NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament
Sunday, March 8, 2009
NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament Championship
Site - McCown Gym, Winona, Minn.
No. 6 St. Cloud State 53 vs. No. 8 Concordia St. Paul 41 Recap | Box
Saturday, March 7, 2009
NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament Semifinals
Site - McCown Gym, Winona, Minn.
No. 6 St . Cloud State 66 at No. 2 Winona State 58 Recap | Box
No. 8 Concordia St. Paul 67 vs. No. 4 Augustana 58 Recap | Box
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
2009 NSIC/Sanford Health Women’s Basketball Tournament First Round
Site - Highest Seed hosts first round games
No. 8 Concordia-St. Paul 86 at No. 1 Minnesota State 77 OT Recap | Box
No. 7 Wayne State 61 at No. 2 Winona State 79 Recap | Box
No. 6 St. Cloud State 61 at No. 3 MSU Moorhead 48 Recap | Box
No. 5 Minnesota Duluth 73 at No. 4 Augustana 82 Recap | Box
No. 8 Concordia-St. Paul vs. No. 6 St. Cloud State
Winona, Minn. – A 12-0 run down the stretch gave the St. Cloud State (22-8) women’s basketball team a 15-point lead and secured the victory over Concordia (21-12) by the 53-41 final in the Championship game of the NSIC/Samford Health Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The Huskies used a solid defensive performance and a double double from the NSIC Tournament Most Outstanding Player Rachel Booth (Minneapolis) to put away the Golden Bears and earn automatic qualification to the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament which begins next Friday. The site and pairings for the NCAA Tournament will be announced at 8:00 p.m. tonight.
The Huskies improved to 22-8 on the season while Concordia, St. Paul is 21-12 overall. The Golden Bears had won three championship titles and played in five championship games over the last six seasons.
The conference championship is the first for the Huskies since winning the 1989 North Central Conference Championship. It marks the sixth conference title in the history of women’s basketball at St. Cloud State.
"I am so happy for our team. They have worked so hard and battled through all the ups and downs of the season. They really deserve to be in the national tournament," said head coach Lori Fish.
Booth led the Huskies with her second double double of the tournament scoring 14 points and bringing in 12 rebounds. Ten of those rebounds were on the defensive end of the cournt. Ths also had three steals and one block in the championship game.
Senior guard Katie Tacheny (Woodbury) and sophomore guard Talisha Barlow (Little Canada) were also named to the five member All-Tournament team. Candace Olstad and Jamie Jones of Concordia, St. Paul round out the five member All-Tournament team.
Tacheny scored 12 points and added eight rebounds in the winning effort. She made five free throws in the final 1:38 of the game. Barlow had nine points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Krystal Scott (Rosemount) had a career high nine rebounds. The Huskies had a season high 53 rebounds and out rebounded the Golden Bears 53-41. St. Cloud State shot 25.9 percent from the field.
Concordia, St. Paul was led by Candace Olstad with nine points and ten rebounds. Shandrell Duncan added seven points, eight rebounds, and three blocked shots. The Golden Bears shot 27.9 percent from the field.
In a slow start to a championship game in which both teams shot less than 25 percent in the first half, the Huskies suppressed Concordia, St. Paul with a pressure defense, as the Golden Bears made three of 16 field goal attempts in the first 12 minutes.
By the end of the half, St. Cloud State was shooting 21.9 percent from the field and CSP 23.3 percent as both teams combined for 14 of 62 shooting from the field. The bright spot for the Huskies was Rachel Booth who scored ten first half points.
Booth and senior guard Anna Cashman (Faribault) scored the first ten Husky points of the game as the Huskies climbed to a 12-3 lead.
The Golden Bears went on a 7-0 run with a Shandrell Duncan layup and free throw that pulled CSP to 12-10. A Candace Olstad three at the 5:44 mark gave the Golden Bears their first lead of the half, 13-12.
Booth answered with her patented move under the basket to regain the lead 14-13.Booth scored again to up the Husky lead to 16-13 at the 3:31 mark. Barlow finished off a long pass and the Husky lead was back to five, 18-13.
Jamie Jones answered for the Golden Bears to keep the score within three points, and a Duncan jumper at the free throw line put CSP within one, 18-17. Concordia, St. Paul held the ball for the final shot of the half and when the attempt failed the Huskies had a chance to scored the final basket but did not get a shot off, and the Huskies took an 18-17 lead into half time.
A Tacheny three 20 seconds into the second half gave the Huskies a 21-17 lead until Duncan answered with a jumper and the lead was two points for the Huskies.
A Candace Olstad put back on her own miss tied the game 21-21 at 17:43. A Krystal Scott free throw and a fast break jumper put the Huskies ahead 24-21. Two free throws from Talisha Barlow stretched the lead to 26-21. The Huskies had another five point lead 31-25 after Tacheny made two free throws following a CSP bench technical.
After some back and forth play, in which the Huskies held four and five point leads, CSP pulled to within three at 3:43, 41-38. Booth knocked down two free throws at the 3:31 mark to put SCSU up 43-38 and then came up with a defensive rebound on the other end of the court.
A Danielle Ellison drive at the 2:20 mark increased the Husky lead to 45-38. On the Huskies next offensive sequence Ellison was fouled and made two free throws with under two minutes to play, giving SCSU a 47-38 lead. St. Cloud State ended the game on a 12-0 run and went to the free throw line ten times in the final two minutes and converted on eight attempts to secure the 53-41 win and the 2009 NSIC/SANFORD HEALTH TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP.
No. 8 Concordia-St. Paul 67 vs. No. 4 Augustana College 58
WINONA, Minn. - 8th seeded Concordia University (21-11) appears to be the sleeper team of the 2009 NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament, first knocking off top-seeded Minnesota State and now topping no. 4 Augustana College (20-9) by a score of 67-58 in the semifinals. Jamie Jones poured in 19 points to help Concordia head coach Paul Fessler reach his 300th career win. The Golden Bears are matched up with no. 5 St. Cloud State in the NSIC Tournament championship game, which tips off at 2:00 pm on Sunday afternoon.
The win gives the Golden Bears their fifth NSIC Tournament championship game appearance in the past six years. They have a chance to make their sixth straight NCAA Tournament berth with a win over the Huskies, which would give them the automatic bid for the Central Region Tournament.
Coach Paul Fessler is in his 13th year as a collegiate head coach and has put together a carer record of 300-95. He has been at the helm of the Golden Bear program for nine years and has 199 wins with CU.
For the second straight game in the playoffs, the Golden Bears utilized their swift three-point shooting to gain the edge over their opponent. Kelly Supernaw sunk the first of the team's ten three-pointers, followed in consecutive suit by Jamie Jones and Zoraa Quoie, which put the Golden Bears up 20-12 with 14:47 to play.
As the game tightened midway through the second period, Jones took the matter of scoring into her own hands, hitting two ten foot jumpers before canning her third three-pointer. This put the momentum solidly back on Concordia's side and put the team up 54-45. Defensive stops made it a 7-0 run. Quoie later put the team back into a double figure lead with a triple on an inbounds play, 57-47 at the 8:46 mark.
The Vikings answered Concordia's long range shots with buckets down low. Dani Arens found comfort in jumpers near the charity stripe and finished the night with 12 points. Augustana managed to stay in the game by solidly out-rebounding the Golden Bears on nearly every trip down the floor. The finished the game with a 49-38 rebounding edge. Arens added 12 boards to her line to make it a double-double on the night.
Senior Candace Olstad showed leadership in getting to her third straight NSIC Tournament championship game by putting up a ten point, ten rebound double-double. She put up six points and pulled down four rebounds to lead the Golden Bears in the first six minutes of the second period.
The Vikings got to within a single bucket, 47-45, at the midpoint of the second period after a 9-2 run, putting in several layups and also getting to the free throw line. That was when Jones went on her seven point scoring spree in 45 seconds of clock time to distance the Golden Bears.
In addition to Jones' 19 points and Olstad's ten, Quoie added 14 points. The trio combined for nearly 50% shooting from the field. As a team, Concordia shot 38.5%, but held the Vikings to only 33.8% shooting. CU was 10-of-25 from long range for 40%. They had just ten turnovers.
Augustana really struggled from three point range, hitting just 1-of-13 for 7.7% beyond the arc. Amy Puthoff had a team high 13 points.
No. 6 St. Cloud State 66 at No. 2 Winona State 58
Winona, Minn. -No. 6 seed St. Cloud State stopped No. 2 seed Winona State's 11 game winning streak with a 66-58 win in the semifinals of the NSIC / Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament. The Huskies now advance to the championship game Sunday at 2:00 p.m. against the winner of the Concordia-St. Paul/Augustana game. St. Cloud, which finished the regular season losing six of its last eight games, have now won two straight. The winner of the NSIC Championship game automatically advances to the NCAA Central Region Tournament next week.
Winona, Minn. - The St. Cloud State women's basketball team is headed to the championship game of the 2009 NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament. The Huskies beat #2 seed and tourney host Winona State 66-58 this afternoon.
St. Cloud State sophomore Rachel Booth (Minneapolis) tallied a double double and senior guard Katie Tacheny (Woodbury) made four free throws in the final :30 seconds to give the Huskies the 66-58 win. over The sixth seeded Huskies advance to the championship game and will play the winner of the Augustana College/Concordia, St. Paul semifinal to be played at 5:00 p.m. this evening.
"It came down to our kids knocking down shots and making plays," said St. Cloud State head coach Lori Fish." The Huskies improved to 21-8 on the season while the Warriors are 23-6 overall. "I am so happy for this group. They worked so hard. They earned this and deserve it," added Fish.
The Huskies will be playing for their first conference championship since sharing the 1989 North Central Conference title.
Booth recorded her third double double of the season and fourth of her career, making eight of 14 field goal attempts and collecting ten defensive rebounds. Tacheny made her final four free throws after dislocating her pinky on her non-shooting hand and finished the game eight of eight from the free throw line and finished with 19 points, including three three-point baskets. Sophomore guard Talisha Barlow (Little Canada) added 12 points and eight rebounds. St. Cloud State shot 35.5 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from three-point range and 83.3 percent from the free throw line. The Huskies out rebounded WSU 44-33 in the game.
Winona State was led by Kelsey Homewood with 15 points and three three-point baskets. Ana Wurtz and Jenny Steffen added 12 points each. Michelle McDonald finished the game with seven points and ten rebounds. The Warriors shot 38.2 percent from the field, 27.8 percent from beyond the arc and 68.8 percent from the free throw line.
An Ana Wurtz layup with 1:22 left in the game closed the Husky lead to 60-57 but Rachel Booth answered with a layup for the Huskies to put the lead back to five points, 62-57. Tacheny went to the line with :29 seconds left and made two free throws. She went back to the line with 15 seconds left and made two more to secure the win.
After a combined 0 of seven start, St. Cloud State’s Krystal Scott found the bottom of the net at the 17:29 mark for the opening basket of the game. Baskets by Jamie Majerowicz and Molly Anderson gave the Warriors an early 4-2 lead. Back to back jumpers by Rachel Booth gave the Huskies a four point lead, 16-14 at 8:08 but a Kelsey Homewood three pulled the Warriors to within one at 16-15 with 7:40 on the clock.
Another Homewood basket gave the Warriors a brief one point lead at 6:39. Anna Cashman answered for the Huskies with three point basket to regain the lead for the Huskies and SCSU led 19-17. Majerowicz scored for the Warriors to tie the game at 19-19 with 4:12 left.
Katie Tacheny went on to score eight of the Huskies final ten points of the half and St. Cloud State took the largest lead of the game into half time with a 29-23 lead.
Tacheny led all players with 11 first half points and Rachel Booth led the game with six rebounds. The Huskies shot 36.4 percent from the field and Anna Cashman tallied her 100th career three-point basket becoming the seventh player in SCSU women’s hoops to reach the century mark.
Winona State was led by Molly Anderson with six points and five rebounds. The Warriors shot 36.5 percent from the field and made one of eight three-point attempts.
The second half started in the same manner as the first half as both teams combined for zero of six shooting in the first two and half minutes until WSU’s Michelle McDonald nailed a jumper at the 17:37 mark. Ana Wurtz scored a basket and Homewood hit a three and the Husky lead was 31-30 with 15:41 on the clock.
The Warriors and Huskies played a closely contested half as Winona State tied the game at 35-35 on a Bonnie Bjorke put back at the 13:14 mark. The Huskies took a four point lead on a Talisha Barlow free throw at the midway mark of the half. Two free throws by Booth and St. Cloud State led 45-40 with 7:47 on the clock.
Rachel Booth forced the Warriors to call a time out after hitting a three from the top of the key to give the Huskies their largest lead of the game 48-41 at 6:56. The Husky lead increased to nine, 50-41, on a Barlow basket at 5:45.
Winona State had an answer in back to back three’s by Wurtz and Kelsey Homewood, and two Homewood free throws and the Husky lead had fallen to one point, 50-49 at 4:08.
A jumper by Barlow put the Husky lead back to three and a Danielle Ellison layup with 2:11 on the clock increased the lead to 58-51. Winona fought back with a three from Jenny Steffen and the score was 58-54 with under two minutes to play. Tacheny went to the free throw line for two of her final six free throws at 1:38.
No. 8 Concordia-St. Paul 86 at No. 1 Minnesota State 77 OT
Mankato, Minn. -It took an overtime period to seal the 86-77 deal, but Concordia's (20-11) strength in the opening game of the postseason put them solidly over the #1 team in the nation, Minnesota State, Mankato. The decision is just revenge for the Golden Bears, who were knocked out of postseason play last year by the Mavericks. The loss for the Minnesota State (26-2) knocks them out of the conference tournament and is just the second loss of the year for the region's top team.
The Golden Bears advance to the NSIC Tournament semifinals, where they will play the winner of the Augustana College/Minnesota Duluth game. The remainder of the tournament will be held on the campus of Winona State, the highest remaining seed. The Golden Bears will play the second game on Saturday, with the time to be determined.
The Golden Bears attacked the Mavericks from all angles in the first half, out-playing the NCAA's third best field goal shooting team with a 53.3% performance. The Golden Bears sunk 9-of-11 three-pointers to push the margin to as many as ten points, taking 4-of-4 threes from junior Kali Olstad.
The Mavericks struggled to get into a rhythm the entire half, shooting an uncharacteristic 37.5% in the period with no player notchig mroe than seven points. CU, one of the top shot-blocking teams in the NSIC, shut down Minnesota State with five swatted shots in the opening period.
Minnesota State finally found a way to shut down Concordia's shooters midway through the second period. With the lane congested, the Golden Bear offense slowed, but with MSU continuing to throw up bricks, it took until the final minutes for the game to tighten. The Mavericks finally got a few shots to fall in the last four minutes and managed to tie the game with 35 seconds remaining. The game went into overtime tied 67-67.
Working so hard to make the playoffs combined with the effort it took in keeping up with the Mavericks in their first postseason game, the Golden Bears were not about to let their season end in an overtime period. Concordia, who put up 23 points in the second period, out-scored the Mavericks 19-10 in the five minutes of overtime play. The team hit all four of its field goal attempts and Zoraa Quoie put in seven free throws to keep the team playing for another NSIC title.
Quoie led the team with 20 points in the game, nine of which came from the free throw line. She also had seven assists and two steals. Shandrell Duncan was a huge inside presence for the Golden Bears, scoring 16 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. She shot 5-of-8 from the field and blocked five shots. Pacing the CU first half was Kali Olstad, who hit five three-pointers in the game and finished with 15 points, as did her sister Candace Olstad. The Golden Bears finished with a 44.4% field goal average.
Joanne Noreen was the only Maverick to do serious damage to the Golden Bears, finishing the game with 28 points and seven rebounds. Three other Mavericks scored in double figures.
No. 7 Wayne State 61 at No. 2 Winona State 79
Winona, Minn. - An 11-2 run late in the second half helped propell Winona State University to a 79-61 win over Wayne State in opening-round play of the NSIC/Stanford Health Tournament in McCown Gymnasium.
The win advanced the Warriors into the semifinal round of the tournament and coupled with a Concordia University St. Paul win over No. 1 seed Minnesota State University Mankato, will allow the Warriors to host the semifinal and champioship rounds March 7-8 in McCown Gymnasium.
WSU hald built a 19-point, 53-34, lead with 12:24 left to play in the game, but WSC came back to outscored the Warriors 14-5 to trim the deficit to 58-58. After that the Warriors went on their run to ice the contest.
The biggest lead of the game for the Warrios was 21 points, 75-54, with 1:57 to play.
In the first half Wayne State took an early 10-4 lead only to see the Warriors score nine unanswered points for a 13-10 lead.
WSC did go up one final time, 14-13, with 10:04 left in the half, only to have WSU outpoint the Wildcats 24-9 for a, 37-23, lead with 1:38 left in the opening period.
Balanced scoring proved beneficial for the the Warriors as five players scored in double figures, led by the 22 points from Jenny Steffen. Starters Jamie Majerowicz and Kelsey Homewood tallied 12 and Ana Wurtz and Natalie Gigler scored 11 and 10 points respectively.
WSU controled the boards 40-32 with Molly Anderson and Majerowicz leading the way with six each.
No. 6 St. Cloud State 61 at No. 3 MSU Moorhead 48
Moorhead, Minn. -The sixth seed St. Cloud State women’s basketball team pulled a first round upset in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament with a 61-48 win over number three seed Minnesota State University, Moorhead Wednesday night at Alex Nemzek Hall.
St. Cloud State won its 20th game of the season and is 20-8 overall. The 20 wins marks the first 20-win season since 2005-06 and the tenth in the history of SCSU women’s basketball that dates back to the 1968-69 season. MSU Moorhead is 21-7 overall. The Dragons are ranked fourth in the NCAA Division II Central Region released today while the Huskies are ranked ninth.
The Huskies advance to the semifinals of the tournament and will play #2 seed Winona State University on Saturday in Winona. The Warriors were 79-61 winners over Wayne State. #1 seed Minnesota State University, Mankato was upset by #8 seed Concordia, St. Paul, 86-77 in overtime. The last quarterfinal game to be played featured #5 Minnesota Duluth at #4 Augustana College. The UMD/AC winner will play Concordia, St. Paul in Winona in the other semifinal Saturday.
St. Cloud State senior guard Katie Tacheny (Woodbury) led the Huskies with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists. First year post Aaryn Booker (Minneapolis) came off the bench to score 14 points and six rebounds, just two points shy of her career high 16 points. Sophomore guard Talisha Barlow (Little Canada) added 13 points and five rebounds. The Huskies, after a poor first half shooting, improved to 39.3 percent shooting in the game. In addition, SCSU out rebounded the Dragons 43-41.
Minnesota State University, Moorhead was led by Chris Falzon with 16 points. Alison Nash-Gerlach had a double double with 14 points and 15 rebounds. The Dragons shot 30.6 percent from the field.
The Huskies and Dragons exchanged baskets in the first four minutes of the game and a steal and a layup by St. Cloud State guard Katie Tacheny tied the game 8-8, at the 15:27 mark. The Huskies went ahead of the Dragons, 10-8 on a baseline drive and basket by senior guard Anna Cashman (Faribault) with 14:50 on the clock.
The Huskies maintained a lead for the rest of the half as the Dragons would close to two points three times leading up to the intermission. A Tacheny three with 4:09 on the clock put the Huskies up 23-18. MSUM’s Krista Opheim scored the next basket, a layup to close to 23-20. Sophomore guard Talisha Barlow (Little Canada) answered from the inside and SCSU went up 25-20. The Dragons Chris Falzon made two free throws with 1:33 on the clock . First year forward Aaryn Booker (Minneapolis) closed out the first half scoring to give the Huskies a 27-22 lead at half time.
Both teams shot poorly in the half as the Huskies came out ahead in field goal shooting at 33.3 percent and the Dragons finished the half shooting 29.0 percent. A combined 17 turnovers were committed with the Dragons committing nine. Tacheny led all players with ten first half points.
St.Cloud State would control the second half of the game and improve its shooting. The Huskies scored the first six points of the second half on back to back baskets from senior guard Krystal Scott (Rosemount) and a basket from sophomore post Rachel Booth (Minneapolis) to take a 33-22 lead at 17:27. Alison Nash-Gerlach gave the Dragons their first points of the half at 16:03.
The Huskies answered with baskets by Tacheny and Barlow, and a three from Tacheny that forced a MSUM timeout with 13:53 on the clock and the Huskies leading 40-24. The Huskies went on to lead by as many as 18 poihnts, 56-38 at the 4:10 mark after Barlow scored on a layup. The Dragons closed the gap to 11 points in the final four minutes, the first time on a three-point basket by Falzon and again on a Falzon jumper with under a minute to play.
No. 5 Minnesota Duluth 73 at No. 4 Augustana 82
Sioux Falls, S.D. - The Augustana women’s basketball team picked the right time to break out of a lingering shooting slump as the Vikings rallied from a 12-point first-half deficit to claim an 82-73 win in the first round of the NSIC / Sanford Health Women’s Basketball Tournament Wednesday night at the Elmen Center.
The Vikings improved to 20-8 on the season as they won 20 games for the fifth time in the past six seasons. It also gave head coach Dave Krauth his 12th 20-win seasons in 20 years on the Augustana bench. Krauth also inched one game closer to 400 career wins. He now has 397 career victories.
Augustana, which had lost four of its previous five games, found itself trailing by 12 points, 38-26, with 2 minutes to play in the first half. From that point on, it was all Vikings as they found their shooting stroke that eluded them for the past two weeks.
The Vikings scored the last 5 points of the first half to cut Minnesota Duluth’s lead to 38-31. Augustana then outscored UMD (16-13) 13-3 to start the second half and take a 44-41 lead with 14:04 to play in the game.
Minnesota Duluth tied the game at 44-44 on a free throw by Jacquie Hartman and a basket by Michelle Stemper, UMD’s first field goal in 9 minutes, at the13:32 mark.
But Kristi Board drained a 3-pointer, her third of the half, with 13:15 on the clock to trigger a 10-3 run that put Augustana in front 54-47 with just under 10 minutes to play.
UMD stayed close, pulling to within 3 points at 56-53 with 7 minutes remaining, but the Vikings rattled off 7 unanswered points, capped by a 3-point play by Whitney Hofer, that energized the Vikings and the crowd of 441 fans.
Minnesota Duluth was still within 8 at 68-60, but Augustana iced the game by making 14 of 18 free throws in the final 2:26.
Augustana, which shot 36 percent from the field in the first half, connected on nearly 55 percent of its shots in the second period, making 12 of 22 attempts. The Vikings also found their range from the 3-point line as they shot 45 percent (9 of 20) from behind the arc in the game.
Minnesota Duluth, however, had the opposite results. After shooting 47 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs made just 11 of 37 shots (30 percent) in the second half. Similarly, UMD made just 5 of 18 3-point attempts.
Hofer and Amy Puthoff, playing in their final games at the Elmen Center, led the Vikings. Hofer collected her 10th double-double of the season with 21 points and 15 rebounds. She had 12 points and 11 boards at halftime. Puthoff scored a game-high 22 points. Megan Doyle added 12 points and 7 assists, while Board chipped in with 11 points, all in the second half.
Stemper paced UMD with 14 points off the bench. Jheri Booker and Monica Mayry each scored 12 points in the losing effort.
With the win, Augustana advances to Saturday’s semifinals where the Vikings will face Concordia University, St. Paul in Winona, Minn. Concordia upset top-seeded Minnesota State University, Mankato, 86-77 in overtime on Wednesday. In other first round games, Winona State, the No. 2 seed, beat Wayne State 79-61 and No. 6 seed St. Cloud State upended third-seeded Minnesota State Moorhead 61-48.
Ticket Information
Tickets will go on sale at 8:00 a.m. CST onFriday. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Ticket Alternative website at www.ticketalternative.com or by calling 1-877-725-8849.
Saturday will be considered one session; one ticket will get you in for all games. The same is true for Sunday.
Ticket Prices
$10 – Reserved Seat
$8 – Adult General Admission
$6 – Senior General Admission
$2 – Student General Admission
Children under 5 will be admitted FREE.
Saturday: Will Call windows will open at 10:30 a.m.; Doors to the gymnasium will open at 11:00 a.m.
Sunday: Will Call windows will open at 12:30 p.m.; Doors to the gymnasium will open at 1:00 p.m.
