Game Notes: (WBK) Augustana College @ North Central College (1/17/22)

Final Score
NCC 75, Augustana 59

Game Summary
After two weeks' worth of postponements due to COVID issues and a tough road loss at Wheaton, the Cardinals (5-8, 2-3) finally returned home for a contest, and after surrendering a three early, the Cardinals scored six straight, then traded threes with the Vikings (7-6, 1-5) to go back up by three points. That was Augie's high water mark, as the Cardinals had a brief double digit lead get brought down to seven after one quarter. North Central then opened the second on a 9-0 run to push the lead to 16, though the Vikings would rally in the final few minutes to trim it to 37-31 at halftime. Augie scored to open the second half and cut it to four, but a 13-3 run by the Cardinals proved to be the difference. North Central pushed the lead to 16 by quarter's end, and the Vikings would never pull back within single digits.

Key Players

• Allison Pearson (NCC): 4-11 FG (1-8 3PT), 8-8 FT; 17 pts, 2 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl. On a night where her long ball wasn't falling, Pearson still found a way to make an impact. She made the most of her trips to the line, distributed the ball well, and played solid defense. Another good showing from the senior leader.
• Mitrese Smith (NCC): 3-10 FG, 7-8 FT; 13 pts, 7 reb (3 off), 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. That's a good filling of the stat sheet. Smith made a point of wanting to average a double-double this season, and while she's not at that mark (9.8-5.4) she's still upped her game this season. Her jumper from the elbow is nigh automatic, but what impressed me most in this one was her free throw shooting. She's at about 75 percent on the season, improving her numbers with an excellent performance in this one. 
• Emily Brenneisen (AUG): 6-13 FG (2-5 3PT); 14 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl. There were a few Vikings I could have gone with; we'll opt for the leading scorer who helped out in a few other areas as well. This is a good shooting line, she did a decent job on the boards, and played pretty good defense on the whole. And by the way: she's only a freshman. I'd expect to see this team build around her in the years to come.

Key Stats

• NCC: Outscored Augie in bench points 30-3. I feel like I don't focus a lot on bench scoring. It's a big part of the game, but one I tend to stay away from in favor of shooting numbers, rebounding margin, or things like points off turnovers/in the paint/second chance. But a 30-3 edge in this category is something. Every Cardinal that saw the floor on Monday scored, and the scoring was pretty balanced up and down the lineup. It's one of those good team wins you like to see. Jessica Kowalczyk paced the reserves with 11, with Megan McClure adding eight and Stephanie Kowalczyk chipping in six.
• AUG: 20-59 FG (33.9%). For reference, the Vikings are shooting just a tick above 40 percent for the year to date, so to hold them to this line was really good. A cold first quarter (5-21) kind of doomed them, though that second quarter helped get the numbers back closer to the season average.

Final Thoughts
It was weird to do a Monday night game in January, but given the postponements this has been the plan for the CCIW to make up lost ground. Next week will be crazy with a Monday night doubleheader against Elmhurst.

Photo by Steve Woltmann

For this past Monday night though, this was probably the best game I've seen the Cardinals play in quite some time. They shot well, defended well, and outrebounded a bigger team that played a very physical game. They didn't let a super slow-paced second half drag them down, and most importantly, they didn't have the dreaded cold spell late in the game that cost them often in 2021.

It's a key win in what's part of a major chunk of the schedule coming up against teams all clustered together in the middle of the conference. It's not must-win, every night, but the games are all important, and taking as many as possible is key for postseason hopes. That quest continues Wednesday night as the Cardinals welcome North Park to Merner.