Anyone who has watched OSU of late knows they are dangerous. Anyone who watched them in Ames last month knows they can give the sisters everything they can handle. To win you have to maximize positive possessions and minimize mistakes. Unfortunately, tonight the sisters did neither.
The game started off with the defense missing in action. OSU was scoring on every possession with relative ease. On the offensive end ISU was turning the ball over at almost the same pace. This allowed OSU to pull ahead steadily. Just like when they came to Ames, it was apparent that OSU is faster afoot. They were blowing past our defenders and broke out to an early 11-3 lead.
Kane replaced Diew early as she was being victimized on defense. Joens quickly answered with two straight scores which would be her only baskets of the entire first half. The ladies would the commit turnover #3 and again too many defensive breakdowns would lead to OSU scores.
The pretty play of the first was an assist from Joens to Kane. Nice feed and quick reaction for two by Kane. A pair of Kane buckets and a Donarski two would tie things up. Another defensive breakdown would give OSU and open three and a 22-19 lead at the end of one. The first was just mix up of spits and starts...like a car missing on two cylinders.
To start the second the offense completely shifted to neutral. OSU was on fire and scored on three straight possessions to go up 28-21. In the mean time, the sisters had three missed layups. Yes, Some were slightly contested, but these should be baskets. Diew continued to get handled by the big post for OSU and Joens missed yet another layup. The sisters just kept missing shots and OSU stayed hot. They opened up a 9 point lead…including a basket that was actually a pass. That's when you know things are going your way. After yet another missed layup by the sisters, a trey by OSU would have a ten point lead. The sisters wouldn't fade into the night though as Donarski hit a big trey. It was just an ugly offensive quarter with the sisters struggling and getting outscored 20-14. At the half OSU led 42-33. Joens and Donarski were both struggling to score and Ryan had three fouls along with three turnovers.
The third started off better as Kane got the first bucket. She was the biggest offensive threat for ISU. After a nice defensive stop, Donarski's defender would fall down and she missed a wide open easy layup. Wow. To make matters worse, Joens continued to force things. She’s getting doubled and she is a black hole never attempting to pass the ball out to open players. In the midst of this Kane would get another bucket and then Joens gets blocked twice driving into another double team.
Diew finally showed a bit of offense as she scored on two straight possessions to tie the game. Of course what happens? We stop doing what got us back in (i.e defense) and OSU regains a 4 point lead. The ladies are doing just enough to hang around. It's just frustrating to see how many opportunities they had to pull ahead and misfire. It would go back and forth and Joens would pick up another foul. I have to say at this point the officials were blowing their whistle is anyone dared to breathe. Ryan at this point has four fouls, 3 turnovers and no assists.
The third ends with Diew getting her shot blocked with OSU up 57-53.
The 4th quarter started with some solid defense and a Joens trey. Unfortunately, the refs continued to blow whistles on lots of things they had been letting go. Joens would be assessed her 4th and this would greatly impact the defensive nature of the game. Ryan was back in the game and started to act like she needed to contribute. She hit a trey, but OSU answers when the defense collapsed and left a wide open trey available.
The defense was really stepping up and it was 54-52 OSU at the media timeout (5 min mark). Ryan would then tie it, but OSU began taking advantage of our foul trouble. They drove at Joens and she had to let them go twice. OSU up four just that quickly. On the other end the sisters were suffering from poor shot selection. Donarski would get two, but
the sisters were playing too much 1 on 1 basketball. Not playing team ball. At the 1:28 mark it was nail bitter close at 68-66 OSU. The real dagger was when OSU hit a highly contested trey at the shot clock buzzer and it’s a five point game with 48 secs left.
Joens hits two FT with 41 left and the sisters got a stop with 10 sec left. After a timeout, Donarski is forced to take a quick trey attempt and airballs after we don’t get the handoff we want and the game is essentially over
OSU prevails 73-68 and ISU drops into fourth place and take a real hit to their post season seeding.
Observations
POG - I honestly can't pick one. No one played consistently well throughout the game. If I had to go with who made the biggest difference I'd hand this one to Kane. She was a beast inside tonight and just wasn't utilized enough in my opinion. Still, she ended up with 16 points, 7 boards and was nearly perfect from the field hitting 6-7 shots and making all four free throws.
Joens - As good as she is, she gets blinders like a bull seeing a red cape at times. All too often she would take the ball with the single mind of driving without ever having the thought of passing to open players. This is why she ended up 6-17 from the field...and that included her having a "hot" fourth quarter.
Ryan - had a brief fourth quarter flurry, but otherwise she was not only a non-factor, but a detriment out there. Too many fouls and turnovers in the first half. And the foul trouble limited her playing time.
Donarski - she was snake bit tonight. Couldn't make a shot at times if she was given a ladder right next to the rim. Had some great looks, but things weren't going at all. 4-16 from the field. Ouch. Was pressed into point guard duties and did ok although she has a tendency to pick up her dribble too much.
Diew - well...she looked lost on defense much of the game. OSU just drive by and around her a lot. Couldn't buy a shot.
Fritz - played some solid defense. Nine points on only seven attempts. That means she's not getting the ball enough.
Free throws - our hallmark as always. Made 12 of 13. OSU made one more.
Rebounding - practically dead even with OSU.
This game was about as even as you could imagine. Rebounds even. Offensive boards even. Fouls were a bit in favor of OSU due to the end of the game. Blocks even. Turnovers were minimal and even. So what was the difference? OSU was more efficient shooting the ball. It wasn't that we were bad, but all the missed layups and some very questionable shots really hurt. In the end it was the inconsistent play from one moment to the next that cost the sisters this game. To go from stellar defense to non-existent defense happened too often. And when the defense worked the offense usually responded in kind. Throughout the game the sisters were always battling back from self-created deficits never doing better than pulling even and then letting OSU regain a 4-5 point lead.
So, what does this do? ISU falls to fourth place in the conference. This puts a dent in any hope of hosting the NCAA tournament. Here's the good news. The sisters have a very good chance of going 3-0 to end the regular season as they face TCU and TTU at home and go on the road to KU. OSU who now leads ISU by one game also has Kansas, but goes on the road to WVU and has OU at home. WVU is a wounded duck right now but tough at home. OU will be a tough matchup and they will be fighting for (gag) a conference title. Someone needs to figure out the tie breakers for seeding if OSU goes 2-1 and ISU goes 3-0.
