Ok, we all know TCU isn’t a good team. They reside at the bottom of the big 12 for a reason. Everyone counted this as an easy win. But…what team would show up for ISU? Would they struggle for a win or dominate?
The first quarter showed the sisters fighting hard for second chance opportunities. Joens, D and Fritz all picked up offensive rebounds and converted for two.
TCU was a strange rumbling mess of balls going everywhere and somehow managing to get the ball in the basket. With 4:37 left it was all tied up at 10.
The teams traded baskets back and forth with the sisters defense seeming to break at inopportune moments and allowing TCU to stay in the game.
The offense had chances to pull ahead and just seemed to find ways to misfire. But, after a fine Fritz recovery of a bad pass and score Joens had a great “break the seam” play for a traditional three. Donarski followed with a long distance three and the ladies lead 25-18 after one. The last minute was just a flurry of scoring. Prior to that flurry the score was 17-17. Use that as a reference going forward.
In the second the offense was firing on all cylinders right out of the gate. Kane would hit a jumper and Joens would score inside and out to spread the lead to 32-20 to force a TCU timeout. Defense also stepped up forcing TCU into turnovers and missed shots.
Joens was feeling it from deep hitting another trey.
The game devolved into a bit of a scrum for a bit. Lots of physical bouncing around with no relief from the stripes.
One of the very real positives was the scoring was being spread around with Joens going for 20 but everyone being involved. It was impressive to see Ashley actively looking for teammates when she was doubled.
After a 20-7 run the half ended with the sisters ahead 47-24.
the third started ok and the defense was being stingy. The offense was missing on some good looks, but all aspects of the game looked positive.
In a play typical of her entire game, Kane powered in for two. She was very active rebounding as well.
A couple of minutes of offensive mess and the ladies still edged the lead to 55-31 at the media timeout.
The ladies continued to frustrate an overmatched TCU team on the defensive end and pretty much dictated what happened on the offensive end. Each time I glanced at the clock TCU wasn’t getting anything and our ladies were increasing the gap. It was 62-33 at the 2:41 mark.
Twice in a row Joens went into a double team and found the open trey with Diew and Ryan. I love this awareness!
Some great passing at the end of the third to find an open Donarski and an…air ball. That was pretty much the only bad thing that happened that quarter.
End of three 70-34. It was all over except for the fat lady singing.
The fourth quarter started with Kane, Donarski and Joens on the bench. We wouldn’t see Donarski or Joens again.
Scoring for both teams was hard to come by as TCU was just TCU and the sisters had new groups playing together. It just wasn’t pretty either way.
Five min in and ISU had only outscored TCU 6-2. Yep…that ugly.
Kane returned and would hit what I think was her second trey of her career to loud applause from the Hilton faithful. 3 min left and the bench was cleared.
The rest of the game was watching TCU go to the line and make free throws and foul after foul was called. On our end there wasn’t much offense to speak of from the reserves. Final 84-56.
Observations:
POG - Joens all the way. This was the kind of game we need from her all the time. She scored inside and out and found open teammates from double teams. 30 min, 22 points and 11 boards. THREE assists.
Ryan - a little of everything tonight. 12 points, 5 boards and 4 assists. I know she wishes she had a couple of the three turnovers back.
Donarski - another solid game on both ends. We found out you don’t piss her off as well.
Fritz- an off night from deep but 9 points and 5 boards. Tough on D.
Diew - not her best game. Still gets beat on defense. Coach made some adjustments there to help with a double down low that raised havoc with TCU’s inside play.
Kane - she was a BEAST. 17 points and 8 boards. She was authoritative.
M&M - Got lots of minutes. Watched her closely and you can tell something just isn’t right. Did a nice job with her minutes though.
Izzi - thought she might set a record for fouls in the shortest amount of time. She was like a bill in a china closet a couple of times.
Free throws. The starters were excellent. Overall the team made 11-15, but the misses were mostly reserves.
Treys - 9 -27. Not great and not bad.
Assists - had an assist on 50% of the baskets scored.
So, this went as hoped. Starters got a breather with a the next game in Lawrence Wednesday. Another game the ladies should win. Let’s hope the good things we saw today carry over.
Side note…weather forecast for the tournament in KC is looking cool again. Not snow like last year, but mid 40’s for a high. See you all there!
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