Game Notes (WBK): Augustana College @ North Central College (1/30/21)

Final Score
Augustana 57, NCC 51

Game Summary
Things started well enough in this one, as the Cardinals (0-4) scored on the game's opening possession and seemed like they weren't looking back, leading by as many as seven before the Vikings (2-1) fought back to keep it close, trailing by just four after one quarter. The Vikings cut it to one a couple times, but couldn't quite get over the hump as for the second time in six days, the Cardinals took a two point lead into the locker room. And in the third, it seemed like everything was fine as the Cardinal defense clamped down and held the Vikings off the board for seven and a half minutes, and North Central took the biggest lead of the game at a dozen with about three and a half minutes to go in the quarter. But Augie fought back again, cutting it to a seven point game by the end of the frame. Then in the fourth, it all went to hell as the Vikings scored the first ten points of the frame to take a three point lead, and after a pair of Cardinal free throws cut it to one, Augie scored nine straight to put the contest out of reach.

Key Players

• Lauren Hall (AUG): 4-9 FG (2-6 3PT); 10 pts, 16 reb (4 off), 1 ast, 3 stl. Hall did almost all of her damage in the first half, ending the opening 20 minutes with a double-double, but was then held off the scoresheet for the entire second half. Ultimately it didn't matter, as she pulled down six rebounds and notched two of her steals in the second half while the rest of the Viking offense did its thing.
• Kylie Jozwik (AUG): 3-3 FG (2-2 3PT), 1-2 FT; 9 pts, 3 reb (1 off), 1 stl. Normally I wouldn't be listing a player on here who played all of seven minutes- all of it coming in the second half, mind you- but Jozwik made the most of her time, hitting a big three right at the end of the third quarter to cut the Cardinal lead to seven, then hit another in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, plus a layup and free throw earlier in the comeback effort.
• Jessica Kowalczyk (NCC): 3-8 FG (2-5 3PT), 2-4 FT; 10 pts, 1 reb (off), 1 ast, 2 stl. Pickings were slim, looking at NCC's box score, so we'll go with the lone Cardinal to reach double figures. Between her and her twin sister Stephanie, the Kowalczyk's had a good game on the whole (16 points), but 14 of those came in the first half.

Key Stats

• NCC: 2-20 FG in 4th quarter (10.0%). The team came out of the gate red hot and was 7-14 from deep at the break. Even in the third quarter, while they couldn't pull definitively away with a lockdown defensive performance, they still built a fairly sizable lead, and then the fourth quarter started and once again the shooting went ice cold. The Cardinals missed their first 18 shots of the quarter, including all 12 from beyond the arc, and only managed a couple free throws for points before hitting a pair of meaningless layups in the closing seconds. I have no explanation for it, other than three point shooting is voodoo.
• AUG: 17-24 FT (70.8%). Granted, a bunch of this came late with NCC intentionally fouling, but even then there were a ton of split trips to the line. One of the big reasons Augie stayed in the game was an 11-14 performance going into the final quarter. The Cardinals, for their part, shot 11-23 from the stripe for the game. You do the math.cc

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ ELM 65 (1-1), CRL 64 (1-1)
• @ MIL 85 (2-1), WHE 60 (2-1)
• NPU 47 (3-0), @ CAR 40 (0-2)
• BYE: IWU (0-0)
• MBK: @ AUG 80 (1-2), NCC 76 (3-1)

Final Thoughts

Photo by Steve Woltmann

Pain.

This is the third straight game the Cardinals have led going into the fourth quarter, and they've lost all three. Even on Thursday out in Rock Island, the Cardinals led by double digits and seemed in control for most of the game before going cold in the fourth. The same story played out here today. Augie played good defense, yes, but the Cardinals also had good looks and they just wouldn't fall in the final ten minutes. This Cardinal team is better than their 0-4 record. They should have at least one win, and it could be argued that they should be 3-1 and right in the thick of the CCIW title hunt. But alas, this isn't the case.

Fun side note to bring up, is that I found a new meme involving an Augustana coach. Mark Beinborn drew a technical foul in the third quarter when he ran all the way out onto the court trying to call a timeout in a loose ball situation (it was called a jump ball, with possession favoring the Cardinals at the time), and when the timeout wasn't granted, he threw his dry erase marker in frustration. Thus was born the all new "Mark Beinborn Marker Watch," which just doesn't have the same feel as the legendary Grey Giovanine Jacket Watch. Anyway, I don't know if it was that that earned the T, or the fact that he was all the way to the paint, but it gave the Cardinals a free trip to the line (Allison Pearson split the free throws). It also arguably makes up for a timeout granted to the Vikings when they didn't have possession in the contest at Merner between these two four years ago, leading to the lone Augie bucket during a 19-2 Cardinal run that damn near killed me. Sorry, I'm still a little bitter and also have fond memories of that stretch that saw me go from exasperation to matter of factness to pushing myself to my utmost limits as a PA announcer.

Ultimately, I still think this Cardinal team can win a few games. They're pretty talented, if somewhat raw still, have a lot of heart, and can play really good defense. The late cold spells have been a huge problem. The fact that they're hitting their shots earlier in games leads me to believe that it's a weird, small sample size thing and it will get better. At least, I hope that's the case. Things don't get easier for this group though as they prepare for a home-and-home with Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans have yet to play a game this season, and we'll see if that results in any rust for the team in green either down at the Shirk on Thursday or a week from today when these two teams are slated to meet in Naperville.