program has had to endure over the last few seasons.  And to do it on their home floor was even better.  

You knew that UW-Superior's Ferstl was likely going to do damage in this game and she certainly did just that as her 14 points paced the Yellowjackets on this night.  Both Leccia and Carlson finished with nine points a piece as well.  Meanwhile for Concordia, who else but Metcalf and she delivered once again as her 18 points led all scorers while Gack had a solid outing on this night as well as she finished with 12 points.