Made my way over to Si Melby Hall on the campus of Augsburg University on this overcast but not too bad temperature-wise February Wednesday night to take in this late regular season clash between visiting SMU which made its way up US Highway 61 and the Canadian Pacific Kansas City River Sub mainline and host Augsburg. It's been and up-and-down year for the Cardinals this season but this young team was coming off a big road win at St. Olaf on Monday night and they hoped to keep the good vibes going into this contest. The Auggies meanwhile were still on top of the MIAC standings but they had taken a big hit on Monday night down in St. Peter; absorbing a 67-50 loss to GAC and were no doubt anxious to assert themselves as the top team in the conference. And not only that, they were probably looking to regain some lost self-confidence as well.
Both teams would trade jabs in the opening minutes of the first period; feeling each other out. Augsburg junior sharpshooting forward Jaley Coplin got her team on the board first with a pretty lay-up at the 9:45 mark but right back came the Cardinals as senior guard Brooklyn Paulson; trying to replicate her magical performance from just two nights ago down in Northfield against St. Olaf, casually drained a "3" from the top of the key at the 9:07 mark to push SMU ahead. Right back came the Auggies as speedy sophomore guard Kalena Myers drilled a "3" of her own from the left top area at the 7:51 mark to push Augsburg ahead 5-3. The Auggies would maintain that two-point edge on a short shot from the right side by senior forward Jen Masello at the 7:01 mark but keeping SMU at bay was proving tougher than initially anticipated. Paulson; who reigned terror from three-point land down at St. Olaf as previously mentioned, unleashed her second trey of the evening; this one from the right corner at the 6:43 mark to put the Cardinals back out in front 8-7. Augsburg would push ahead by one at 9-8 when Masello connected with a lay-up in transition at the 5:58 mark but these Cardinals in their snazzy navy blue road jerseys were not going away. Sophomore post Katelyn Cruze knocked down a jumper along the left baseline at the 5:40 mark to push SMU ahead at 10-9 and then yet another three-point bomb from - guess who - Paulson with 4:49 left had the Cardinals up 13-11. Order appeared to be restored when Augsburg's Coplin unleashed her first trey of the night - this one from the left wing area with 4:29 left that put the Auggies back up 14-13 but right back came this pesky SMU team. Freshman guard Izzy Goettelman would connect with a lay-up with 4:15 left to regain the lead for the Cardinals and a score in the paint by senior reserve forward Jada Biermeier with 2:24 left had SMU up 17-14. With just :07 left in this first period, the Cardinals' Goettelman would get into the lane and connect on a short jumper as SMU carried a 19-16 advantage going into the second period.
In many ways, the Cardinals first period performance mirrored their performance from the previous Saturday at Bethel when they took at lead going into the second period. And unfortunately for the SMU faithful, this second period would also mirror the second period at performance when the Cardinals totally stagnated on offense and gave up a ton of points to the opposition. Things still looked good for the Winona gang when junior guard Ashley Streveler drained a "3" from the right top area at the 9:17 mark and although there was some uneasiness amongst the partisan Augsburg crowd, it didn't take long for the Auggies to get the gap closed. Masello would first connect with a lay-up off of an inbounds pass at the 8:40 mark and a three-point bomb by Myers at the 7:45 mark had the deficit down to a single point at 22-21. Then sophomore reserve forward sensation Anja Smith would make her presence felt at the 6:41 mark with her pretty drive along the left baseline and finish that pushed Augsburg back out in front at 23-22. Smith would get sent to the charity stripe after getting fouled at the 5:47 mark where she would knock down a pair of free throws and at the 5:15 mark, Smith would slither into the paint for a score to make it 27-22. Coplin would put the feather in the proverbial cap of this key 14-0 run with her trademark three-point bomb from the right wing area with 4:06 that pushed the lead to 30-22 before SMU finally ended their extended drought on a "3" by Goettelman from the top of the key off of the glass with 2:59 left but the Cardinals were unable to muster anymore offense down the stretch before the halftime break. That allowed Augsburg to consolidate its advantage somewhat as senior point guard Selena Lor would bang home a "3" from the right wing area with 2:41 left and Masello would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 1:59 left as the Auggies felt much better about themselves going into the locker room up by nine at 34-25 at the halftime break.
SMU; probably fortunate to be down by only nine at the half considering how the second period went for them, needed to get something going quickly once the third period got underway and a three-point bomb by the Cardinals main offensive threat - Paulson - at the 8:17 mark from the left corner was definitely a step in the right direction. The problem was stopping Augsburg's top three-point shooter - Coplin - as she responded with back-to-back bombs: One from the left wing area at the 7:55 mark and the other from the left corner at the 7:19 mark - that now had the Auggies up double-digits at 40-28. SMU would get the gap trimmed back down to ten points when Cruze muscled into the paint for a score at the 6:52 mark but the Cardinals hopes dimmed when Paulson; who tried to get into the paint for one score herself, had the ball stripped from her and suffered an inadvertent blow to the head that sent her off the court for a spell and at the time, it was uncertain when - or if - she would return. And with Paulson out, that gave the Auggies a chance to step on the gas pedal again. Masello would make a hard drive for a lay-up at the 6:09 mark and Coplin would show her versatility with her drive and finish at the 5:12 mark to make it 44-33. Masello would connect with a lay-up with 4:21 left to stretch the lead to 46-33 but would have to come out a bit later with 3:05 left when the Darien, IL native collected her third foul of the evening. Still, Smith would come to the rescue for Augsburg with her short jumper from the right side to give the home team their biggest lead of the evening at 48-33 and the Cardinals could have easily folded their tent and gone home right then and there. Instead, they were able to hunker down and get the deficit slimmed down somewhat. By this time, SMU Head Coach David Foley had changed up things somewhat; going to a 2-1-2 zone defense in hopes of slowing down the potent Auggie offensive attack. In any event, freshman reserve guard Graysin Hartjes drained a "3" from the right corner with 1:59 left and a lay-up by Goettelman with 1:29 left had the deficit down to ten at 48-38 and with :44.6 left, Goettelman would get sent to the line after getting fouled and the Winona native would get both free throw attempts to go down that not only kept the Cardinals in that ten-point range down 50-40 but likely just as important, gave a renewed sense of hope as well.
And those hopes would grow in the early moments of the fourth period as well for SMU. Paulson; now back in the game for the Cardinals, would knock down a short jumper in the lane at the 9:48 mark that got SMU back in single-digit range again and a jumper along the left baseline by Cruz shrunk the deficit down to six at 50-44. Cruze, however, would have to retreat to the bench after she picked up her fourth foul of the night a bit later at the 7:41 mark and these types of problems would be a reoccurring theme for the Cardinals in this fourth period - getting to within striking distance but never quite getting close enough. Augsburg would stretch out its safety net as Myers would bury a "3" from the right top area at the 7:35 mark and two free throws by Smith after she was fouled at the 5:32 mark gave the Auggies a 55-44 lead. SMU would try again as Biermeier would connect with a short shot off the glass at the 5:19 mark and a short jumper in the lane by Paulson with 3:38 left had the Cardinals seemingly back to within striking distance down seven at 55-48. And Paulson would work her magic from three-point land once again with 2:17 left with a bomb from the left top area that again had SMU right there down by six at 57-51. With 2:02 left, the Cardinals missed out on a golden opportunity when sophomore guard Macey Petron got sent to the line after getting fouled but the Royalton native was unable to connect on either attempt. Petron would make up for that with 1:28 left as she would connect with a lay-up that had SMU down by just five and the door still seemingly open. But the Auggies would close this particular door. Coplin would knock down a pair of freebies after getting fouled with 1:21 left and both Myers and Smith would each get one free throw to go down, respectively, with :34.8 and :18.2 left to make it 62-53. The Cardinals would make one more bid in this contest when Streveler was fouled behind the arc with :08.4 left and she would get all three free throw attempts to go down that once again reduced the deficit to six at 62-56. But this would be the last-gasp attempt by SMU as Augsburg's Myers would get fouled on the Auggies ensuing possession and she would get both free throw attempts to go down as Augsburg earned a hard-fought 64-56 victory.
I was able to catch up with SMU's Foley afterward and the first thing I brought up was those six points that the Cardinals never got to see in that fourth period. "We just never could seem to get over that hump" he admitted although the Cardinals certainly had their chances. I also brought up how the first half on this night seemed to mirror what happened at Bethel not long ago and Foley was quick to admit that there was too much bleeding during that critical 14-0 run by the Auggies. But one positive that I think that Foley and SMU could take from this contest is that this time the Cardinals didn't fold like they did at Bethel and found ways to get themselves back into the thick of things. Foley also couldn't help but heap a ton of praise on his star player - Paulson - and rightfully so. Paulson leads the MIAC in points per game at an 18.0 clip and when she's "on" from behind the arc, she can be deadly as she demonstrated at St. Olaf just two nights ago. "She's a special player" Foley said of Paulson. I was able to speak briefly with Paulson afterward as well and inquired about the injury she suffered. She thankfully was okay and its good to see her leading a young Cardinals team that is making strides. Meanwhile for Augsburg, a good rebound win for them considering how they took it on the chin two nights ago down in St. Peter and they needed this one to feel "good" about themselves again. At the same time, I think it's safe to say that you're starting to see some chinks in the armor that may not have been there before. What I mean is that I suspect that other teams in the MIAC have started to figure the Auggies out and they've been able to find ways to neutralize them in certain areas. What that means for Augsburg down the stretch is unsure but I would dare say that they seem more vulnerable now than what they were a mere month ago. In this contest anyway, Augsburg did have the edge in the important categories: The Auggies won the rebounding battle by a 40-36 count and had a 22-18 edge in points in the paint. They also had a 12-7 edge in points off of turnovers and a 9-5 edge in those all-important "second chance" points. One area that is concerning from an Augsburg standpoint on this night was the free throw shooting as the Auggies certainly got to the line often enough but were only 14-21 from the charity stripe for 66.7%. That's something that's got to get better and I think Head Coach Ted Riverso would be hard-pressed to disagree.
On the other hand, Riverso and his staff were presumably pleased with the balanced scoring attack on this night as Coplin led the way with 18 points including going 4-8 from downtown. Smith was right there, too, as she poured in 15 points and Masello; despite fouling out late, wasn't far behind with 13 points while Myers collected 12 points. Not surprisingly, Paulson led the way for SMU on this night - and led all scorers as well with her 19 points and the youngster; Goettelman, was solid on this night for the Cardinals as she finished with 13 points.
