Stanford vs. Hawaii
Summary of pregame interview with Tara:
Kiana did not shoot well in first 3 quarters. With Lexie out we haven't had that 3rd perimeter shooter. American was really packed in and we kept going inside instead of pitching out. And we missed 5 "complete bunnies." Most consistent play has been from Nadia. Tara credited Lacey with 7 steals. She also had 3 assists that were not credited in the stat sheet. As for why we were playing zone, Tara said it was a good change of pace in both games so far. It is nice to bring it out in the second half when the other team doesn't have a chance to make adjustments. Tara says Hawaii is a big, physical team and we will have to defend the pick and roll and their physicality.
Flow of the game:
Tara started Wilson, Carrington, Williams, Fingall, and Smith. Smith got into foul trouble early, again, with an offensive foul in the key backing into a defender. The first quarter was another slow start for us, with Hawaii's very aggressive 2-3 zone able to get out to the perimeter and bother our three point shooting. Hawaii is not a good shooting team, however, and the quarter ended Stanford 15 Hawaii 8.
In the second quarter Tara used a 2-3 zone and reinserted Alanna and gradually we began to get our offense in sync--largely as Alanna began to get hot. We broke it open on a 12-0 run on Smiths 5/7 shooting, 4/4 from in close. Carrington and Fingall each had 7 and Lacie had 5 assists and 3 steals and a block in the half--she is the epitome of a hustle player. Kiana's three point shot was off, as she was 0/4. We'll have to watch this since her 60% three point shooting was bound to cool off at some point, and it appears to have been on the Hawaii trip. Still, it was all enough for a 40-22 lead at the half.
In the second half Tara returned to the original starters, so Wilson was back in. It rapidly turned into the Alanna Smith show. She was showing off a back to the basket move that looked for all the world like the old triangle. Tara pulled her out once she had 25 points and let others have a turn. They kept the scoring going but relaxed on defense, making the third into a 24-24 quarter.
For the fourth Tara put the starters back with Lacie instead of Wilson. Hawaii hung around 20 points down largely on the strength of their three point shooting--12 of 18 at one point. For much of the fourth quarter Tara had in Wilson and sophomores and freshmen players--it looked like the JV team, and it held up OK. Then, with one minute left, Anna Wilson went down off camera and play continued for a time with her out of the frame. After a long pause they called the game with 48 seconds left after what seemed to be a serious injury, with the viewers being left in the dark.
Postscript:
The game and all post-game festivities were cancelled. A stretcher arrived 15 minutes later. Fans report an announcement that Anna was conscious and being take to the hospital for evaluation.
I don't really feel like finishing my usual write-up at this point. We will wait to see what happens with Anna.
Summary of pregame interview with Tara:
Kiana did not shoot well in first 3 quarters. With Lexie out we haven't had that 3rd perimeter shooter. American was really packed in and we kept going inside instead of pitching out. And we missed 5 "complete bunnies." Most consistent play has been from Nadia. Tara credited Lacey with 7 steals. She also had 3 assists that were not credited in the stat sheet. As for why we were playing zone, Tara said it was a good change of pace in both games so far. It is nice to bring it out in the second half when the other team doesn't have a chance to make adjustments. Tara says Hawaii is a big, physical team and we will have to defend the pick and roll and their physicality.
Flow of the game:
Tara started Wilson, Carrington, Williams, Fingall, and Smith. Smith got into foul trouble early, again, with an offensive foul in the key backing into a defender. The first quarter was another slow start for us, with Hawaii's very aggressive 2-3 zone able to get out to the perimeter and bother our three point shooting. Hawaii is not a good shooting team, however, and the quarter ended Stanford 15 Hawaii 8.
In the second quarter Tara used a 2-3 zone and reinserted Alanna and gradually we began to get our offense in sync--largely as Alanna began to get hot. We broke it open on a 12-0 run on Smiths 5/7 shooting, 4/4 from in close. Carrington and Fingall each had 7 and Lacie had 5 assists and 3 steals and a block in the half--she is the epitome of a hustle player. Kiana's three point shot was off, as she was 0/4. We'll have to watch this since her 60% three point shooting was bound to cool off at some point, and it appears to have been on the Hawaii trip. Still, it was all enough for a 40-22 lead at the half.
In the second half Tara returned to the original starters, so Wilson was back in. It rapidly turned into the Alanna Smith show. She was showing off a back to the basket move that looked for all the world like the old triangle. Tara pulled her out once she had 25 points and let others have a turn. They kept the scoring going but relaxed on defense, making the third into a 24-24 quarter.
For the fourth Tara put the starters back with Lacie instead of Wilson. Hawaii hung around 20 points down largely on the strength of their three point shooting--12 of 18 at one point. For much of the fourth quarter Tara had in Wilson and sophomores and freshmen players--it looked like the JV team, and it held up OK. Then, with one minute left, Anna Wilson went down off camera and play continued for a time with her out of the frame. After a long pause they called the game with 48 seconds left after what seemed to be a serious injury, with the viewers being left in the dark.
Postscript:
The game and all post-game festivities were cancelled. A stretcher arrived 15 minutes later. Fans report an announcement that Anna was conscious and being take to the hospital for evaluation.
I don't really feel like finishing my usual write-up at this point. We will wait to see what happens with Anna.