MADISON - One would think Jamie Armstrong and Gwen Sutter never even sat down after Tuesday's thrilling non-conference effort in shocking Sauk Prairie.
The stupendous sophomore duo was back at it, scoring the last 21 points of the first half for Monroe in a 49-32 victory at Madison Edgewood Friday night.
After Calyn Bidlingmaier cleaned up her own miss and scored in traffic a minute and a half into the Badger South tilt, Edgewood junior Alex Lake made good on a short shot before things got hardly cute and cuddly for the hosts.
Armstrong and Sutter ran off the next 13 points, beginning with an inside hoop by the former off a nice feed by junior Emily Rufenacht. Sutter hit a pullup on the next possession before Armstrong swatted a shot on the other end and followed it up with an old-fashioned triple back on the offensive.
Freshman Kyleigh Sellnow lobbed inside to Armstrong, who absorbed a hack from behind by Becky Gifford. A grimace quickly became a smile as the 6-2 post strolled to the charity stripe and made good on the gimme.
"I was equally pleased with her performance at the defensive ends," Monroe coach Kevin Keen said. "It was one of her better ballgames on both ends of the floor."
Rufenacht kept the helper coming at the end of a 13-3 first as she found Armstrong alone on the left block on a 2-on-1 break.
Monroe built its biggest lead of the first half to 15 points as the two connected again in similar locations but in different fashions. Rufenacht held up a 2-on-2 break long enough for Armstrong to play the trailer role to perfection. She swooped in, watched a perfect feed glance up into the air off her fingertips but headily leapt and banked a runner home all in one motion.
Armstrong filled her stat sheet handily with 24 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.
"Not a bad night's work," Keen said.
"We don't have a person that can match up with her even without her wingspan," Edgewood coach Lora Stavenes said of Armstrong. "In addition, she has players around her that step up, hit shots and make you respect them."
Sutter, who along with Armstrong hit nine of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter Tuesday as Monroe shocked Sauk, 47-39 with a 17-5 final quarter, gave a free lesson in the lost art of the mid-range jump shot early on as she owned the elbow off the dribble.
Sutter broke down any Crusader backcourt member that challenged her and relentlessly pulled up and drilled multiple 14-footers and racked up 10 first-half points.
"She got a couple of those early to get us started and it was nice to see her continue after her fourth quarter the last time out," Keen said. "That got us a comfortable margin early on that we were able to maintain throughout."
The Crusaders did get within eight points as Alyssa Harms scored seven straight Crusader points to get the difference to 27-19, but Rufenacht darted through the 'D' once again and left a nice bounce pass for an uncontested Armstrong on the right block.
After losing to conference front-runner Verona, the Cheesemakers have won three straight, all coming on the road, where they're yet to lose this season due to execution that travels well.
"Monroe just makes the plays that need to be made whether they're guarded or not," Staveness said. "Since losing to Verona, they've only gotten stronger."
She hopes Friday's lopsided loss serves as "a wake up call" after her squad had won its previous six games. Gifford, in fact was plagued by foul trouble and held scoreless after averaging 16 points per game over the last three games.
In fact, the Cheesemakers would have held Edgewood to just nine first-half points if not for a buzzer-beating triple by Kenzie Kolb.
After a non-conference clash at Platteville Tuesday, the Cheesemakers host Oregon Friday after needing 31 minutes and 53 seconds to finally take the lead for good at the Panthers' place in a 41-38 show-stopper on Thursday, Dec. 20.
The stupendous sophomore duo was back at it, scoring the last 21 points of the first half for Monroe in a 49-32 victory at Madison Edgewood Friday night.
After Calyn Bidlingmaier cleaned up her own miss and scored in traffic a minute and a half into the Badger South tilt, Edgewood junior Alex Lake made good on a short shot before things got hardly cute and cuddly for the hosts.
Armstrong and Sutter ran off the next 13 points, beginning with an inside hoop by the former off a nice feed by junior Emily Rufenacht. Sutter hit a pullup on the next possession before Armstrong swatted a shot on the other end and followed it up with an old-fashioned triple back on the offensive.
Freshman Kyleigh Sellnow lobbed inside to Armstrong, who absorbed a hack from behind by Becky Gifford. A grimace quickly became a smile as the 6-2 post strolled to the charity stripe and made good on the gimme.
"I was equally pleased with her performance at the defensive ends," Monroe coach Kevin Keen said. "It was one of her better ballgames on both ends of the floor."
Rufenacht kept the helper coming at the end of a 13-3 first as she found Armstrong alone on the left block on a 2-on-1 break.
Monroe built its biggest lead of the first half to 15 points as the two connected again in similar locations but in different fashions. Rufenacht held up a 2-on-2 break long enough for Armstrong to play the trailer role to perfection. She swooped in, watched a perfect feed glance up into the air off her fingertips but headily leapt and banked a runner home all in one motion.
Armstrong filled her stat sheet handily with 24 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.
"Not a bad night's work," Keen said.
"We don't have a person that can match up with her even without her wingspan," Edgewood coach Lora Stavenes said of Armstrong. "In addition, she has players around her that step up, hit shots and make you respect them."
Sutter, who along with Armstrong hit nine of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter Tuesday as Monroe shocked Sauk, 47-39 with a 17-5 final quarter, gave a free lesson in the lost art of the mid-range jump shot early on as she owned the elbow off the dribble.
Sutter broke down any Crusader backcourt member that challenged her and relentlessly pulled up and drilled multiple 14-footers and racked up 10 first-half points.
"She got a couple of those early to get us started and it was nice to see her continue after her fourth quarter the last time out," Keen said. "That got us a comfortable margin early on that we were able to maintain throughout."
The Crusaders did get within eight points as Alyssa Harms scored seven straight Crusader points to get the difference to 27-19, but Rufenacht darted through the 'D' once again and left a nice bounce pass for an uncontested Armstrong on the right block.
After losing to conference front-runner Verona, the Cheesemakers have won three straight, all coming on the road, where they're yet to lose this season due to execution that travels well.
"Monroe just makes the plays that need to be made whether they're guarded or not," Staveness said. "Since losing to Verona, they've only gotten stronger."
She hopes Friday's lopsided loss serves as "a wake up call" after her squad had won its previous six games. Gifford, in fact was plagued by foul trouble and held scoreless after averaging 16 points per game over the last three games.
In fact, the Cheesemakers would have held Edgewood to just nine first-half points if not for a buzzer-beating triple by Kenzie Kolb.
After a non-conference clash at Platteville Tuesday, the Cheesemakers host Oregon Friday after needing 31 minutes and 53 seconds to finally take the lead for good at the Panthers' place in a 41-38 show-stopper on Thursday, Dec. 20.
