01-08-2016, 12:56 PM
Overview
Stanford overcame a very difficult start and began to pull away in the third quarter. While four players scored in double digits, I would single out McPhee for her 16 points, mostly scored with Erica and Karlee sitting in foul trouble.Â
Pre Game:
A critical game tonight to get our team back on track after the ASU debacle. We face a talented Utah team with a dominant center and well balanced play. Unfortunately, Pac12 Bay Area is broadcasting the C.al/Colorado game across the bay, that promises to be a much inferior competition, and is overlooking Stanford-Utah. I will come back to edit this into a summary when I get back from the game tonight. I am dying to hear what Tempie will say before the game--I think it is her turn to answer questions since Kate did so at the last home game, and they alternate. Tempie got stuck with this chore last year after the disastrous Tennessee trip, too, poor woman. I usually find Tempie more humorous and more charismatic, and Kate more professional and serious. Tempie is probably the perfect choice to deal with upset fans!
....and indeed, Tempie was as exactly as I expected. She was obviously chagrined and confessed it was difficult to come face a very full house of concerned fans before the game. She delivered some real insight. She said that Tara had alerted everyone that ASU's close defense would make jumpers and treys difficult but it would leave open layups. We even put extra work into our layups before the ASU game. But when the first few layups did not go in, the team seemed to lose confidence and mistake led to mistake. As I mentioned in another thread, we made 8 layups and missed 15 in that game. Tempie also noted that everyone was healthy and let us know that Marta would start at pointguard tonight. Bri and Lili are good point guards, she said, especially against average teams, but Marta has the potential to be a great point guard against top teams, so they were going to give her a try.
Flow of the Game
We got behind early in the first quarter when Lili began the game with several misses, and Utah exploited our help defense with backdoor cuts. We were behind 10-4 seven minutes into the game--4 points in seven minutes sure seemed like a repeat of ASU and was very depressing. Erica was stone cold again, and picked up a couple of fouls and wound up sitting out much of the first half. Karlie picked up two fouls in a minute and was replaced by McPhee, and McPhee turned our offense around, finishing with a trey and a couple of free throws to give us a 13-12 lead at the end of the quarter. Still, with Lili, Erica, and Karlie either not shooting well or out of action, it did not feel like this was going to be a very easy game.
Marta came out and was replaced with Bri after Marta made a couple of turnovers. Bri found her point guard touch, and in the second quarter she made some layups too. Alanna contributed a gorgeous reverse layup and McPhee chipped in some free throws. However, our defense was suspect, Emily Potter, the gifted 6'6" Utah center, was sometimes unstoppable with short jumpers, and Utah's three point shooting was excellent. We reached the half with a 30-28 point lead, and my concerns about Lili and Erica continued to grow--they were not scoring at Arizona and certainly not at ASU either, nor did they heat up offensively in the first half against Utah.
Fortunately, that changed in the second half. Lili came out and made her first two jumpers, and Erica a third. McPhee was still in and she quickly made two layups and two free throws. Erica began to get to the foul line and was excellent, hitting her first 5 in a row. Toward the end of the quarter Tara sent Karlie back in and I was sad to see McPhee sit, but Karlie had her stroke back and promptly drained two treys, and with just a few seconds left in the quarter intercepted a pass and took it to the basket and made the layup. It was 55-40, and while the game was not over, we clearly had broken the dam and restored our shooting confidence.
The fourth quarter was where Erica began to pick up most of her points, on a layup, jumper, and free throws. Perhaps our most outstanding work, though, was done to Emily Potter. She scored the Utes first basket in the second half, and then was completely shut down for the rest of the game, finishing with 9 points--about half of her average. She looked so good in the first half.Â
Performances
McPhee with 16 points--and those points were all when the game was on the line. She completely changed the complexion of the game when she came in. She was 2/5 from three point range, 6/6 from the line, and collected 5 rebounds. I still think she needs more minutes, but I would give the game ball to her.
McCall wound up with 11 points and broke out of her 2 1/2 game slump. But the points were not her most important contribution. She had 11 rebounds and 3 blocks--including a block of an Emily Potter shot. Those rebounds and blocks helped keep us in a tight game even before McCall started scoring.
Lili was cold in the first half, but also broke out in the second, winding up with 16 points, 2/4 from three, and 3 assists and only 1 turnover--a big improvement from the last few games. Last year she also was a second-half player much of the time. But I am pleased to see her success and hope it shakes her out of the slump for good.
Karlie sat much of the first half with two fouls, but when she came in the third quarter and dropped eight points down in a couple of minutes work it really pushed the game almost beyond reach. 13 well earned points for her.
The rest of the players spread a few more points between them, and had some pretty shots, but no one else was close to double digits. But Bri had 8 assists and only 1 turnover. I'll take an 8:1 assist to turnover ratio anyday! I wonder if losing her starting spot fired her up. In any case, Bri was a much improved player tonight, and continued her good defense too.Â
As a team we overcame my biggest fear: rebounding. We outrebounded the Utes 36-30, we had 7 steals to their 3, 6 blocks to their 3, 17 assists to their 10, and we made 15 free throws to their 7. In short, we had the edge in all phases of the game.Â
Conclusion
We don't really know how good Utah is, so it is hard to know how much improvement this represents over the ASU disaster. Our offense in the first quarter reminded me of the ASU game, but fortunately we climbed out of that hole and played better and better as the game wore on. I think this game helped us regain our shooting confidence and hopefully Colorado will contribute to that cause as well. Then the acid test will come up north next week.
Stanford overcame a very difficult start and began to pull away in the third quarter. While four players scored in double digits, I would single out McPhee for her 16 points, mostly scored with Erica and Karlee sitting in foul trouble.Â
Pre Game:
A critical game tonight to get our team back on track after the ASU debacle. We face a talented Utah team with a dominant center and well balanced play. Unfortunately, Pac12 Bay Area is broadcasting the C.al/Colorado game across the bay, that promises to be a much inferior competition, and is overlooking Stanford-Utah. I will come back to edit this into a summary when I get back from the game tonight. I am dying to hear what Tempie will say before the game--I think it is her turn to answer questions since Kate did so at the last home game, and they alternate. Tempie got stuck with this chore last year after the disastrous Tennessee trip, too, poor woman. I usually find Tempie more humorous and more charismatic, and Kate more professional and serious. Tempie is probably the perfect choice to deal with upset fans!
....and indeed, Tempie was as exactly as I expected. She was obviously chagrined and confessed it was difficult to come face a very full house of concerned fans before the game. She delivered some real insight. She said that Tara had alerted everyone that ASU's close defense would make jumpers and treys difficult but it would leave open layups. We even put extra work into our layups before the ASU game. But when the first few layups did not go in, the team seemed to lose confidence and mistake led to mistake. As I mentioned in another thread, we made 8 layups and missed 15 in that game. Tempie also noted that everyone was healthy and let us know that Marta would start at pointguard tonight. Bri and Lili are good point guards, she said, especially against average teams, but Marta has the potential to be a great point guard against top teams, so they were going to give her a try.
Flow of the Game
We got behind early in the first quarter when Lili began the game with several misses, and Utah exploited our help defense with backdoor cuts. We were behind 10-4 seven minutes into the game--4 points in seven minutes sure seemed like a repeat of ASU and was very depressing. Erica was stone cold again, and picked up a couple of fouls and wound up sitting out much of the first half. Karlie picked up two fouls in a minute and was replaced by McPhee, and McPhee turned our offense around, finishing with a trey and a couple of free throws to give us a 13-12 lead at the end of the quarter. Still, with Lili, Erica, and Karlie either not shooting well or out of action, it did not feel like this was going to be a very easy game.
Marta came out and was replaced with Bri after Marta made a couple of turnovers. Bri found her point guard touch, and in the second quarter she made some layups too. Alanna contributed a gorgeous reverse layup and McPhee chipped in some free throws. However, our defense was suspect, Emily Potter, the gifted 6'6" Utah center, was sometimes unstoppable with short jumpers, and Utah's three point shooting was excellent. We reached the half with a 30-28 point lead, and my concerns about Lili and Erica continued to grow--they were not scoring at Arizona and certainly not at ASU either, nor did they heat up offensively in the first half against Utah.
Fortunately, that changed in the second half. Lili came out and made her first two jumpers, and Erica a third. McPhee was still in and she quickly made two layups and two free throws. Erica began to get to the foul line and was excellent, hitting her first 5 in a row. Toward the end of the quarter Tara sent Karlie back in and I was sad to see McPhee sit, but Karlie had her stroke back and promptly drained two treys, and with just a few seconds left in the quarter intercepted a pass and took it to the basket and made the layup. It was 55-40, and while the game was not over, we clearly had broken the dam and restored our shooting confidence.
The fourth quarter was where Erica began to pick up most of her points, on a layup, jumper, and free throws. Perhaps our most outstanding work, though, was done to Emily Potter. She scored the Utes first basket in the second half, and then was completely shut down for the rest of the game, finishing with 9 points--about half of her average. She looked so good in the first half.Â
Performances
McPhee with 16 points--and those points were all when the game was on the line. She completely changed the complexion of the game when she came in. She was 2/5 from three point range, 6/6 from the line, and collected 5 rebounds. I still think she needs more minutes, but I would give the game ball to her.
McCall wound up with 11 points and broke out of her 2 1/2 game slump. But the points were not her most important contribution. She had 11 rebounds and 3 blocks--including a block of an Emily Potter shot. Those rebounds and blocks helped keep us in a tight game even before McCall started scoring.
Lili was cold in the first half, but also broke out in the second, winding up with 16 points, 2/4 from three, and 3 assists and only 1 turnover--a big improvement from the last few games. Last year she also was a second-half player much of the time. But I am pleased to see her success and hope it shakes her out of the slump for good.
Karlie sat much of the first half with two fouls, but when she came in the third quarter and dropped eight points down in a couple of minutes work it really pushed the game almost beyond reach. 13 well earned points for her.
The rest of the players spread a few more points between them, and had some pretty shots, but no one else was close to double digits. But Bri had 8 assists and only 1 turnover. I'll take an 8:1 assist to turnover ratio anyday! I wonder if losing her starting spot fired her up. In any case, Bri was a much improved player tonight, and continued her good defense too.Â
As a team we overcame my biggest fear: rebounding. We outrebounded the Utes 36-30, we had 7 steals to their 3, 6 blocks to their 3, 17 assists to their 10, and we made 15 free throws to their 7. In short, we had the edge in all phases of the game.Â
Conclusion
We don't really know how good Utah is, so it is hard to know how much improvement this represents over the ASU disaster. Our offense in the first quarter reminded me of the ASU game, but fortunately we climbed out of that hole and played better and better as the game wore on. I think this game helped us regain our shooting confidence and hopefully Colorado will contribute to that cause as well. Then the acid test will come up north next week.