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Women's b-ball splits on weekend trip
By Adam Czech
It might sound like a clich�, but sometimes all it takes for a team to start playing well is a good old fashioned butt-chewing from its coach.
SCSU basketball coach Lori Ulferts tried this formula Saturday night in Mankato during a timeout with her team trailing 56-52 to the Minnesota State, Mankato Mavericks with 8:14 to play. The result? A 17-0 SCSU run and a 79-65 victory for the Huskies.
"A lot of people didn't know who they had on defense or what play we were running on offense," SCSU junior post Kristine DeGroot said about the timeout. "We went back in and said 'it's now or never.' We hit some key shots, made some good plays and everything seemed to escalate from there."
DeGroot scored six of her team-high 17 points during the run. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Huskies. SCSU has now beaten Mankato, which has lost 19 consecutive NCC games, eight straight times.
"Our two big keys going into the game were to talk and rebound," SCSU second-year guard Molly Jensen said, who finished with 13 points. "We really came together and worked well together."
SCSU sophomore guard Katie Huschle sealed the game in the final 1:25 by going eight-for-eight from the free throw line. Huschle finished with 14 points and four assists. Senior post Jonelle Streed added 10 points and five rebounds. DeGroot led the Huskies in rebounds with 10.
SCSU was in Brookings, S.D., Friday night for a showdown with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, the No. 1 ranked team in Division II women's basketball. South Dakota State jumped out to an 18-point lead at halftime and came away with an 83-63 win over the Huskies.
"Their posts took advantage of us being undersized," DeGroot said. "They'd just lob it in and we didn't have backside help. Their guards were really aggressive."
The win was the 18th in a row for the Jackrabbits, the top rebounding and top assist team in the NCC. Forward Melissa Pater led South Dakota State with 19 points, 15 of which came in the first half.
SCSU, which made a 13-3 run with 6:45 to play to cut the lead to 66-53, was led by first-year guard Sascha Hansen with 13 points and five rebounds. Streed added 11 points and three rebounds and Kellie Heinen chipped in with 11 points.
The Huskies are now 7-11 overall and 2-5 in the NCC. St. Cloud will be at Halenbeck Hall this weekend for a Friday game against the University of Nebraska-Omaha and a Saturday showdown with the University of South Dakota. Six of the next seven games for SCSU will be at home.
"It's going to be important that we stick together," Jensen said about the rest of the season. "It's important that we all stay on the same page and that everyone knows what everyone else is doing."
Around the Rim
-DeGroot leads the Huskies in scoring (11.0) and rebounding (4.4).
-Hansen has started all 18 games for SCSU, averaging 28.4 minutes per game and recording 24 steals and 44 assists.
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