Eagle girls fall short of win

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- The home iron was unkind to New Ulm as the Eagles watched several shots go in-and-out Friday in a 50-46 South Central Conference loss to St. Peter.

Briana Christensen led St. Peter with 13 points and Brittany Borgstahl finished with 10. The two combined to go five-of-six from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

The loss snapped New Ulm's two-game winning streak.

"It would've been nice to get three in a row, it's kind of like a double-edged sword," New Ulm coach Brad Metter said. "I went in at halftime and said we did a great job defensively. We held a team to 18 points and we only had 17. We scored three points in the second quarter and that kind of took it out of us.

"They made free throws, and we had opportunities down the stretch where we had them in foul trouble at least," Metter saId. "We could have got a bit more aggressive and maybe shot a bit more free throws. It could have been the difference."

New Ulm grabbed its first lead of the game in the first quarter after Megan Oberle hit two free-throws, giving the Eagles a 12-10 advantage after one quarter. Oberle scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds for New Ulm.

Oberle widened the lead to 14-10 to start the second quarter, but 3-pointers by Lakeisha Harrington and Abby Wunderlich made it 16-14 in favor of the Saints.

Harrington's jumper made it 18-14 and Alix Bergmann's basket made it 18-16. The Saints led 18-17 at halftime.

The Eagles continued their aggressiveness in the third quarter. Kelly Hammerschmidt was fouled during a basket and she hit the free throw to complete the three-point play, giving New Ulm a 20-18 lead.

"We've been getting better at that every game," Metter said. "It's something that we focus on in practice, put pressure in the full-court and half-court. Stepping up and getting a little bit more aggressive in the passing lanes. The girls did a nice job tonight. They got some steals in the half-court, and even when we didn't get steals, it kind of disrupted them on offense."

The Saints quickly tied the game on Christensen's basket and the teams stayed close the whole quarter. Hammerschmidt's two free throws late in the quarter tied the game at 31. Hammerschmidt led the Eagles with five rebounds.

Bergmann's layup put the Eagles up 39-37 in the fourth quarter and a pair of free throws by Coresa Leighty put the Eagles up 41-37.

Christina Strey's three-point play gave the lead back to St. Peter 43-42, and Borgstahl's free throws made it 45-42 before Leighty brought the Eagles to within one with a short jumper.

Wunderlich then found Christensen wide open at the other end of the floor on an inbound pass to put the Saints up 49-46.

New Ulm (2-7, 1-4 in SCC) hosts Hutchinson Tuesday.