There has been much discussion in the past week about the struggles the Sisters have faced. Poor three point shooting. Too many fouls. Stagnant offense. Most of us knew if that trend continued the game tonight wasn't going to be pretty. Well, thankfully they do play the games.
Right out of the gates we knew something was different. There was an energy level we haven't seen in a while. And then it happened. The first bucket was also the team's first trey by Fritz. It almost seemed like those dark clouds might be thinning and then...Joens hit a trey.
What was significantly different other than the ladies hitting from deep was Diew trying to penetrate. There was good passing going inside and it led to Diew getting to the line twice early and but she only hit 2-4. Yet, it was 8-2 early until...boom...Donarski hit a trey. Those dark clouds def were lifting.
Texas started hitting inside and it was quickly 11-6. On the plus side, the Refs are calling fouls on Texas and that’s good. They actually seemed pretty competent throughout the game. The free throw woes continued as Ashley missed a FT and made one. At the five min mark it was 12-6.
Ryan made a pair of baskets and then got fouled. She nailed both and it was 18-8. The Texas fouls were adding up and they even picked up three fouls on one possession with no time off the clock. Donarski got mashed in the face and was bleeding all over. Just a basketball play as her face connected with the head of a UT player.
Diew made another drive and dished to Zingaro for a pair. Amazing what an inside/outside game can do to an offense's health. At the end of one it was ISU 22-11. The 11 by UT was a season low.
The second started off pretty rough for UT. They got four offensive boards on one possession and still no points. Those offensive boards would end up being another problem for the sisters as the game progressed.
On the other end Joens makes a nifty pass to Z for two. And then mistakes started to show up. The sisters had two straight turnovers, Fritz picked up her second foul and Z picked up her second.
Those offensive boards? UT was putting on a clinic using their height to grab one offensive board after another. Fortunately, they weren't making the sisters pay...yet. UT actually missed ten straight shots until Ryan made a lazy pass at the top of the key to give UT an easy breakaway layup. Ryan made up for it and got a nice steal for two of her own.
Our offense continued to be stale and some of the ladies were picking up fouls. On defense Z had a great block. Joens finally nailed a trey to end the futility to extend the lead to 31-18. This was an ugly quarter for both teams. Then Joens gives up an easy turnover for another breakaway two for UT.
At the half it’s 33-24 as ISU struggled big time offensively in the quarter.
The second half started with both teams missing until Fritz hit a tough two after lots of good ball movement. Then that ugly beast I mentioned reared its head again. UT got ANOTHER offensive rebound, scored and got fouled. Diew would go to the bench with three fouls.
In another bad trend for the sisters, Joens hits one of two FT. After a nice stop, the sisters make a great inbounds play for two by Joens underneath. Then Kane got an o board for two. Then Donarski has a turnover leading to two for UT. Yes...this game was that chaotic at times.
One of the shots of the night? Joens hits a SWEET drop back jumper for two. Talk about not defensible.
With UT unable to connect from outside and not having many deep shooters to start with, the defense is collapsing and causing UT fits. The sisters were clogging the middle and daring UT to shoot the deep ball. What was happening all too often was UT getting offensive rebounds after we play 20 seconds of great defense. This half they started to put those second chance opportunities back in.
Ryan hit a pair of shots including one very nice drive and it was 46-34 with two min left in the quarter. Sadly, we had some misses and on the other end it was a familiar tale...
- offensive rebound for two
- offensive rebound for two
Texas had closed to 46-38 in less than one minute. But Joens to the rescue with a trey after a great offensive rebound by Kane. In something we don't see often Donarski nailed a trey at the buzzer! The lead was 52-40 ISU after three.
One quarter to go.
The zone D continued to sag and dare UT to try jump shots. They just aren't hitting much at this point so the strategy is working. On the other end Donarski hit a trey which also included a rare double foul underneath involving Kane. The game was looking comfortable at 55-40 early. UT was struggling all over and nothing from deep was part of their game.
The the wheels on the Cyclone bus started to wobble. It started with two straight turnovers by Ryan. First a bad inbounds pass and then she didn't get the ball across mid court in time. That was followed by a rare “I will do it by myself” error by Joens that left Fritz wanting the ball wide open. With 6 min left it was 55-44 after UT scored two straight baskets.
Then it happened again. Another crappy inbounds turnover by Ryan. The team was definitely making some panic plays against the UT pressure. Another offensive rebound by UT led to a score and it was 55-46. UT was making a nice little run at the sisters until Fritz drove, made the junk basket and got fouled. Misses the FT. This was a theme throughout the game.
UT to this point has TWENTY ONE offensive rebounds. Crazy.
Then it happened. UT hit a trey and the lead was down to 7. Then the sisters promptly turn it over again. What does UT do? They0 hit a three and it’s 57-53. It was a 13-2 UT run and things were looking like a collapse of epic proportions.
The sisters continued to miss free throws at an unusual rate and UT scored again to make it a 3 point game. Fortunately, Joens answered and got a traditional three. Next possession Joens drove again and was fouled. She misses both. WOW. UT scores on the other end to pull back within four with 1:23 left 61-57.
One big game changing play in the midst of this desperation, was a big offensive board by Diew that led to a Fritz trey and after a UT score it’s 64-59 with 21 tics left. I was breathing easier. For some reason it took UT seven long seconds to foul. Joens went back to the line again. This time she hit for both. Harmon would hit a highly contested shot and it was 66-61 with six seconds to go. Without an errant inbounds pass this game was over. The ball gets in and UT doesn’t foul and the losing streak ends.
Observations
POG - Of course it's Ashley Joens. 24 points and 8 boards. She was gritty and did a good job of playing team ball.
Big stat? Three point shooting. After that ugly 5-30 mark this past weekend...the ladies only attempted 15 and made 8. That's absolutely perfect.
Ryan - overall a good game for Emily. She had a few "what the?" type of turnovers, but she went for 12 points and 8 assists. Five turnovers which is still too high. How about adding in four steals?
Donarski - she's going to be sore tomorrow. Took a hard knock to the face. Double figures scoring (11) with most of the damage coming from deep.
Diew - lordy she's fun to watch. Sometimes on defense she looks like a deer in headlights or that she might be looking at a butterfly someplace. Then she's scrapping for a tied ball or altering shots. Offensively not much output tonight at 2 points from the line.
Kane/Zingaro - the two did a yeoman's job at the office today. 7 points and 8 boards between them. Some additional baskets that should have gone in. Solid physical presence inside.
Fritz - man this lady is tough. I want to meet her so bad. (yes...there might be a crush going on there). How about this? Ten points...seven boards...three blocks...one steal. That's a fantastic line.
Free throws - ugh. It was a struggle again tonight from the line for one of the best shooting teams in the country. Barely over 50% on 12-20 shooting. Those easily could have cost the team the game. Fortunately UT was lousy as well going 5-12.
Rebounding - we know UT was bigger. But the sisters got outrebounded by ten (43-33) and allowed UT to grab a MASSIVE 22 rebounds and get TWENTY second chance points. That's one more than the defensive boards they got!!
The offense showed some great movement tonight, but on the exception where either the guards dribbled too much or picked up their dribble? It usually led to getting in trouble.
Inbounds plays - oh lordy...you'd think we could set a screen or something to set someone free to take the inbounds. Lots of turnovers here. Actually...this is where most of our turnovers (15) happened.
The good? The offense adapted and implemented something new tonight. We saw motion. We saw passing. We saw the team working inside and out. It was effective and I hope we see more of it. Only shooting 15 treys was a great starting point. The defense was overall very salty tonight. Great switches. Double teams. Denied passing routes. They were tough.
This game flipped on its head all the bad that was happening while the sisters were losing to the bottom half of the conference in the last week. I hope it builds confidence AND shows them how to play team basketball once more. Things don't get easier as ISU goes on the road to Baylor Saturday. Geewago has said Baylor plays "worse" at home this year. Let's hope that is the case and the ladies take some new found mojo with them to Waco.
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