Game Notes: Augustana College @ North Central College (1/12/13)

Final Score
NCC 105, Augustana 98

Game Summary
In what was a tight contest early, the Vikings (5-9, 1-3) were able to break the press early on and get plenty of easy baskets, but the Cardinals (8-7, 1-3) played probably their best offensive game of the year with both inside scoring and good jump shooting. The teams traded small leads and tied 5 times before the Cardinals took the lead for good with a 12-3 run over the final three and a half minutes of the first half to lead 55-46 at the break. In the second half the Cardinals came out guns blazing to get the lead up to 18 points. The lead ballooned to over 20 on a few occasions and it was enough to overcome a late surge by Augustana to hold on for the first win in conference play this season.

Key Stats

• Larynn Shumaker (NCC): 8-13 FG, 4-7 FT, 20 pts, 5 reb (4 ofr), 1 ast, 1 blk. After a rough night on Wednesday (4-11 shooting), Larynn flat out dominated last night. She is an excellent post player and has consistently shown great post moves all season long, and was able to get her shots to fall last night, including a couple nice and-1's. The offensive rebounds helped out a lot as well.
• Jenny Swanson (NCC): 4-9 FG (all 3PT), 12 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl. Having watched Jenny play for 4 years, plus having the opportunity to rebound for her a few times, I know she can shoot incredibly well. It had been a struggle for her (and really, the whole team) much of the year and tonight the work finally paid off. She hit a few big three's in some key moments and was one of the catalysts along with Maryssa Cladis (3-6 from deep, 13 pts) and Kim Wilson (also 3-6, 12 pts).
• Chaney Tambling (AUG): 9-13 FG, 0-2 FT, 18 pts, 6 reb (3 ofr), 2 stl, 1 blk. The run of success for opposing post players continues. A lot of these were against the press, but she was able to get some easy baskets in the halfcourt set as well. On a night like this, the Cardinals can overcome big games from opposing forwards, but it's still a troubling trend.

North Central System Watch

• Line Changes: 49. There were a lot more subs last night compared to normal (which is saying something, given the average is probably 40 or so line changes a game). It got to the point that before the game Coach Roof asked me to not name everybody coming in after about the 3rd or 4th substitution and replace it with "a wholesale line change for the Cardinals). I also found out when Jackie Errico came over to tell us the starting lineup that they have a chart of line changes that they use to avoid what I'm sure would be mass confusion if they didn't have one. They even have charts for a blowout or an "emergency" situation (probably if someone gets injured).
• NCC 3pt: 13-35 (37.1%). This is low in terms of attempts for this team, but it worked out in this game. That percentage is the second highest all season so far (they shot 17 of 40 from downtown in a 94-77 win at Luther College in November). Pretty much all these three's were in the flow of the offense, and I think they've really found a nice rhythm in terms of ball movement and a decent shot selection as this season has gone on.
• Augie Turnovers: 40. Of the 40, 21 were off Cardinal steals, and 10 of NCC's 15 active players recorded at least one steal and 5 with multiple steals (Bobbi Johns led the team with 5.) The other astounding number off that 40 turnovers (which is the 2nd highest total so far this year after the Dominican game) was that 22 of the 40 giveaways were committed by Augie's starting backcourt. The press allows a lot of easy layups for the opposition, but it forces a ton of turnovers; the lowest total so far this year was 25 in the season-opening loss to Olivet.

Final Thoughts
Lauren Hernandez did not play last night after hurting her knee in the Carthage loss on Wednesday, but she looked to be in good spirits and was walking okay on her own power, so hopefully the injury isn't serious and she can return soon.

On Wednesday this Augustana team beat Wheaton pretty handily, even leading by about 20 at one point. This is the same Wheaton team that destroyed North Central last week. Basketball is a weird sport. Nonetheless the Cardinals topped last year's win total with 10 games left. Obviously the CCIW is a very talented conference and this team will have to bring their A-game night in and night out, but if they play like they did for much of the night last night the Cardinals could surprise some people.