Hamline swept a pair of MIAC playoff games at home last night, while the Concordia (Moorhead) men and women both lost. The Carleton men and St. Benedict’s women joined Hamline in advancing to the semi-finals.
Hamline men 74 Concordia 59
Hamline took the lead over Concordia for good at 23-21, increased its lead to 51-36, then saw its lead reduced to 52-47 at 6:48, then pulled away again to tie for its largest lead at the final buzzer at 74-59. Bradley Cimperman carried the Pipers with 10-of-21 shooting and 10-of-10 FT and 31 points, plus 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Hamline outshot Concordia just 43-40% but got 11 extra possessions with 3 more offensive rebounds than the Cobbers and 8 fewer turnovers. Hamline won the battle for points off turnovers by a decisive margin of 26-5.
The Pipers Austin Holt scored 14 points with 11 boards, 9 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Jackson Loge led Concordia with 20 points, 16 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Carleton men 73 Augsburg 57
Like Hamline, Carleton used a home court advantage to advance to the MIAC semi-finals with relative ease. Well, actually, Carleton led just 33-31 at the half and Augsburg led as late as 12:12 at 43-42. But Carleton pulled away with a 13-2 run through 8:20 as 5 different Carleton players scored once each. The Knights never looked back, leading by as much as 19 at 71-52. Carleton outshot Augsburg 49-36%, with Sam Koelling leading the way with 19 points and 9 rebounds.
St. Ben’s women 68 Concordia 64
The only road winner of the night was the St. Ben’s women, who took the lead for good only at 1:22 of the 4th, 64-62 on a Lauren Arnold layup. Concordia in fact led 60-52 at 5:44. Both teams shot under 40% and under 25% from 3. The difference was the Bennies’ 5-of-23 3-point shooting versus Concordia”s 2-of-23. Concordia’s Makayla Anderson scored 19 points with 10 boards.
Hamline women 73 St. Mary’s 61
St. Mary’s was beaten tonight, but they are the big story in these playoffs so far, just the simple fact that they got here after going 0-20 in the conference last year. Freshman guard Brianna Nussbaum and 1st year coach Courtney Shelton are the architects of this revival, and Nussbaum was the best player on the floor tonight with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals. But, it takes 5 to tango and Hamline’s topo 5 shot 21-of-38 (55%) to St. Mary’s 15-of-44 (34%) or 8-of-26 (31%) excepting Nussbaum. Hamline led 38-32 at the half, then extended its lead to 45-32. St. Mary’s got within 53-49 after 3 but got no closer as Hamline scored the 1st 9 points of the 4th quarter.
The Semi-Finals
The men’s semi-finals are a replay of last years, when Gustavus beat Carleton 124-116 in 2 OT and Hamline shocked the Johnnies. Neither of these outcomes is likely this time around, but of course neither was likely a year ago either. The women’s semis, St. Ben’s at Bethel and Hamline at Gustavus, seem equally unlikely to result in an upset, though St. Ben’s at Bethel has kind of the feel of a trap game, St. Ben’s having lost at Bethel just last Saturday and having already won one on the road. If there’s an upset, which again seems unlikely, but if there’s an upset, that would be it.