My two cents from seeing the game in person:
1. experience beat inexperience. Basically we looked like freshmen plus Williams (though yes Brown is coming along nicely and deserves more time to enable Williams to rest). Too many turnovers and poor decisions -- even the long-armed Hulls were out of sorts.
2. our rebounding did improve after Q2 but not our shooting. So many missed layups and so many shots were short - it appeared there were MANY uncalled shooting fouls. Felt like the refs didn't call fouls on UCLA until very late in the game, even though there were some obvious ones including over the backs (rebounding) on 33. They didn't call her until she slammed a player to the ground.
3. we seemed complacent. Even when we were up 18-12 in Q1 it was almost all Kiana Williams' shooting. Felt like I was watching a new version of Chiney and the Chinettes (with everyone just leaving it up to the star).
4. why can't we press?
5. I would hate to admit it but felt like Cori Close did the better coaching job - strategies, substitutions.
Wake up call and gut check for all but yes agree it's so hard to look at the bench and see Carrington, Jones and Dodson who would all be starting for nearly any team in the country and would make all the difference here. Praying for their health and hoping that Carrington and Dodson not vying for a red shirt but hope to play this year. Jones in a serious brace which allows no movement -- much tighter than Nadia's, which supports movement.
1. experience beat inexperience. Basically we looked like freshmen plus Williams (though yes Brown is coming along nicely and deserves more time to enable Williams to rest). Too many turnovers and poor decisions -- even the long-armed Hulls were out of sorts.
2. our rebounding did improve after Q2 but not our shooting. So many missed layups and so many shots were short - it appeared there were MANY uncalled shooting fouls. Felt like the refs didn't call fouls on UCLA until very late in the game, even though there were some obvious ones including over the backs (rebounding) on 33. They didn't call her until she slammed a player to the ground.
3. we seemed complacent. Even when we were up 18-12 in Q1 it was almost all Kiana Williams' shooting. Felt like I was watching a new version of Chiney and the Chinettes (with everyone just leaving it up to the star).
4. why can't we press?
5. I would hate to admit it but felt like Cori Close did the better coaching job - strategies, substitutions.
Wake up call and gut check for all but yes agree it's so hard to look at the bench and see Carrington, Jones and Dodson who would all be starting for nearly any team in the country and would make all the difference here. Praying for their health and hoping that Carrington and Dodson not vying for a red shirt but hope to play this year. Jones in a serious brace which allows no movement -- much tighter than Nadia's, which supports movement.