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St. Cloud State University
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Season starts with split
By Drew Herron
Published:
Monday, November 25, 2002
Media Credit: Leslie Andres
Kristine DeGroot scores for the Husky women’s basketball team against Bemidji State Saturday at Halenbeck Hall. SCSU won 77-47.
It was a tale of two games for the SCSU women’s basketball this past weekend.
Friday night’s disappointing 12-point loss to Minnesota-Duluth was answered Saturday night with a 30-point rout over Bemidji State. The Huskies turned in a truly impressive group effort Saturday as 12 different players scored, led by senior guard Jessica Abrahams and junior post Kris DeGroot.
DeGroot scored 10 points, going five for 10 from the field, blocking four shots and recording a career-high 10 rebounds.
Abrahams finished with 13 points, going three-for-six from three-point range with four boards.
The 30-point shellacking was evidence of the way the Huskies dominated, particularity in the second half. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
SCSU came out of the gate playing sloppy and shooting poorly, trailing the Beavers early in the game. But midway through the first half, the team gained its composure and went on tear, establishing a lead that would be unthreatened.
“I think we broke the press much smoother,” head coach Lori Ulferts said. “By breaking the press we were able to attack and that’s what broke it open.
“I think we settled down and started playing together, concentrating and running the plays,” DeGroot said. “We did the little things.”
What the Huskies lacked in composure, they more than made up for in energy. SCSU utilized their depth to wear down Bemidji by running. Ending the first half with a 32-17 point lead, the Huskies came out flying in the second, playing up-tempo and making long passes down court. It didn’t take long for BSU to wear down physically in the second half.
“I knew Bemidji was definitely tired,” DeGroot said. “I don’t think they have as much depth as we do. They played mainly their starting five and maybe a couple off the bench. We do have a lot of depth. We have a lot of people that can fill a lot of positions.”
Playing up-tempo served the Huskies well in this matchup, allowing a deep team to speed up the game while exhausting and further frustrating a poor-shooting Beaver team.
“Whatever it takes to win,” Ulferts said. “But I’d rather run on this team because we have the depth. Not only the depth, but their slow-down defense with the press and the zone. Not against every team, but I’d much rather run against this team.”
Ulferts got everybody into the act and got to rest key players, largely due to strong performances by reserves. Abrahams played 22 minutes, but no other starter played more than 16.
Freshman Kellie Heinen scored 10, going five-for-six from the field. Seniors Celeste Frank and Andrea Bennet each scored six.
“We have to develop our depth because we play such a long season,” Ulferts said.
St. Cloud wanted Saturday’s victory badly. It’s November, and there’s no such thing as a must win now, but salvaging the weekend split after a disappointing loss to UMD the night before would certainly help the team’s confidence and chemistry.
“This is very important. It’s a huge confidence builder, especially winning by 30 points,” DeGroot said. “I think last night was just jitters. It was the first game for the freshman and the first game of the season.”
“For our confidence level, this win was crucial,” Ulferts said.
The Huskies found themselves trailing the Bulldogs 42-30 at the half and down by 17 midway through the second. Strong performances once again by Abrahams and DeGroot wouldn’t prove to be enough as UMD built a lead that was just too much for the Huskies.
SCSU seemed to pose a serious threat when, with just over four minutes to play, Abrahams nailed a three to pull the Huskies within five at 69-64. But that’s as close as it would get, as the Bulldogs outscored the Huskies 13-6 in the waning minutes to seal the victory.
Abrahams scored 12 points and had five rebounds on the night. DeGroot led the team with 14 points, going a flawless eight-for-eight at the free throw line.
Ulferts expected great things from DeGroot heading into the season and she has answered the call so far. Her 24 points in two nights trails only Abrahams’ 25.
Hopefully the team that smoked Bemidji will be the team that shows up the rest of the year. Getting the jitters out of the way, the Huskies dominated on all fronts. The stellar bench production both nights is a very promising sign of the team’s depth and commitment, but stiff NCC competition will prove to be the real test.
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