One of the things we all know about West Virginia is they will be a team that gets physical. If the officials let them get away with it they will pound you into submission. If the officials call an appropriate game the fouls will add up. This game was a bit of both.
The way things started it seemed that the sisters were prepared and were executing their game plan to perfection. The heading of that plan was to pound inside for three straight to Ashley and Soares and a quick 6-0 lead. That led to a quick timeout for WVU and they answered back with a pair of threes and a bucket to quickly take the lead. Over the next several minutes the game seemed like a chess match as lots of subs for both teams entered the game as each coach tried to find the right combinations. For the sisters nothing seemed to work very well. There were a bunch of turnovers in 1st - eight to be exact - that limited the offense. For WVU, JJ Quinerly (#11) was eating us alive from deep and inside. She has one sweet three point shot. Give her a little room and boom. Meanwhile we continued to struggle from deep as has been the track record of late. It was a wee bit of a mess, but by the end of the first quarter it was 17-16 ISU. Of note...WVU has hit 4 treys and ISU has 8 turnovers
The 2nd qtr was a lot of defensive breakdowns leaving WVU wide open for easy shots. With five min left they had six treys. WVU was using screens (more than a few were moving screens) to get their shooters open. For state, the quarter belonged to Donarski who scored inside and out. She also hit her 1000th point during this run. She absolutely ruled during this period and kept the sisters in the game. Soares spent a lot of time on the bench as she was having difficulties with the physical pressure. Kane did an outstanding job of coming in and giving just as much as WVU was. The sisters had a considerable size differential over WVU and yet they were staying with us rebound for rebound. The ISU outside shooting struggles are hurting. WVU is beating us up and they are taking it to our defense which seems confused at times. It finally got to the point that the officials appeared to have lost control of this thing. They missed calls on both teams ranging from travels to moving screens. They nearly allowed a "fight" to break out and had no clue what to call (it was a pretty straight forward jump ball BEFORE players started to dive on each other).
The difference so far? Our inability to hit the deep ball. Our FTs actually negated their multiple threes. The difference in why WVU was in this game was there having taken NINE more shots than the sisters.
At the half it was 37-37 and we all wondered what the halftime speech would be about. We didn't have long to wait to find out.
The third started ugly for both teams, but then a pair of threes gave the sisters the lead. One by Ashley tied the career record for made threes (interesting note...the record was co-held by University of Wyoming head coach Heather Ezell and Megan Taylor. Taylor made her shots with over FIFTY fewer attempts than Joens and over 100 fewer than Ezell!).
A trey by Diew would open the lead to 46-41 halfway through the quarter. It was at this point the defensive pressure the sisters were applying was starting to become apparent. The defense was clearly frustrating WVU. Free throws and good ball movement were opening the game up for the sisters offensively. A three by Ashley extended the lead to 55-41 as the ladies have shut WVU down. The three also broke the three point record. By the end of three it’s 57-41. Think about that score. WVU scored FOUR points that quarter. FOUR.
The quarter started slowly for both teams. There were missed shots and free throws. The only consistent things were ISU rebounds and WVU fouls. The sisters were absolutely dominating the boards (at the half it was nearly equal). WVU was always one and done. The defensive pressure and efficient (but not always pretty) offense extended the lead out to twenty points. It was 63-43 with five minutes to go.
When the subs came in with a couple of minutes left in the game, WVU had scored a total of 11 points in the second half. It was impressive to watch. The ladies had been challenged and they accepted in spades.
Final score - 70-50.
Observations
There were some good things that happened in this game.
Soares had to make some adjustments to the physicality. It clearly bothered her early, but she came on strong in the second half. Ended up with 13 points, TWENTY rebounds, 3 blocks in 25 minutes of play.
Joens was a senior leader. She was matching WVU's physicality up and down the court. Was fun to watch. Led the team with 17 points and 11 boards. This double-double also set a school record for d-d's in a career.
Donarski is still struggling from deep. But her defense really ratcheted up and she was dominating offensively in the 2nd quarter. She sliced the lane, made jump shots, and rebounded like a one person ball team. Impressive.
Kane was so valuable today. When Soares was on the bench Kane was out there banging with the best of them. You weren't going to out physical her in this one. Her six points and 2 boards don't say enough about what she did.
Diew had her best game of the year. She looks very slight physically, but she fought with the best of them. Coach F. said she had her best practice of the year yesterday and felt it translated to the game. Let's hope we see more of that. 21 minutes yielding 7 points and 7 boards.
Fritz is hard to figure out. If you didn't watch the game you'd look at her line and wonder why she was out there. Only 4 points and 5 boards in 20 minutes. The intangible was her toughness. She was fantastic on defense. I'd still like to see her offense come alive.
The good stats?
Rebounding. At the half the rebounding numbers were nearly equal. I should have written them down but didn't. By the end of the game a huge disparity emerged as the sisters swept the boards in the second half. Final totals? 55-34 Sisters. That is what you call an "effort" statistic.
Shooting. We still aren't hitting threes well (23% on 26 attempts). Second half saw us make a couple at very opportune times, but the shooting is just off. Especially Donarski (1-6). BUT the ladies had a couple of very good shooting quarters and ended up at nearly 43% for the game.
Bad stats?
Free throws. These literally kept us in the game in the first half. When you are playing a team that believes it's an honor to have more fouls than points you need to make your free throws. 69% and seven misses just doesn't cut it for this team.
So, in the end defense wins the day. The ladies demonstrated something many of you have been calling for all season. They stepped up and put the clamps on WVU. I mean, holding a team to 4 points in a quarter and 13 for a half is scary good.
Next up is a road game to Norman. Baylor already has shown that if you play defense you can frustrate and limit the high flying Sooners. ISU is fully capable of doing the same thing. If we don't slow them down we currently aren't capable of staying with them score for score. Not unless our deep shooting woes suddenly disappear. For those wondering, the game with be Sunday afternoon on ESPN2. We follow that with a trip to the rotten apple to face the purple kitties. I think today was a good start. Now let's see the ladies make it a trend.
The way things started it seemed that the sisters were prepared and were executing their game plan to perfection. The heading of that plan was to pound inside for three straight to Ashley and Soares and a quick 6-0 lead. That led to a quick timeout for WVU and they answered back with a pair of threes and a bucket to quickly take the lead. Over the next several minutes the game seemed like a chess match as lots of subs for both teams entered the game as each coach tried to find the right combinations. For the sisters nothing seemed to work very well. There were a bunch of turnovers in 1st - eight to be exact - that limited the offense. For WVU, JJ Quinerly (#11) was eating us alive from deep and inside. She has one sweet three point shot. Give her a little room and boom. Meanwhile we continued to struggle from deep as has been the track record of late. It was a wee bit of a mess, but by the end of the first quarter it was 17-16 ISU. Of note...WVU has hit 4 treys and ISU has 8 turnovers
The 2nd qtr was a lot of defensive breakdowns leaving WVU wide open for easy shots. With five min left they had six treys. WVU was using screens (more than a few were moving screens) to get their shooters open. For state, the quarter belonged to Donarski who scored inside and out. She also hit her 1000th point during this run. She absolutely ruled during this period and kept the sisters in the game. Soares spent a lot of time on the bench as she was having difficulties with the physical pressure. Kane did an outstanding job of coming in and giving just as much as WVU was. The sisters had a considerable size differential over WVU and yet they were staying with us rebound for rebound. The ISU outside shooting struggles are hurting. WVU is beating us up and they are taking it to our defense which seems confused at times. It finally got to the point that the officials appeared to have lost control of this thing. They missed calls on both teams ranging from travels to moving screens. They nearly allowed a "fight" to break out and had no clue what to call (it was a pretty straight forward jump ball BEFORE players started to dive on each other).
The difference so far? Our inability to hit the deep ball. Our FTs actually negated their multiple threes. The difference in why WVU was in this game was there having taken NINE more shots than the sisters.
At the half it was 37-37 and we all wondered what the halftime speech would be about. We didn't have long to wait to find out.
The third started ugly for both teams, but then a pair of threes gave the sisters the lead. One by Ashley tied the career record for made threes (interesting note...the record was co-held by University of Wyoming head coach Heather Ezell and Megan Taylor. Taylor made her shots with over FIFTY fewer attempts than Joens and over 100 fewer than Ezell!).
A trey by Diew would open the lead to 46-41 halfway through the quarter. It was at this point the defensive pressure the sisters were applying was starting to become apparent. The defense was clearly frustrating WVU. Free throws and good ball movement were opening the game up for the sisters offensively. A three by Ashley extended the lead to 55-41 as the ladies have shut WVU down. The three also broke the three point record. By the end of three it’s 57-41. Think about that score. WVU scored FOUR points that quarter. FOUR.
The quarter started slowly for both teams. There were missed shots and free throws. The only consistent things were ISU rebounds and WVU fouls. The sisters were absolutely dominating the boards (at the half it was nearly equal). WVU was always one and done. The defensive pressure and efficient (but not always pretty) offense extended the lead out to twenty points. It was 63-43 with five minutes to go.
When the subs came in with a couple of minutes left in the game, WVU had scored a total of 11 points in the second half. It was impressive to watch. The ladies had been challenged and they accepted in spades.
Final score - 70-50.
Observations
There were some good things that happened in this game.
Soares had to make some adjustments to the physicality. It clearly bothered her early, but she came on strong in the second half. Ended up with 13 points, TWENTY rebounds, 3 blocks in 25 minutes of play.
Joens was a senior leader. She was matching WVU's physicality up and down the court. Was fun to watch. Led the team with 17 points and 11 boards. This double-double also set a school record for d-d's in a career.
Donarski is still struggling from deep. But her defense really ratcheted up and she was dominating offensively in the 2nd quarter. She sliced the lane, made jump shots, and rebounded like a one person ball team. Impressive.
Kane was so valuable today. When Soares was on the bench Kane was out there banging with the best of them. You weren't going to out physical her in this one. Her six points and 2 boards don't say enough about what she did.
Diew had her best game of the year. She looks very slight physically, but she fought with the best of them. Coach F. said she had her best practice of the year yesterday and felt it translated to the game. Let's hope we see more of that. 21 minutes yielding 7 points and 7 boards.
Fritz is hard to figure out. If you didn't watch the game you'd look at her line and wonder why she was out there. Only 4 points and 5 boards in 20 minutes. The intangible was her toughness. She was fantastic on defense. I'd still like to see her offense come alive.
The good stats?
Rebounding. At the half the rebounding numbers were nearly equal. I should have written them down but didn't. By the end of the game a huge disparity emerged as the sisters swept the boards in the second half. Final totals? 55-34 Sisters. That is what you call an "effort" statistic.
Shooting. We still aren't hitting threes well (23% on 26 attempts). Second half saw us make a couple at very opportune times, but the shooting is just off. Especially Donarski (1-6). BUT the ladies had a couple of very good shooting quarters and ended up at nearly 43% for the game.
Bad stats?
Free throws. These literally kept us in the game in the first half. When you are playing a team that believes it's an honor to have more fouls than points you need to make your free throws. 69% and seven misses just doesn't cut it for this team.
So, in the end defense wins the day. The ladies demonstrated something many of you have been calling for all season. They stepped up and put the clamps on WVU. I mean, holding a team to 4 points in a quarter and 13 for a half is scary good.
Next up is a road game to Norman. Baylor already has shown that if you play defense you can frustrate and limit the high flying Sooners. ISU is fully capable of doing the same thing. If we don't slow them down we currently aren't capable of staying with them score for score. Not unless our deep shooting woes suddenly disappear. For those wondering, the game with be Sunday afternoon on ESPN2. We follow that with a trip to the rotten apple to face the purple kitties. I think today was a good start. Now let's see the ladies make it a trend.
