Friday OT - Stealing the Show

Thanks so much to @VeloClone for today’s topic! I am just going to paste his exact phrasing:

“We took the family on a driving trip to Arizona for spring break a few years ago. While driving through southern Utah I saw a pickup truck driving through the scrub a half mile away and a wooden sign at the bottom of a quarter mile dirt access road. On a whim I turned down it and learned I had stumbled on Valley of the Gods which I had never heard of before. We spent a few hours exploring this miniature primitive monument valley and it was my favorite part of the whole trip.

What's your favorite unexpected gem that turned out to be the best part of your trip?“
  • Like
Reactions: NWICY and Turn2

FS: SOLD

I have a pair of lowers available for both sessions of Thursday's Round 1 games. Tickets are in Section 124, Row U. Just looking to get back face value. $220 per pair for each session.

DM with inquiries. Can accept payment via Venmo and transfer tickets electronically.

Thanks,

Williams & Blum Pod: Celebrating the women, breaking down the draws

Enjoy!

Tip my cap to Casey S.

I was going to post a comment in the Recruits/Transfers thread about Casey bumping up in future years. However, I decided instead to start a thread and congratulate Casey. I didn't predict him to qualify for the NCAA's and he's proven me wrong. I'm so happy to be proven wrong.

I still don't have him picked as a NCAA AA but I really hope he proves me wrong again. IF he win's a match or two he will exceeded my expectations after the roller coaster ride of a season that he's had. HOWEVER, IF he does AA this year it will complete one of the most amazing in-season turn-arounds I've ever seen. It reminds me of Mark Branch's freshman year...

Casey - If you read this go research Mark Branch's Freshman year. What a legendary season and career.

The practice that sparked a Big 12 championship

My story from Kansas City today, hope you enjoy. Fun weekend.

***Iowa State vs #15 Texas (Sun., 1:00)***

Who: Iowa State (21-9, 11-7 Big 12) vs. Texas (25-8, 14-4 Big 12)
Where: Municipal Auditorium – Kansas City, Mo.
When: Sunday, March 12, 2023 – 1:00 p.m.

The Links
WATCH: ESPN2; ESPN+
PxP: Brenda VanLengen
Analyst: Holly Warlick
Sideline: Kris Budden


LISTEN: Cyclone Radio Network – Varsity App or Radio Affiliates
PxP: Noah Wolf
Analyst: Jamie Steyer Johnson


STATS: LIVE STATS

***PROJECTED STARTERS***
IOWA STATETEXAS
F - 31 Kane (6-3 SR*)F - 5 Gaston (6-2 JR)
G/F - 24 Joens (6-1 SR*)F - 20 Faye (6-4 JR)
G - 3 Fritz (5-11 FR*)G - 10 Holle (6-0 JR)
G - 21 Donarski (6-0 JR)G - 2 Gonzales (5-10 GR)
G - 11 Ryan (5-11 JR)G - 3 Harmon (5-6 SO)

  • Locked
Does the B12 Tournament matter?

My sense this morning is that the only programs who are fully vested in it are at the bottom. oSu, WVU, TxT have an interest in doing well to secure their NCAA births. OU would have to win it to get a dance card.

For the rest, yes, it would be a nice trophy in the case but everyone will have forgotten who did what by next week when the dance starts. I remember Bob Knight ranting about it over there as meaningless.

I mean I'll watch out of curiosity and because I love this league and each team. But I wont have a fit over an early or late out, unless it's the championship game. The 2023 B12 champion is Ku.

Power of the Pops keeps working…

The Power of the Pops crew is back and the magic they bring has been timely and helpful this year! Both games this tournament the pops came out when the ladies needed the magical boost and respond they did! Fun stuff. They’ve been at it since year one of the Fennelly tour. Here’s the original story about them from 2008.

Attachments

  • Pops.jpeg
    Pops.jpeg
    868.8 KB · Views: 14

WBB: Nyamer Diew, the team mantra & the Cyclones that advanced to the Big 12 title

My story from Kansas City today, hope you enjoy it and thanks for following our coverage:

Twister Sister Summary - sisters crank up the heat and beat OU

Well it’s a matchup of near equals. On paper ISU matches up quite well. In the last meeting we handled them quite well. This time around young Joens has become a more integral part of their offense. What will give today? Time to find out
First three possessions were blanks from Joens and Donarski. Finally Joens nailed it from deep. OU was off to a hot start and ISU was 1 for 5 with two turnovers. OU leD 8-3 early. The ISU offense was out of sorts missing layups and turning the ball over. Add to it the ladies are racking up the fouls on our posts. Izzi with two and Kane with one 4 min in.
The offense kept driving and turning it over into a collapsed defense. No jumpers. Meanwhile OU kept pulling ahead. 11-3 five min in. Yep…one stinking basket.
Finally Donarski hit a three and OU answered back inside. Fritz nailed the next three to pull ISU back to 13-9. Diew did it on both ends with a trey and taking a charge. Fritz got a second chance basket. Things are heating up as ISU took the lead on two Joens free throws.
OU takes the lead 19-18 on a pair of free throws to end the first.
The second started back and forth with both teams getting threes. Crazy pace. Joens took Joens to the hole for a pair of free throws. ISU edges out front 25-22.
OU was warming up from deep and tied the game at 27. Diew hit for another three to retake the lead. After a great defensive stand Joens collected a dumb charging foul without the ball. Darn!
At the four min mark ISU was in the bonus. Diew nailed another trey! After we went on a run the ladies then respond with turnovers leading to easy points. OU stormed back from six down to tie it at 37 on another Robertson trey. Kane would get free throws and gets 1 of 2.
After a steal with time running out Donarski scored on a drive as time expired and an 42-39 ISU halftime lead. These teams are sizzling. ISU is shooting 48% to OU’s 44%!

The third quarter started with a missed layup by Donarski, but next time down she nailed a trey. Ryan scored inside. Next possession Ashley hits for two and goes over three thousand for her career! Donarski nailed another three and the lead eased out to 9. Solid defense kept frustrating OU. Donarski drove, scored and was fouled. The FT extends the lead to 14, 59-45.
The offense went into neutral for a couple of minutes, but the defense was doing a yeomans job of frustrating OU. Four straight possessions for ISU with no points. OU was gaining some ground at the free throw line. Lead was down to ten 63-53. A layup by Joens before the buzzer extends the lead to 66-53 at the end of three. ISU is shooting a blistering 52% for the game.
The fourth started with a Donarski lay in and a defensive stop. Diew made two free throws and it was 69-53. Good defense by both teams slowed the scoring. OU was getting hot and closed the gap with 7 straight. ISU is just chucking up threes. Lead slipped down to 10.
The offense continued to miss and OU keeps closing and it was 8 with 4:39 left. The offense hasn’t been able to solve OU’s defense. Threes are cold. Meanwhile OU keeps chipping away.
OU scores again and the lead was only six. We chucked up another trey and miss again. Four min left in the quarter and we were stuck on four points. But on the next possession Joens drives hard and scores! Diew would mail another three! But OU answered with one of their own. The lead was 8 with 3 to go.
Ryan hit a three at the shot clock buzzer and the lead was 11 with 2 to go. The lead would waver around 8-10 as the teams battled back and forth.
The offense started dribbling clock and OU had to pick their poison as Donarski, Ryan and Joens were exchanging the ball. Joens was fouled and hit two. The crowd starts chanting the standard “SEC” which morphs to “Let’s go State!” Final 82-72.
Observations

POG for this one goes to Diew. Her getting hot on offense and making some solid defensive plays were a huge difference maker at a critical time. 19 points and 3 boards.
Joens - she is playing like the clock is approaching midnight. 22 points the hard way as she was fairly cold from deep.
Donarski - what an up and down day. Missed a couple easy ones but came back hard with 20 points overall.
Ryan - 9 points, 5 boards, 5 assists and only 2 turnovers. Nice point line.
Kane - still battles but this wasn’t the kind of game she flourishes in. 3 points and 1 rebound.

Fritz - a tough day from the field. 9 points and 7 tough boards. She was tenacious on D.
Zingaro - she continues to maximize her impact in minutes played. No points today, but her presence altered things.
Free Throws - 13 of 15 from the line. Each one was critical.
Rebounds - barely outrebounded -4.
These were two teams with similar makeups. The difference in my opinion was ISU’s defense. They were sticky tough all afternoon. Defense leads to offense and even when ISU had some scoring droughts the defense covered it up.
Next up is Texas for the title. This will be a tough physical game and the ladies are going to need every tool at their disposal. They need to limit fouls and be aggressive at both ends. See you all tomorrow at Hilton South!

***Iowa State vs. #14 Oklahoma (Sat., 2:30)***

Who: Iowa State (20-9, 11-7 Big 12) vs. Oklahoma (25-5, 14-4 Big 12)
Where: Municipal Auditorium – Kansas City, Mo.
When: Saturday, March 11, 2023 – 2:30 p.m.

The Links
WATCH: Big 12 Now
PxP: TBD
Analyst: TBD


LISTEN: Cyclone Radio Network – Varsity App or Radio Affiliates
PxP: Noah Wolf
Analyst: Jamie Steyer Johnson


STATS: LIVE STATS

***PROJECTED STARTERS***
IOWA STATEOKLAHOMA
F - 31 Kane (6-3 SR*)F - 34 Scott (6-2 SR)
G/F - 24 Joens (6-1 SR*)F - 25 Williams (6-0 SR*)
G - 3 Fritz (5-11 FR*)G - 22 Llanusa (6-0 SR*)
G - 21 Donarski (6-0 JR)G - 30 Robertson (6-0 SR*)
G - 11 Ryan (5-11 JR)G - 1 Tot (5-3 JR)

***BIG 12 SEMIFINALS***
12:00 - #1 Texas vs #4 Oklahoma State (ESPN+)
2:30 - #2 Oklahoma vs #3 Iowa State (ESPN+)

Filter