St. Kate's Practice - 10-28-21

 Made the trip over to the St Paul side of town on this dreary, rainy Thursday evening to Butler Center on the campus of St. Kate's to take in the practice that Head Coach Don Mulhern and his team would be holding on this night.  I made sure that I arrived early and was soon greeted by Assistant Coach Travis Dedina and it wasn't long before Mulhern strode into Butler Center.  We were able to quickly get caught up on things and before long I headed upstairs to the arena as players were already getting warmed up for the night ahead.  

Mulhern had me come up and join the team at midcourt to get me introduced to everybody and welcomed which was incredibly nice.  The team would soon begin various shooting drills; first working on short range jumpers from the elbow areas and then the drill would expand to include three-point shooting.

Next, Mulhern has the team do a full-court drill with a "rover" player getting ahead in a simulated transition opportunity.  "Passing ahead" as Mulhern says; stressing the importance of finding the open player down the court.  Soon after, Mulhern conducts a similar drill - this time without the rover, however, to work on some finer points of transition opportunities.  

Next is a 3-on-3 half-court drill that emphasizes ball movement on the perimeter as well as setting correct picks.  On the defensive side, it also helps players understand when and how to switch and when to double-team an offensive player.  

After Mulhern has the team briefly split up into five different groups to work on some individual shooting, he then has the team in three lines to work on dribbling and then pivoting correctly; a finer skill that is often overlooked.  Then another half-court drill is on tap:  This one being a 5-on-4 drill to emphasize ball movement and how to stretch out a zone defense.  

Mulhern then modifies this last drill to make it a 5-on-5 situation that includes a post player with Dedina doing the post duties.  Dedina definitely has his hands full when he gets the ball passed into him on several occasions with the defense players collapsing around him.  

After Mulhern has the squad break into groups of three to do some work on passing to the wing player and post, he then conducts a 5-on-0 "shell" drill to work on ball movement and spacing.  This later gets upgraded to 5-on-5 to put things together.  

Next, Mulhern has the team work on some items he feels that need to be worked on from their scrimmage on Wednesday night down at Wartburg in Waverly, IA.  He has his team work especially hard on trapping situations. Then it's time for some more 5-on-5 half-court work to iron out some kinks from the night before as well.

To wrap things up on this night, Mulhern has the team at one basket to finish up with free throws and your's truly was able to get involved into this as well.  :p  Given that I hadn't shot any free throws in nearly five years or more, my first two attempts were a little off but the third and final attempt (thankfully) found its mark so it just took a few attempts to find my touch again.  😉  The team has its final huddle of the night but many members of the squad hang around to work on some individual shooting which is a sign of how dedicated this team really is.

Outtakes:  Mulhern told me that having the trio of seniors Brooke Torvik (grad student), Katie Benjamin and Sam Orth healthy and presumably ready to go is just a blessing considering the injuries all three players have endured over the last few seasons.  Although he didn't say who is starting five would be, one would have to presume that it would include the three aforementioned players along with fellow senior Mackenzie Kurczek and junior Bree Glynn which, IMHO, is a pretty solid starting lineup.  Again, the two things that will make or break the 'Cats this season will be (1) avoiding the injury bugaboo and (2) developing some of their younger players so they can provide quality minutes off the bench.  Mulhern does, in fact, have some young backcourt players on the team this season and sophomore Karis Zezza out of STMA could be a big contributor off the bench.  Junior forward Sarah Lavell of Centennial will presumably play a big role coming off the bench in relief as well.  If the stars align just right and the Wildcats get some breaks, there's certainly no reason why they can't be one of the top four teams in the conference; certainly a playoff contender anyway.  But their margin for error is not large either.    

A New Season Is Almost Upon Us!

 Well, here we are on the eve of a brand new season for DIII women's hoops with both DI and DII teams already dusting off the cobwebs after a long off-season.  As with every season, there's a lot of things to look forward to.  There's also going to be some different things this year as well.  UST has now officially made the transition from DIII to DI and, without question, the MIAC will look much different without the Tommies.  But there's also a new kid on the block this season - St. Scholastica.  So the MIAC loses one brand but gets another and gets some new territory to boot.  

I'm hoping to take in a few practices in the next few weeks as well as touching base with coaches online to get a feel for their squads and their thoughts and hopes for the upcoming season.  And, of course, I'll be posting all that stuff on here.  Right now, let's just keep our fingers crossed that we can make a gradual and safe return to "normal" and put all this COVID-19 business in the rear-view mirror.  

Get ready.  I think it's going to be a fun year!    

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 7-28-21

 Here's the results of the games I got to cover this last Wednesday night on the last night of the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:

6:00 P.M. Games

Macalester - 57

UW-River Falls - 52

GAC Gold - 66

Carleton - 62

6:50 P.M. Games

GAC Alumni - 41

Hamline - 25

GAC Black - 59

Java - 26

7:45 P.M. Games

Concordia St Paul - 53

CSB - 33

Augsburg - 53

St. Olaf - 51

Two good games in the opening 6:00 P.M. slot on this Wednesday night.....On Court 1, a MIAC/WIAC battle of sorts was taking place between the Macalester team and the UW-River Falls team.  Things would be tied at two a piece at the 18:00 mark of the first half but thanks to its trademark three-point shooting prowess, the UW-River Falls team would get on a spurt and hold a 9-4 advantage by the 16:45 mark.  But the Macalester team; which has looked better and better with each passing week, wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and they slyly cut into the deficit over the next three minutes as they would be down by only one at 15-14 by the 13:40 mark.  The UW-River Falls team would still be clinging to that one-point edge at 20-19 by the midway point of the first half and they were still up 24-22 with 5:05 left.  But the Macalester team would finally get this one tied at 26 a piece with 3:30 left and a 5-0 burst by the Macalester team suddenly had them up 31-26 with 2:11 left and by the halftime break, the Macalester team was holding a 35-31 lead.  The Macalester team would up that lead to 39-31 by the 18:30 mark of the second half but again the UW-River Falls team would use some timely three-point shooting to close to within a single possession down 48-45 by the 12:15 mark.  The Macalester team would use another burst to establish some more breathing room up 52-46 with 8:00 left but again the UW-River Falls team would again close back to within a single possession down 55-52 with 4:20 left.  A mountain of time to work with for sure but this Macalester team would hang tough down the stretch and hold the UW-River Falls team scoreless and walk away with an impressive victory.  Meanwhile, over on Court 2, the Carleton team and the GAC Gold team were going at it and the latter started out very good; holding a 4-0 lead by the 16:00 mark of the first half and expanding that lead to an impressive 12-3 count by the 13:30 mark.  Despite the shaky start out of the gate, the Carleton team hunkered down and climbed their way back to within striking distance; down 12-8 by the 12:25 mark but it would be an uphill battle for them as the GAC Gold team found another burst and got their lead up to double-digits at 21-10 just beyond the midway point of the first half.  The GAC Gold team would maintain this cushion; enjoying a 23-13 advantage with 5:12 left and at the halftime break the GAC Gold team would be up 31-21.  The GAC Gold team looked to be running away with this one once the second half got going as they would up their lead to 38-23 at the 17:13 mark and by the 13:30 mark the GAC Gold team definitely appeared to be in a safe spot up 44-30.  By this point, the Carleton team; playing with nothing to lose, started chipping away at the deficit.  The GAC Gold team would still enjoy a 55-43 lead with 7:10 left and with 3:55 left they still had a ten-point cushion up 62-52.  But the GAC Gold team would have to hang on for dear life in the last few minutes of this one as their once-sizable lead got chopped down to a mere four points at 66-62 before they escaped with a somewhat scary win.

In the 6:50 P.M. slot, the one game I was looking forward to on this night was the game on Court 1 between the Hamline team which had been looking very good as of late and the GAC Alumni team which saw its winning streak snapped a week ago.  The Hamline team would be clinging to a 3-2 lead by the 17:12 mark of the first half but then the GAC Alumni team finally got things going with an 8-2 burst thanks to scores by both Kelsey Carpenter (GAC '17) and Miranda Rice (GAC '18) to hold a 10-5 advantage by the 13:20 mark.  The GAC Alumni team would maintain that five-point edge up 15-10 just beyond the midway point of the first half and with 6:00 left, that lead would increase to 18-10.  By the halftime break, the GAC Alumni team had things going their way up 25-16.  The Hamline team would make a bit of a dent in this deficit; getting it down to seven at 25-18 by the 16:10 mark of the second half but they could never find that offensive burst they had been getting in their recent games.  As such, the GAC Alumni team would get their lead to ten at 29-19 by the 13:10 mark and although the lead would be down to nine at 30-21 with 9:20 left, the Hamline team could never get reasonably close again.  The GAC Alumni team would up up 32-23 with 4:00 left and with just 2:00 left in the contest, the GAC Alumni team was enjoying a 36-23 advantage leaving little doubt as to how this one was going to turn out.  Over on Court 2, the Java team and the GAC Black team were going at it and this one would stay close - at least early on anyway.  The GAC Black team would hold a 5-2 advantage at the 18:00 mark of the first half and would be up only 7-4 by the 13:30 mark.  It wouldn't take long, however, for the GAC Black team to establish the tone in this game as they would stretch their lead to ten points at 16-6 just beyond the midway point of the first half and that lead would be upped to 18-6 with 6:10 left as the Java team went into a funk offensively.  That opened the door for the GAC Black team to put its opponent in the rear-view mirror and they did just that as they would hold a sizable 28-10 lead by the halftime break.  The GAC Black would maintain this eighteen point edge up 32-14 by the 17:15 mark of the second half and that lead would grow to 38-16 by the 12:35 mark.  With 7:33 left, the GAC Black team was in cruise control; up 46-16 as they rolled to an easy victory.  

And not much in the way of drama either in the 7:45 P.M. slot - at least on Court 1 anyway between the CSB team and the Concordia St Paul team.  The Concordia St Paul team would get a good start out of the gate in this one; holding at 5-0 lead at the 18:40 mark of the first half and growing that lead to 12-5 by the 16:10 mark.  The CSB team was still certainly still in this one by this point and with 7:40 left, there was certainly every reason for hope trailing 20-14.  However, things would slowly but surely start going south for the CSB team as the Concordia St Paul team would be up 29-18 with 2:10 left and a late run saw them increase that lead to 36-18 by the halftime break.  Scoring would come at something of a premium in the opening minutes of the second half but that wouldn't be nearly as damaging to the Concordia St Paul team as it would be to the CSB team.  The Concordia St. Paul team would be up 38-18 by the 15:50 mark and by the 12:10 mark, the Concordia St Paul team saw its lead balloon to 40-19.  With 6:25 left, the Concordia St Paul team was rolling along up 46-25 so there was little doubt as to how this one was going to turn out.  The most interesting game of the night, however, took place over on Court 2 between the Augsburg team and the St. Olaf team.  Things would be tight in this one starting off with the game leveled at 4-all by the 16:00 mark and although the Augsburg team managed to poke its nose out in front 6-4 by the 10:45 mark, the St. Olaf team would unleash an 8-0 run that would have them up 12-6 with 7:55 left.  Unfazed, the Augsburg team would battle back and close to within a single possession down 16-14 with 4:50 left and then would launch a run of its own that had them back up by a 24-20 count with 1:45 left.  The Augsburg team would get a 5-0 burst to close out this first half and with a 29-20 halftime lead, it definitely appeared that they had things going their way.  But the wild up-and-down spurts of both teams would only continue once the second half got underway.  The Augsburg team's lead would quickly shrink to just three points at 29-26 by the 17:55 mark of the second half and by the 17:10 mark, the lead was cut to a scant point at 29-28.  The St. Olaf team would get this one knotted at 32 a piece by the 15:40 mark and the St. Olaf team appeared to have momentum on its side as they held a 37-35 advantage at the 11:30 mark.  The Augsburg team, however, would get a big lift - and the lead back as well - when junior-to-be Selena Lor uncorked a "3" at the 10:40 mark to make it 38-37.  This see-saw nature would continue as the St. Olaf team would come right back to hold a 41-40 lead with 7:25 left but Lor would again come to the rescue of her Augsburg team as another one of her three-point bombs put the Augsburg team up 43-41 with 6:15 left.  The Augsburg team would be up 46-43 with 3:25 left but the St. Olaf team would reduce the deficit down to one at 46-45 with 3:05 left.  With 2:05 left, the Augsburg team would be clinging to a 51-49 advantage but the St. Olaf team would get this one tied at 51 when Ella Skrien (St. Olaf '20) connected on a tough jumper with 1:15 left.  The Augsburg team would push ahead 53-51 with :55 left but the St. Olaf team had two chances in the last minute to try and force overtime; the last possession being the best one but the Augsburg team would have none of it and they escaped with a tough, fun victory.

Had to head home before the two 8:40 P.M. games got going so I could get my beauty rest before another day of work on Thursday but want to thank all the teams, players and the Midtown YWCA staff for a very fun summer league.  Let's do it again next year for sure!   

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 7-21-21

 Here are the results of the games I got to cover this last Wednesday night at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League.

6:00 P.M. Games

Northwestern - 52

Augsburg - 37

Hamline - 59

CSB - 38

6:50 P.M. Games

UW-River Falls - 40

GAC Gold - 37

GAC Black - 52

St. Kate's - 32

7:45 P.M. Games

Carleton - 77

St. Olaf - 52

Macalester - 46

GAC Alumni - 42

Not much in the way of drama in the 6:00 P.M. slot on this night.....Over on Court 1, the Augsburg team and the Northwestern team were going head to head and the latter would get out to a very good start; building a 7-2 advantage by the 17:55 mark of the first half and widening that lead to 20-4 by the 13:00 mark.  The Augsburg team would continue to struggle offensively as the Northwestern team would up the lead to 23-6 with 9:00 left and hold a 28-11 lead with just under four minutes left.  By the halftime break, the Northwestern team was up comfortably 36-17 and they would continue this beat once the second half got underway as they enjoyed a 42-24 advantage by the 14:40 mark.  By the midway point of the second half, the Northwestern team was enjoying a 49-28 lead and although the Augsburg team was able to cut into this deficit a bit down the stretch of the second half, the Northwestern team was still enjoying a 50-35 lead with 5:00 left as they had things in cruise control the rest of the way.  Over on Court 2, things would be tight early on between the CSB and the Hamline team and the CSB team was clinging to a 6-5 advantage by the 16:50 mark of the first half.  But things would start going south for the CSB team as the Hamline team was able to get on a spurt and grab a 14-9 lead by the 11:40 mark.  The Hamline team would stretch their lead to nine at 23-14 with 7:00 left and with 4:05 left they were still keeping the CSB team at bay up 25-17.  By the halftime break, the Hamline team grew their lead to double-digits up 37-25.  Not much would change after the short intermission either as the Hamline team was enjoying a 41-28 advantage by the 16:00 mark of the second half and that lead would balloon to 48-30 near the midway point.  The CSB team would make one last-ditch effort to try and cut into this deficit as the reduced to it sixteen at 53-37 with 5:00 left but bringing this one back was going to be a bridge too far as this Hamline team, which has looked very sharp as of late, rolled to victory.  

Over on Court 1 in the 6:50 P.M. slot, the St. Kate's team and the GAC Black team were going at it and the St. Kate's team certainly got the kind of start it wanted, bolting out to a 7-2 lead by the 18:10 mark of the first half but it didn't take the GAC Black team long to respond as they would have the deficit whittled down to two point at 7-5 by the 14:55 mark and they would have this one leveled at 7-all by the 14:00 mark.  Things would still be even at eight a piece by the 11:30 mark before the GAC Black team was finally able to poke its nose out in front at 11-10 with 8:10 left.  The GAC Black team would increase its lead to four at 17-13 with 4:00 left and and 4-0 push by the GAC Black team down the stretch had them up 21-13 by the halftime break.  This extended dry spell by the St. Kate's team would prove costly on this night as the GAC Black team would get its lead to double-digits at 27-17 by the 18:15 mark of the second half and that lead would stretch to 35-19 by the 16:00 mark.  By the midway point of the second half, the GAC Black team held a comfortable 43-25 lead and although the St. Kate's team was able to trim the deficit down to fifteen with 7:00 left at 45-30, the GAC Black team would up its lead to 52-32 with 3:30 left as they coasted to the easy victory.  Meanwhile, one of the two best games of the night was taking place over on Court 2 between the UW-River Falls team and the GAC Gold team.  The GAC Gold team would hold a 5-0 lead at the 18:45 mark of the first half thanks to a "3" by junior-to-be Maddy Rice at the 18:45 mark of the first half.  But this didn't seem to faze the UW-River Falls team that managed to turn the tables a bit and take an 8-6 advantage by the 14:55 mark.  Things would continue to stay tight with the GAC Gold team holding an 11-10 lead near the midway point of the first half but again this UW-River Falls team would come back and grab a one-point advantage at 12-11 with 6:16 left.  The UW-River Falls team would be up 17-13 with 2:25 left but the GAC Gold team would have things tightened up again down just one by the halftime break at 17-16.  The GAC Gold team would respond early on in the second half and take an 18-17 lead on a pretty drive and finish by sophomore-to-be Riley Queensland at the 18:30 mark and by the 13:58 mark the GAC Gold team would still be up 22-20.  But the UW-River Falls team would not be denied on this night as they would retake the lead at 25-22 by the midway point of the second half and they maintained this three-point edge up 30-27 with 6:07 left.  It was here the the UW-River Falls team made a decisive move with a  7-2 push to make it 37-29 with 4:17 left and arguably had the GAC Gold team in a very bad spot.  But the GAC Gold team wasn't about to hit the panic button as they clawed their way back to cut the deficit to four at 37-33 with 3:40 left and they would soon get back to within a single possession down 35-35.  A back-breaking "3" by the UW-River Falls team pushed their lead to five at 40-35 left but the GAC Black team would again get back to within a single possession again down 40-37 with just :41.5 left in regulation.  But UW-River Falls played stellar defense when they had to and limited the looks the GAC Gold team was looking for from behind the arc in the waning moments and got the big victory.  

In the 7:45 P.M. slot, the two rivals out of Northfield - the Carleton team and the St. Olaf team - were going at it.  The Carleton team would hold a 4-0 lead by the 16:00 mark of the first half and would be up 13-7 by the 11:25 mark.  By the midway point of the first half, the Carleton team's lead was stretched to ten points at 17-7 and things only got worse from there for the St. Olaf team.  The Carleton team would be up 31-12 with 6:15 left and by the halftime break, the Carleton team was up 41-26.  The Carleton team would be up by twenty at 49-29 by the 15:37 mark of the second half and although the St. Olaf team would briefly cut into that deficit a bit down 56-39 with 9:15 left, the Carleton team would slowly but surely build up their lead again and with 3:20 left they were running away with this one up 70-45.  A much closer game meanwhile was taking place over on Court 2 between the Macalester team and the GAC Alumni team.  The Macalester team would get off to a hot start in this one up 9-2 by the 17:30 mark of the first half but the GAC Alumni team would hunker down and get this one leveled at 9-all by the 12:38 mark.  The GAC Alumni team would push ahead at 11-10 by the midway point of the first half but a "3" by the Macalester team would put them back up 13-11 a short time later; indicative of how this game was going to go.  Defense would rule things over the next few minutes with things knotted at 13 a piece with 6:30 left but then the Macalester team caught the GAC Alumni team off guard and unleashed a 7-0 run that had them up 20-13 with 2:40 left and they would maintain this seven-point cushion down the stretch of the first half and enjoyed a 22-15 lead by the halftime break.  The GAC Alumni team knew it had work to do coming out of the break and they slowly closed the gap.  The Macalester team would still be up 24-18 by the 18:00 mark of the second half and by the 15:00 mark that lead shrunk further down to five at 26-21.  By the 12:35 mark, the GAC Alumni team made further inroads on this deficit down 32-28.  Alarmed by these developments, the Macalester team sought to re-establish the earlier cushion that they had and a "3" by senior-to-be Celine Sabbagh got their lead back up to six at 35-29 with 9:35 left.  A stubborn GAC Alumni team would again scratch and claw its way back to reduce the deficit to a scant two points at 37-35 with 5:50 left.  But just when it looked like the GAC Alumni team was poised to keep its unbeaten record intact and snare control of this one down the stretch, the Macalester team got a huge boost when junior-to-be sharpshooter Solana Cushing unleashed a three-point bomb that pushed their lead back to six with 4:05 left and the GAC Alumni team could never quite recover from that as the Macalester team recorded a big victory.  

Had to head out before the 8:40 contest took place.....I don't have any of the details yet but looks like at least one more week of action before the curtain closes on the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League for this year so do try and get on down this next Wednesday night.  
    

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 7-14-21

 Here are the results of the games I got to cover this last Wednesday night at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:

6:00 P.M. Game

UW - River Falls - 79

CSB - 50

6: 50 P.M. Games

Hamline - 48

GAC Black - 41

GAC Gold - 78

Northwestern - 66

7:45 P.M. Games

Macalester - 42

Java - 25

GAC Alumni - 50

Bethel - 43

Just one game in the 6:00 P.M. slot on this night which at least made things a little easier for me.  On Court 2, things would be tied up early on between the UW-River Falls team and the CSB team with a 4-4 tie at the 18:30 mark of the first half but the UW-River Falls team would unleash their trademark three-point shooting to forge an 11-6 advantage by the 16:00 mark.  The CSB team, however, would come right back and trim the deficit to just one at 11-10 in the span of a minute; showing that they too can unleash a burst of offense.  The UW-River Falls team would find a second wind and some more breathing space as well with a 17-12 lead by the 13:30 mark and they would maintain this five-point edge up 22-17 by the midway point of the first half.  The UW-River Falls team would up their lead to seven points at 26-19 with 8:15 left but the CSB team would crawl back to within striking distance once again down 28-24 with 6:05 left.  The UW-River Falls team would manage to get their lead back up to six at 32-26 and they would hold a 37-32 lead at the halftime break.  The CSB team hoped to tighten things up again once the second half got going but this is where the UW-River Falls team unleashed a series of knockout punches.  Two quick scores out of the gate pushed the UW-River Falls team's lead up to double digits at 42-32 by the 18:33 mark of the second half and by the 15:30 mark, the UW-River Falls team expanded the lead to fifteen points at 47-32 and another three-point bomb made it 50-32 a short time later.  By the midway point of the second half, the UW-River Falls team was enjoying a 61-39 advantage and with just 5:55 left in the contest, the UW-River Falls team was cruising up 67-41 so there was little doubt on how this one was going to end.  

Two much tighter contest took place during the 6:50 P.M. slot.  Over on Court 1, a good one was brewing between the GAC Black team and the Hamline team.  The GAC Black team would hold a 4-3 edge by the 17:50 mark of the first half and that lead would increase to 7-3 on a three-point bomb at the 17:30 mark.  By the 12:50 mark, the GAC Black team was enjoying a 12-7 advantage but this Hamline team was proving to be one tough customer as they sliced the deficit down to one point at 14-13 by the 10:50 mark and less than a minute later they would snare the lead away up 15-14.  The GAC Black team would get things knotted up at 17 a piece with 7:45 left and things would still be tied at 19-all with 5:00 left.  So while things would stay tight down the stretch of the first half, the Hamline team would find a late spurt and take a somewhat surprising 28-24 lead by the halftime break.  The GAC Black team would come right back and get things tied up at 28 a piece by the 18:00 mark of the second half and things would still be deadlocked at 32 a piece by the 15:00 mark.  The GAC Black team would take a brief 35-34 lead but things would soon go south for them.  A "3" would have the Hamline team back up at 37-35 just past the midway point of the second half and the Hamline team would maintain the upper hand with a 41-37 advantage with 6:45 left.  With just over five minutes left, the Hamline team expanded their lead to seven at 44-37 and they would maintain that seven point edge down to the stretch to claim a big win.  Over on Court 2, the GAC Gold team was taking on the Northwestern team and the former would get off to a very good start; taking a 5-0 lead by the 18:30 mark of the first half and increasing that lead to 10-2 by the 17:00 mark.  A pretty jumper by junior-to-be Anna Sanders gave the GAC Gold team an 18-9 lead at the 12:55 mark and then fellow junior-to-be Maddy Rice would start showing off her three-point prowess with a bomb to give the GAC Gold team a 21-12 lead at the 12:45 mark.  By the midway point of the first half, the GAC Gold team would hold a double-digit advantage up 26-15.  The Northwestern team wasn't letting this one get too far out of hand but the GAC Gold team still held a 29-20 lead with 6:15 left and with 2:25 left they still held that nine-point cushion up 34-25.  A tough finish by GAC Gold's Maddy Rice that drew a foul along with the obligatory "and one" had the GAC Gold team in very good shape up 37-27 by the halftime break.  And the GAC Gold team certainly had no intentions of letting their foot off the accelerator anytime soon once the second half got going as they would increase their lead to 40-29 by the 18:40 mark.  Sanders would uncork a "3" at the 15:33 mark to give the GAC Gold team a 51-33 lead and then Maddy Rice would unleash a back-breaking "3" to make it 59-39 by the 12:40 mark.  The Northwestern team seemed to be in an impossible position by this point but they were able to slowly cut into this deficit down the stretch.  With 5:35 left they had reduced the deficit to fourteen at 68-54 and with 1:30 left they had reduced it to ten at 73-63 but bringing this one all the way back would prove to be a bridge too far as the GAC Gold team got the comfortable victory.  

Two more interesting games in the 7:45 P.M. slot.....Over on Court 1, scoring would come at something of a premium as both the Macalester team and the Java team had trouble getting untracked offensively.  Things would be knotted at two a piece at the 18:00 mark of the first half and by the 15:00 mark not much had changed with thing leveled at 4-all.  The Macalester team finally found some semblance of offense as they managed to grab a 9-4 lead by the 12:00 mark and still led 11-7 near the midway point of the first half.  The Java team managed to tighten things up a little; closing to within a single possession down 13-10 with 7:45 left and the Java team would stay within striking distance for a good chunk of the remainder of the first half as being down just 15-12 would suggest but this is where the Macalester team made a decisive 6-0 spurt to take a 21-12 lead by the halftime break.  That would probe to be the turning point in this one as the Java team could never get back to within striking distance again.  The Macalester team would hold a 25-17 lead at the 16:00 mark of the second half and would up that lead to nine again at 27-18 at the midway point of the second half.  The Macalester team would still enjoy that nine-point cushion up 30-21 with 7:50 left and would add a little insurance down the stretch with a 34-23 advantage enroute to the victory.  A highly-anticipated match-up meanwhile was taking place over on Court 2 between the GAC Alumni team and the Bethel team.  The Bethel team would get off to a very good start in this one; holding a 9-2 advantage at the 17:20 mark of the first half but it didn't take too long for the GAC Alumni team to unleash its primary weapon - Miranda Rice (GAC '18).  Two quick Miranda Rice scores would get this one tied up at nine a piece by the 15:10 mark and things would stay pretty much even down the stretch.  The game would be knotted at 13 a piece with 8:00 left and the Bethel team would cling to an 18-17 lead with 5:33 left but this is where the GAC Alumni team would go on a 7-0 run to hold a 24-18 advantage by the halftime break.  The GAC Alumni team would increase its lead to 34-26 when Kendall Thompson (GAC '19) connected with a lay-up at the 15:10 mark of the second half but the Bethel team would hang tough; managing to trim the deficit down to four at 36-32 by the 13:00 mark.  But this GAC Alumni team was simply proving to be too strong on this night as they would unleash another run to increase their lead to 41-32 by the midway point of the second half and would still be in control up 48-39 with 4:45 left.  The GAC Alumni team's Lindsey Johnson (GAC '16) may have made the play of the evening with her steal and drive that included a behind-the-back dribble and pretty finish to make it 50-40 with 2:10 left as the GAC Alumni recorded yet another tough but decisive victory.

One more week of the regular season coming up this next Wednesday night so make sure to get on down to the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League to catch all the action.        

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-30-21

 Some excellent games on this last Wednesday night at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League that were incredibly fun to watch:

6:00 P.M. Games

Macalester - 43

Hamline - 40

GAC Black - 42

Augsburg - 39

6:50 P.M. Games

Northwestern - 39

St. Kate's - 38

Bethel - 40

UW-River Falls - 32

7:45 P.M. Games

GAC Alumni - 49

GAC Gold - 48

St. Olaf - 47

Java - 44

Certainly not the night for the faint of heart in any of these time slots.  Over on Court 1 in the 6:00 P.M. slot, an entertaining game was going on between the Macalester team and the Hamline team (I've seen enough of their regular season games over the years to know what I'm talking about :)  ).  While the scoring itself would come at something of a premium early on with things knotted at 2 a piece at the 18:00 mark of the first half and at 4-all by the 14:42 mark, the Macalester team would slowly manage to grab the upper hand; taking a 6-5 advantage by the 11:45 mark and upping to it to 8-5 just thirty seconds later at the 11:15 mark.  By the midway point of the first half, the Macalester team would hold a 12-7 advantage and they would maintain that five-point edge up 14-9 with 4:00 left.  A short time later, the Macalester team unleashed two three-point bombs - one with 3:20 left and another with 2:30 left - that extended their lead to 20-12 and the Macalester team appeared to be in very good shape.  But a gamey Hamline team showed it had no intentions of going quietly into the night as they ripped off a 6-0 run to tighten things up down just 20-18 by the halftime break.  The Hamline team would manage to get this one tied at 21-all by the 17:30 mark of the second half and another push by this Hamline team had them up 29-24 at the 12:17 mark.  But the Macalester team would manage to turn the table down the stretch as they would come back to grab a 34-31 lead with 6:04 left and although the Hamline team would get things leveled again at 34 a piece and take a brief 39-37 lead with 2:20 left, the Macalester team got a big boost with another three-point bomb that would put them up 40-39 with 1:35 left as the Macalester team would hang on for the tough victory.  Another good game was also brewing over on Court 2 between the GAC Black team and the Augsburg team with the latter holding a 7-5 advantage at the 16:25 mark of the first half.  The GAC Black team would come right back, however, as two scores by junior-to-be Maddy Rice had them up 11-9 a short time later.  The GAC Black would enjoy a 13-10 advantage at the 11:00 mark but the Augsburg team would take its cue and uncork two three-point bombs to grab a 16-13 advantage with 9:00 left.  The Augsburg team would stretch its lead to nine at 26-17 with 2:50 left before the GAC Black team finally got settled down a bit and managed to tighten things up down 26-22 by the halftime break.  The GAC Black team would get the game tied at 28 a piece when freshman newcomer Morgan Kelly got a tough score in the paint at the 14:37 mark but the Augsburg team would come right back to take the upper hand and hold a 36-30 lead with 7:40 left.  Things looked quite iffy for the GAC Black team by this point but they managed to turn things around coming down the stretch and held on for a tough 42-39 win.

And things certainly didn't slow down one bit once the 6:50 P.M. games got going.  Over on Court 1, a real barnburner was ensuing between the St. Kate's team and the Northwestern team.  Senior-to-be Katie Benjamin would get a score in the paint and draw a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" had the St. Kate's team up 4-2 at the 15:44 mark of the first half but the Northwestern team would answer this with a 10-0 run to put them up 12-4 by the 11:00 mark.  The St. Kate's team certainly didn't take this lying down and they slyly whittled away at the deficit.  One three-point bomb had the deficit cut down to four points at 15-11 with 8:45 left and with 4:00 left, the St. Kate's team was back to within a single possession down 17-14.  With just two minutes left, the St. Kate's team would be down by just one at 19-18 and a short time later with just 1:00 left, the St. Kate's team finally poked its nose back out in front again by a 20-19 count.  Still, the Northwestern team would counter right before the halftime break with a "3" of their own to take a 22-20 lead at the halftime break.  The Northwestern team would hold a 24-21 lead early on in the second half but the St. Kate's team would soon have things knotted at 24 a piece.  The Northwestern team, however, would get a big boost from senior-to-be Brooklyn DeKam as she would bury two three-point bombs that would put them up 30-24 by the 13:10 mark.  Undeterred by it all, the St. Kate's team would once again battle its way back and have this game leveled at 30 a piece with 8:00 left.  Things would stay tight down the stretch with the Northwestern team holding a 35-34 lead with 4:00 left and with 1:15 left, the Northwestern team was holding a tenuous 39-36 advantage.  The St. Kate's team would cut the deficit to one on a score by junior-to-be Bree Glynn with :30 left but the Northwestern team would manage to hold on for a thrilling one-point win in a very well-played and fun game by both teams.  While all this was going on, another good one was taking place over on Court 2 between the UW-River Falls team and the Bethel team.  Very little separation between these two early on as things would be tied at 4-all at the 17:20 mark of the first half and tied again at 6-all by the 13:17 mark.  With 8:37 left, the UW-River Falls team would have this game tied again at 9 a piece on a three-point bomb.  The Bethel team would again forge a three-point advantage at 14-11 but, just as before, a hot-shooting UW-River Falls team would uncork another "3" to level the contest at 14 with 3:00 left and by the halftime break, the UW-River Falls team probably had to be feeling pretty good about itself holding a 16-14 advantage.  The UW-River Falls team would still hold a one-point edge at 18-17 at the 15:50 mark of the second half but the Bethel team would soon get a big boost from senior Makenna Pearson with a score along with an "and one" that would help get the Bethel team out in front 24-21 by the 13:10 mark.  With 8:00 left, the Bethel team's lead had grown to six at 32-26 and the Bethel team was able to stretch that lead to eight at 38-30 with 2:27 left as they would claim a hard-earned victory on this night.  

Without question, however, the game of the night took place over on Court 1 in the 7:45 P.M. slot between the GAC Gold team and the Cardiac Kids of this year's Summer League, the GAC Alumni team.  And, as they have shown so often thus far, the GAC Alumni team certainly has a flair for dramatics and this game against the younger GAC Gold team would certainly be no exception.  The GAC Alumni team would start fast in this one; getting out to a 6-0 lead but the GAC Gold team would soon close the gap to one point at 6-5 by the 16:30 mark of the first half.  The GAC Alumni team would again try and create some separation; getting a 12-7 lead by the 13:47 mark and holding a 16-12 lead by the 11:20 mark.  But the GAC Gold team didn't appeared to be fazed one bit by their more-experienced elders and they would have this contest leveled at 16 a piece at the midway point of the first half thanks to scores by junior-to-be Maddy Rice and newcomer freshman Morgan Kelly.  The GAC Alumni team would find another burst of energy to get a 24-19 lead with 8:00 left but again the GAC Gold team wouldn't go anywhere and had closed to one down 26-25 with 4:15 left and the GAC Alumni team would maintain that one-point lead up 29-28 with 1:30 left and a tough Miranda Rice (GAC '18) score in the paint had the GAC Alumni team up 31-29 by the halftime break.  But this young GAC Gold team had every intention of trying to steal the spotlight on this night and they would hold a 34-33 lead early on in the second half and a "3" would expand that lead to 37-33 by the 14:50 mark.  The GAC Alumni team didn't panic, however, and would get this one tied at 37-all a short time later at the 13:30 mark.  The GAC Alumni team would open up a four-point lead at 43-39 by the 11:00 mark and they would seem to have the edge coming down the stretch.  But you also knew that this GAC Gold team was going to throw everything they had at them and with 2:00 left, the GAC Alumni lead had shrunk to two points at 45-43 and the GAC Gold's Morgan Kelly would connect on a tough score to keep the GAC Gold team close down 47-45 with just under a minute left.  With just under :20 left, the GAC Gold team would get this one tied at 47 a piece and although the GAC Alumni team had one last chance to win in regulation, they were unable to convert on their last possession so off to overtime we went.  The GAC Gold team would grab a 48-47 lead on one free throw with :31 left in the extra session but this GAC Alumni team would save the best for last as they would score on its ensuing possession to claim an absolutely fun and thrilling 49-48 overtime victory.  To be sure, another very good contest was taking place next door over on Court 2 between the Java team and the St. Olaf team.  Although overshadowed by the game taking place over on Court 1, this one proved to be a good one as well as the St. Olaf team would hold a 4-2 lead by the 15:10 mark of the first half but things would be knotted up at 12 a piece by the midway point of the first half.  The Java team would then get the upper hand; grabbing a 19-14 lead with 4:00 left and holding a 22-18 advantage by the halftime break.  The Java team would open up the second half with a 6-0 spurt to hold a 28-18 lead and although it appeared in a bit of trouble by this point, the St. Olaf team quickly responded and by the midway point of the second half, this one would be tied at 35 a piece.  The St. Olaf team would cling to a 39-38 advantage with 6:45 left and would get a bit more breathing room up 46-43 with 4:20 left.  The St. Olaf team was still holding the three-point advantage at 47-44 with 2:00 left and although they certainly weren't out of the woods by any stretch by that point, they managed to keep the Java team scoreless in those last two minutes to claim the tough victory.   

Had to skeedaddle home to get my rest before the 8:40 game took place but another night of action coming up this next Wednesday night over at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League so get on down! 

 

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-23-21

 Here's the results of the games I was able to cover this last Wednesday night at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:

6:00 P.M. Games

Carleton - 69

UW-River Falls - 64

GAC Black - 54

CSB - 42

6:50 P.M. Games

St. Kate's - 56

Augsburg - 51

GAC Alumni - 53

Northwestern - 51  OT

7:45 P.M. Games

Hamline def St. Olaf

GAC Gold def Java

Over on Court 1 in the 6:00 P.M. slot, a good game was going down between the UW-River Falls team and the Carleton team.  The Carleton team would grab a 7-4 advantage by the 17:20 mark of the first half but the UW-River Falls team certainly wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and they would turn the tables by the 12:30 mark to hold an 11-9 lead and big three-point bomb would expand that lead to four points at 16-12 by the 11:00 mark.  The Carleton team would strike back and retake the lead at 20-19 but the UW-River Falls team would unleash another offensive explosion that would have them up 29-25 with 7:14 left.  But then the Carleton team would answer that with an 8-0 run that had them up 33-29 with 5:40 left.  Fittingly, this one would stay tight down the stretch of the first half with the Carleton team clinging to a 34-33 at the halftime break.  The Carleton team appeared to have the upper hand in this one when they established a 40-33 lead early on in the second half but the UW-River Falls team was able to shake off those early second half doldrums and go on a 10-2 run to hold a 43-42 lead by the 13:30 mark.  Things would be knotted at 47 a piece near the midway point of the second half and it seemed that this one could possibly come down to a photo finish when the Carleton team was hanging on to a 55-54 lead with 4:35 left.  But down the home stretch, the UW-River Falls team finally started running out of gas and this allowed the Carleton team to get just enough separation up 65-59 with 1:30 left as they would claim a tough win.  Over on Court 2, the GAC Black team would jump out to a 5-0 lead on the CSB team by the 17:50 mark of the first half but the CSB team would turn the tables to hold a 7-6 advantage at the 13:10 mark and by the midway point of the first half, the CSB team expanded their lead to 11-6.  But just when the GAC Black team appeared a bit vulnerable, they finally started to find themselves again on the offensive end that allowed them to get this one tied up at 14 a piece with 3:56 left; punctuated by a three-point bomb by junior-to-be Maddy Rice.  A short time later, Rice would strike again from behind the arc that would help give the GAC Black team at 17-16 lead with 2:00 left.  But this gamey CSB team would throw a counterpunch in the form of a 7-0 run down the last two minutes of this first half to hold a 23-17 lead by the halftime break.  The GAC Black would answer quickly once the second half got underway; going on a 8-0 run to retake the lead at 25-23 and that only fueled the fire of this GAC Black team as they would expand their lead to 37-28 by the 14:15 mark.  The CSB team had one more big push left in them as they would narrow things up to a single possession down 34-31 midway through the second half but the GAC Black team would again step on the gas and widen their lead to nine points at 43-34 with 6:00 left and never looked back from there.  

While the games in the 6:00 P.M. slot were fun ones, they could not match the drama and excitement of the two games in the 6:50 P.M. slot.  On Court 1, a good one was going on between the St. Kate's team and the Augsburg team that saw the St. Kate's team up 7-3 at the 16:21 mark of the first half but the Augsburg team wouldn't let the deficit get stretched out too much thanks to senior-to-be Selena Lor's three-point bomb that kept the Augsburg team within striking distance down 12-8.  But the St. Kate's team would find another gear and grow its lead to eight at 21-13 with 7:35 left and with just 2:50 left, the St. Kate's team appeared to be in full control enjoying a 30-19 advantage so things were definitely looking good at the half for them up 32-22.  But the Augsburg team would slyly whittle away at this deficit and cut it down to six points at 34-28 by the 17:30 mark of the second half and a short time later, they were back to within a single possession down 34-31.  Alarmed, the St. Kate's team got a bit more breathing room established with a 41-34 lead by the 13:03 mark but putting this Augsburg team away was proving to be a much tougher chore than they had bargained for.  With 8:00 left, the Augsburg team had closed the gap to five points down 45-40 and a short time later, Lor would again unleash terror from behind the arc with another three-point bomb that suddenly had the Augsburg team back to within a single possession again down 45-43.  With 7:15 left, the Augsburg team had grabbed a 45-45 lead but both teams would trade small leads coming down the stretch.  With 2:35 left, the St. Kate's team was clinging to a 52-51 lead and two free throws with 1:14 left gave the St. Kate's team a 54-51 advantage.  The Augsburg team was unable to recapture the earlier magic they had and the St. Kate's team escaped with a harrowing victory.  But the game of night; maybe of this whole summer league, took place over on Court 2 between the GAC Alumni team and the Northwestern team.  Unlike in the games it had played earlier in this summer league, the GAC Alumni team got off to a fast start this time around; up 6-0 at the 18:15 mark of the first half and thanks to a pretty drive and finish by Kelsey Carpenter (GAC '17), the GAC Alumni team would hold a 16-9 advantage by the 13:10 mark.  With 7:40 left, the GAC Alumni team was enjoying a 21-12 advantage.  With 4:44 left, Kelsey Carpenter would uncork one of her trademark three-point bombs that had the GAC Alumni team in good shape up 28-20 but the Northwestern team finally started making inroads on this deficit - in a hurry, too.  With 1:35 left, the GAC Alumni lead had shrunk to four at 28-24 and by the halftime break, the Northwestern team had completed this 8-0 run that had the score leveled at 28 a piece.  The contest would be deadlocked at 31 a piece by the 16:45 mark of the second half but two three-point bombs had the Northwestern team up 38-33 at the 14:20 mark and by the midway point of the second half, the Northwestern team certainly seemed to have the upper hand up 43-37.  But counting the GAC Alumni team out is always a dangerous proposition and they wasted little time getting this one tied up again at 43 a piece thanks to a tough drive and finish by Lindsey Johnson (GAC '16) with 4:15 left.  This helped fuel a push that saw the GAC Alumni team take a 47-43 lead when Miranda Rice (GAC '18) got into the paint for a score.  But leave it up to this Northwestern team as they responded with a 6-0 burst to grab a 49-47 lead with 1:10 left.  Right back came the GAC Alumni team as they would assume a 51-49 lead with :40 left.  Still, the Northwestern team would have enough left in them to get this one tied at 51-all with :26.5 left.  The GAC Alumni team was unable to convert on its last possession in regulation so off to the two-minute overtime period we went.  Whatever failings the GAC Alumni team may have had on that last possession in regulation, they more than made up for it with :49 left in the overtime period when they played the percentages and fed Rice down low who bullied her way in for the winning score as the GAC Alumni team took a thrilling 53-51 overtime victory.  Definitely a well-played game by both teams and fun to watch!

In the excitement that followed afterward, I did something a little different in the 7:45 P.M. slot and got to sit down with St. Kate's Head Coach Don Mulhern who was in attendance on this night.  We talked a lot about the state of MIAC Women's Hoops and what the future of the conference will be going forward without UST as a part of it now that they have officially made their move to DI.  We were pretty much in agreement on who the top teams in the conference will be this next season (GAC and Bethel) but after that it seems to be pretty much a crapshoot at the moment.  We had differing opinions and ideas as to all the things that have happened in the last couple of years with the UST thing and what might have prevented it.  But that's good because you can have differing opinions and ideas on certain things and still have a great respect for one another.  It's definitely going to be a new era for the MIAC with St. Scholastica coming over from the UMAC this next season.  My own guess is that, sooner or later, another team or two might decide to throw in their lot with the MIAC as well.  Just who and when and how remains to be seen. Oh, the Hamline team took a decisive victory over the St. Olaf team on Court 1 while the GAC Gold team did likewise with the Java team on Court 2.

Had to take off before the two games in the 8:40 P.M. slot took place......Another round of games coming up this next Wednesday evening so get on down to the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League to catch all the action!