02-02-2018, 12:21 PM
Preliminary:
OSU is 7-3 and one game behind us in the Pac 12, with a 38 RPI. They are ranked 16 and we are ranked 24, Sagarin has them at 14 and us at 17. If we are looking for encouragement, OSU lost at USC while we won there, and was completely crushed by UCLA in Los Angeles. However, OSU at home is a different team, having only lost narrowly to Notre Dame and beating Oregon in Corvallis. In conference play, Gulich leads them with 19ppg with Kat Tudor, who is hitting 45% of her treys, coming in with 15ppg. Pivec is another major all around threat, and others can score too. Rueck always has his teams playing tough D, and this will be a very tough game that should put our new found momentum to a severe test.
Overview:
Tara's scouting report defense held Gulich to 7 points, 0 in the second half, and Kat Tudor to 0 for the game. Our offense shot only 39% but scratched out the win on the strength of 17 offensive rebounds leading to 21 second chance points. Top that off with 6 turnovers for the entire game. It was a tough, gritty win on the road, and showed the kind of determination we last saw at USC. Certainly our best road win of the year.
Flow of the Game:
We opened with an 11-0 run on the strength of baskets by Sniezek, Smith, McPhee, and Williams. Our defense was obvious--we doubled Gulich every time she received the ball. Also helping us was that Kat Tudor picked up 2 fouls and had to sit long minutes. Unfortunately, OSU clawed back with an 8-0 run of their own, and both defenses then dug in. We ended the first quarter up 21-15.
The second quarter our defense actually improved, holding OSU to 12, but our offense ground to a halt, scoring only 7. OSU left Johnson and Fingall open to shoot whenever they got the ball, and other than a put-back they could not make shots. Meanwhile, all the doubling on Gulich sometime left a perimeter player open for OSU and they made just enough shots to even up the game, and we clung to a 28-27 lead at the half. Katie McWilliams' 3/6 three pointers kept OSU in the game, despite our holding Gulich to 3/7.
We got our offense on track in the third quarter, scoring 19, and our defense held up, allowing 13. It started badly, however, as we gave up a three point play to Pivec and OSU followed it up with two quick layups to give OSU a 6 point lead. Williams staunched the bleeding with a jumper--her shots were pretty and all net tonight--and Carrington began to show some hustle. After Carrington layed it in and Williams made yet another mid range jumper, Carrington then sank a trey on a nice inside-out pass from Johnson, and we had the lead again 37-34. We did not give it up, although the game stayed tight the rest of the night. McPhee scored three more times in the quarter--mostly short jumpers-- and we finished it out leading 47-40.
The fourth quarter was needlessly nervewracking as we missed opportunities to put the game away and let OSU close to within 2 with less than a minute remaining. Williams, Carrington, McPhee, and Smith all made baskets in the quarter, but our defense was not quite as solid. OSU players that we were not keying on began to heat up. Worse, down the stretch our free throw shooting nearly did us in, as we missed five free throws in the quarter--4 in the last few minutes. This gave OSU a chance to send it to overtime when Carrington anticipated the inbounds pass and intercepted it, sealing the win.
Performances:
Credit Tara's scouting report for much of the credit this time. What we did to Gulich and Tudor was shocking. Kiana Williams shadowed Kat Tudor and was always in position to cut off any incoming passes, so Tudor did not have an opportunity to take a single three point attempt in the game. Gulich was defended by Johnson when she did not have the ball, but the instant it came to her she was doubled by McPhee or Sniezek or others, so she could not move. When OSU players came into the paint they were often tripled. If they could pass the ball out there could be an open three for them, but frequently they suffocated. We outscored OSU in the paint 38-24.Â
Our three point shooting, however, was not good. We were just 2/19 and this could have been our undoing. OSU, however, was 6/22, which while much better than us, was nowhere close to their usual success and insufficient to overcome their other problems.Â
OSU does not put much pressure on the ball, and this helped us turn the ball over only 6 times in the game--OSU had 11 turnovers. We also had 7 blocks to their 2, and 9 steals to their 4. I already alluded to our rebounding--44 over their 35. This game was won in the trenches, not by purity of shooting.
McPhee led with 18 points on 8/18. She was 0/4 from three which was not good, but that means she was shooting 60% from midrange and in close. She also had a whopping 12 rebounds for a double/double, an assist, a steal, and 2 blocks.
Williams was next in scoring with 14, 6/11 overall but only 1/5 from three point range--meaning she was 5/6 from midrange. She also had 2 assists and 2 steals. Her shot was silky--the ones that went in did not ever seem to touch rim. She was playing point on a delightful fast break where she threaded a long upcourt pass to Carrington who then dished sideways to McPhee for a layup. I don't suppose she will get credit for the assist, but she had an ear to ear grin.
Smith had 11 points--8 in the first half and 3 in the second. But 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks substantially helped the cause.
Carrington off the bench and had 9 points--all in the second half. She also amassed 4 fouls with her physical play. 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal rounded out a very nice 23 minutes.
Johnson scored only 4 points and there were stretches when she was a liability on offense. OSU left her completely alone when she had the ball at the elbow. But she was largely responsible for frustrating Gulich, an she had 11 rebounds, 6 of them offensive. She was critical to the victory.
Sniezek played just 26 minutes as Tara let Williams run the offense for stretches, particularly when Carrington was in. Sniezek had 4 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals. She had some trouble guarding Pivec in the second half. That could have been the reason for the lineup arrangement for those 14 minutes when she was out.
Conclusion:
This game developed in the way an optimistic Tara fan might have predicted. It being the first game of the weekend, our players seemed fabulously well prepared to shut down OSU's most important weapons, and they did. Sunday will be a taller order. Oregon has more offensive weapons than OSU, it has a deeper bench, 3 players like Gulich, and we probably will not be quite as well prepared. However, winning in Corvallis may give our team a surge of confidence that can really help a young and inexperienced squad. If we do pull it off, it would be on the order of last year's win at Washington. So there is much to play for and hope for, and our team just made our hope much more plausible.Â
OSU is 7-3 and one game behind us in the Pac 12, with a 38 RPI. They are ranked 16 and we are ranked 24, Sagarin has them at 14 and us at 17. If we are looking for encouragement, OSU lost at USC while we won there, and was completely crushed by UCLA in Los Angeles. However, OSU at home is a different team, having only lost narrowly to Notre Dame and beating Oregon in Corvallis. In conference play, Gulich leads them with 19ppg with Kat Tudor, who is hitting 45% of her treys, coming in with 15ppg. Pivec is another major all around threat, and others can score too. Rueck always has his teams playing tough D, and this will be a very tough game that should put our new found momentum to a severe test.
Overview:
Tara's scouting report defense held Gulich to 7 points, 0 in the second half, and Kat Tudor to 0 for the game. Our offense shot only 39% but scratched out the win on the strength of 17 offensive rebounds leading to 21 second chance points. Top that off with 6 turnovers for the entire game. It was a tough, gritty win on the road, and showed the kind of determination we last saw at USC. Certainly our best road win of the year.
Flow of the Game:
We opened with an 11-0 run on the strength of baskets by Sniezek, Smith, McPhee, and Williams. Our defense was obvious--we doubled Gulich every time she received the ball. Also helping us was that Kat Tudor picked up 2 fouls and had to sit long minutes. Unfortunately, OSU clawed back with an 8-0 run of their own, and both defenses then dug in. We ended the first quarter up 21-15.
The second quarter our defense actually improved, holding OSU to 12, but our offense ground to a halt, scoring only 7. OSU left Johnson and Fingall open to shoot whenever they got the ball, and other than a put-back they could not make shots. Meanwhile, all the doubling on Gulich sometime left a perimeter player open for OSU and they made just enough shots to even up the game, and we clung to a 28-27 lead at the half. Katie McWilliams' 3/6 three pointers kept OSU in the game, despite our holding Gulich to 3/7.
We got our offense on track in the third quarter, scoring 19, and our defense held up, allowing 13. It started badly, however, as we gave up a three point play to Pivec and OSU followed it up with two quick layups to give OSU a 6 point lead. Williams staunched the bleeding with a jumper--her shots were pretty and all net tonight--and Carrington began to show some hustle. After Carrington layed it in and Williams made yet another mid range jumper, Carrington then sank a trey on a nice inside-out pass from Johnson, and we had the lead again 37-34. We did not give it up, although the game stayed tight the rest of the night. McPhee scored three more times in the quarter--mostly short jumpers-- and we finished it out leading 47-40.
The fourth quarter was needlessly nervewracking as we missed opportunities to put the game away and let OSU close to within 2 with less than a minute remaining. Williams, Carrington, McPhee, and Smith all made baskets in the quarter, but our defense was not quite as solid. OSU players that we were not keying on began to heat up. Worse, down the stretch our free throw shooting nearly did us in, as we missed five free throws in the quarter--4 in the last few minutes. This gave OSU a chance to send it to overtime when Carrington anticipated the inbounds pass and intercepted it, sealing the win.
Performances:
Credit Tara's scouting report for much of the credit this time. What we did to Gulich and Tudor was shocking. Kiana Williams shadowed Kat Tudor and was always in position to cut off any incoming passes, so Tudor did not have an opportunity to take a single three point attempt in the game. Gulich was defended by Johnson when she did not have the ball, but the instant it came to her she was doubled by McPhee or Sniezek or others, so she could not move. When OSU players came into the paint they were often tripled. If they could pass the ball out there could be an open three for them, but frequently they suffocated. We outscored OSU in the paint 38-24.Â
Our three point shooting, however, was not good. We were just 2/19 and this could have been our undoing. OSU, however, was 6/22, which while much better than us, was nowhere close to their usual success and insufficient to overcome their other problems.Â
OSU does not put much pressure on the ball, and this helped us turn the ball over only 6 times in the game--OSU had 11 turnovers. We also had 7 blocks to their 2, and 9 steals to their 4. I already alluded to our rebounding--44 over their 35. This game was won in the trenches, not by purity of shooting.
McPhee led with 18 points on 8/18. She was 0/4 from three which was not good, but that means she was shooting 60% from midrange and in close. She also had a whopping 12 rebounds for a double/double, an assist, a steal, and 2 blocks.
Williams was next in scoring with 14, 6/11 overall but only 1/5 from three point range--meaning she was 5/6 from midrange. She also had 2 assists and 2 steals. Her shot was silky--the ones that went in did not ever seem to touch rim. She was playing point on a delightful fast break where she threaded a long upcourt pass to Carrington who then dished sideways to McPhee for a layup. I don't suppose she will get credit for the assist, but she had an ear to ear grin.
Smith had 11 points--8 in the first half and 3 in the second. But 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks substantially helped the cause.
Carrington off the bench and had 9 points--all in the second half. She also amassed 4 fouls with her physical play. 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal rounded out a very nice 23 minutes.
Johnson scored only 4 points and there were stretches when she was a liability on offense. OSU left her completely alone when she had the ball at the elbow. But she was largely responsible for frustrating Gulich, an she had 11 rebounds, 6 of them offensive. She was critical to the victory.
Sniezek played just 26 minutes as Tara let Williams run the offense for stretches, particularly when Carrington was in. Sniezek had 4 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals. She had some trouble guarding Pivec in the second half. That could have been the reason for the lineup arrangement for those 14 minutes when she was out.
Conclusion:
This game developed in the way an optimistic Tara fan might have predicted. It being the first game of the weekend, our players seemed fabulously well prepared to shut down OSU's most important weapons, and they did. Sunday will be a taller order. Oregon has more offensive weapons than OSU, it has a deeper bench, 3 players like Gulich, and we probably will not be quite as well prepared. However, winning in Corvallis may give our team a surge of confidence that can really help a young and inexperienced squad. If we do pull it off, it would be on the order of last year's win at Washington. So there is much to play for and hope for, and our team just made our hope much more plausible.Â
