Preview:
After a much needed win over an excellent Florida State team, we now take on No. 21/19 North Carolina State at Maples. North Carolina State was the team that ended our season and Tara's career last year, handing us a disappointing loss even when we had Brink and Iriafen. Payback would be sweet, but NCS is the best team we will have played since LSU.
NCS is 11-4. Massey roughly agrees with the polls and has them at 19. Their best wins were over Mississippi and at Louisville, but they did not fare as well as we did against LSU, which beat them 82-65. South Carolina, TCU, and Cal have also beaten them, so they are far from perfect, but they also have not lost to any weak teams.
NCS has three players scoring in double digits but a better supporting cast than FSU had. They have not graduated or lost any of the key pieces to their team that defeated us last year. We can expect them to be better than they were, and of course we are a radically different kind of team this year.
Aziha James is a 5'10" senior guard who started against us last year, and leads the team. James is scoring 17ppg on 44% shooting, making about 1/4 of her shots from three point range. Last year she scored 29 points against us, 10 of them coming on free throws. She not only scores points, she causes opposing defenders to foul out trying to guard her. Cam had 5 fouls and Kiki 4 in that game.
Zoe Brooks is a 5'10" sophomore guard. Brooks is averaging 13ppg and leads the team in assists. She did not start against us last year, but she did so well off the bench that she got more than 30 minutes and scored 12 points. Now she is a starter.
Saniya Rivers is a 6'1" senior guard. Rivers averages 12ppg. She did start against us and played virtually the whole game, going 4/12 and totaling 13 points.
Against Cal the other two starters were Tilda Trygger and Madison Hayes. Hayes is a 6'0" grad student who started against us last year, while Trygger is a 6'6" freshman from Sweden we have not seen before.
This team certainly looks daunting on paper, given that they beat us handily and returned almost all their players while we lost our best two. But Cal just defeated them Thursday, so they certainly are beatable. In the Cal game NC State played their 5 starters almost exclusively--they all had 34 or more minutes, so perhaps they have a depth problem. While Madison Hayes did not seem to be much of an offensive threat, the other four all were in double digits. Somewhat concerning--the 6'6" freshman does not seem to play like a freshman--she had 19 points and 10 rebounds. James led with 21 points.
Our challenge on defense, then, is to contain NC State's excellent guards while also preventing the 6'6" center from dominating inside. Our strategy against FSU to camp the blocks with guards to prevent layups won't work as well when there can be entry passes to a 6'6" center.
On offense, perhaps our best advantage will be Demetre's three point shooting. NC State does not seem to have anyone that height who can come out to the perimeter. Their 6'6" player might control the paint and prevent much shorter Agara from getting so many layups, so Agara should be practicing her mid range jumper.
This is a game that could easily turn on fouls and how it is called--just as it did in a bad way against us when we lost to them last year. Fouls neutralized Brink's defense and kept Iriafen's offense on the bench for too long. But if James or Trygger get in foul trouble it would put a serious crimp in their game plan. Trygger had 4 fouls against Cal, but she stayed in the game for 34 minutes.
A win on Sunday would do splendid things for the team. I don't expect it, but I did not against FSU either. For me, there is only upside when playing against a much more highly ranked and favored team. A win would vault us up in the rankings; a loss probably won't hurt much.
After a much needed win over an excellent Florida State team, we now take on No. 21/19 North Carolina State at Maples. North Carolina State was the team that ended our season and Tara's career last year, handing us a disappointing loss even when we had Brink and Iriafen. Payback would be sweet, but NCS is the best team we will have played since LSU.
NCS is 11-4. Massey roughly agrees with the polls and has them at 19. Their best wins were over Mississippi and at Louisville, but they did not fare as well as we did against LSU, which beat them 82-65. South Carolina, TCU, and Cal have also beaten them, so they are far from perfect, but they also have not lost to any weak teams.
NCS has three players scoring in double digits but a better supporting cast than FSU had. They have not graduated or lost any of the key pieces to their team that defeated us last year. We can expect them to be better than they were, and of course we are a radically different kind of team this year.
Aziha James is a 5'10" senior guard who started against us last year, and leads the team. James is scoring 17ppg on 44% shooting, making about 1/4 of her shots from three point range. Last year she scored 29 points against us, 10 of them coming on free throws. She not only scores points, she causes opposing defenders to foul out trying to guard her. Cam had 5 fouls and Kiki 4 in that game.
Zoe Brooks is a 5'10" sophomore guard. Brooks is averaging 13ppg and leads the team in assists. She did not start against us last year, but she did so well off the bench that she got more than 30 minutes and scored 12 points. Now she is a starter.
Saniya Rivers is a 6'1" senior guard. Rivers averages 12ppg. She did start against us and played virtually the whole game, going 4/12 and totaling 13 points.
Against Cal the other two starters were Tilda Trygger and Madison Hayes. Hayes is a 6'0" grad student who started against us last year, while Trygger is a 6'6" freshman from Sweden we have not seen before.
This team certainly looks daunting on paper, given that they beat us handily and returned almost all their players while we lost our best two. But Cal just defeated them Thursday, so they certainly are beatable. In the Cal game NC State played their 5 starters almost exclusively--they all had 34 or more minutes, so perhaps they have a depth problem. While Madison Hayes did not seem to be much of an offensive threat, the other four all were in double digits. Somewhat concerning--the 6'6" freshman does not seem to play like a freshman--she had 19 points and 10 rebounds. James led with 21 points.
Our challenge on defense, then, is to contain NC State's excellent guards while also preventing the 6'6" center from dominating inside. Our strategy against FSU to camp the blocks with guards to prevent layups won't work as well when there can be entry passes to a 6'6" center.
On offense, perhaps our best advantage will be Demetre's three point shooting. NC State does not seem to have anyone that height who can come out to the perimeter. Their 6'6" player might control the paint and prevent much shorter Agara from getting so many layups, so Agara should be practicing her mid range jumper.
This is a game that could easily turn on fouls and how it is called--just as it did in a bad way against us when we lost to them last year. Fouls neutralized Brink's defense and kept Iriafen's offense on the bench for too long. But if James or Trygger get in foul trouble it would put a serious crimp in their game plan. Trygger had 4 fouls against Cal, but she stayed in the game for 34 minutes.
A win on Sunday would do splendid things for the team. I don't expect it, but I did not against FSU either. For me, there is only upside when playing against a much more highly ranked and favored team. A win would vault us up in the rankings; a loss probably won't hurt much.