I did not see anything until it was 9-8 so can't comment on the beginning. I am of two minds. Gonzaga is very good, very fundamentally sound and well coached, and they always give us a very tough game. Winning there without Jones and with our rotation and guard play still in flux is a great win. OTOH we certainly made it harder than it needed to be. Those late FTs, my goodness, that was just dreadful. Both Hulls used to be money from the line. What happened?
To the good, we shot a good percentage, held them in the 30's, so the defense was ok. We stood around too much on offense but shot 48% so I guess it was working. Rebounding edge, though should have been better with our height vs theirs. Turnovers were not bad. 13? Lacie had a couple of tough ones but 7 assists and 4 turnovers is reasonable for her, a non-point guard pressed into service there. I do think we just can't play Lacie and Wilson together much unless Anna starts scoring a little.
Jump had a very good game and I think gets the game ball for the timely threes that got the lead down to manageable. Belibi had a good game, kept us in it early until Gonzaga pulled away to the big lead they had. Prechtel did ok but needs to rebound better.
Brink did well when she was in except for the fouling. I thought the officials called a ticky tacky game, not great for either team, but some of those fouls she has to stop doing. We need her out there.
Bottom line, aside from the wretched FT shooting and that stretch where the defense let the Zags build that lead, it was not a terrible game considering Jones was out. The offense needs work. Still too much standing around at times. Defense cranked it up more as the game went on but needs to be consistently great.
I don't love that Iriafen was in and out so quickly. She made a mistake but either don't play her or give her a few minutes to get the jitters out before deciding she is not cutting it on the day. Same with Demetre. Our depth is not that deep. We are not playing the frosh much. We need more from them with three very tough games in three days coming up. I don't expect to win them all even if Jones is back, and especially if she is not.
Oh yeah, again no minutes for Van Gytenbeek or Hamilton, who were supposed to back up Wilson at the point, or at least that was the word from Tara before the season started. Not great if they can't even get onto the court. I still think this murderer's row of a schedule is not that helpful. We need games where we can let the frosh learn and get players like Jana and Jordan get some time, see what they can do. Hard to do that with a bunch of top 25 games in a row.
To the good, we shot a good percentage, held them in the 30's, so the defense was ok. We stood around too much on offense but shot 48% so I guess it was working. Rebounding edge, though should have been better with our height vs theirs. Turnovers were not bad. 13? Lacie had a couple of tough ones but 7 assists and 4 turnovers is reasonable for her, a non-point guard pressed into service there. I do think we just can't play Lacie and Wilson together much unless Anna starts scoring a little.
Jump had a very good game and I think gets the game ball for the timely threes that got the lead down to manageable. Belibi had a good game, kept us in it early until Gonzaga pulled away to the big lead they had. Prechtel did ok but needs to rebound better.
Brink did well when she was in except for the fouling. I thought the officials called a ticky tacky game, not great for either team, but some of those fouls she has to stop doing. We need her out there.
Bottom line, aside from the wretched FT shooting and that stretch where the defense let the Zags build that lead, it was not a terrible game considering Jones was out. The offense needs work. Still too much standing around at times. Defense cranked it up more as the game went on but needs to be consistently great.
I don't love that Iriafen was in and out so quickly. She made a mistake but either don't play her or give her a few minutes to get the jitters out before deciding she is not cutting it on the day. Same with Demetre. Our depth is not that deep. We are not playing the frosh much. We need more from them with three very tough games in three days coming up. I don't expect to win them all even if Jones is back, and especially if she is not.
Oh yeah, again no minutes for Van Gytenbeek or Hamilton, who were supposed to back up Wilson at the point, or at least that was the word from Tara before the season started. Not great if they can't even get onto the court. I still think this murderer's row of a schedule is not that helpful. We need games where we can let the frosh learn and get players like Jana and Jordan get some time, see what they can do. Hard to do that with a bunch of top 25 games in a row.


