02-09-2017, 08:10 PM
Preliminary:
We shall see if Tara can use a homestand against Colorado and Utah to help her fix the problems that need fixing before we start a critical four game stretch against C.al, Oregon, and Oregon State. Last time at Colorado they gave us a game. We need to improve our perimeter defense or else we might find Colorado leading after the half again. At least Marta's stitches should be out--hopefully she can avoid having a Colorado player sit on her this time!
http://thecardboard.org/board/index.php?topic=16453.0
Flow of the Game:
J.R. Payne has a knack for getting her teams to play effective, close, man defense--which her Santa Clara team last year used to surprise us. Colorado came out with energy and crowded all the passing lanes, making it very difficult for us to get open looks. Missed layups and turnovers also hurt us in the first quarter, and we crawled from 2 points to 4 points to 6 points where we stayed until there were just three minutes left in the quarter, and closed it out with 9. Fortunately, our defense played well and Colorado was no better--the first quarter ended in a 9-9 tie. An ugly, unattractive, tie, but it could have been worse--we could easily have been down a bundle.
The second quarter was slightly better but not by a lot. Missed free throws compounded our scoring drought. Britt began to make some layups, however, and the offense creaked into gear. Kaylee, who started, was long gone from the game and Tara let the other bigs rotate in and played a fair bit of small-ball with the four guard set. She was clearly looking for a combination that worked. We went into half time down 24-27, and frankly I though we were lucky to have kept the game that close.
The third quarter was better. About two minutes in Bri made a trey to tie the game. Colorado got the lead back and stretched it out to 6 points as McKenzie Ellis kept hitting unexpected treys. It was now clear that Colorado had sold out to stop Erica and Karlie, requiring that someone else carry the offense. Someone did. The Britt show began. She made two layups and two free throws, a jumper, and a layup to wrest the lead back. Still, the end of the third quarter was inconclusive. Erica made a trey at the buzzer after we broke the press to give us a 46-44 lead, but that was hardly secure.
The game had really shifted, though, on Erica's trey. It was the beginning of a 19-2 run that won the game for us. It felt to me that Colorado just could not sustain its focus indefinitely, and our solid defense through three quarters, with Erica's three point buzzer beater, took something out of their team, leading to a 20-7 fourth quarter advantage for us.Â
Performances:
Another superb game for Britt, scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds on 55% shooting. She was aggressively driving to the basket and manufacturing opportunities, although she missed too many free throws.
Erica scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but was only 4/13 shooting and a very bad 6/11 free throws.  I'm not actually sure how much of this was a result of the defense and how much of it is a slump carrying over from UCLA. It is pretty clear that all opposing teams put their best defenders against McCall and Samuelson.
Alanna Smith checked in with 7 points and 8 rebounds and 5 blocks in 19 minutes. She shot 3/5 and seemed highly effective on defense. I wonder if she should be starting, giving that Nadia slowed down with Pac 12 play and Kaylee doesn't seem to be doing as well as we have come to expect.
Marta had 7 points including a made three! If only that could be bottled and poured at will. As has been pointed out, her 8 assists to 0 turnovers was extraordinary.
Karlie got shut down, scoring just 4 points on 2/9 and not hitting a trey in the game. Bri was ineffective on offense, scoring 3 points. Their lack of production really made this a tight defensive slugfest, since we could not force the game to open up.
It is time to ask if there is something wrong with Kaylee. She started and got just 5 minutes. Tara must have seen something that did not feel right.
Conclusion:
This performance does not inspire confidence, but better to be working on problems now than week from now. Britt particularly deserves accolades. On to take on Utah on Sunday.
We shall see if Tara can use a homestand against Colorado and Utah to help her fix the problems that need fixing before we start a critical four game stretch against C.al, Oregon, and Oregon State. Last time at Colorado they gave us a game. We need to improve our perimeter defense or else we might find Colorado leading after the half again. At least Marta's stitches should be out--hopefully she can avoid having a Colorado player sit on her this time!
http://thecardboard.org/board/index.php?topic=16453.0
Flow of the Game:
J.R. Payne has a knack for getting her teams to play effective, close, man defense--which her Santa Clara team last year used to surprise us. Colorado came out with energy and crowded all the passing lanes, making it very difficult for us to get open looks. Missed layups and turnovers also hurt us in the first quarter, and we crawled from 2 points to 4 points to 6 points where we stayed until there were just three minutes left in the quarter, and closed it out with 9. Fortunately, our defense played well and Colorado was no better--the first quarter ended in a 9-9 tie. An ugly, unattractive, tie, but it could have been worse--we could easily have been down a bundle.
The second quarter was slightly better but not by a lot. Missed free throws compounded our scoring drought. Britt began to make some layups, however, and the offense creaked into gear. Kaylee, who started, was long gone from the game and Tara let the other bigs rotate in and played a fair bit of small-ball with the four guard set. She was clearly looking for a combination that worked. We went into half time down 24-27, and frankly I though we were lucky to have kept the game that close.
The third quarter was better. About two minutes in Bri made a trey to tie the game. Colorado got the lead back and stretched it out to 6 points as McKenzie Ellis kept hitting unexpected treys. It was now clear that Colorado had sold out to stop Erica and Karlie, requiring that someone else carry the offense. Someone did. The Britt show began. She made two layups and two free throws, a jumper, and a layup to wrest the lead back. Still, the end of the third quarter was inconclusive. Erica made a trey at the buzzer after we broke the press to give us a 46-44 lead, but that was hardly secure.
The game had really shifted, though, on Erica's trey. It was the beginning of a 19-2 run that won the game for us. It felt to me that Colorado just could not sustain its focus indefinitely, and our solid defense through three quarters, with Erica's three point buzzer beater, took something out of their team, leading to a 20-7 fourth quarter advantage for us.Â
Performances:
Another superb game for Britt, scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds on 55% shooting. She was aggressively driving to the basket and manufacturing opportunities, although she missed too many free throws.
Erica scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but was only 4/13 shooting and a very bad 6/11 free throws.  I'm not actually sure how much of this was a result of the defense and how much of it is a slump carrying over from UCLA. It is pretty clear that all opposing teams put their best defenders against McCall and Samuelson.
Alanna Smith checked in with 7 points and 8 rebounds and 5 blocks in 19 minutes. She shot 3/5 and seemed highly effective on defense. I wonder if she should be starting, giving that Nadia slowed down with Pac 12 play and Kaylee doesn't seem to be doing as well as we have come to expect.
Marta had 7 points including a made three! If only that could be bottled and poured at will. As has been pointed out, her 8 assists to 0 turnovers was extraordinary.
Karlie got shut down, scoring just 4 points on 2/9 and not hitting a trey in the game. Bri was ineffective on offense, scoring 3 points. Their lack of production really made this a tight defensive slugfest, since we could not force the game to open up.
It is time to ask if there is something wrong with Kaylee. She started and got just 5 minutes. Tara must have seen something that did not feel right.
Conclusion:
This performance does not inspire confidence, but better to be working on problems now than week from now. Britt particularly deserves accolades. On to take on Utah on Sunday.
