[chimera]

Ah well, it was fun while it lasted.  I do think the team made it as far as we could reasonably expect.  Had our posts (Fingall and Dodson, who must not be 100% because she was much better before she got hurt and never quite got back into the same rhythm) been healthy, we would have had a great shot to win this one.  Lexie Hull played well I thought, hit some threes, rebounded.  We never got Smith the ball much in the second half, basically lost our post game.  And yeah, the Dodson vs Coffee conundrum hurt.  On offense, Dodson hurt us a lot because she struggled to finish and did not need to be guarded mid-range.  Coffee helped more on offense but was not mobile enough when ND got going on drives to the rim.

Next year could be great, but I do worry about our inside game.  If the "real" Dodson was the one we saw look good mid-season before the foot injury and if Fingall comes back healthy and able to play well, we are fine even if the frosh take time to adjust.  Losing Smith hurts a lot.  If Dodson has hit her ceiling (which I doubt but is possible) and/or Fingall is not back all the way, we will have to rely on frosh posts, which is never a great idea.  

Congrats to the team for a fine season. I didn't think we were a top 4 team but one that could pull an upset if things went right. Things did not quite go right enough, but that doesn't detract from a very, very good season.

[chimera]

Ah well, it was fun while it lasted.  I do think the team made it as far as we could reasonably expect.  Had our posts (Fingall and Dodson, who must not be 100% because she was much better before she got hurt and never quite got back into the same rhythm) been healthy, we would have had a great shot to win this one.  Lexie Hull played well I thought, hit some threes, rebounded.  We never got Smith the ball much in the second half, basically lost our post game.  And yeah, the Dodson vs Coffee conundrum hurt.  On offense, Dodson hurt us a lot because she struggled to finish and did not need to be guarded mid-range.  Coffee helped more on offense but was not mobile enough when ND got going on drives to the rim.

Next year could be great, but I do worry about our inside game.  If the "real" Dodson was the one we saw look good mid-season before the foot injury and if Fingall comes back healthy and able to play well, we are fine even if the frosh take time to adjust.  Losing Smith hurts a lot.  If Dodson has hit her ceiling (which I doubt but is possible) and/or Fingall is not back all the way, we will have to rely on frosh posts, which is never a great idea.  

Congrats to the team for a fine season. I didn't think we were a top 4 team but one that could pull an upset if things went right. Things did not quite go right enough, but that doesn't detract from a very, very good season.