Queen Bees suffer tough home loss to Grand View


Share
Posted Online: Feb. 02, 2013, 10:15 pm
Comment on this story | Print this story | Email this story
By Tom Johnston, tjohnston@qconline.com
The St. Ambrose women's basketball team had a chance to give itself a big gift on Saturday afternoon but they forgot that any nice package begins with a box.

Or in this case,box-outs on the boards.

Visiting Grand View took advantage of some solid board work and accompanying putback opportunities – and timely 3s – to steal a 57-56 Midwest Collegiate Conference victory at Lee Lohman Arena.

The decision looms large in the league landscape, too. While the Queen Bees (18-6, 5-4 MCC) missed a chance to catch GVU (15-6, 7-2 MCC) in the standings, they also missed out on crawling closer to No. 23-ranked William Penn, which was being upset by last-place Clarke, 78-71. Third-place SAU remains a half-game ahead of fourth-place Viterbo (10-16, 4-4) and travels to face the V-Hawks for a key game on Wednesday.

A lot is still on the line with the league crown and MCC Tournament seeds still to be decided, too.

"Our backs are against the wall right now,'' said SAU coach Krista Van Hauen after the loss. "If we don't take care of things at Viterbo, we could fall back to the fifth seed and not even get to host in the tournament.''

If the Queen Bees had taken care of business on Saturday, they could be even closer to still being in title contention as well.

As it turned out, GVU's ability to find the range from 3-point land (5-of-8 in the second half) and four key putback buckets by Mika Rodewald (12 points, 17 rebounds) proved critical.

"It didn't come down to the last shot,'' groused Van Hauen. "It all comes down to boxing out. They get offensive boards and putbacks. If we box out, we win the game. It's that simple.''

Abby Mendlick's bucket in the paint with 1:28 was the final field goal of the game.

SAU's Lauren Cash split free throws with 1:08 left that made it 57-56. The Queen Bees then missed chances to score when Shelby Steger and Ashley Dexter missed shots in the lane on consecutive possessions that followed GVU turnovers.

After GVU's Ashley Zobel missed the front end of a bonus with :03.2 left, the Queen Bees called three straight timeouts to set up Cash with a 3 from the top of the key that missed off the glass, but came after the buzzer.

The Queen Bees led throughout much of the first half before settling on a 22-20 halftime lead. GVU erased that and took a 43-38 lead before SAU's nine straight points made it a game for the final 8:55 of the contest that was tied six times and featured seven lead changes.

SAU had three players in double-digit scoring, with Sam Saladino leading the charge with 16 points. Katie Jensen added 14 and Cash 12. Steger added five of SAU's seven bench points.

"We're right there,'' said Van Hauen. "We just have to find ways to finish and do the little things. It's late in the season; it's not like we can change things, we just have to fine-tune stuff.''






BASKETBALL
QC college women
Grand View 57, St. Ambrose 56
GRAND VIEW (15-6, 7-2 MCC)
Rodewald 5-8 2-7 2 17 12, Vos 3-6 0-0 2 2 8, Hammer 5-8 1-1 5 2 12, Mendlik 4-9 2-2 1 4 11, Beatty 0-5 0-0 1 0 0, Zobel 0-0 0-1 0 1 0, Lox 3-6 0-0 4 3 7, Porter 1-2 0-0 4 3 2, Biancalana 0-4 0-0 0 3 0, Krull 2-3 0-0 1 0 5. Team rebounds 1. Totals 23-51 5-11 20 36 57.
ST. AMBROSE (18-6, 5-4 MCC)
Stopa 0-1 2-2 0 2 2, Jensen 4-8 6-6 4 9 14, Saladino 8-13 0-1 3 7 16, Dexter 1-6 3-4 3 3 5, Cash 2-8 6-8 0 1 12, Schuler 1-4 0-2 0 0 2, Steger 2-5 0-0 0 1 5, Griffin 0-3 0-0 3 3 0, Brummel 0-0 0-0 1 0 0. Team rebounds 4. Totals 18-48 17-23 14 30 56.
Halftime: SAU 22-20.  3s: GVU 6-10 (Vos 2-4, Mendlik 1-2, Hammer 1-1, Lox 1-1, Krull 1-1, Porter 0-1); SAU 3-9 (Cash 2-5, Steger 1-1, Dexter 0-1, Stopa 0-1, Schuler 0-1). Assists: GVU 11 (Mendlik 7); SAU 8 (Dexter 4). Turnovers: GVU 19, SAU 14. Blocks: GVU 3 (Rodewald, Hammer, Zobel); SAU 2 (Saladino, Steger). Steals: GVU 4 (Beatty 2, Porter 2); SAU 6 (Jensen 3, Stopa 2).














Local events heading








  Today is Friday, May 24, the 144th day of 2013. There are 221 days left in the year.
1863 -- 150 years ago: A military escort will be at the square at 9 a.m. tomorrow forthe funeral of Lieut. Joseph Eaton. The county judge is absent in Chicago, which willaccount for his not being in the procession.
1888 -- 125 years ago: Rock Island's City Council last night appropriated $95,000 forexpenses for the 1888 and 1889 fiscal year.
1913 -- 100 years ago: Mrs. F.W. Reimers last night was re-elected president of the RockIsland Musical Club at a meeting in the New Harper Hotel.
1938 -- 75 years ago: Seven members of Boy Scout Troop 21 got their Eagle badges lastnight. They were Ralph Hurt, Robert Nelson, Howard Schersten, Cecil Nelson, RobertFryxell, Clarence Stone and Rollin Hurt.
1963 -- 50 years ago: Mayor Morris Muhleman has resorted to a form letter in an effort toanswer objections to the wheel tax increase. "It was my hope that I could, in some way,restore the faith of the citizens in our city. In order to do this I knew I must face the factthat I would become very unpopular."All they are trying to do is protect the citizensproperty and build their town.
1988 -- 25 years ago: RICCA, the Rock Island County Council on Addictions, inconjunction with the Quad City Downs, will hold its annual "Night at the Races" June 2.The benefit "Night at the Races" will raise funds locally to assist in maintaining the twohalfway houses, New Hope Lodge (for women) and Beacon House (for men).




(More History)