A gigantic relief. I hate JR Payne teams--they stymie the flow of the game, and that is the point.
Our defense did a very good job tonight indeed. Hollingshed did not score 32 this time, she scored 7. Foreman did not go 5/10 as she did in their last game, she was 1/4 from three point range. And Sherrod had a big defensive impact, but scored only 6. It turns out that our defense was even better than their defense--they were less than 30% shooting, and despite our abominable first quarter we wound up at 39%.
Jones, Brink, and Prechtel saved us on offense in the second half. Jones scored 11--all in the second half, and I thought Prechtel's two treys midway through the fourth quarter were the decisive turning points of the game.
Kudos to Wilson, who rapidly replaced Lacie at point during the first quarter meltdown and helped to stabilize things. She wound up with 30 minutes to Lacie's 13. She did have 4 turnovers and just 1 assist, but assists were very hard to come by with this defense--we did manage to scratch 12 assists together which was pretty good for only 20 made baskets. But the most effective point guard--with 5 assists--was Jones. Unfortunately, Jones also had 7 turnovers.
Both teams shot 14/20 free throws. Our early season free throw woes seem to be abating.
Rebounding was a strength. We had 15 O-boards compared to their 18 D-boards. They had 9 O-boards compared to our 34 D-boards. Rebounding really was responsible for our win.
We also had 6 blocks and they had 0, but they had 15 steals compared with 6 for us. That was their biggest strength and the reason they got out to a big lead.
By the end of the game, I think the officiating had evened up and was fair. Colorado had 25 fouls compared with 14 for us--although we wound up shooting the same number of free throws. Colorado's frenetic defense was bound to cause fouls, and in the end it hurt them badly, with their leading scorer fouling out.
I hope that Wilson and Sherrod are both OK physically, Wilson seems to have hurt her lower back, Brink fell on Sherrod and Sherrod seemed to be having pain in the hip that she had previously injured. Wilson walked off the court after the game, Sherrod was carried.
All in all, the worst quarter of basketball this season followed by three gritty defensive quarters which we won. Colorado never scored more than 15 points in a quarter; we scored more point in the 2nd than the 1st, in the 3rd than the 2nd, and in the 4th than the 3rd.
Our defense did a very good job tonight indeed. Hollingshed did not score 32 this time, she scored 7. Foreman did not go 5/10 as she did in their last game, she was 1/4 from three point range. And Sherrod had a big defensive impact, but scored only 6. It turns out that our defense was even better than their defense--they were less than 30% shooting, and despite our abominable first quarter we wound up at 39%.
Jones, Brink, and Prechtel saved us on offense in the second half. Jones scored 11--all in the second half, and I thought Prechtel's two treys midway through the fourth quarter were the decisive turning points of the game.
Kudos to Wilson, who rapidly replaced Lacie at point during the first quarter meltdown and helped to stabilize things. She wound up with 30 minutes to Lacie's 13. She did have 4 turnovers and just 1 assist, but assists were very hard to come by with this defense--we did manage to scratch 12 assists together which was pretty good for only 20 made baskets. But the most effective point guard--with 5 assists--was Jones. Unfortunately, Jones also had 7 turnovers.
Both teams shot 14/20 free throws. Our early season free throw woes seem to be abating.
Rebounding was a strength. We had 15 O-boards compared to their 18 D-boards. They had 9 O-boards compared to our 34 D-boards. Rebounding really was responsible for our win.
We also had 6 blocks and they had 0, but they had 15 steals compared with 6 for us. That was their biggest strength and the reason they got out to a big lead.
By the end of the game, I think the officiating had evened up and was fair. Colorado had 25 fouls compared with 14 for us--although we wound up shooting the same number of free throws. Colorado's frenetic defense was bound to cause fouls, and in the end it hurt them badly, with their leading scorer fouling out.
I hope that Wilson and Sherrod are both OK physically, Wilson seems to have hurt her lower back, Brink fell on Sherrod and Sherrod seemed to be having pain in the hip that she had previously injured. Wilson walked off the court after the game, Sherrod was carried.
All in all, the worst quarter of basketball this season followed by three gritty defensive quarters which we won. Colorado never scored more than 15 points in a quarter; we scored more point in the 2nd than the 1st, in the 3rd than the 2nd, and in the 4th than the 3rd.