College women's basketball: Hinkeldey handles defense, Ihnen scores 24

Not that it really mattered.

It was Hinkeldey’s job to guard and frustrate A-R’s biggest offensive weapon, 6-1 freshman forward Kaylee Porisch. And that, she did. Porisch was whistled for her third foul with 2:41 remaining in the second quarter, and in the third quarter she fouled out with just 11 points.

“Coming in, I knew I wasn’t going to score much, and my main purpose was defense,” said Hinkeldey, who finished with five points. “(Porisch) is tall and she’s athletic. As long as she didn’t have the ball in her hands. We were going to faceguard her and do the best we can with it.”

Porisch, with her lanky frame and long arms, goes easily to the basket with a big stride and soft left-handed touch. But when she got into foul trouble -- largely due to the frustration the Lady Jays caused her with their aggressive defense down low -- the Rams had little to offer in a game that ended 89-53 in West’s favor.

Both teams entered the game with 4-0 Southern Division records.

Minnesota West head coach Rosalie Hayenga-Hostikka said the defense Hinkeldey and her teammates did on Porisch was key, and so was the Jays’ versatility on offense. Anoka-Ramsey left Avery Van Roekel and M’Kayla Mike practically unguarded for much of the game, and Van Roekel responded with 19 points. Mike had 13.

“I told them in there, I don’t care who scores. We’ve got a good team,” Hayenga-Hostikka said upon coming out of the locker room after the game.

Katherin Ihnen paced Minnesota West with 24 points, and Emily Haubrich drained four 3-point shots on the way to 21 points. Ashlynn Wabeke and Mike had five and four assists, respectively. Van Roekel had three steals.

Ihnen was credited with 20 rebounds as the Lady Jays out-rebounded the Rams 52-32 for the game.

Carley Anderson and Maegan Mckernon each scored 13 points for Anoka-Ramsey.

The visitors led early, 4-0, on a pair of inside baskets. But Haubrich -- who was named MCAC Southern Division Player of the Week last week -- scored eight of West’s first 10 points en route to a 10-7 Lady Jay lead.

Leading 23-17 at the end of the first quarter, Wabeke scored on a 3-pointer to start the second quarter. It was 42-28 at halftime and Haubrich had 16 of those points.

Anoka-Ramsey, with Porisch neutralized, was unable to cut into the lead throughout the second half.

Rams head coach Dave DeWitt said that without Porisch leading the offense, his team was not going to be able to beat a talented and balanced Minnesota West outfit.

“We knew they’d have to concentrate on (Porisch), and with good reason. She’s scoring more than 30 points a game,” DeWitt said.

Minnesota West is 14-4 overall. Anoka-Ramsey is 6-11.

Anoka-Ramsey 17 28 44 53

Lady Jays 23 42 58 89

ANOKA-RAMSEY (3FG2FG-FT-TP) -- Solomon 1-2-0-7, Lindsey 1-1-4-9, Peterson 0-0-0-0, Anderson 4-0-1-13, Porisch 1-4-0-11, Mckernon 2-2-3-13. Totals 9-9-8-53.

LADY JAYS (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) -- Mike 2-2-3-13, Haubrich 4-4-1-21, Stanley 0-2-0-4, Hinkeldey 0-2-1-5, Wabeke 1-0-0-3, Van Roekel 0-8-3-19, Ihnen 0-8-8-24. Totals 7-26-16-89.