BELTON — They were shorthanded, down to just seven players in the rotation, facing the No. 2 team in the country. And as The Cru fell behind by 19 in the first 11 minutes on Tuesday afternoon, it seemed that Wartburg was comfortably on its way to a ninth-straight victory.
But the belief from Katie Novak-Lenoir’s squad never wavered through that early stretch. In turn, it set the stage for one of the most memorable comebacks in program history, considering the deficit and quality of opponent.
“This last trip against [No. 10] Whitman was really good preparation for us to be down a big deficit, and see if we can make it a game,” Novak-Lenoir said minutes after UMHB completed the 67-64 upset. “I feel like we know that we can beat anybody; it doesn’t matter what the score is.”
UMHB certainly applied that mentality in the second half, securing the program’s highest-ranked regular season win in history. It is the second time in the last five seasons—though the first under Novak-Lenoir—that the Crusaders took down the nation’s No. 2 team. In the 2021 ASC Tournament final, UMHB upset No. 2 ETBU, winning 75-72.
“We practice situations like this,” Brisco, who led The Cru with a 17-point, 14-rebound double-double, said postgame. “We knew what we were getting into, and we just had to take care of business.”
At halftime, The Cru stared down a 15-point deficit, outscored in both the first and second quarters. The major difference early came in Wartburg’s shot-making ability, and UMHB’s lack of it. The Knights, led by Sara Faber’s 19 points, were 17-of-28 from the field over the first two quarters, converting on six 3-pointers. UMHB was just 4-of-14 over the first 10 minutes, and while things got better offensively in the second, shooting 50 percent, Wartburg was equally as efficient.
But a shift came in the third. Not only did The Cru carry over its success on offense, but the defense stepped up in a way it hadn’t over the first two quarters. For a team that ranked No. 5 nationally in defensive efficiency entering Tuesday’s contest, engaging their defensive prowess was a key catalyst in the path to victory.
“Honestly, I feel like it comes back to us relying on our defense and toughness,” Novak-Lenoir said of the turnaround. “We knew we had to get back to that. When we play with energy on defense, even if our offense is a little bit shaky, we know we can hang with anybody.”
Wartburg shot just 2-of-16 in the third quarter, getting several decent looks, but unable to convert. As The Cru came up with stop after stop, the Knights’ momentum slowly slipped away. It was just the second time this season that Wartburg didn’t reach 10 points in a quarter.
“I thought we got great looks and shots we want,” Wartburg head coach Bob Amsberry noted. “But give [UMHB] credit. They’re a really good team. Early in the second half, I thought we had a couple untimely turnovers. If you give a really good team chances—they made a couple shots, banked a couple 3s—it usually doesn’t end well. Offensively, it’s concerning we didn’t score, but I thought we got looks that we wanted.”
With shots not falling for Wartburg, UMHB took advantage, as Amsberry noted. Held scoreless for the first 3:58 of the third, The Cru found a spark in Rachel Okoye, who added to her 11 first-half points with jumpers on back-to-back possessions in a 26-second span. Both possessions came on the heels of Wartburg turnovers, as The Cru turned its defensive intensity into offensive opportunities.
Okoye’s second jump shot cut the deficit to 10, but Wartburg countered with an 8-2 run. Even at that point, with under three minutes left in the third, the Knights were in control, going up by 16 at the 2:58 mark.
But that set up UMHB’s game-changing spurt that closed the third and carried into the fourth. Unwillingly to let Wartburg pull away, The Cru regained composure, starting with Karlee Cronk’s offensive rebound putback. Then Josie Bruder connected on a 3 just seconds after Brisco leapt up and pulled down an offensive rebound, kicking the ball out to the perimeter for a second-chance that Bruder didn’t let pass by.
On the ensuing possession, it was Fowler who found the ball in her hands at the top of the arc, stared down Faber, and rose up for another 3-point attempt. It fell through the net as the gym came alive, the Crusaders having broken through the double-digit deficit, now trailing by just eight.
The cold stretch for Wartburg coincided with UMHB’s hot-shooting streak into the fourth as well. There was little the Knights could do to hold The Cru back, as Okoye once again delivered back-to-back scores, pulling UMHB within two, 53-51. And once again, it was the defense creating a big play, forcing Wartburg into a shot clock violation.
The first of The Cru’s trio of fourth-quarter 3-pointers came on the possession that followed, as Brisco stepped up with a shot from beyond the arc, just in front of UMHB’s bench. It put The Cru in front for the first time, 54-53, an improbable comeback having turned into a lead with 7:49 left. After Britney Young, who finished 4-of-9 from 3-pointer range, connected on a 3 of her own for the Knights, Brisco took charge again, hitting another triple coming out of a timeout.
A key aspect in UMHB’s open looks from 3-point range throughout the final 15 minutes was the Crusaders’ ability to drive the ball into the paint, getting both short-range shots and pulling the defense in. Once the defense collapsed to stop the ball, it left Brisco and others open on the wings.
“They got a little too deep in penetration in the second, got shots closer to the rim than we wanted to give them,” Amsberry said. “But they put so much pressure on you by attacking the rim. And the way they crash the glass…is relentless.”
That is high praise coming from the perspective of a team that had out-rebounded each of its first eight opponents and averaged 12.3 more rebounds per game than its opposition. The continual rebounding emphasis from UMHB paid off on Tuesday, as The Cru out-rebounded Wartburg by +8 over the final two quarters, and held the Knights to just two second-chance points and six offensive rebounds in that stretch.
And once UMHB had the lead after Brisco’s second 3, Wartburg never took it back. The Cru was 6-of-9 from the field over the final 10 minutes, taking calculated shots and staying consistent on defense. Wartburg’s offensive struggles continued down the stretch, though the Knights added some late-game drama when Jaedon Murphy was fouled on a made layup with 11 seconds left. She missed the free throw, keeping UMHB’s lead at 66-64.
Brisco was just 1-of-2 at the free throw line on the other end, giving the Knights a chance to tie it on what turned out to be their final offensive possession. Murphy’s 3-point attempt from the corner missed, rebounded by Brisco, who tallied 10+ rebounds for the sixth time this season.
The overall execution of UMHB’s comeback—and subsequent defense of its lead—was a notable testament to a more broad storyline present in the first half of this season. They are not an overly experienced team, and three of their five starters on Tuesday are in their first year in the program. Brisco and Katelen Brooks are the two returners, and only Brisco had started in a game prior to this season. Yet, through a difficult non-conference schedule that has featured two Top-10 tests, it seems the Crusaders are finding their way with ASC play just around the corner.
“There’s a lot of things we need to improve on, but what we do well, and what we pride ourselves on—our defense and our rebounding—can get us in any game,” Novak-Lenoir said.
“Adyson James said this the other day: ‘I love our team because you never know who’s going to step up and grab 20 rebounds or have 20 points.’ I think they know that about themselves. It’s cool to see them see it to fruition.”
UMHB stat leaders
Points: Okoye (22), Brisco (17), Bruder (9)
Rebounds: Brisco (14), Cronk (7), James (5)
Assists: Okoye (4), Brisco (4)
Team shooting %: 41.0% (25/61)
Team 3-point %: 34.8% (8/23)
Team free throw %: 64.3% (9/14)
Up Next
UMHB hosts McMurry at 4 p.m. Wednesday to close out the Cru Classic. The Warhawks are 4-1, and took down ETBU (8-2) on Tuesday, 67-56.
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