02-08-2018, 07:47 PM
Preview:
Utah comes to Maples Friday, and perhaps surprisingly, they are a good team, with an identical Pac 12 (6-6) and identical overall record (15-8) as C.al. Their RPI is 85.  They are led in scoring by 6'3" transfer Megan Huff at 15 points and 54%. Next is Daneesha Provo at 15 points and 46% three point shooting in conference. Only then do you get to their perennial star, 6'6" Emily Potter at 10 points. Unlike us, they beat ASU in Tempe, but lost to them at home. Other than their ASU win their other conference victories are over cellar-dwellers, although they did play UCLA tight before losing. They are a better team than Washington, WSU, and Arizona and have some weapons.Â
Overview:
Our defense smothered Utah in the first half, holding them to 15 points, holding their team to 4 baskets, and denying Emily Potter any. The 39-15 halftime lead let Tara liberally substitute in the second half and while the offense held up for a while, the defensive intensity slacked just a bit. This game was never in doubt.
Flow of the Game:
There was not much of an ebb and flow in the first half. Every time Potter or one of the other Utah posts got the ball down low, she was double and even triple teamed, and when she passed back out of the double we seemed to get back to our original assignments. This was probably the same defense we used against Gulich and Heberd. McPhee seemed to start just where she left off at Oregon, making treys and acrobatic floaters and layups, and amassed 16 points before her fouls forced her to sit. In fact, McPhee, Smith, and Johnson all picked up 2 fouls apiece in the first half and made way for Fingall, Carrington, and Jerome. There appeared to be no let up in the defense--Utah managed only 6 points in the second quarter.
Our defense broke down some in the third quarter. Their sharp three point shooter Daneesha Provo opened with a trey right at the beginning, and then Potter got three consecutive layups as they finally figured out how to get her the ball inside. One of those was a layup over the top of a triple team, with six arms unable to block a 6'6" Potter. After they hit another trey our lead had dwindled to 15 points. But then a trey by Alanna and a couple of layups by Kaylee gave us back a 20 point cushion. Smith and Johnson left about midway in the third and did not come back--giving Dodson and Fingall significant chunks of playing time. They looked good. Fingall was 4/4 from the floor including two treys, and Dodson was 3/4. Dodson has always had superb moves to the basket but in the past has tended not to have soft enough hands, but she was finishing more successfully tonight. The third quarter favored Utah 19-18.
The fourth quarter was mostly a training session for us as Tara went deep into her bench. Again, Utah outscored us 15-13, but it would have taken ten or fifteen more quarters for them to overtake us at that pace.Â
Performances:
McPhee continue to play very well, but logged only 25 minutes. She scored 18 points but had 4 turnovers.
Sniezek was our second leading scorer at 11 points. She was 3/3 from three point range, 2/2 on free throws, but 0/4 on her layups. It was impressive to see those treys go down. She had 4 assists to 1 turnover.
Fingall was our third leading scorer with 10 points on an efficient 4/4 shooting. She also had 6 rebounds, an assist, 2 blocks and 2 steals in only 20 minutes.
Johnson and Smith each had 8 points and Johnson was actually more efficient than Smith. Smith played just 16 minutes but never got more than those 2 fouls. Not sure what the strategy was about holding her out so much.
Williams played the most of any player at 34 minutes, and while she had only 7 points and was 1/7 from three point range, she had 5 assists and 0 turnovers.
Carrington played 17 minutes but was relatively cold, scoring 1 basket in 8 tries.
Conclusion:
We took care of business efficiently in the first half, then it seems we saved energy for Sunday's game rather than pounding on Utah in the second. I'm not sure we learned much one way or the other. McPhee can still be very good, Carrington is still very streaky, Williams is perfectly healthy and can shoot even when wearing a mask, and Dodson's potential is obvious to anyone who sees her move. Next up--Colorado, who led Cal with 26 seconds to go before dropping the game.
Utah comes to Maples Friday, and perhaps surprisingly, they are a good team, with an identical Pac 12 (6-6) and identical overall record (15-8) as C.al. Their RPI is 85.  They are led in scoring by 6'3" transfer Megan Huff at 15 points and 54%. Next is Daneesha Provo at 15 points and 46% three point shooting in conference. Only then do you get to their perennial star, 6'6" Emily Potter at 10 points. Unlike us, they beat ASU in Tempe, but lost to them at home. Other than their ASU win their other conference victories are over cellar-dwellers, although they did play UCLA tight before losing. They are a better team than Washington, WSU, and Arizona and have some weapons.Â
Overview:
Our defense smothered Utah in the first half, holding them to 15 points, holding their team to 4 baskets, and denying Emily Potter any. The 39-15 halftime lead let Tara liberally substitute in the second half and while the offense held up for a while, the defensive intensity slacked just a bit. This game was never in doubt.
Flow of the Game:
There was not much of an ebb and flow in the first half. Every time Potter or one of the other Utah posts got the ball down low, she was double and even triple teamed, and when she passed back out of the double we seemed to get back to our original assignments. This was probably the same defense we used against Gulich and Heberd. McPhee seemed to start just where she left off at Oregon, making treys and acrobatic floaters and layups, and amassed 16 points before her fouls forced her to sit. In fact, McPhee, Smith, and Johnson all picked up 2 fouls apiece in the first half and made way for Fingall, Carrington, and Jerome. There appeared to be no let up in the defense--Utah managed only 6 points in the second quarter.
Our defense broke down some in the third quarter. Their sharp three point shooter Daneesha Provo opened with a trey right at the beginning, and then Potter got three consecutive layups as they finally figured out how to get her the ball inside. One of those was a layup over the top of a triple team, with six arms unable to block a 6'6" Potter. After they hit another trey our lead had dwindled to 15 points. But then a trey by Alanna and a couple of layups by Kaylee gave us back a 20 point cushion. Smith and Johnson left about midway in the third and did not come back--giving Dodson and Fingall significant chunks of playing time. They looked good. Fingall was 4/4 from the floor including two treys, and Dodson was 3/4. Dodson has always had superb moves to the basket but in the past has tended not to have soft enough hands, but she was finishing more successfully tonight. The third quarter favored Utah 19-18.
The fourth quarter was mostly a training session for us as Tara went deep into her bench. Again, Utah outscored us 15-13, but it would have taken ten or fifteen more quarters for them to overtake us at that pace.Â
Performances:
McPhee continue to play very well, but logged only 25 minutes. She scored 18 points but had 4 turnovers.
Sniezek was our second leading scorer at 11 points. She was 3/3 from three point range, 2/2 on free throws, but 0/4 on her layups. It was impressive to see those treys go down. She had 4 assists to 1 turnover.
Fingall was our third leading scorer with 10 points on an efficient 4/4 shooting. She also had 6 rebounds, an assist, 2 blocks and 2 steals in only 20 minutes.
Johnson and Smith each had 8 points and Johnson was actually more efficient than Smith. Smith played just 16 minutes but never got more than those 2 fouls. Not sure what the strategy was about holding her out so much.
Williams played the most of any player at 34 minutes, and while she had only 7 points and was 1/7 from three point range, she had 5 assists and 0 turnovers.
Carrington played 17 minutes but was relatively cold, scoring 1 basket in 8 tries.
Conclusion:
We took care of business efficiently in the first half, then it seems we saved energy for Sunday's game rather than pounding on Utah in the second. I'm not sure we learned much one way or the other. McPhee can still be very good, Carrington is still very streaky, Williams is perfectly healthy and can shoot even when wearing a mask, and Dodson's potential is obvious to anyone who sees her move. Next up--Colorado, who led Cal with 26 seconds to go before dropping the game.