For years now our death knell has been zone defenses on days our treys are not dropping. We are very fortunate to come out of this with a win.
While much credit goes to Iriafen, Jones in the 4th, and Emma-Nnopu who was the first person to cool off Paopao, we need to realize that our defense was actually quite solid in 3 out of 4 of the quarters, giving up 14, 22, 11, and 15. Chalk up this win to defense and some late game heroics. Getting Oregon to make 16 turnovers compared with 8 of our own was critical to the win.
Sabally was held to 8 points, Rogers to 10. Paopao, however, was almost our undoing. Wilson and Lacie tried to control her but Emma-Nnopu finally cooled her down in the 4th.
I agree with what others have said about Jones. It seems she is at her best when under pressure--when she has to create for herself.
To the question of why Jump did not play more--it was defense. Jump could not guard Rogers or Paopao, and she got backed down to the rim by the taller wings she tried to guard. Just a bad matchup day for her.
Belibi looked pretty good, but Iriafen looked better today--at least on offense. I wondered why Tara left Brink in for as much time in the second half as she did. Brink had clearly been coached before the start of the game to take short jumpers against the zone, but they were not going in for her.
Finally, a shout out to Lexie, going 7/7 from the free throw line. Also critical.
And whoever said we were the beneficiaries of some questionable calls--we were. The announcers thought so too a couple of times. But Brink had at least one phantom call on her--one can only hope that referee incompetence evens out. Still, overall, we took 24 free throws and Oregon took 14. That certainly helped our cause.
While much credit goes to Iriafen, Jones in the 4th, and Emma-Nnopu who was the first person to cool off Paopao, we need to realize that our defense was actually quite solid in 3 out of 4 of the quarters, giving up 14, 22, 11, and 15. Chalk up this win to defense and some late game heroics. Getting Oregon to make 16 turnovers compared with 8 of our own was critical to the win.
Sabally was held to 8 points, Rogers to 10. Paopao, however, was almost our undoing. Wilson and Lacie tried to control her but Emma-Nnopu finally cooled her down in the 4th.
I agree with what others have said about Jones. It seems she is at her best when under pressure--when she has to create for herself.
To the question of why Jump did not play more--it was defense. Jump could not guard Rogers or Paopao, and she got backed down to the rim by the taller wings she tried to guard. Just a bad matchup day for her.
Belibi looked pretty good, but Iriafen looked better today--at least on offense. I wondered why Tara left Brink in for as much time in the second half as she did. Brink had clearly been coached before the start of the game to take short jumpers against the zone, but they were not going in for her.
Finally, a shout out to Lexie, going 7/7 from the free throw line. Also critical.
And whoever said we were the beneficiaries of some questionable calls--we were. The announcers thought so too a couple of times. But Brink had at least one phantom call on her--one can only hope that referee incompetence evens out. Still, overall, we took 24 free throws and Oregon took 14. That certainly helped our cause.
