Preview:
Gonzaga is a very good team this year, starting off 2-0 after defeating CSU Bakersfield and U Tennesee-Martin quite handily at home. They play excellent defense--limiting Martin to 5 baskets in a half, and they are good shooters as usual at 56% so far this year. They lost some big names to graduation (Zykera Rice and Laura Stockton are gone) but don't seem to be missing a stride. The Wirth twins at 6'3" give them 2 highly competent junior forwards, with Jenn leading the team with 17 points and 10 rpg. They both had great games against us a year ago which they credit for setting up their success for the rest of the season. Jill Townsend is a 5'11" guard averaging 11 ppg, mostly from inside. Katie Campbell is a 5'10" senior guard shooting 60% of her treys--last year she hit 4 in a row to help beat us. And point guard senior Jessie Loera has a better than 2:1 assist:turnover ratio. Notice all the starters are juniors and seniors? This is an experienced, competent team that beat us just a year ago and will come in to Maples with no fear. A year ago they out rebounded us, shot much better from the free throw line, shot a much higher pecentage of their treys, and played better defense without fouling. None of our prior foes other than team USA remotely prepare us for this level of competition. Gonzaga will be better than half the Pac 12 this year--at least.
Last year's write up and thread: https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...ht=Gonzaga
Overview:
At the chalk talk Kate told us what Gonzaga's strategy would be--to clog the paint. We told our players to be prepared to drive and dish outside for open shots. But we drove and turned the ball over, shot woefully from three point range, and had difficulty creating the fluid motion that is the hallmark of our offense. Even worse, we shot only 17 of 29 from the free throw line. To add insult to injury, our least favorite referee sprinkled in her negative magic to make the game disjointed, with a highly questionable technical called on Haley Jones to spot Gonzaga two points in overtime. But despite all of that, our team of mainly freshmen and sophomores beat their team of mainly juniors and seniors. We passed the first test of character this year, even if we didn't really pass the first test of basketball prowess.
Flow of the Game:
Tara started an experienced team, including Williams, Carrington, Lexie, Jerome, and Fingall. We were told against Gonzaga we wanted the experience out there to set an example for the younger players who would come off the bench. But three of those starters wound up playing only modest roles. Carrington nearly save the game against Gonzaga in the 4th quarter last year, spearheading a major comeback. But tonight she looked off--I wonder if she was well--she did not seem happy on the floor. She collected 2 fouls, 0/3 shooting, and only was in for 11 minutes. Fingall lasted even less time--only 7 minutes in the game. I am convinced that she is not yet her old self. Jerome got 16 minutes but managed only 2 points and a rebound to go with 2 fouls. The "experienced" squad did not carry this game.
Gonzaga did as advertised and sagged into the paint to prevent most driving opportunities, but were quick enough to the perimeter to closely contest the three point shots. Every point was a struggle. Lacie and Lexie provided most of the points in the early going with Williams seemingly still in a slump, and Prechtel proved somewhat effective in the 2nd quarter. Even so, we were behind 16-17 after a quarter and behind 28-31 at the half. We were 2/14 three point shooting in the half, with 9 turnovers.
The third quarter our defense stepped up and we outscored them 17-12, for a 45-43 lead. In this quarter Haley Jones began to assert herself, going 4/4 to begin the quarter, often sliding through traffic for layups in the paint. Williams also began to break out of her slump. The game seemed to be going in the right direction.
The fourth quarter was a mixed bag, with Jones and Williams and Lexie making contributions--Lexie's trey for a 2 point lead at 1:35 was critical. But we shot our freethrows poorly and Gonzaga shot theirs well, and we were tied at 62 at the end of regulation, with an excellent defensive stop on Jenn Wirth as time expired.
Overtime looked bleak when a minute in, Missy assessed a technical on Haley Jones for an intentional foul that looked anything but intentional. But then Lexie took the game over. First she sank two free throws for a 1 point lead, then a layup for a three point lead, then a steal and a fastbreak layup for a 5 point lead, bring the house to its feet with 1:39 to go. She made another jumper and we made enough free throws to keep the lead and eek out a win.
Performances:
Jenn Wirth was held to 0/11, so our tag team defense deserves credit for shutting down Gonzaga's best player. Jill Townsend and LeAnn Wirth fouled out--so while many calls in this game were questionable, Gonzaga deserved to pay a price for its highly aggressive defense and it did.
As a team we shot 42% while holding Gonzaga to 33%. But we had weaknesses or this game would not have been close. We gave up 14 offensive rebounds to Gonzaga, we shot free throws and treys poorly, and made 15 turnovers--9 in the first half. It looked like we were very young and a little rattled at times.
Williams led scoring with 22 points--mostly in the second half. It was nice to see her getting her offense in gear after her early season struggles. 5 assists (hard to come by) and three steals helped to round out her 43 minute stat line. She gets my player-of-the-game.
Lexie had 20 points and 8 rebounds in 41 minutes, plus the game winning sequence in overtime. She could easily get another player-of-the-game.
Jones played 24 minutes and scored 11, with a couple of assists and a block too--but also 3 fouls. Without her spark we would have lost.
Prechtel scored 8 and at times was the only player who seemed capable of breaking through in the clogged Gonzaga defense. Belibi played better defense, and Tara was substituting Prechtel for offense and Belibi for defense at times.
No one else generate more than 3 points, although Lacie got large chunks of time to play defense before fouling out.
Conclusion:
It is probably a plus for this very young team to play in a tough, close game early in the season, and this certainly qualifies. But it also shows just how much we have to work on since other coaches will see Gonzaga's defensive scheme and we have to be better prepared to counter it. We seemed to rush the three point shots we did take. I think Hannah Jump could have had a bigger role had we been driving and dishing as the coaches said we needed to do. If ever there was a game that called for a three point shooting barrage, this was it. We didn't get that, but somehow our own strong defense allowed us to muddle through--this time.
Gonzaga is a very good team this year, starting off 2-0 after defeating CSU Bakersfield and U Tennesee-Martin quite handily at home. They play excellent defense--limiting Martin to 5 baskets in a half, and they are good shooters as usual at 56% so far this year. They lost some big names to graduation (Zykera Rice and Laura Stockton are gone) but don't seem to be missing a stride. The Wirth twins at 6'3" give them 2 highly competent junior forwards, with Jenn leading the team with 17 points and 10 rpg. They both had great games against us a year ago which they credit for setting up their success for the rest of the season. Jill Townsend is a 5'11" guard averaging 11 ppg, mostly from inside. Katie Campbell is a 5'10" senior guard shooting 60% of her treys--last year she hit 4 in a row to help beat us. And point guard senior Jessie Loera has a better than 2:1 assist:turnover ratio. Notice all the starters are juniors and seniors? This is an experienced, competent team that beat us just a year ago and will come in to Maples with no fear. A year ago they out rebounded us, shot much better from the free throw line, shot a much higher pecentage of their treys, and played better defense without fouling. None of our prior foes other than team USA remotely prepare us for this level of competition. Gonzaga will be better than half the Pac 12 this year--at least.
Last year's write up and thread: https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...ht=Gonzaga
Overview:
At the chalk talk Kate told us what Gonzaga's strategy would be--to clog the paint. We told our players to be prepared to drive and dish outside for open shots. But we drove and turned the ball over, shot woefully from three point range, and had difficulty creating the fluid motion that is the hallmark of our offense. Even worse, we shot only 17 of 29 from the free throw line. To add insult to injury, our least favorite referee sprinkled in her negative magic to make the game disjointed, with a highly questionable technical called on Haley Jones to spot Gonzaga two points in overtime. But despite all of that, our team of mainly freshmen and sophomores beat their team of mainly juniors and seniors. We passed the first test of character this year, even if we didn't really pass the first test of basketball prowess.
Flow of the Game:
Tara started an experienced team, including Williams, Carrington, Lexie, Jerome, and Fingall. We were told against Gonzaga we wanted the experience out there to set an example for the younger players who would come off the bench. But three of those starters wound up playing only modest roles. Carrington nearly save the game against Gonzaga in the 4th quarter last year, spearheading a major comeback. But tonight she looked off--I wonder if she was well--she did not seem happy on the floor. She collected 2 fouls, 0/3 shooting, and only was in for 11 minutes. Fingall lasted even less time--only 7 minutes in the game. I am convinced that she is not yet her old self. Jerome got 16 minutes but managed only 2 points and a rebound to go with 2 fouls. The "experienced" squad did not carry this game.
Gonzaga did as advertised and sagged into the paint to prevent most driving opportunities, but were quick enough to the perimeter to closely contest the three point shots. Every point was a struggle. Lacie and Lexie provided most of the points in the early going with Williams seemingly still in a slump, and Prechtel proved somewhat effective in the 2nd quarter. Even so, we were behind 16-17 after a quarter and behind 28-31 at the half. We were 2/14 three point shooting in the half, with 9 turnovers.
The third quarter our defense stepped up and we outscored them 17-12, for a 45-43 lead. In this quarter Haley Jones began to assert herself, going 4/4 to begin the quarter, often sliding through traffic for layups in the paint. Williams also began to break out of her slump. The game seemed to be going in the right direction.
The fourth quarter was a mixed bag, with Jones and Williams and Lexie making contributions--Lexie's trey for a 2 point lead at 1:35 was critical. But we shot our freethrows poorly and Gonzaga shot theirs well, and we were tied at 62 at the end of regulation, with an excellent defensive stop on Jenn Wirth as time expired.
Overtime looked bleak when a minute in, Missy assessed a technical on Haley Jones for an intentional foul that looked anything but intentional. But then Lexie took the game over. First she sank two free throws for a 1 point lead, then a layup for a three point lead, then a steal and a fastbreak layup for a 5 point lead, bring the house to its feet with 1:39 to go. She made another jumper and we made enough free throws to keep the lead and eek out a win.
Performances:
Jenn Wirth was held to 0/11, so our tag team defense deserves credit for shutting down Gonzaga's best player. Jill Townsend and LeAnn Wirth fouled out--so while many calls in this game were questionable, Gonzaga deserved to pay a price for its highly aggressive defense and it did.
As a team we shot 42% while holding Gonzaga to 33%. But we had weaknesses or this game would not have been close. We gave up 14 offensive rebounds to Gonzaga, we shot free throws and treys poorly, and made 15 turnovers--9 in the first half. It looked like we were very young and a little rattled at times.
Williams led scoring with 22 points--mostly in the second half. It was nice to see her getting her offense in gear after her early season struggles. 5 assists (hard to come by) and three steals helped to round out her 43 minute stat line. She gets my player-of-the-game.
Lexie had 20 points and 8 rebounds in 41 minutes, plus the game winning sequence in overtime. She could easily get another player-of-the-game.
Jones played 24 minutes and scored 11, with a couple of assists and a block too--but also 3 fouls. Without her spark we would have lost.
Prechtel scored 8 and at times was the only player who seemed capable of breaking through in the clogged Gonzaga defense. Belibi played better defense, and Tara was substituting Prechtel for offense and Belibi for defense at times.
No one else generate more than 3 points, although Lacie got large chunks of time to play defense before fouling out.
Conclusion:
It is probably a plus for this very young team to play in a tough, close game early in the season, and this certainly qualifies. But it also shows just how much we have to work on since other coaches will see Gonzaga's defensive scheme and we have to be better prepared to counter it. We seemed to rush the three point shots we did take. I think Hannah Jump could have had a bigger role had we been driving and dishing as the coaches said we needed to do. If ever there was a game that called for a three point shooting barrage, this was it. We didn't get that, but somehow our own strong defense allowed us to muddle through--this time.