STILLWATER 77, ROSEVILLE 60
It was a return to my old stomping grounds Friday night for a Suburban East battle. Undefeated #6AAAA Stillwater, despite being outrebound by 23, defeated Roseville 77-60. The Ponies were able to overcome that board deficit with their pressure on defense which forced 14 more turnovers. The game also featured two diametrically opposed types of players 6-4 (listed) Tamia Ugass of Roseville and 5-5 (listed) Alexis Pratt of Stillwater. Both are seniors. Both are headed to D1 teams—Ugass to LSU, Pratt to Omaha. You would expect a 6-4 player to do a vast majority of her scoring inside and live in the paint. But it was the diminutive Pratt that outscored Ugass in the paint 8-4 and had more paint touches 18-12. Ugass did show some range with a pair of 3s on the night. Pratt did her one better beyond the arc. Defensively they lived up to their respective positions. Ugass has 12 d boards; Pratt had 7 steals. There was a sequence in the second half where Pratt asserted herself with four steals in five possessions. Ironically, the Ponies were only able to capitalize on one of those opportunities for only two points.
It appeared early that this game was going to turn into a route with the Ponies racing to a 21-5 lead with about eleven minutes remaining in the half. Roseville had a difficult time with the pressure which led to 11 turnovers in their first 15 possessions. Once they adjusted to the intensity, it was Stillwater that had trouble with 8 points squandered on second chance points in the first half. On one first half possession Roseville had seven chances to score. They didn’t that possession. For the last 11 minutes Roseville outscored the hosts 29-20. With Stillwater up 41-34 at half. For the game Roseville had 15 second chance opportunities. Pratt hit a 3 to start the second half scoring and Stillwater’s lead hovered between 8 and 13 most of the second half.
Neither team was deliberate with the ball. Stillwater only had three 7 touch possessions; Roseville had seven.
| STILLWATER | ROSEVILLE | |
| POINTS | 77 | 60 |
| REBOUNDS / OFFENSIVE | 34/14 | 57/30 |
| TURNOVERS | 20 | 34 |
| 2FGA/% | 45-.378 | 45-.333 |
| 3FTA/% | 21-.476 | 22-.273 |
| FTA/% | 15-.867 | 19-.632 |
| PP100 | 98.7 | 75.0 |
| LEADING SCORER | Alexis Pratt 23 | Gabrielle Kopp 18 |
| 31 Club | Pratt 40 | Ugass 34 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Pratt , the Stillwater Sparkplug, the piston that keeps the engine firing, with 23 points, 9 d stops, 8 distributions.
Next O&A will appear next week—-maybe.