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Hoopsters lose twice in tourney
By Drew Herron
Published:
Monday, December 9, 2002
It was a bitter pill to swallow this weekend for the Huskies after suffering a two-loss setback at the Southwest State University Classic Tournament in Marshall.
It was disappointing enough to drop both games of the two game tournament, but now it looks as if the Huskies could be facing some serious time without their best player, senior guard and co-captain Jessica Abrahams.
From the beginning, things didn't look to be going the Huskies' way. The opening game against #22 ranked and host Southwest State had the Huskies behind from the beginning to the end and Abrahams on the sidelines after suffering a serious knee injury. The injury occurred in the first half during a mid-court collision.
"We were at mid-court and Molly (Jenson) and I had a trap," Abrahams said. "The girl tried to throw the ball off of me, I grabbed it and she fell into the outside of my left leg and it basically bent in the way it's not supposed to go."
The injury to such a key player was certainly a hard obstacle to overcome, and the Huskies also had their hands full with a very talented team.
"I think we all got a little shook when Jess Abrahams hurt her knee," senior post Jonelle Streed said. "That didn't help our focus at all because we all know how important she is to us. That's harsh. She's our best all-around player by far."
The Mustangs took the lead early and never relinquished it as they took an 11-point lead into the half, thanks in large part to junior guard Mary Roddel and her five first-half three pointers.
"It was absolutely insane the way they shot," Streed said.
The Mustangs had four players finish with double digit scoring, including sophomore swing Regan French who finished with 11 points and eight rebounds while going five for seven from the field. Sharp shooting by the Mustangs early helped the team build a lead which proved to be insurmountable for the Huskies. Southwest State shot a respectable 54 percent from the field in the first, but it was impressive the three-point shooting in which nearly everything seemed to fall for the Mustangs and helped them wedge a lead. The Mustangs went seven for 11 from three point range in the first half.
"We got down right away and it's so hard when you get down on a good team," Streed said. "We got down early and it ended up being a fifteen point game the entire night."
As hot as the Mustangs were from outside, the Huskies were a mirror opposite cold. A slow shooting first half hampered the Huskies offensive threat and left the team in a hole they were never able to escape from. The Huskies shot just 33 percent from the field in the first half and a not much improved 36 percent in the second. Where the Mustangs were on fire from three point range in the first, the Huskies were a chilly nil for seven.
Once again, the Huskies' bench proved to be productive as they combined for 35 points. The Huskies offensive attack was headed by junior post Kris DeGroot, who came off the bench to lead the team with 16. Sophomore guard Molly Jenson added nine, going four for six from the field and sophomore guard Katie Huschle scored eight. First-year players Kellie Heinen and Sascha Hansen each contributed seven points and Hansen accounted for seven rebounds.
Saturday's contest was a little closer, but the end result the same. The Huskies took a narrow 31-30 lead into the half against Wayne State College after rallying to erase a seven point deficit in the waning minutes of the half.
But if the Huskies thought they saw an impressive shooting performance Friday night, it was shocking what was in store for them now. Wayne State senior guard Dodie Martin scored 31 points, going nine for 12 from the field, and eight for 10 from three point range, tying a school record.
"I don't think any of us realized she had made that many threes," Streed said. "Eight for ten is outrageous."
A relatively poor shooting performance by the rest of the team didn't matter because Martin was on, picking up the slack for off nights by other key players like Karen Hochstein and Ashley Arndorfer. Her 31 points accounted for nearly half of the teams total points, while Hochstein and Arndorfer struggled offensively.
"We knew we had to bounce back from Friday night's loss. So we were pumped going into halftime and when we came out, she was absolutely on fire," Streed said. "No matter where we were guarding her, she was making her shots."
Saturday's game proved to be much tighter as the game was tied six times and experienced 13 lead changes, but it was, once again, the strong outside shooting in the second half that made the difference. Wayne State went six for eight from three point range in the second half.
Streed led the Huskies in scoring, putting up 12, and Andrea Shogren scored 11, including three three-pointers. DeGroot went five for nine from the field to throw in 10, and Huschle and Heinen each added eight.
The Huskies enjoyed solid shooting in the first half, only to let it slip away in the second. Four for six from three point range was replaced by a dismal one for nine in the second, while Wayne State enjoyed a 54 percent three-point shooting percentage for the game.
Fatigue was almost certainly another key factor. Wayne State played earlier in the day, while the Huskies had to play at night before turning around and playing at 1 p.m.
"It was our second game in less than 12 hours," Streed said. "On Saturday we shot well in the first half and then in the second we lost our legs a little bit."
Now the team's focus is how to learn to play without Abrahams. The best case scenario could have her back in a month or so, in time for the conference schedule, but she could be lost for the season. Abrahams will be evaluated by a doctor on Monday and the team will know more then.
"We don't know for sure exactly what it is yet. They're thinking something with my MCL," Abrahams said. "I'm not planning on making a decision until I know exactly what's wrong with it."
One thing for sure is that the Huskies will now need to face a much improved Concordia-St. Paul team on Wednesday without her.
"We have a couple days now to regroup and get things back on the right track," Streed said. "And just adjust from missing Jess, the starting lineup's messed up, everything's changed. It's good we have a couple days now to settle down and just get focused on one game."
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