Another challenge was coming to Hilton. Baylor (prior to being defeated Wednesday at KU) was ranked #4. They were angry. They were currently the best bet to win the conference.
The 1st saw ISU spreading the scoring around. Baylor was sluggish until the clones turned the ball over on two consecutive possessions. One with Diew dribbling off her own foot and Crooks not being able to handle pressure underneath. A nice 10-5 lead disappeared after those turnovers and gave Baylor a 6-0 run and the lead. Then Belanger followed that up with another turnover. The turnovers just continued as Baylor was on a 13-0 run. The sister’s offense just disappeared. Even Ryan was losing the ball. Emily was forcing things in an uncharacteristic manner. Then when the ladies got open looks…they missed. Eleven turnovers in the first quarter alone. Crooks would finally got free throws at the end of the quarter and only made one to end the scoring drought. But of course…Baylor scores at the buzzer and gets fouled. A disaster of a quarter as Baylor leads 24-11 after a 3/4 court heave and a travel. ISU didn’t score a bucket over the last six minutes of the quarter. The quarter was just a struggle.
Crooks started the second with two…and then we promptly turned it over again. Everything we are doing appears to be a struggle. Short shots and threes are all off at this point. Belanger would finally nail a three to end the suffering. Crooks then was fouled for a traditional three. Fritz ended our run with a two. Ryan's attempts at assists are just a bit off. But the team fought back and the sisters were in the bonus with 5:26 left. The ladies kept going hard getting the ball inside and the lead was cut to 3 with another Crooks jumper. The teams really battled back and forth with the score being either a 3 or 5 point lead for Baylor. Our defense was pretty solid, but it was usually a breakdown that allowed Baylor to score. Two of these allowed Baylor to stretch the lead to 7. Our offense started to turn the ball over or just struggle and Baylor took advantage. All of a sudden a three point game became ten. The difference over two minutes was forced shots and turnovers. At the half Baylor led 37-29. Crooks has 15 at the half. Our three point shooting isn’t helping. Two for 8 at the half…and 14 turnovers.
Joens started the third off with a deep three. Ryan did one of her patented drive and fade layups. Ryan then had a beautiful assist to Crooks and the lead for Baylor was only three. Brown had three straight steals. THREE. On top of that, Joens is ALWAYS around the ball for rebounds. After one such offensive board, Belanger hit a trey and tied it all up. But two defensive breakdowns later Baylor responded with two treys. It was back and forth with neither team letting other move much. The sisters pulled within two and then Diew fouled on a put back and the lead was again five. Baylor started to press. I wasn’t really worried as the ladies have shown the press really doesn’t bother them much. Crooks picked up her third foul on a missed shot rebound attempt, so off to the bench she goes…who will score now? Well, that would be Brown! Ryan also scored and it was 51-49. Another undefended trey for Baylor. But Belanger would hit a trey at the buzzer and the sisters had pulled within two 54-52.
The fourth would again start with an ISU score by Belanger to tie it up. Crooks missed two straight bunnies and Baylor retook the lead. Then a great assist by Crooks to Brown for another tie. Next possession for Baylor was a double dribble for three. Yep, another officiating screwup that gave Baylor 3 points. Crooks then picked up her fourth foul. Brown answered with a trey for the tie. Meanwhile, Baylor would continue to foul. A particularly big foul was called underneath leading to Blackwell fouling out! Then Ryan traveled on a forced drive inside. She would turn it over again with a bad pass. The sisters just can’t seem to take the lead until Crooks (yes..back in the game for crunch time) scored. There was 3 min to go and the ladies needed some salty defense. And a dose of offense. Both teams were just struggling to score. Ryan made one of two free throws. We turned the ball over again (fifth in the last couple of minutes) with a chance to stretch the lead. Baylor could cut it to one. Then the ladies turned it over AGAIN. Then we fouled. Talk about a struggle. Baylor retook the lead with 30 seconds left. Crooks answers but misses another free throw. The lead was one for ISU. Baylor ball. 23 seconds left. Miss by Baylor and ISU again gets the rebound. It was ISU ball with 11 sec left! One point lead. What will happen? Well, Belanger was fouled with ten seconds left. Two solid free throws and a three point lead. Countdown…9..8..7..6..5..and Baylor airballs a three. The Sisters win. Hilton Magic reigns.
THIS TEAM DOESN’T QUIT!
Observations
POG - normally after netting 23 points and 6 boards Audi would get this. But there was one person who hit some amazingly key shots that I’ll hand it to today. Hannah Belanger. 15 points on 2 free throws (critical at the end), 3 treys (one buzzer beater) all in 37 minutes of play. She was a gamer today.
Crooks - she was incredibly difficult to stop inside today. Nets 23 points, 8 boards, and her one assist was a thing of beauty. Standing at the top of the key and feeds Brown down low. Commits four fouls that limited some of her time, but when she was needed she was there.
Brown - may be one of her grittiest games of the year. What? Only 9 points? Ok, but 11 boards and 5 assists…and SIX steals. If you remember, three on three straight possessions. Talk about a game changer.
AJ - five points on very limited time tonight. When she’s in she does a yeoman’s job for sure though. Just need to get her healed up.
Ryan - she seemed to be forcing some things today. Uncharacteristic turnovers (5) while netting 9 points and 4 assists. Just seemed a bit “out of control” at times. But her ball handling still gets the job done. Minutes up again to 27.
Joens - my goodness. One could create a highlife film of how to rebound just by watching her. She puts in 110% effort, gets in great position and just grabs boards that we wouldn’t normally get. Three points and six boards…each of which were critical.
Bristow - when I watch her I see a thoroughbred. She is quick, graceful, athletic and does things many other players can’t. She defends very well. Sweet shot when she takes them. Stat line wasn’t anything to talk about today, but her minutes made a difference.
Natabou - Eleven key minutes spelling Crooks…especially when in foul trouble. No points and 2 boards. Solid defense. Had some scoring opportunities, but they just weren’t happening today.
Diew - Man, my heart goes out to her. She bleeds cardinal and gold and is in the midst of the longest stretch of struggle in her career. Zero points for the fourth straight game, 1 rebound and 2 turnovers. Her minutes are shrinking steadily. We need her to re-emerge.
Free throws - 10 of 14 shouldn't be bad. But some of those misses were at critical junctures...but there weren't a pair of makes bigger than Belanger's at the end of the game.
Treys - First half was a bit rough around the edges. At half I told friends we needed to take care of the ball and get our deep shooting up to 38%. We ended up 6 of 17, but 4 of 9 in the second half.
Rebounds - this is becoming a Twister Sister trademark this year. We again out rebounded our opponent 36-31.
Bad officials...bad, bad officials - OK. they weren't as bad as the crew Wednesday evening. But two horrible missed calls provided Baylor with six points. The first was the four step travel and 3/4 court fling for three right before halftime. The second was a blatant double dribble and dish that scored another three. These are obvious calls.
Turnovers - 21. WAY too many. Many of these were unforced turnovers. Bad passes, dribbling off one's foot type of things. For the most part, the second half was much, much better than the first until a short stint late in the game. But the ship righted itself and still won.
This was one of the craziest games…but aren’t they all that way? This team has NO quit in them. We’ve seen highly touted ISU teams fold like a bad tent when faced with the adversity this squad has faced. But not this group. They are composed of players who refuse to roll over. When the going gets tough they dig deeper and get more determined. I could easily have just named the POG as TEAM. Crooks in foul trouble? No worries. Ryan having a bit of an off day. No big deal. Diew not scoring and AJ hurt? Someone else steps up. Get ready folks, our youngsters are about to be ranked come Monday.
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