There was much discussion about this game and what the spread would be prior to the matchup. I admit I didn't see a lot of hope in beating the Hawks after seeing some of our struggles the past few games. I hoped to see fight and some improvements. What I didn't expect was to see the ladies hold a one point lead with just over four minutes left in the game.
I could recount the game blow by blow, but there were too many to mention. The first half was a fast paced bout of two teams that were throwing left hooks and undercuts throughout. Neither team could take a commanding lead...or for that matter much of a lead at all. They went back and forth as Iowa depended on Clark as usual and the Sisters saw Crooks and Brown lead the way. But that would also be short changing a few of the other players. Diew made some nifty plays as did Belanger. Then seeing Diew being assigned to cover Clark was rather fun most of the time. One thing was for sure...Clark was uncomfortable and at times frustrated. Her whining started early and sometimes it was aimed at her own teammates. By the end of the first half, the Sisters had battled the highly rated Hawks to a 36 all game. The nearly full arena was working on blowing the roof off in support of the effort shown by the ladies. At the half Crooks led the way with 12 points and about 9 boards. Everyone wondered how she would do against the much ballyhooed Stuelke of Iowa. Well, in the first, Crooks pretty much ate up whoever tried to guard her and no one threatened her rebounding. She even made a three pointer (which I admit was countered shortly thereafter by a Stuelke three).
The second half wasn't nearly as smooth and flowing as the first. The offense spent a great deal of time in the third trying to get a shot to fall as Iowa pulled out to a seven point lead. It almost seemed as if this would be when Iowa would show their ranking and pull away. But they didn't. Even though the sisters were truly struggling to get any shot off, let alone score, their defense was also frustrating the Hawks. While our sisters would only manage 11 points in the third, Iowa was limited to 14. Hope was still alive as Iowa led 50-47 at the end of three. Of particular note, Crooks had disappeared from the offense. Iowa had made some adjustments and were forcing her to work farther away from the basket and denying her the ball.
The battle continued into the fourth quarter and this is where Iowa's true star of the game did her thing. Martin was a force on defense and hit some critical shots, but it was her defense that impressed me the most. She clearly frustrated and created some havoc against the sisters. Yet, the sisters had battled back and actually took a one point lead with about 4 1/2 to go (56-55 I believe) and the juicy wiggle was erupting in the confines of Hilton. But that was about it. Some very strange things happened in the last 4 1/2 that still baffle me. The offense became stagnant and became too many 1 on 5 efforts as either Brown or Diew would try to dribble back in to the hoop while the four other sisters stood and watched. It NEVER worked. It either resulted in a turnover or terrible shots. The other mysterious change were some disastrous inbounds plays. Twice Brown had a teammate right in front of her for an easy inbounds play and instead threw a dangerous pass. One time she got away with it (although we still didn't score) and the other time resulted in a turnover. We had the same thing happen a short time later when one of our other players threw a high risk inbounds pass that was stolen away. We fouled and Iowa would only miss once at the line down the stretch. The final saw the Hawks win again 67-58.
Observations
Yes, Clark picked up 35 points. But she had a tough time of it. 12 of 31 shooting isn't good by any way, shape or form. We gave her a few easy ones off of screens and yes she had a couple of nice moves for points, but overall she was frustrated on the night.
As for the sisters...this was the best I've seen a team play against Iowa in several years. They definitely outplayed our highly ranked and experienced squad from a year ago. Who would have thought our youngsters would take the #4 team in the country right to the wire? I'm betting most of us never saw this coming.
POG - I really can't give one here. Crooks had a stupendous first half and disappeared in the second. Brown had great stats, but made some bad decisions down the stretch that really hurt. I just don't think one person can be picked. This was a TEAM effort.
Brown - 14 points and 12 rebounds for another double/double. She shows so much for a freshman and then will also show there are lessons to be learned. That's to be expected. She's really something to watch when she's in gear.
Crooks - she continues to exceed everyone's expectations on her performance. The first half showed what she can be and the second half showed, like Brown, there are things to learn. But man...the future is bright. 15 points and 10 boards.
The Guards - they had a tough night of it offensively. Between Belanger, AJ, and Kelsey, the guard court was a combined 6-17 from the field with Belanger making four of those shots. We did see eight assists.
Bristow - woof. Not her best night on the offensive end. She looked like she was trying things that worked in a high school game and against this veteran squad she was eaten alive. Another learning experience for her. Six boards is still a nice positive contribution.
Natabou - largely ineffective. Some of that was in the choice to play quicker forwards in place of a post for parts of the game. She seemed a step slow compared to everyone else out there.
Jackson - a surprise as she played significant minutes. Dished four assists, only 1 turnover and had one steal. Needs to keep working to find her shot.
The three shot - I was saying in pre-game chats we needed to be hitting. We didn't. 25% from deep on 20 shots doesn't help out too much. This was one of the differences in the game. Iowa made 9 of 31 mainly on Clarks volume shooting. There's four of the seven point final spread.
Strange stat - Both teams hit 22 shots on the night. Both teams shot 34%. But as mentioned, nine of those shots for Iowa were from deep to our five. We just couldn't find the net all night.
Free throws - This is where the other points for Iowa came from. They got to the line more often and only missed one of fifteen on the night. The sisters made nine of twelve. We have to get to the line more and do better.
Rebounding - the lades won this battle by one.
So, in the end the ladies showed us what lies ahead. This is a group that battled like crazy and did better against the # 4 team than many ranked teams have done. They held Iowa 30 points below their scoring average. They went toe to toe and took everything the Hawks could throw at them and still almost won. That's impressive. I hate seeing the Iowa Hawks win this game, but Clark won't be there forever (this may be the last time we see her). There will be payback from this group in the near future.
Up next is another tough squad on Sunday. North Dakota State (picked towards the top of their league this season) comes to town for a 5pm game. I hope folks from the early men's game stick around and come. Like the sisters they sit at 4-4 after an up and down pre-conference season. This should be interesting to see how the ladies come out after this emotional loss.
I could recount the game blow by blow, but there were too many to mention. The first half was a fast paced bout of two teams that were throwing left hooks and undercuts throughout. Neither team could take a commanding lead...or for that matter much of a lead at all. They went back and forth as Iowa depended on Clark as usual and the Sisters saw Crooks and Brown lead the way. But that would also be short changing a few of the other players. Diew made some nifty plays as did Belanger. Then seeing Diew being assigned to cover Clark was rather fun most of the time. One thing was for sure...Clark was uncomfortable and at times frustrated. Her whining started early and sometimes it was aimed at her own teammates. By the end of the first half, the Sisters had battled the highly rated Hawks to a 36 all game. The nearly full arena was working on blowing the roof off in support of the effort shown by the ladies. At the half Crooks led the way with 12 points and about 9 boards. Everyone wondered how she would do against the much ballyhooed Stuelke of Iowa. Well, in the first, Crooks pretty much ate up whoever tried to guard her and no one threatened her rebounding. She even made a three pointer (which I admit was countered shortly thereafter by a Stuelke three).
The second half wasn't nearly as smooth and flowing as the first. The offense spent a great deal of time in the third trying to get a shot to fall as Iowa pulled out to a seven point lead. It almost seemed as if this would be when Iowa would show their ranking and pull away. But they didn't. Even though the sisters were truly struggling to get any shot off, let alone score, their defense was also frustrating the Hawks. While our sisters would only manage 11 points in the third, Iowa was limited to 14. Hope was still alive as Iowa led 50-47 at the end of three. Of particular note, Crooks had disappeared from the offense. Iowa had made some adjustments and were forcing her to work farther away from the basket and denying her the ball.
The battle continued into the fourth quarter and this is where Iowa's true star of the game did her thing. Martin was a force on defense and hit some critical shots, but it was her defense that impressed me the most. She clearly frustrated and created some havoc against the sisters. Yet, the sisters had battled back and actually took a one point lead with about 4 1/2 to go (56-55 I believe) and the juicy wiggle was erupting in the confines of Hilton. But that was about it. Some very strange things happened in the last 4 1/2 that still baffle me. The offense became stagnant and became too many 1 on 5 efforts as either Brown or Diew would try to dribble back in to the hoop while the four other sisters stood and watched. It NEVER worked. It either resulted in a turnover or terrible shots. The other mysterious change were some disastrous inbounds plays. Twice Brown had a teammate right in front of her for an easy inbounds play and instead threw a dangerous pass. One time she got away with it (although we still didn't score) and the other time resulted in a turnover. We had the same thing happen a short time later when one of our other players threw a high risk inbounds pass that was stolen away. We fouled and Iowa would only miss once at the line down the stretch. The final saw the Hawks win again 67-58.
Observations
Yes, Clark picked up 35 points. But she had a tough time of it. 12 of 31 shooting isn't good by any way, shape or form. We gave her a few easy ones off of screens and yes she had a couple of nice moves for points, but overall she was frustrated on the night.
As for the sisters...this was the best I've seen a team play against Iowa in several years. They definitely outplayed our highly ranked and experienced squad from a year ago. Who would have thought our youngsters would take the #4 team in the country right to the wire? I'm betting most of us never saw this coming.
POG - I really can't give one here. Crooks had a stupendous first half and disappeared in the second. Brown had great stats, but made some bad decisions down the stretch that really hurt. I just don't think one person can be picked. This was a TEAM effort.
Brown - 14 points and 12 rebounds for another double/double. She shows so much for a freshman and then will also show there are lessons to be learned. That's to be expected. She's really something to watch when she's in gear.
Crooks - she continues to exceed everyone's expectations on her performance. The first half showed what she can be and the second half showed, like Brown, there are things to learn. But man...the future is bright. 15 points and 10 boards.
The Guards - they had a tough night of it offensively. Between Belanger, AJ, and Kelsey, the guard court was a combined 6-17 from the field with Belanger making four of those shots. We did see eight assists.
Bristow - woof. Not her best night on the offensive end. She looked like she was trying things that worked in a high school game and against this veteran squad she was eaten alive. Another learning experience for her. Six boards is still a nice positive contribution.
Natabou - largely ineffective. Some of that was in the choice to play quicker forwards in place of a post for parts of the game. She seemed a step slow compared to everyone else out there.
Jackson - a surprise as she played significant minutes. Dished four assists, only 1 turnover and had one steal. Needs to keep working to find her shot.
The three shot - I was saying in pre-game chats we needed to be hitting. We didn't. 25% from deep on 20 shots doesn't help out too much. This was one of the differences in the game. Iowa made 9 of 31 mainly on Clarks volume shooting. There's four of the seven point final spread.
Strange stat - Both teams hit 22 shots on the night. Both teams shot 34%. But as mentioned, nine of those shots for Iowa were from deep to our five. We just couldn't find the net all night.
Free throws - This is where the other points for Iowa came from. They got to the line more often and only missed one of fifteen on the night. The sisters made nine of twelve. We have to get to the line more and do better.
Rebounding - the lades won this battle by one.
So, in the end the ladies showed us what lies ahead. This is a group that battled like crazy and did better against the # 4 team than many ranked teams have done. They held Iowa 30 points below their scoring average. They went toe to toe and took everything the Hawks could throw at them and still almost won. That's impressive. I hate seeing the Iowa Hawks win this game, but Clark won't be there forever (this may be the last time we see her). There will be payback from this group in the near future.
Up next is another tough squad on Sunday. North Dakota State (picked towards the top of their league this season) comes to town for a 5pm game. I hope folks from the early men's game stick around and come. Like the sisters they sit at 4-4 after an up and down pre-conference season. This should be interesting to see how the ladies come out after this emotional loss.
