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St. Cloud State University
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SCSU looks to move up in NCC
Women's basketball team looking to move up in NCC standings to reserve a spot in the conference tournament.
By Drew Herron
Published:
Thursday, January 30, 2003
Molly Jensen
It would have been nice to return from last weekend's road trip with a pair of victories, but when one of the contests is against the top-ranked team in the nation, sometimes you need to take your wins where you can get them. The Huskies struggled in last Friday night's game against South Dakota State, losing by 20 points, but rebounded for a victory Saturday night over MSU-Mankato.
Salvaging the split means the team's playoff hopes are still alive, and this weekend could prove to be critical. The good news is that the Huskies, despite a conference record of 2-5 (7-11), have already endured perhaps the toughest part of their schedule. They're done with South Dakota State and are now set to play six of their next seven games at home. What makes this weekend important is that if the playoffs started today, the Huskies would be one spot out. The team is in eighth place and the conference tournament takes only the top seven teams.
The Huskies see this upcoming homestand as a golden opportunity to get things going in the right direction.
"Last week when we beat Mankato it lit a spark for us," freshman guard Sascha Hansen said. "We realize that these upcoming games are crucial for us for the conference standings and the conference tournament."
"Because the NCC is so tough, we place a lot of value on every game," sophomore guard Molly Jensen said. "With each win our confidence builds, especially with last Saturday's game."
The team who currently holds the final playoff spot, Nebraska-Omaha, comes to town Friday. The Mavericks are currently tied for seventh place with the Huskies, but with an overall record of 9-9, UNO would slip in. SCSU hopes they can deflate the Mavs playoff prospects while building their own.
"We go into every game knowing it's going to be a tough battle and that we have to win in order to advance into the conference tournament," Hansen said. "That was one of our goals at the beginning of the year, and each win will get us closer to being there."
Everything that has been done before this weekend is in the past and the new path to the playoffs starts now. The first step will be defeating UNO on Friday. St. Cloud has to subscribe to the mantra that nobody comes in and steals a victory on their home court.
Downing the Mavericks would not only add another win, but would put SCSU in front of the Mavs in the playoff race.
True, there are still four weeks left and the conference season is only about half done, but the Huskies have buried themselves in the loss column and can ill-afford to suffer any more setbacks from teams they should beat.
"We feel we can beat these two teams. We need to stay together and not get down on the little things," Jensen said.
Not that UNO is inept. The Mavs have two of the conference's top eight leading scorers in Sara Peterson and Tanya Hammes. Peterson, a senior guard, is a consistent scorer averaging 16.7 ppg, and senior center Hammes averages 15.7 ppg while being one of the conference's premiere rebounders and shot blockers.
"They (UNO) really like to drive, either take it all the way or kick it out," Jensen said. "They don't really have one person they go to, so we just need to really defend them well."
UNO will score a lot of points, but they tend to give it right back. The Mavs average a respectable 76.3 ppg, but their points allowed is a conference worst 86.7 ppg. Coming into this week, UNO leads the conference in blocked shots and ranks second in field goal percentage and assists.
"They really work on penetration and dishing," Hansen said. "So we'll need to work on not letting our defense break down and closing lanes."
Saturday, things will get a little more difficult as the Huskies will play host to South Dakota. The Coyotes come into town ranked 14th in the nation and fourth in the regional poll, along with probably the best player in the NCC Mandy Koupal.
"We watched film against them the first game and we found out things we did well. We didn't play well against them the first time, so now we'll be better prepared," Hansen said. "We'll know tendencies they do and we'll try to stop them."
The Coyotes have a few dangerous shooters, but the Huskies may have the most difficulty stopping Koupal. A multi-faceted player who can beat you from almost anywhere and the top scorer and rebounder in the conference at 24.5 ppg and 10.5 boards, Koupal is an excellent shooter and can be tricky to guard because she's a dangerous inside presence who also leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage.
"We expect them to constantly go to Koupal, and they like to drive," Jensen said. "So we'll look for the drives and then the kickout to her. This time we need to get out on their other shooters and focus on them."
One of the other Coyote shooters the Huskies will need to pay attention to is senior forward Heather Nelson. Averaging almost 13 ppg, Nelson is currently 10th in the conference in scoring, but has a tendency to miss a lot of three-pointers.
"They really work to get the ball into the post and we'll need to work on pressuring them and not allowing them to make the easy passes," Hansen said. "We think we can get up and down with them to make it a full court game."
The Huskies have fared better in lower-scoring games this season. If the team can be successful at forcing their opponents to play their style of ball, things could work out for the Huskies.
