Posted by By: Brady Behrend
On Wednesday, the Coe College Kohawks hosted the Luther Norse for a men’s and women’s basketball game.
The women kicked the night off and started hot. Freshman guard Ellie Winser scored first, with a three-point make, followed by another three-point make, this time from junior guard Molly Buck. The Kohawks outscored the Norse in the first quarter 17-7 and started off the second quarter with a three-point make from Buck. The Kohawk offense continued to shine in the second quarter, ending the half up 25-17.
In the third quarter, the Kohawks outscored the Norse by 2 points ending the quarter up 43-33. However, the Norse went on an 11-3 scoring run to start the fourth quarter, making the game close at 44-45. The game came down to the wire, with the Norse taking the lead with 43 seconds left in the game. The Kohawks tried to come back, but a couple of calls did not go their way and they fell to the Norse 60-52.
The Kohawk women were led by Wisner, who had 15 points and four rebounds. She hit just under 50 percent of her shots while hitting on 3/7 shots from behind the arc.
Sophomore center Kaalyn Petersen, sophomore guard Katie Wilhelmi, and Molly Buck all scored 11 points, with Petersen posting eight rebounds and Wilhelmi posting seven rebounds respectively. Junior guard Alyse Southard scored five points for the Kohawks while racking up six assists.
The Kohawk men started their game off hot and never looked back. Senior forward Jared Kruse started the scoring for the Kohawks with a three-point make, which would go on to become his theme for the evening.
Kruse made four three-point shots in the first half alone, leading the team to a 38-16 lead at the end of the half. The second half was more of the same Kruse, hitting two more threes to lead the Kohawks over the Norse 89-51.
This win was the Kohawks third straight victory after going 0-3 after the winter break. Head Coach Brian Martin credited his team’s senior leadership in keeping the team focused after those tough losses. “Team’s that aren’t together and that don’t have good leadership… probably would have fallen off the track after losing three tough ones,” Martin said.
Kruse posted a double-double, with 28 points and 10 rebounds. He shot 71 percent from the field and hit on 6/9 three-point attempts.
“When [Kruse] gets going, watch out,” Martin said, “We definitely fed off of Jared’s offense in the first half, and credit to him, he’s a great player.”
Senior guard Sam Auen contributed 13 points, nine of those coming from behind the arc.
Senior guard Jacob Robertson came through with eight points and caught a lob pass for a dunk from sophomore guard Cael Schmitt.
Coach Martin also credited the team’s three-point defense in the win.
“They had zero [threes] at halftime,” said Martin, “When Luther starts hitting threes, they’re dangerous… we made them one dimensional.”