St. Bonifacius, Minn. - The Crown Women played their first of three games this week on Tuesday night, hosting MIAC opponent St. Olaf. They would end up losing by a score of 47-56 on a strong final two minutes by the Oles.
Coming off an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) offensive player of the week for her double-double against Central College last Friday,
Brayli Reimer was aggressive from the jump hauling in four boards, dishing out three assists, and tallying one steal. The Polars started the game on a 6-0 run, but the Oles responded with an 8-0 run. A low scoring first quarter resulted in a 10-10 tie. The second quarter was just as competitive, as the Oles led 26-25 at halftime. The end of the half saw the first overturned call due to replay of the year, as St. Olaf's last second shot to go up 28-25 was overturned. Division III and the UMAC introduced a new replay system beginning this season, and the Polars benefited from it early in the year. The third quarter was the difference in this game, as the Polars did not get anything going offensively. This led to a 13-0 run for the Oles, and would give them a 45-33 lead going into the final ten minutes. Crown came out extremely aggressive in the fourth quarter, and went on a 9-0 run early in the quarter with 7 of those 9 points coming from the free throw line. This was in the midst of a nearly 6-minute scoring drought from the Oles and brought the Polars within one possession at 45-48 with under two minutes remaining. St. Olaf pulled away at the end of the game, outscoring the Polars 8-2 in these last two mintues to win the game 56-47.
The Polars played with high intensity, relying on strong defense and getting to the free throw line; it will be a joy to watch this team take the court each time they play under Head Coach
David Pederson. Crown dominated the game inside, winning points in the paint 20-8.
Brayli Reimer led the team in scoring with 15 points. She added 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and an impressive 5 steals.
Sydney Cotten,
Avery Youngblood,
Isabelle Sager, and
Kendall Clark each had 6 points as well. Sager added another 10 boards Cotten finished with 4 steals. The team shot 85.7% from the free throw line, only missing twice all night. Reimer scored 7 of her 15 points from the line, going 7-8 in the game.
The Polars play again at home on Thursday, November 13 on the campus of Crown College. They will host Luther College at 7:00pm.
