Preview:
USC is 10-2, having lost to Texas A&M and UCLA, and having beaten a lot of mid majors. Massey has them as 43rd in the country. The three guards Minyon Moore, Mariya Moore, and Aliyah Mazyck all score from 12-15 points a game. Mariya is the most prolific three point shooter at 38%. USC is a guard oriented team this year. Their two starting forwards each average only 20 minutes a game, and each shoots just a little over 40%. Again, we wait to see whether Lexie and Marta and Anna return....
Overview:
Missy Barlowe refereed an overly physical game, in which collisions were often not called fouls, and it played right into USC's style of play. SC took advantage of it to keep the game close, leading as late as 1:21 left in the third quarter. The game turned in those last few seconds, with DiJonai getting a layup-and-one, Kiana sinking a trey, and Lacie getting a steal and layup with time expiring in the quarter. Suddenly we were up 7 heading into the fourth quarter, and we did enough to keep that lead to the end.
Flow of the game:
Before the game we learned that Maya Dodson was out. Not a season ending injury we were told but not much more. Apparently the radio announcer said she had been wearing a boot, but she was helping the team warm up with nothing on her foot. Lexie at long last was in uniform and had been practicing, but did not play. Anna did play. Marta is still out.
For the first half our offense was clearly out of sink. We played with energy and speed and the players seemed amped up for the game, but they were almost frenetic, rushing shots and forcing passes. Shooting percentage was way down at 33% in the first quarter. The offense improved as we went along and we shot 50% in the fourth quarter. Perhaps we wore down USC's defense. Our defense, also improved some, giving up 19 in the 1st but holding them to 14 in the 2nd and in the 3rd. It did seem as if USC got a lot of open driving lanes to the basket at first, and we tightened up some. USC took 24 three point shots and made just 5 of them.
As I noted in the overview, we got the advantage only at the very end of the 3rd quarter, after being behind by a couple at halftime. This game was very close the whole way.
My main concern is the health of Nadia Fingall. She went down twice. The first time I think she was clutching her right knee, but after a trip to the locker room she returned later. The second time she was definitely clutching her left knee. I could be mixed up.
Performances:
There are positive things to be said about all our starters. Smith with 19 points and 11 rebounds got her second double double of the season. With Dodson and Fingall out she played more at the 5 than we have seen for a while, and this helped her collect more rebounds.
Kiana Williams scored the most points with 22, had 4 assists but also, sadly, 7 turnovers.
Dijonai Carrington scored 14 despite going 0/4 from three point range. Lacy Hull scored 13 points and also 8 rebounds.
One thing I noticed from the shot chart: we did not make a single mid range jumper--even though we attempted quite a few of them. All of our points came from in close or near the three point line.
As a team, we had a slight lead in all the rebounding categories.
Conclusion:
USC is a tough, winning, successful defensive team, and we beat them on our home count. It will be harder when we travel to LA. For now, we have one day to prepare for a UCLA team that just beat Cal on their home court!
USC is 10-2, having lost to Texas A&M and UCLA, and having beaten a lot of mid majors. Massey has them as 43rd in the country. The three guards Minyon Moore, Mariya Moore, and Aliyah Mazyck all score from 12-15 points a game. Mariya is the most prolific three point shooter at 38%. USC is a guard oriented team this year. Their two starting forwards each average only 20 minutes a game, and each shoots just a little over 40%. Again, we wait to see whether Lexie and Marta and Anna return....
Overview:
Missy Barlowe refereed an overly physical game, in which collisions were often not called fouls, and it played right into USC's style of play. SC took advantage of it to keep the game close, leading as late as 1:21 left in the third quarter. The game turned in those last few seconds, with DiJonai getting a layup-and-one, Kiana sinking a trey, and Lacie getting a steal and layup with time expiring in the quarter. Suddenly we were up 7 heading into the fourth quarter, and we did enough to keep that lead to the end.
Flow of the game:
Before the game we learned that Maya Dodson was out. Not a season ending injury we were told but not much more. Apparently the radio announcer said she had been wearing a boot, but she was helping the team warm up with nothing on her foot. Lexie at long last was in uniform and had been practicing, but did not play. Anna did play. Marta is still out.
For the first half our offense was clearly out of sink. We played with energy and speed and the players seemed amped up for the game, but they were almost frenetic, rushing shots and forcing passes. Shooting percentage was way down at 33% in the first quarter. The offense improved as we went along and we shot 50% in the fourth quarter. Perhaps we wore down USC's defense. Our defense, also improved some, giving up 19 in the 1st but holding them to 14 in the 2nd and in the 3rd. It did seem as if USC got a lot of open driving lanes to the basket at first, and we tightened up some. USC took 24 three point shots and made just 5 of them.
As I noted in the overview, we got the advantage only at the very end of the 3rd quarter, after being behind by a couple at halftime. This game was very close the whole way.
My main concern is the health of Nadia Fingall. She went down twice. The first time I think she was clutching her right knee, but after a trip to the locker room she returned later. The second time she was definitely clutching her left knee. I could be mixed up.
Performances:
There are positive things to be said about all our starters. Smith with 19 points and 11 rebounds got her second double double of the season. With Dodson and Fingall out she played more at the 5 than we have seen for a while, and this helped her collect more rebounds.
Kiana Williams scored the most points with 22, had 4 assists but also, sadly, 7 turnovers.
Dijonai Carrington scored 14 despite going 0/4 from three point range. Lacy Hull scored 13 points and also 8 rebounds.
One thing I noticed from the shot chart: we did not make a single mid range jumper--even though we attempted quite a few of them. All of our points came from in close or near the three point line.
As a team, we had a slight lead in all the rebounding categories.
Conclusion:
USC is a tough, winning, successful defensive team, and we beat them on our home count. It will be harder when we travel to LA. For now, we have one day to prepare for a UCLA team that just beat Cal on their home court!