So many highlights last night - Dodson's tremendous work in the paint, Wilson's tremendous d on Ionescu, both Hulls going at Ionescu early and I think using a few fouls to declare "you aren't going to push us over this time!" And of course Carrington, Smith, and Williams with clutch plays down the stretch. But for the 3-4 minutes in the third quarter when both Smith and Maya went down, I think in many ways this was our most complete performance since the Baylor game.
And, notably, the past few weeks have been the first time all season we've had all our available players healthy and not minutes-limited, and the team really seems to be gelling. It's a testament to Tara that we weathered having so many players down (first Lexie, then Wilson, then Dodson) and out (Fingall) and yet you'd barely be able to tell from our W-L record.
One thing I've always found interesting about the Oregon schools is that they are exceptional when they execute their "Plan A," but neither school is especially great at "Plan B" if the other team can force them out of their Plan A. Sometimes they can bail themselves out because they have studs like Ionescu (and for OSU, Pivec, whom one of the commentators during the tournament aptly titled "the dreamcrusher"), but I feel like our comparatively good records against them vis-a-vis other PAC-12 teams stems in part from Tara's ability to force them into uncomfortable situations, and they aren't always exceptional at responding and adapting. Last night was indicative of that - I didn't feel like they did much differently in the second half, and while a run from them was inevitable, the "vibe" on the floor seemed like we had a much better sense of what we needed to do than they did. Sabally, in particular, I felt like didn't quite seem to know what she should be doing half the time, and she's a seriously, seriously good player.
And, notably, the past few weeks have been the first time all season we've had all our available players healthy and not minutes-limited, and the team really seems to be gelling. It's a testament to Tara that we weathered having so many players down (first Lexie, then Wilson, then Dodson) and out (Fingall) and yet you'd barely be able to tell from our W-L record.
One thing I've always found interesting about the Oregon schools is that they are exceptional when they execute their "Plan A," but neither school is especially great at "Plan B" if the other team can force them out of their Plan A. Sometimes they can bail themselves out because they have studs like Ionescu (and for OSU, Pivec, whom one of the commentators during the tournament aptly titled "the dreamcrusher"), but I feel like our comparatively good records against them vis-a-vis other PAC-12 teams stems in part from Tara's ability to force them into uncomfortable situations, and they aren't always exceptional at responding and adapting. Last night was indicative of that - I didn't feel like they did much differently in the second half, and while a run from them was inevitable, the "vibe" on the floor seemed like we had a much better sense of what we needed to do than they did. Sabally, in particular, I felt like didn't quite seem to know what she should be doing half the time, and she's a seriously, seriously good player.