[BostonCard]

We were up 12-3, and USC has outscored us 21 - 20 since then.

BC

---

Third quarter is going a bit better.  We extend the lead to 52 - 36.

BC

[BostonCard]

We were up 12-3, and USC has outscored us 21 - 20 since then.

BC

---

Third quarter is going a bit better.  We extend the lead to 52 - 36.

BC

[TheFarm07]

Fortunately, Kiana chose a good game to come out of her long range shooting slump. We definitely needed her 5/7 from 3-point range

[TheFarm07]

Fortunately, Kiana chose a good game to come out of her long range shooting slump. We definitely needed her 5/7 from 3-point range

[BostonCard]

54 - 41 after 3.

BC

[BostonCard]

54 - 41 after 3.

BC

[mbdude]

Kiana has played all 30 minutes.

Live stats all messed up

[mbdude]

Kiana has played all 30 minutes.

Live stats all messed up

[TheFarm07]

Interesting that Jerome is getting significant minutes late in the game.

Haley needs to take over

---

I'll take Brink nailing clutch shots and getting o-boards. Her performance tonight is the most impressive yet in her very young collegiate career, playing well in critical situations against a quality opponent. Tempered by her fouling out, but I'll chalk that up to inexperience.

Interesting lineup choices for Tara, resting Haley for large portions of the second half and choosing Jerome to fill in instead of Prechtel. Also Belibi not seeing too much action tonight either.

[TheFarm07]

Interesting that Jerome is getting significant minutes late in the game.

Haley needs to take over

---

I'll take Brink nailing clutch shots and getting o-boards. Her performance tonight is the most impressive yet in her very young collegiate career, playing well in critical situations against a quality opponent. Tempered by her fouling out, but I'll chalk that up to inexperience.

Interesting lineup choices for Tara, resting Haley for large portions of the second half and choosing Jerome to fill in instead of Prechtel. Also Belibi not seeing too much action tonight either.

[BostonCard]

80 - 60 is the final.

BC

[BostonCard]

80 - 60 is the final.

BC

[mbdude]

Brink 10pt, 6 rebounds, 5 fouls 10 minutes
Seemed she played more.
Belibi and prechtel 11 minutes each

[mbdude]

Brink 10pt, 6 rebounds, 5 fouls 10 minutes
Seemed she played more.
Belibi and prechtel 11 minutes each

[TheFarm07]

On paper, it looked like a straightforward 80-60 win, but we struggled for most of the game.

Our shooting finally picked up late, but we still finished below 40% from the field. Haley was 4/12 and spent large portions of the second half on the bench, despite not being in foul trouble or showing any signs of injury.

I am also a little puzzled by Tara using Jerome instead of Belibi or Prechtel when Jones was on the bench and Brink was in foul trouble. Either of those options would have provided a little more offensive weaponry than Alyssa.

After struggling with landing shots in the first 5 games of the season, Kiana picked the right time to get hot finishing with 27 points on 10/21 shooting, but 7/11 from long-range.

Cameron was the second scoring option we needed. Despite fouling out about halfway through the fourth, she provided a much needed spark and different threat we needed offensively. She was 5/6 from the field, grabbed 3 o-boards (6 in total) and blocked 2 shots. She is fearless and confident, but that's what you get from the #3 recruit in the land.

Our 22 o-boards definitely helped offset our poor shooting, given us multiple opportunities to score.

We'll need to tighten it up even more on Monday against the Bruins, but this was our first real test of the season and we did decently well.

[TheFarm07]

On paper, it looked like a straightforward 80-60 win, but we struggled for most of the game.

Our shooting finally picked up late, but we still finished below 40% from the field. Haley was 4/12 and spent large portions of the second half on the bench, despite not being in foul trouble or showing any signs of injury.

I am also a little puzzled by Tara using Jerome instead of Belibi or Prechtel when Jones was on the bench and Brink was in foul trouble. Either of those options would have provided a little more offensive weaponry than Alyssa.

After struggling with landing shots in the first 5 games of the season, Kiana picked the right time to get hot finishing with 27 points on 10/21 shooting, but 7/11 from long-range.

Cameron was the second scoring option we needed. Despite fouling out about halfway through the fourth, she provided a much needed spark and different threat we needed offensively. She was 5/6 from the field, grabbed 3 o-boards (6 in total) and blocked 2 shots. She is fearless and confident, but that's what you get from the #3 recruit in the land.

Our 22 o-boards definitely helped offset our poor shooting, given us multiple opportunities to score.

We'll need to tighten it up even more on Monday against the Bruins, but this was our first real test of the season and we did decently well.

[M T]

Just to remind anyone who hadn't noticed.  Monday's game is at NOON.

Stanford met a few things today they hadn't seen yet.  A defense that could disrupt them.  A good offensive player they couldn't shutdown 1 on 1.  A big post.

The score was more representative of where I think Stanford is.  For appearances sake, I'm glad it was 20 pts.  I was thinking it would be more like 15 or 13.

We had a lot of passes deflected, or not attempted because a defender was in the way.  Shots were getting contested.

We mostly kept our offense going.  Great passing for the most part.
Like the previous game, the 2nd quarter was our weakest.

Of our 42 misses that became rebounds, we got 20; USC got 22.  Impressive.   Too bad there were so many misses.

USC had a better FG% and 3PT%.  But we led the FT%.  We didn't really defend well enough.

It will be a tougher game at their place.


By the way, IIRC, if a players foot is on or above the arc, the player is in the restricted zone.  It doesn't have to be touching the floor.

[M T]

Just to remind anyone who hadn't noticed.  Monday's game is at NOON.

Stanford met a few things today they hadn't seen yet.  A defense that could disrupt them.  A good offensive player they couldn't shutdown 1 on 1.  A big post.

The score was more representative of where I think Stanford is.  For appearances sake, I'm glad it was 20 pts.  I was thinking it would be more like 15 or 13.

We had a lot of passes deflected, or not attempted because a defender was in the way.  Shots were getting contested.

We mostly kept our offense going.  Great passing for the most part.
Like the previous game, the 2nd quarter was our weakest.

Of our 42 misses that became rebounds, we got 20; USC got 22.  Impressive.   Too bad there were so many misses.

USC had a better FG% and 3PT%.  But we led the FT%.  We didn't really defend well enough.

It will be a tougher game at their place.


By the way, IIRC, if a players foot is on or above the arc, the player is in the restricted zone.  It doesn't have to be touching the floor.

[81alum]

I agree with Farm.  Here are my takeaways from tonight:

1.  Williams came out of her slump last game, but hit on all cylinders this game.  27 pts and 7/12 from three.  This was desperately needed to make up for a lack of offensive consistency from others.

2. USC may not be offensively that talented, but they are just fine defensively and posed a good challenge.   An active, physical, close defense that worked quite well in the first quarter when their players were energetic.  It got harder for them to keep that up given they have so few players on the bench, and we scored more points in the 2nd than in the 1st, more in the 3rd than in the 2nd, and more in the 4th than in the 3rd.

3. Belibi, Precthel, Brink, and Jerome combined for only 38 minutes.  Tara did not want more than one of them on the floor at a time--probably for defensive purposes.  Of the four Brink was vastly more effective on offense going 5/5 but fouled out--she needs time to adjust to foul calls at the college level.  I agree that Prechtel does not seem like her old frosh self.  Belibi looked more like she did last year than earlier this year.  In her first game this year against a quality defense, Belibi was unable to move in the paint and was only 2/7. 

4. Anna Wilson got 29 minutes and went 3/10.  Tara needed her defense.  No one was consistently stopping Endiya Rogers.

5. Jones made important contributions by leading rebounding--which we won overwhelmingly--and also leading assists with 3.  Her 4/11 shooting looked more mortal than we are used to seeing--not every crazy shot she threw up from the mid range went in.

Overall: there is plenty to learn from this game.  Chiefly, I am pleased that Williams stepped up, and hopeful that differently players will star in different roles in different games.  Our sophomores and freshmen showed tonight that they have quite a bit to learn about playing against tough defenses.

[81alum]

I agree with Farm.  Here are my takeaways from tonight:

1.  Williams came out of her slump last game, but hit on all cylinders this game.  27 pts and 7/12 from three.  This was desperately needed to make up for a lack of offensive consistency from others.

2. USC may not be offensively that talented, but they are just fine defensively and posed a good challenge.   An active, physical, close defense that worked quite well in the first quarter when their players were energetic.  It got harder for them to keep that up given they have so few players on the bench, and we scored more points in the 2nd than in the 1st, more in the 3rd than in the 2nd, and more in the 4th than in the 3rd.

3. Belibi, Precthel, Brink, and Jerome combined for only 38 minutes.  Tara did not want more than one of them on the floor at a time--probably for defensive purposes.  Of the four Brink was vastly more effective on offense going 5/5 but fouled out--she needs time to adjust to foul calls at the college level.  I agree that Prechtel does not seem like her old frosh self.  Belibi looked more like she did last year than earlier this year.  In her first game this year against a quality defense, Belibi was unable to move in the paint and was only 2/7. 

4. Anna Wilson got 29 minutes and went 3/10.  Tara needed her defense.  No one was consistently stopping Endiya Rogers.

5. Jones made important contributions by leading rebounding--which we won overwhelmingly--and also leading assists with 3.  Her 4/11 shooting looked more mortal than we are used to seeing--not every crazy shot she threw up from the mid range went in.

Overall: there is plenty to learn from this game.  Chiefly, I am pleased that Williams stepped up, and hopeful that differently players will star in different roles in different games.  Our sophomores and freshmen showed tonight that they have quite a bit to learn about playing against tough defenses.

[chimera]

A bit ugly but I do think if the team shoots relatively poorly and basically doesn't play very well on offense or defense, a 20 point away win means they are pretty good.  I wonder if all the travel and never being home is taking a toll.  That sort of life can be tiring.  Brink was great.  She hasn't really had much foul trouble before this game so I will hope it was an anomaly.  She was by far our best big.  Belibi is not that tall for a 5 and Jackson is both tall and strong.  Gotta hope Fran does better against that sort of player in the future.  Not sure what is going on with Prechtel.  She has not had a strong start to the season.  

Best things about the game were Williams taking over, which she seems to do when the team needs her to, and Brink's play aside from the fouls.

We fouled them too much in the first 3/4 or so of the game.  I had trouble keeping up with the foul totals (Come on Ros, help us out on that!!) but I think Jerome was in there because the other bigs were either in foul trouble or not very effective or both.  

Just one of those ugly conference games on the road.  Win those by 20 playing meh, ok, but better kick it up a big notch for Monday.

[chimera]

A bit ugly but I do think if the team shoots relatively poorly and basically doesn't play very well on offense or defense, a 20 point away win means they are pretty good.  I wonder if all the travel and never being home is taking a toll.  That sort of life can be tiring.  Brink was great.  She hasn't really had much foul trouble before this game so I will hope it was an anomaly.  She was by far our best big.  Belibi is not that tall for a 5 and Jackson is both tall and strong.  Gotta hope Fran does better against that sort of player in the future.  Not sure what is going on with Prechtel.  She has not had a strong start to the season.  

Best things about the game were Williams taking over, which she seems to do when the team needs her to, and Brink's play aside from the fouls.

We fouled them too much in the first 3/4 or so of the game.  I had trouble keeping up with the foul totals (Come on Ros, help us out on that!!) but I think Jerome was in there because the other bigs were either in foul trouble or not very effective or both.  

Just one of those ugly conference games on the road.  Win those by 20 playing meh, ok, but better kick it up a big notch for Monday.

[TheFarm07]

As we play tougher opponents, we'll learn quickly what we need to work on and where our overall level is. We can get away with mistakes against Cal Poly and UNLV. Even tonight, a better offensive team would have made us paid more dearly early on and made us sweat even more.

I believe we'll get that starting with UCLA on Monday. Onyenwere and Osbourne will be difficult to contain individually and they have help from other players so we can't just focus too much on them.

Hopefully Haley will adjust those mid-range jumpers and correct those errant shots she had. I hope Belibi's poorer performance was not indicative of her current level and she will also look to adapt to better interior defense; we'll need a more dependable scorer down low to diversify our offense against higher caliber teams and not rely entirely on drives or jumpers.

81alum, I agree with your previous assessment on Hannah Jump. Looks like she's very streaky and tonight she looked very off and missed the basket entirely on a shot or two. But then she can also be pinpoint accurate as well.

[TheFarm07]

As we play tougher opponents, we'll learn quickly what we need to work on and where our overall level is. We can get away with mistakes against Cal Poly and UNLV. Even tonight, a better offensive team would have made us paid more dearly early on and made us sweat even more.

I believe we'll get that starting with UCLA on Monday. Onyenwere and Osbourne will be difficult to contain individually and they have help from other players so we can't just focus too much on them.

Hopefully Haley will adjust those mid-range jumpers and correct those errant shots she had. I hope Belibi's poorer performance was not indicative of her current level and she will also look to adapt to better interior defense; we'll need a more dependable scorer down low to diversify our offense against higher caliber teams and not rely entirely on drives or jumpers.

81alum, I agree with your previous assessment on Hannah Jump. Looks like she's very streaky and tonight she looked very off and missed the basket entirely on a shot or two. But then she can also be pinpoint accurate as well.

[teejers1]

As we play tougher opponents, we'll learn quickly what we need to work on and where our overall level is. We can get away with mistakes against Cal Poly and UNLV. Even tonight, a better offensive team would have made us paid more dearly early on and made us sweat even more.

I believe we'll get that starting with UCLA on Monday. Onyenwere and Osbourne will be difficult to contain individually and they have help from other players so we can't just focus too much on them.

Hopefully Haley will adjust those mid-range jumpers and correct those errant shots she had. I hope Belibi's poorer performance was not indicative of her current level and she will also look to adapt to better interior defense; we'll need a more dependable scorer down low to diversify our offense against higher caliber teams and not rely entirely on drives or jumpers.

81alum, I agree with your previous assessment on Hannah Jump. Looks like she's very streaky and tonight she looked very off and missed the basket entirely on a shot or two. But then she can also be pinpoint accurate as well.

1.  Agree that Ki was terrific; and Brink provided brobdingnagian lift, even in foul-limited minutes;

2.  Thought Lexie had a good game - close to a double-double, no?

3.  This team is deep.  They should press more.  Run bodies in and out of the lineup and keep the pressure up.  I thought when they imposed press in 2H was when they moved the separation to comfortable zone.

4.  20 point win at SC against a team with some players.  Perfect?  Not even close; but I'll take it.

[teejers1]

As we play tougher opponents, we'll learn quickly what we need to work on and where our overall level is. We can get away with mistakes against Cal Poly and UNLV. Even tonight, a better offensive team would have made us paid more dearly early on and made us sweat even more.

I believe we'll get that starting with UCLA on Monday. Onyenwere and Osbourne will be difficult to contain individually and they have help from other players so we can't just focus too much on them.

Hopefully Haley will adjust those mid-range jumpers and correct those errant shots she had. I hope Belibi's poorer performance was not indicative of her current level and she will also look to adapt to better interior defense; we'll need a more dependable scorer down low to diversify our offense against higher caliber teams and not rely entirely on drives or jumpers.

81alum, I agree with your previous assessment on Hannah Jump. Looks like she's very streaky and tonight she looked very off and missed the basket entirely on a shot or two. But then she can also be pinpoint accurate as well.

1.  Agree that Ki was terrific; and Brink provided brobdingnagian lift, even in foul-limited minutes;

2.  Thought Lexie had a good game - close to a double-double, no?

3.  This team is deep.  They should press more.  Run bodies in and out of the lineup and keep the pressure up.  I thought when they imposed press in 2H was when they moved the separation to comfortable zone.

4.  20 point win at SC against a team with some players.  Perfect?  Not even close; but I'll take it.

[TheFarm07]

As we play tougher opponents, we'll learn quickly what we need to work on and where our overall level is. We can get away with mistakes against Cal Poly and UNLV. Even tonight, a better offensive team would have made us paid more dearly early on and made us sweat even more.

I believe we'll get that starting with UCLA on Monday. Onyenwere and Osbourne will be difficult to contain individually and they have help from other players so we can't just focus too much on them.

Hopefully Haley will adjust those mid-range jumpers and correct those errant shots she had. I hope Belibi's poorer performance was not indicative of her current level and she will also look to adapt to better interior defense; we'll need a more dependable scorer down low to diversify our offense against higher caliber teams and not rely entirely on drives or jumpers.

81alum, I agree with your previous assessment on Hannah Jump. Looks like she's very streaky and tonight she looked very off and missed the basket entirely on a shot or two. But then she can also be pinpoint accurate as well.

1.  Agree that Ki was terrific; and Brink provided of immense proportions lift, even in foul-limited minutes;

2.  Thought Lexie had a good game - close to a double-double, no?

3.  This team is deep.  They should press more.  Run bodies in and out of the lineup and keep the pressure up.  I thought when they imposed press in 2H was when they moved the separation to comfortable zone.

4.  20 point win at SC against a team with some players.  Perfect?  Not even close; but I'll take it.

Lexie had 16 points and 8 rebounds so a pretty good night, her highlight was going 8/9 from the FT line. She was aggressive in driving to the basket, so even though she was 3/6 (1/3 from inside the 3-pt line), she got fouled often, so that was nice to see, though I would like to see her get a couple of those baskets to go in, too.

Agreed teejers on the press, we got a turnover and an easy layup off of one of the full court presses and that did spark a bit of more life into the team. We have a deep team and even when the game was tight in the second half, Tara was still switching lineups around. I'm curious to see (if hopefully the season will be played out) in a couple of months, in a close game for the Pac-12 championship or in the NCAA tournament, whether Tara will continue to rotate players around at the end of the game with a tight score or if she will have a favorite five she'll turn to.

[TheFarm07]

As we play tougher opponents, we'll learn quickly what we need to work on and where our overall level is. We can get away with mistakes against Cal Poly and UNLV. Even tonight, a better offensive team would have made us paid more dearly early on and made us sweat even more.

I believe we'll get that starting with UCLA on Monday. Onyenwere and Osbourne will be difficult to contain individually and they have help from other players so we can't just focus too much on them.

Hopefully Haley will adjust those mid-range jumpers and correct those errant shots she had. I hope Belibi's poorer performance was not indicative of her current level and she will also look to adapt to better interior defense; we'll need a more dependable scorer down low to diversify our offense against higher caliber teams and not rely entirely on drives or jumpers.

81alum, I agree with your previous assessment on Hannah Jump. Looks like she's very streaky and tonight she looked very off and missed the basket entirely on a shot or two. But then she can also be pinpoint accurate as well.

1.  Agree that Ki was terrific; and Brink provided of immense proportions lift, even in foul-limited minutes;

2.  Thought Lexie had a good game - close to a double-double, no?

3.  This team is deep.  They should press more.  Run bodies in and out of the lineup and keep the pressure up.  I thought when they imposed press in 2H was when they moved the separation to comfortable zone.

4.  20 point win at SC against a team with some players.  Perfect?  Not even close; but I'll take it.

Lexie had 16 points and 8 rebounds so a pretty good night, her highlight was going 8/9 from the FT line. She was aggressive in driving to the basket, so even though she was 3/6 (1/3 from inside the 3-pt line), she got fouled often, so that was nice to see, though I would like to see her get a couple of those baskets to go in, too.

Agreed teejers on the press, we got a turnover and an easy layup off of one of the full court presses and that did spark a bit of more life into the team. We have a deep team and even when the game was tight in the second half, Tara was still switching lineups around. I'm curious to see (if hopefully the season will be played out) in a couple of months, in a close game for the Pac-12 championship or in the NCAA tournament, whether Tara will continue to rotate players around at the end of the game with a tight score or if she will have a favorite five she'll turn to.

[martyup]

It was frustrating to see Belibi revert to her last season habit of missing shots right under the basket.  She seemed to be in too big a hurry on her release.  I guess that can be chalked up to facing better defenders than she's faced thus far this season.  I think if she just trusts her footwork and takes just bit more time to adjust her shots, she will do much better than 2-7.

On the other hand, it was nice to see Brink finishing shots in the paint in traffic.  She was 5-5.  She looks fragile with her willowy frame, but she is fearless.  She fights for position under the basket against women who outweigh her significantly.  I thought that at least two of the fouls called on her were bogus, but she'll learn how to avoid picking up fouls with experience.  Remember when Lexie was a frosh she often got into foul trouble.  Last night Lexie played 34 minutes, scored 16 points, and had 0 fouls.

What makes this team so formidable is depth.  We took down a Pac-12 team 80-20 with Jones going 4-11.  We have so many weapons that when one is misfiring another one steps up.

[martyup]

It was frustrating to see Belibi revert to her last season habit of missing shots right under the basket.  She seemed to be in too big a hurry on her release.  I guess that can be chalked up to facing better defenders than she's faced thus far this season.  I think if she just trusts her footwork and takes just bit more time to adjust her shots, she will do much better than 2-7.

On the other hand, it was nice to see Brink finishing shots in the paint in traffic.  She was 5-5.  She looks fragile with her willowy frame, but she is fearless.  She fights for position under the basket against women who outweigh her significantly.  I thought that at least two of the fouls called on her were bogus, but she'll learn how to avoid picking up fouls with experience.  Remember when Lexie was a frosh she often got into foul trouble.  Last night Lexie played 34 minutes, scored 16 points, and had 0 fouls.

What makes this team so formidable is depth.  We took down a Pac-12 team 80-20 with Jones going 4-11.  We have so many weapons that when one is misfiring another one steps up.

[mbdude]

Belibi really only has 2 moves, fake left or right and go the other way.  And shes rather deliberate, not explosive,  so easier to defendb

[mbdude]

Belibi really only has 2 moves, fake left or right and go the other way.  And shes rather deliberate, not explosive,  so easier to defendb

[2006alum]

Trakh is a solid coach and scouted us well. I continue to think an underrated story is how much C.al's decline has enabled schools to spend their week primarily preparing to play us because they know C.al will be the far easier matchup. USC shut down the lanes really well and it really disrupted Jones, and they double-teamed in the paint to disrupt Belibi. I don't think Belibi has the size or skill (yet) to go toe to toe with a true center like Jackson. 

That opened up the outside, and Kiana let it rain, w/ enough treys from others to keep their defenders honest around the perimeter. I really am beginning to think Williams plays only as well as we need her: she is clutch when it matters and sometimes markedly off when it doesn't. Here's hoping that theory holds up on Monday, because we'll definitely need her then.

Brink was fantastic. It's not just height but also her long limbs - she can surgically reach up and block or grab the rebound in a way I can't think of another Stanford big being able to do. The Ogwumike's used their physical presence more to open up space, as did Appel. Brink is almost like a longer, taller Hull sister in her ability to poke and block shots. 

What I'd like to see more of: I'd like to see Jones try more step back or stop and pop jumpers to keep the defenders honest - they knew where she was going and were ready to close in on her as she went down the lane. Similarly, it'd be nice if Belibi developed the ability to turn, and step back and shoot rather than always turn in. As another poster said, she basically has the same two moves and they're relatively easy to predict. When she lacks a reach advantage (as with Jackson), her shots are pretty easy to block.

And I know we talk about having a lot of crowding at the post, but I actually think Prechtel's bigger problem is crowding in the guard positions. In an ideal universe, Prechtel would play a high post on offense, but in most lineups Tara ran there was only one true post because both Jones and the Hulls can rebound well enough to guard like a big, and between Williams, Wilson, 2x Hulls, Jones, and Jump, there's a lot of shooting ability in those positions. I'd love to see some time where Prechtel shares the court with Belibi or Brink where she's at the high post, because she has the ability to step back and shoot threes or step in a shoot from the line, and I also think she could screen at the key and help Jones cut inside. I feel like some of her most successful plays on offense last season were in that role, but for whatever reason there just hasn't been a lot of two-forward sets so far this season. In fact, I had to blink twice because at one point it was Williams, Wilson, Hull x2, and Jones, and we had no true forward whatsoever! Truly a testament to how well the Hulls and Jones can rebound for their size.

[2006alum]

Trakh is a solid coach and scouted us well. I continue to think an underrated story is how much C.al's decline has enabled schools to spend their week primarily preparing to play us because they know C.al will be the far easier matchup. USC shut down the lanes really well and it really disrupted Jones, and they double-teamed in the paint to disrupt Belibi. I don't think Belibi has the size or skill (yet) to go toe to toe with a true center like Jackson. 

That opened up the outside, and Kiana let it rain, w/ enough treys from others to keep their defenders honest around the perimeter. I really am beginning to think Williams plays only as well as we need her: she is clutch when it matters and sometimes markedly off when it doesn't. Here's hoping that theory holds up on Monday, because we'll definitely need her then.

Brink was fantastic. It's not just height but also her long limbs - she can surgically reach up and block or grab the rebound in a way I can't think of another Stanford big being able to do. The Ogwumike's used their physical presence more to open up space, as did Appel. Brink is almost like a longer, taller Hull sister in her ability to poke and block shots. 

What I'd like to see more of: I'd like to see Jones try more step back or stop and pop jumpers to keep the defenders honest - they knew where she was going and were ready to close in on her as she went down the lane. Similarly, it'd be nice if Belibi developed the ability to turn, and step back and shoot rather than always turn in. As another poster said, she basically has the same two moves and they're relatively easy to predict. When she lacks a reach advantage (as with Jackson), her shots are pretty easy to block.

And I know we talk about having a lot of crowding at the post, but I actually think Prechtel's bigger problem is crowding in the guard positions. In an ideal universe, Prechtel would play a high post on offense, but in most lineups Tara ran there was only one true post because both Jones and the Hulls can rebound well enough to guard like a big, and between Williams, Wilson, 2x Hulls, Jones, and Jump, there's a lot of shooting ability in those positions. I'd love to see some time where Prechtel shares the court with Belibi or Brink where she's at the high post, because she has the ability to step back and shoot threes or step in a shoot from the line, and I also think she could screen at the key and help Jones cut inside. I feel like some of her most successful plays on offense last season were in that role, but for whatever reason there just hasn't been a lot of two-forward sets so far this season. In fact, I had to blink twice because at one point it was Williams, Wilson, Hull x2, and Jones, and we had no true forward whatsoever! Truly a testament to how well the Hulls and Jones can rebound for their size.