Going into this game we all knew what Oklahoma was capable of as they have some amazing “pure“ shooters on their team. In my minds eye I felt like Defense was going to be the key to this ball game.
OU got a perfect screen and a three right out of the gates. This would be something the ladies ran into all night long (no pun intended). For the sisters it seemed like Ashley was forcing things early on. one thing we found out early was each time we dropped off on defense OU would hit a three. They were on fire early. Our offense was just not in gear early. OU would lead 8-0 in a hurry. The epitome of the struggles was watching Ashley miss at the line twice. Nothing going in.
Finally, Fritz hit a trey in motion. Beautiful. OU answered right back with something else we would see multiple times today…#1 left wide open for three. She has a sweet shot. Ou extended out to 11-3.
Another thing we saw early was post problems. Kane had a tough time handling the ball. None could play defense. But…things started to settle down and the ladies crawled back into this one. Behind Ryan the offense connected and it was 13-11.
Early on (4 min left) OU has taken four more shots and hitting right at 50%. That’s a defense problem. The offense is just struggling. Lots of missed bunnies.
The first quarter was just an absolute nightmare on the defensive end. We are slow adjusting to what OU was doing. By the end of one OU was leading 26-18. It really didn’t seem that close. OU was 6-10 from deep and 56% overall. ISU shooting 33%. OU leading rebounds mainly due to all the ISU misses.
The second would look very different. It was like somebody put a mirror up to each quarter. Quarter two would be the Ashley Joens show.
in the second, the offense gets a couple including a Joens trey and the sisters were closing in at 28-23. But too many shots were still just a bit off. I think we had missed five layups. On the defensive end all of our inside players are just being chewed up. Too slow. It didn’t matter who was in.
but, one thing that we’ve seen from OU before was starting to build. OU was racking up fouls but they have depth. How would this work out? With all of out offensive struggles the free throws were helping. Donarski with a pair to close the game to 30-25.
The worst part was still on the defensive end. We were giving OU so many freebies. Slow getting back. Slow adjustments. They had too many easy shots.
Ashley to the rescue as she hit a trey and it’s 34-30 OU with 4 minutes left.
The defense is finally starting to pick up a little. When the ladies get a stop the offense is working. It was fun to watch Joens blow by little sis on a drive to make a trad three and it’s 36-33. Here came Joens again as she hit a trey for the first lead of the day 38-36. Of course, we promptly give up another easy layup to tie the game. Sigh. At this point it was more back in forth as Fritz hit on a fast break Only to have #5 hits another easy layup to tie the game. It was 42-42 at half. As bad as the first quarter was, the sisters were clicking in the second.
Story of the half was OU's inside game. They have a ton of easy layups as our posts are getting beat left and right. For the sisters it was Joens hitting for 18 in the second quarter.
In the third, both teams were a bit frenetic to start. for the sisters Ashley was the offense and isn’t hitting anything. #1 for OU has ANOTHER wide open trey and OU immediately hit another to suddenly lead 50-42. This looks like the beginning of the game. We are a mess on both ends.
The first basket for the sisters came on a OU screwup. Joens for two. Then Fritz had a nice drive. Ryan goes inside and it’s 50-48 in a heartbeat. OU has missed some wide open looks and the sisters aren’t giving them a second chance.
Donarski went inside and Joens outside from deep to give ISU the lead. Kane followed that with two FT. Fritz scored on a tough rebound. Kane makes another FT and it’s 61-53 for the sisters. How fast a game can turn on it’s head.
The theme of the game would continue to be free throws. Donarski would hit two FT and it was a ten point lead. The ladies played nice, solid D to end the qtr 65-56.
Kane and Fritz were absolute beasts in the quarter.
The fourth got off to another slow start as the offense was cold and we were giving OU freebies. #1 hits another wide open trey. So quickly the lead was down to 4. The ladies give up another layup and miss on the other end and it was 66-63.
Izzi may not have had her best game, but when she did things it made a difference. She gets an offensive board leading to an Ash bucket. 69-63.
Just as I was thinking we were going to start stretching it out again the ladies gave up a four point play after a miss. That nice lead is down to three 71-68 with 4:33 left in the game. This is the way it would be the rest of the game as each team made pushes, but ISU would always fend off the sooners.
Ryan drive and score. OU drove and scored. Donarski scored and gets the foul. 78-69 sisters. In the midst of all of this Kane is getting it done. Rebounding tough and getting to the line. She hits two FT and it’s 80-72. Time was running out on the Sooners. The ladies were making a living at the line as OU just couldn’t stop them without fouling. Ryan hit two more FT and the lead was 82-74 with 2 min left.
At this point every OU player on the floor has 3 or more fouls. Ryan hit two more at the line and we gave up an easy two on the other end in a matter of seconds. But OU was fouling immediately now and that’s not a good strategy against the sisters.
Patience and solid free throw shooting would result in a 86-78 final.
Observations
POG. OK the easy thing to do here would be to give it to Ashley Jones. But I have to tell you this was a team victory. Without Kane's heroics inside, the gutsy play of Fritz, Ryan’s coolness at the line, and the defense in the second half… This would be a different game. the POG Is TEAM.
Joens - she literally took over the game in the second quarter scorinto 18 points. She ended up with 32 points and 7 boards.
Fritz. We’ve seen her start to emerge lately. I honestly think this was her best game of the season. She was tough on defense and gritty on offense. 14 points and 6 boards.
Ryan - very solid game for our point guard. Fourteen points, 8 assists, only 1 turnover. This is EXACTLY what we need from her.
Donarski - her defense is always solid, but for the first time I saw her flat out getting beat a few times. I credit Oklahoma for that versus major mistakes and Lexi. Fifteen big points.
Kane - once she settled down, she was just plain tough. She started getting stops on defense and pulled down some tough rebounds. She was also crucial in getting some points at the line and inside. Eleven points and NINE boards.
Izzi - it was a tough outing for our young post. But as I said earlier, the positive contributions she made in the few minutes she was in the game. All made a difference.
Diew - there was a large section of this game in which, in my opinion, she looked a little lost. She contributed to some good defensive stops, but seemed very hesitant on offense. Several times she received a pass with open looks at the basket and hesitated.
M&M - hardly saw the court today (two minutes).
Free Throws - this is where the game was won. 30 out of 34. HUGE. And OU can’t complain…they foul the bejesus out of their opponents.
Turnovers - SIX. Wow
So, this is an absolute huge win as the ladies protect home court and put another loss on the Sooners. This knocks Oklahoma out of the first place tie. It also eliminates the first tiebreaker Oklahoma had over the sisters. What we saw today was a team that has obviously adjusted to life without Soares. We are seeing a more physical team. We are seeing more players stepping up and contributing. Strangely, I feel we are seeing a better overall team emerge. For OU, Robertson is assuredly a first team all Big 12 player. She's impressive. She also set the NCAA three point basket record on her first trey tonight. Impressive.
Next up is a tough road trip to the pit known as the little apple. We know Kansas State has some talented players and they gave us quite a tussle on our home court. I feel confident that the team that we see continuing to develop will be able to go on the road and get another crucial victory. Then it’s back home for a huge game against Baylor. Next Saturday should be a riproaring event. If we can get a crowd that includes as many students that were at the game today… It will be loud.
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