It was hard to see the injury to Williams but I also am hoping it is a contusion or a cramp and nothing worse. However, watching the trainer and Brink carry her off the court was not a sight that any of us wanted to see. And for it to happen with 30 seconds left seemed especially sad.
OK, now we get to worry about Ki all the way forward to January, since I am sure Tara is not going to alert our January opponents whether or not she will be playing.
My takeaways from this game:
1) Brink is more than skilled--she is proving herself defensively and she has that star-power that comes with players who can execute to their best when it really matters. With the game in doubt into the fourth quarter, she hit 3 buckets and 2/2 free throws to lead our 18 point quarter. And twice she stuffed Onyenwere, on one occasion blocking the shot and swiping it from her. She also rejected what would have been a breakaway layup. She already is fabulous and is maturing as we watch.
2) We did out rebound UCLA, but as far as O boards not so much--they had 15 to our 14. Those 15 O boards and UCLA's advantage in turnovers (7 to 16) allowed them to take a whopping 11 more shots than we did--69 to 58. That did go a long way toward neutralizing our 40% to 29% shooting advantage. So Tara needs her team to work on boxing out and making less risky passes. Do that and this would have been a blowout game.
3) Let's not sell our defense short. We controlled Charisma Osborne and kept her to a measly 3/18. That is an accomplishment. Nor were we terrible on Onyenwere. True she made 19 points, but we pushed her outside a lot where she went 1-7. We also blocked her a couple of times inside. But otherwise she hit everything, which is what stars do. Glad she is graduating.
4) Jones' stat line looks a lot like it did against USC--4/10 shooting, but then there are the 14! rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks. She combine offensive star power that draws the defense to her along with a terrific all around utility game that is unmatched.
5) Finally, I thought to officiating was awful, and I don't been in a lopsided way. I mean that they were allowing wrestling for the ball, grabbing, body checks, etc. to go uncalled. On Fran's dunk, did you see what happened to (was is Lexie or Lacie?) after she tipped the ball to Fran? She took an elbow to the face and went sprawling to the court--no call. I supposed if there had been a call the dunk would not have counted. But that is just one of many examples.
Overall, I am not disappointed although 50 point blowouts are always more fun. I am glad that our team has now experienced (twice) what it feels like to play in a contested game which they could lose if they slack off. Playing well under that tension is a good thing, since eventually we will reach teams that will really test us. January 1-January 10 will be that time, with 4 games against the Oregon schools and the Arizona schools. If we can emerge from that stretch as well as we did today--and Kiana is healthy--then the sky truly is the limit.
OK, now we get to worry about Ki all the way forward to January, since I am sure Tara is not going to alert our January opponents whether or not she will be playing.
My takeaways from this game:
1) Brink is more than skilled--she is proving herself defensively and she has that star-power that comes with players who can execute to their best when it really matters. With the game in doubt into the fourth quarter, she hit 3 buckets and 2/2 free throws to lead our 18 point quarter. And twice she stuffed Onyenwere, on one occasion blocking the shot and swiping it from her. She also rejected what would have been a breakaway layup. She already is fabulous and is maturing as we watch.
2) We did out rebound UCLA, but as far as O boards not so much--they had 15 to our 14. Those 15 O boards and UCLA's advantage in turnovers (7 to 16) allowed them to take a whopping 11 more shots than we did--69 to 58. That did go a long way toward neutralizing our 40% to 29% shooting advantage. So Tara needs her team to work on boxing out and making less risky passes. Do that and this would have been a blowout game.
3) Let's not sell our defense short. We controlled Charisma Osborne and kept her to a measly 3/18. That is an accomplishment. Nor were we terrible on Onyenwere. True she made 19 points, but we pushed her outside a lot where she went 1-7. We also blocked her a couple of times inside. But otherwise she hit everything, which is what stars do. Glad she is graduating.
4) Jones' stat line looks a lot like it did against USC--4/10 shooting, but then there are the 14! rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks. She combine offensive star power that draws the defense to her along with a terrific all around utility game that is unmatched.
5) Finally, I thought to officiating was awful, and I don't been in a lopsided way. I mean that they were allowing wrestling for the ball, grabbing, body checks, etc. to go uncalled. On Fran's dunk, did you see what happened to (was is Lexie or Lacie?) after she tipped the ball to Fran? She took an elbow to the face and went sprawling to the court--no call. I supposed if there had been a call the dunk would not have counted. But that is just one of many examples.
Overall, I am not disappointed although 50 point blowouts are always more fun. I am glad that our team has now experienced (twice) what it feels like to play in a contested game which they could lose if they slack off. Playing well under that tension is a good thing, since eventually we will reach teams that will really test us. January 1-January 10 will be that time, with 4 games against the Oregon schools and the Arizona schools. If we can emerge from that stretch as well as we did today--and Kiana is healthy--then the sky truly is the limit.