[81alum]

To keep the threads together I am moving my write-up here:

Chiney scored 32 and topped 2000 for her career tonight.  She could have scored many more had Tara left her in, but the blowout win was serious enough that it provided opportunities to give other players and lineups a final tuneup before Tennessee.

Chiney scored most of her points off of lobs.  I saw some of this against Gonzaga too, but it is now clear that lobbing the ball over the top of the defense to Chiney is a major weapon that we have been working on.  I have not seen Chiney taking a great many of those midrange jumpers she apparently worked on so hard in the off season--instead the strategy is getting it to her over the top.

Other notable story lines:

1. Tara started Sara James in the 3 slot, but Sara was 0-5 tonight and gave way to Taylor Greenfield and Bonnie Samuelson much of the game.  Taylor was 3-3 and Bonnie scored 8 points, so competition for the 3 slot is heating up significantly.  Taylor looked good to me tonight, but she may be limited in her time as she comes back from her injury.  Still, compared with her first two years, her offensive game looks much more confident and aggressive--and she has always been very sound defensively.  If she keeps playing this way she may realize the potential we always hoped she had and nail down the wing.  But that is still a ways off, and she has a lot of competition.

2. Ruef started and led the team with 10 rebounds, but once again was offensively challenged, just scoring 2 points on a nice 10 foot jumper in the 2nd half.  Kailee and Erica played significant time and Kailee continued to look very good offensively, while Erica also showed flashes of what we hope will become more consistent.  I have to believe that at some point Ruef will not be starting.

3. Guards continue to be up in the air.  Lili and Amber started, but Lili seems to have hit a bit of an offensive slump of late.  Alex Green, however, had some excellent minutes and scored 6 points, including a magnificent backdoor cut fed by Taylor.

4. We are seeing a weakness on our defensive boards.  We gave up 20 offensive rebounds and only grabbed 12 of our own.  Against an overmatched team like New Mexico that is not a good stat.  One can bet that Tennessee will be far more difficult to box out than New Mexico, and if we give them 20 offensive rebounds we will lose.  New Mexico actually took more shots than we did.

5. We had 21 assists tonight--not a surprise after feeding Chiney so much.  Also 12 blocks--also not a surprise considering our height advantage.

All things considered, I would like to have seen the team jell more prior to going in to the Tennessee game.  Taylor Greenfield and Alex Green did themselves a lot of good tonight, which almost leaves the lineup even more confused.

To all of the questions, all I can say is that the Tennessee game will answer at least some of them.  We will see if we can diversify our offense against a well balanced, elite group of athletes or whether we are still stuck on Chiney alone.  And we will see if Lili, Kailee, and Erica can successfully defend elite players without fouling.  And we will see if our improved success from three range is possible against a team that can defend the perimeter.  Those are the three keys not just to the Tennessee game, but to going on to a successful season.

I do think the players know this:

"When you think Tennessee, you think big, tall and rebounding," said the 6-3 McCall. "I'm going to focus on boxing out. I'm pretty pumped up."

[81alum]

To keep the threads together I am moving my write-up here:

Chiney scored 32 and topped 2000 for her career tonight.  She could have scored many more had Tara left her in, but the blowout win was serious enough that it provided opportunities to give other players and lineups a final tuneup before Tennessee.

Chiney scored most of her points off of lobs.  I saw some of this against Gonzaga too, but it is now clear that lobbing the ball over the top of the defense to Chiney is a major weapon that we have been working on.  I have not seen Chiney taking a great many of those midrange jumpers she apparently worked on so hard in the off season--instead the strategy is getting it to her over the top.

Other notable story lines:

1. Tara started Sara James in the 3 slot, but Sara was 0-5 tonight and gave way to Taylor Greenfield and Bonnie Samuelson much of the game.  Taylor was 3-3 and Bonnie scored 8 points, so competition for the 3 slot is heating up significantly.  Taylor looked good to me tonight, but she may be limited in her time as she comes back from her injury.  Still, compared with her first two years, her offensive game looks much more confident and aggressive--and she has always been very sound defensively.  If she keeps playing this way she may realize the potential we always hoped she had and nail down the wing.  But that is still a ways off, and she has a lot of competition.

2. Ruef started and led the team with 10 rebounds, but once again was offensively challenged, just scoring 2 points on a nice 10 foot jumper in the 2nd half.  Kailee and Erica played significant time and Kailee continued to look very good offensively, while Erica also showed flashes of what we hope will become more consistent.  I have to believe that at some point Ruef will not be starting.

3. Guards continue to be up in the air.  Lili and Amber started, but Lili seems to have hit a bit of an offensive slump of late.  Alex Green, however, had some excellent minutes and scored 6 points, including a magnificent backdoor cut fed by Taylor.

4. We are seeing a weakness on our defensive boards.  We gave up 20 offensive rebounds and only grabbed 12 of our own.  Against an overmatched team like New Mexico that is not a good stat.  One can bet that Tennessee will be far more difficult to box out than New Mexico, and if we give them 20 offensive rebounds we will lose.  New Mexico actually took more shots than we did.

5. We had 21 assists tonight--not a surprise after feeding Chiney so much.  Also 12 blocks--also not a surprise considering our height advantage.

All things considered, I would like to have seen the team jell more prior to going in to the Tennessee game.  Taylor Greenfield and Alex Green did themselves a lot of good tonight, which almost leaves the lineup even more confused.

To all of the questions, all I can say is that the Tennessee game will answer at least some of them.  We will see if we can diversify our offense against a well balanced, elite group of athletes or whether we are still stuck on Chiney alone.  And we will see if Lili, Kailee, and Erica can successfully defend elite players without fouling.  And we will see if our improved success from three range is possible against a team that can defend the perimeter.  Those are the three keys not just to the Tennessee game, but to going on to a successful season.

I do think the players know this:

"When you think Tennessee, you think big, tall and rebounding," said the 6-3 McCall. "I'm going to focus on boxing out. I'm pretty pumped up."