We all know how Baylor has literally owned the sisters for the past couple of decades. Yes, there was a win here and there for the sisters...but it was a pretty rare occurrence. In the past you could usually point to Baylor having superior talent, but that isn't the case any more. But there sure are a couple of players they have that I wish we had!
I'm not going to do my usual blow by blow for this write-up. Why? Because the first three quarters were nearly mirror images of each other. The first three quarters of this game literally could set back college basketball from an offensive standpoint. Neither team could buy a shot. Yes, part of that was due to some decent defense, but even open looks weren't falling. How many layups did the sisters miss in this game? They started off with three straight. At the end of one (13-12 ISU) both teams were shooting below 30% from the field. They also were turning the ball over at a record rate. Joens was 0- from the field.
If you thought the first quarter was bad...well, the second left much to be desired. The shooting percentage actually improved (if you call shooting 30% and improvement), but the ladies only attempted TEN shots the entire quarter. WHAT???? In the mean time they managed to turn the ball over another 7 times which gave them a halftime total of 14. You'd probably guess it was Ryan turning it over, but you'd be wrong. Give the honors to Joens and Diew with three apiece. Normally, a quarter in which the sisters scored only 9 points would be a disaster and the other team would be pulling away. Well, in this ugly demonstration of basketball it didn't happen. Why? Because Baylor also shot 30%, but had twice as many shots and makes as the sisters. By half the deficit was only 25-22. We were also helped by out-rebounding the Bears by 6. Sadly...this would change.
The third quarter wasn't much better from an offensive aesthetic. The sisters again improved their field goal percentage, but again only got off a miserable 11 shot attempts. What started to make a difference was the free throw line. After only getting two attempts in the first half, the third saw the sisters make 8-10 with Joens leading the way. At the end of three the game would be all tied up. The ominous stat of the quarter was seeing Diew pick up her third foul. The best part of the third was seeing the guard court score. The bad part? They each only had one basket.
The fourth is where things got interesting for both squads. The offensive missteps continued on both ends. It was almost as if no one wanted to win (of course that is a crazy supposition...). Both teams struggled from the field with Baylor shooting a miserable 28%. But they again took more shots as they were getting offensive boards. The sisters were starting to pick up fouls as Baylor was fighting inside and no one seemed to be able to stop them effectively without fouling. It almost appeared as if Baylor was going to pull this one out as their star freshman with the great name - Littlepage-Buggs - followed up a nice basket with two free throws on the next possession. Baylor was up by three with a minute left. But ISU would have its first hero step up in the form of a beautiful trey by Fritz to tie things up at 59. The rest of the fourth was just a mess as Baylor missed two free throws and with a chance to win the sisters would turn the ball over.
The first overtime was when Joens came alive. She had struggled all game attempting to drive inside and having her shots altered by the bigger Baylor lineup. The entire period was a back and forth effort with Joens being ALL of the sister's offense until the last 30 seconds and Baylor taking turns scoring. Of critical importance was seeing Diew and Kane both fouling out. This caused a major size imbalance. There were some missed free throw attempts and way too many second chance buckets by Baylor. Again it looked promising for Baylor as Littlepage-Buggs made a bucket to put them up three with only 30 seconds left. Let me tell you...I usually don't have a lot of faith in the sister's short clock offense. But hero #3 stepped up. Donarski nailed a trey to tie it up and Baylor missed a trey on the other end.
Second overtime...you could tell every player on the court was exhausted. Shots were falling short. Both teams came out of the gate looking gassed and missing shots. But the sisters struck first behind Donarski and Joens and edged out to a 5 point lead. Baylor would battle back and make it close, but opportune scores by the sisters kept Baylor playing catchup and then the gold card was played. Baylor had to put ISU at the line and the sisters cashed in. The ladies got a HUGE road win in 2OT 81-77.
Observations
I'm not sure what happened to the team that played Texas earlier in the week. That team flowed on offense and this one was pretty much a mess for much of the game. Yet...a win is a win.
POG - this could go to several people. I'll chalk it up to team. Fritz, Donarski and Joens all had key contributions on offense. Ryan had double digit rebounds.
Joens - not a pretty night shooting. If I judged this off of regulation it would be a bad day at the office. But in the two OTs...she was money. 27 points and 11 boards. Yes...it was not a good shooting night (7-24), but her grit and free throws won this thing.
Ryan - another game of seeing her dribble way too much. Assist to turnover ration was 1:1 (5 and 5). But her rebounding was critical.
Donarski - talk about some clutch shots and great defense (as usual). Sixteen points.
Fritz - another solid game from the freshman. 12 points, some nasty defense, and 7 boards. I'll take some more of that please.
The posts - both Diew and Kane had their moments. Fought tough, but both fouled out. The Baylor posts were just quicker and that caused problems. But between the two of them they notched 14 points and 10 boards.
M&M - this was a night we really needed her to step up. Looking at the stat line you don't see much. But the minutes she put in playing mostly error free ball were huge. Still want to see her recover her offensive confidence.
So, the team struggles to make a shot all night long and then it goes to OT. In the two OTs the sisters made 50% of their shots. So did Baylor. Weird huh? This one was a big one to get off the ladies backs. It keeps them in the race and helps their seeing for the conference tournament and the dance. After having an ugly three game skid this week was huge. Next up is a visit to OSU next week. They have been playing VERY well and are in the middle of the conference race tied with the sisters at 9-5. They also had to go the OT route taking three to beat TTU today. The next week is going to be huge for determining who wins the conference and the pecking order after #1.
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