This was a painful game to watch, but it was less painful than if we lost.
The team learned very late (at shoot around I think) that one of Pitt's leading scorers entered the portal yesterday and was not with the team. This left Pitt with only 8 players and what must have been some internal chaos. Despite that, Pitt knew how to mess up our offense and succeeded in making it an ugly defensive game. I had the feeling at halftime that whoever made the first three would win the game--seriously, since making one would likely lead to more. Thank goodness it was us.
And has been remarked, Pitt's 0/15 from three point range was remarkable, and not an accident. We were playing them pretty tight. Pitt succeeded in punishing that perimeter defense a bit by passing in to their 6'4" center who could consistently score from about 7-8 feet, but it was far from enough.
In looking for positives I would point out that Clardy has been coming on strong late in the season. Last year she could not hit a jumper, but recently she has been hitting treys, free throws--all levels really, in addition to playing good defense and bringing the ball up.
Ogden did somewhat better tonight. While she had one or two of her patented flustered moments, she has been playing more minutes, scoring more points, playing better defense, and generally looking more confident as the season wears on.
The biggest negative is probably that Demetre has been receding of late. 0-7 from three point range today. That after playing only 7 minutes and not scoring a point against Cal, and scoring 5 points in 29 minutes against Duke. Something does not seem right.
A couple of interesting tidbits from outside the game. First, Harriel was in street clothes, and we were told she was "getting better" so apparently there is something physical going on.
Second, I sit next to a person who is taking Tara's class and have been getting some reports. Apparently Tara has said that the frequent transfers in and out will indeed make the Princeton less viable in college. I had to pinch myself to believe that I actually came up with a basketball theory in parallel with TVD! Of course, it is pretty obvious, I guess.
My (very) mild pleasure at winning this game is tempered with a certain degree of dread about Sunday. North Carolina is rated by Massey as being nearly as good a defensive team as Duke, and I hate the idea of playing against our former player Indya Nivar, who is their very successful point guard. A lot not to like about that matchup after tonight's inept offensive performance.
The team learned very late (at shoot around I think) that one of Pitt's leading scorers entered the portal yesterday and was not with the team. This left Pitt with only 8 players and what must have been some internal chaos. Despite that, Pitt knew how to mess up our offense and succeeded in making it an ugly defensive game. I had the feeling at halftime that whoever made the first three would win the game--seriously, since making one would likely lead to more. Thank goodness it was us.
And has been remarked, Pitt's 0/15 from three point range was remarkable, and not an accident. We were playing them pretty tight. Pitt succeeded in punishing that perimeter defense a bit by passing in to their 6'4" center who could consistently score from about 7-8 feet, but it was far from enough.
In looking for positives I would point out that Clardy has been coming on strong late in the season. Last year she could not hit a jumper, but recently she has been hitting treys, free throws--all levels really, in addition to playing good defense and bringing the ball up.
Ogden did somewhat better tonight. While she had one or two of her patented flustered moments, she has been playing more minutes, scoring more points, playing better defense, and generally looking more confident as the season wears on.
The biggest negative is probably that Demetre has been receding of late. 0-7 from three point range today. That after playing only 7 minutes and not scoring a point against Cal, and scoring 5 points in 29 minutes against Duke. Something does not seem right.
A couple of interesting tidbits from outside the game. First, Harriel was in street clothes, and we were told she was "getting better" so apparently there is something physical going on.
Second, I sit next to a person who is taking Tara's class and have been getting some reports. Apparently Tara has said that the frequent transfers in and out will indeed make the Princeton less viable in college. I had to pinch myself to believe that I actually came up with a basketball theory in parallel with TVD! Of course, it is pretty obvious, I guess.
My (very) mild pleasure at winning this game is tempered with a certain degree of dread about Sunday. North Carolina is rated by Massey as being nearly as good a defensive team as Duke, and I hate the idea of playing against our former player Indya Nivar, who is their very successful point guard. A lot not to like about that matchup after tonight's inept offensive performance.