Knights pull away from Mount Senario, 72-62

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Martin Luther coach Dennis Gorsline doesn't consider himself a particularly profound guy. But he had this one figured out.

When Gorsline saw that the Mount Senario Saints suited out only seven players, he knew what the Knights had to do. Get them tired and get them in foul trouble, and win it at the end.

Which is exactly what the Knights did. MLC went on a 10-0 run late in the second half to earn a 72-62 win over Mount Senario in UMAC women's basketball Saturday afternoon on Parents' Day.

"Our depth was better," Gorsline said. "I told the girls before the game that I thought we could beat them in the last four or five minutes."

Gorsline's forecast was accurate. MLC (10-5, 5-3 UMAC) took advantage of the absence of the Saints' top scorer -- forward Deanna Roehl -- to break open a tight game. Roehl, who led the Saints with 20 points, took a seat after picking up her fourth foul with 9:13 in the game.

In the next six minutes, the Knights transformed a 53-52 deficit into a 62-53 lead. The Knights finished, the Saints tired.

"We were working hard," MLC junior post Sarah Scharf said. "And coach (Gorsline) did a real good job of mixing up the players in the lineup. We were keeping our starters fresh."

Added Julie Schramm: "We knew we could do it, we knew we had the talent. I think we just used our confidence, and we used our ability. We knew we could control the game."

The junior guard led the Knights with 20 points.

With Roehl on the bench and forward Sacha Lewis, who eventually fouled out, playing with four fouls, Abby Lindner closed out the critical run with a 10-foot baseline jumper to give the Knights a 62-53 margin with 3:02 in the game. MLC then got four critical free throws from Juliane Schulz and senior Emily Hahnke to seal the victory.

The Knights initiated the run with back-to-back field goals from Schulz and Schramm.

"They're captains, they're juniors," Gorsline said. "You kind of hope those people will step it up and they're two of the best shooters on the team, probably our best jump shooters."

Schulz also cracked double figures for the Knights, adding 14 points -- eight in the second half after starting the final 20 minutes 0-for-3 from the field. Lindner scored 11 points for the Knights.

While the Knights finished well, Mount Senario (6-16, 1-6) slumped. The Saints shot only 30.8 percent from the field in the second half and several turnovers late in the game ended any chance for a rally.

Roehl, who went 6-for-10 from the field and was 8-for-10 at the line, was forced to sit several minutes of the first half and for five minutes of the MLC run in the second half, limiting her production. Gorsline knew it could have turned out very different.

"I said, 'She's going to score,'" Gorsline said. "She's a really good player. ... So we wanted to get it into our post people and get her in foul trouble."

While Roehl was contained, and the Knights allowed only one other Saint -- Jill Byrne with 18 points -- to score in double figures, MLC had problems containing the Saints' offensive rebounding in the first half. Mount Senario had 18 offensive boards in the opening 20 minutes and picked up 11 points on missed free throws alone.

But the second half was a different story. Although the Knights were outrebounded 52-36 for the game, MLC only surrendered six offensive rebounds in the second half.

"We've been doing well on the boards pretty much all year, so that was really uncharacteristic for us," Scharf said. "We just had to get in the game and get a body on a body."

There were other concerns for the Knights. While the Saints suffered through their poor shooting, MLC didn't burn up the nets either, going 22-for-60 (36.7 percent). That's well short of the 40 percent Gorsline wants to see.

"We were not patient," Gorsline said. "Offense is not going down, making one pass and taking the shot. We talked about two things at half -- block out and be patient. We did one. I wasn't real happy with our patience on offense."

But happy to get the win. So were the players, playing in front of a sizable crowd of parents.

"We were all excited to get to play in front of our parents," Schramm said. "Most of us are so far away from home, so it's good just to have them here."

MLC will host St. Scholastica Tuesday.