Well it’s a matchup of near equals. On paper ISU matches up quite well. In the last meeting we handled them quite well. This time around young Joens has become a more integral part of their offense. What will give today? Time to find out
First three possessions were blanks from Joens and Donarski. Finally Joens nailed it from deep. OU was off to a hot start and ISU was 1 for 5 with two turnovers. OU leD 8-3 early. The ISU offense was out of sorts missing layups and turning the ball over. Add to it the ladies are racking up the fouls on our posts. Izzi with two and Kane with one 4 min in.
The offense kept driving and turning it over into a collapsed defense. No jumpers. Meanwhile OU kept pulling ahead. 11-3 five min in. Yep…one stinking basket.
Finally Donarski hit a three and OU answered back inside. Fritz nailed the next three to pull ISU back to 13-9. Diew did it on both ends with a trey and taking a charge. Fritz got a second chance basket. Things are heating up as ISU took the lead on two Joens free throws.
OU takes the lead 19-18 on a pair of free throws to end the first.
The second started back and forth with both teams getting threes. Crazy pace. Joens took Joens to the hole for a pair of free throws. ISU edges out front 25-22.
OU was warming up from deep and tied the game at 27. Diew hit for another three to retake the lead. After a great defensive stand Joens collected a dumb charging foul without the ball. Darn!
At the four min mark ISU was in the bonus. Diew nailed another trey! After we went on a run the ladies then respond with turnovers leading to easy points. OU stormed back from six down to tie it at 37 on another Robertson trey. Kane would get free throws and gets 1 of 2.
After a steal with time running out Donarski scored on a drive as time expired and an 42-39 ISU halftime lead. These teams are sizzling. ISU is shooting 48% to OU’s 44%!
The third quarter started with a missed layup by Donarski, but next time down she nailed a trey. Ryan scored inside. Next possession Ashley hits for two and goes over three thousand for her career! Donarski nailed another three and the lead eased out to 9. Solid defense kept frustrating OU. Donarski drove, scored and was fouled. The FT extends the lead to 14, 59-45.
The offense went into neutral for a couple of minutes, but the defense was doing a yeomans job of frustrating OU. Four straight possessions for ISU with no points. OU was gaining some ground at the free throw line. Lead was down to ten 63-53. A layup by Joens before the buzzer extends the lead to 66-53 at the end of three. ISU is shooting a blistering 52% for the game.
The fourth started with a Donarski lay in and a defensive stop. Diew made two free throws and it was 69-53. Good defense by both teams slowed the scoring. OU was getting hot and closed the gap with 7 straight. ISU is just chucking up threes. Lead slipped down to 10.
The offense continued to miss and OU keeps closing and it was 8 with 4:39 left. The offense hasn’t been able to solve OU’s defense. Threes are cold. Meanwhile OU keeps chipping away.
OU scores again and the lead was only six. We chucked up another trey and miss again. Four min left in the quarter and we were stuck on four points. But on the next possession Joens drives hard and scores! Diew would mail another three! But OU answered with one of their own. The lead was 8 with 3 to go.
Ryan hit a three at the shot clock buzzer and the lead was 11 with 2 to go. The lead would waver around 8-10 as the teams battled back and forth.
The offense started dribbling clock and OU had to pick their poison as Donarski, Ryan and Joens were exchanging the ball. Joens was fouled and hit two. The crowd starts chanting the standard “SEC” which morphs to “Let’s go State!” Final 82-72.
Observations
POG for this one goes to Diew. Her getting hot on offense and making some solid defensive plays were a huge difference maker at a critical time. 19 points and 3 boards.
Joens - she is playing like the clock is approaching midnight. 22 points the hard way as she was fairly cold from deep.
Donarski - what an up and down day. Missed a couple easy ones but came back hard with 20 points overall.
Ryan - 9 points, 5 boards, 5 assists and only 2 turnovers. Nice point line.
Kane - still battles but this wasn’t the kind of game she flourishes in. 3 points and 1 rebound.
Fritz - a tough day from the field. 9 points and 7 tough boards. She was tenacious on D.
Zingaro - she continues to maximize her impact in minutes played. No points today, but her presence altered things.
Free Throws - 13 of 15 from the line. Each one was critical.
Rebounds - barely outrebounded -4.
These were two teams with similar makeups. The difference in my opinion was ISU’s defense. They were sticky tough all afternoon. Defense leads to offense and even when ISU had some scoring droughts the defense covered it up.
Next up is Texas for the title. This will be a tough physical game and the ladies are going to need every tool at their disposal. They need to limit fouls and be aggressive at both ends. See you all tomorrow at Hilton South!
First three possessions were blanks from Joens and Donarski. Finally Joens nailed it from deep. OU was off to a hot start and ISU was 1 for 5 with two turnovers. OU leD 8-3 early. The ISU offense was out of sorts missing layups and turning the ball over. Add to it the ladies are racking up the fouls on our posts. Izzi with two and Kane with one 4 min in.
The offense kept driving and turning it over into a collapsed defense. No jumpers. Meanwhile OU kept pulling ahead. 11-3 five min in. Yep…one stinking basket.
Finally Donarski hit a three and OU answered back inside. Fritz nailed the next three to pull ISU back to 13-9. Diew did it on both ends with a trey and taking a charge. Fritz got a second chance basket. Things are heating up as ISU took the lead on two Joens free throws.
OU takes the lead 19-18 on a pair of free throws to end the first.
The second started back and forth with both teams getting threes. Crazy pace. Joens took Joens to the hole for a pair of free throws. ISU edges out front 25-22.
OU was warming up from deep and tied the game at 27. Diew hit for another three to retake the lead. After a great defensive stand Joens collected a dumb charging foul without the ball. Darn!
At the four min mark ISU was in the bonus. Diew nailed another trey! After we went on a run the ladies then respond with turnovers leading to easy points. OU stormed back from six down to tie it at 37 on another Robertson trey. Kane would get free throws and gets 1 of 2.
After a steal with time running out Donarski scored on a drive as time expired and an 42-39 ISU halftime lead. These teams are sizzling. ISU is shooting 48% to OU’s 44%!
The third quarter started with a missed layup by Donarski, but next time down she nailed a trey. Ryan scored inside. Next possession Ashley hits for two and goes over three thousand for her career! Donarski nailed another three and the lead eased out to 9. Solid defense kept frustrating OU. Donarski drove, scored and was fouled. The FT extends the lead to 14, 59-45.
The offense went into neutral for a couple of minutes, but the defense was doing a yeomans job of frustrating OU. Four straight possessions for ISU with no points. OU was gaining some ground at the free throw line. Lead was down to ten 63-53. A layup by Joens before the buzzer extends the lead to 66-53 at the end of three. ISU is shooting a blistering 52% for the game.
The fourth started with a Donarski lay in and a defensive stop. Diew made two free throws and it was 69-53. Good defense by both teams slowed the scoring. OU was getting hot and closed the gap with 7 straight. ISU is just chucking up threes. Lead slipped down to 10.
The offense continued to miss and OU keeps closing and it was 8 with 4:39 left. The offense hasn’t been able to solve OU’s defense. Threes are cold. Meanwhile OU keeps chipping away.
OU scores again and the lead was only six. We chucked up another trey and miss again. Four min left in the quarter and we were stuck on four points. But on the next possession Joens drives hard and scores! Diew would mail another three! But OU answered with one of their own. The lead was 8 with 3 to go.
Ryan hit a three at the shot clock buzzer and the lead was 11 with 2 to go. The lead would waver around 8-10 as the teams battled back and forth.
The offense started dribbling clock and OU had to pick their poison as Donarski, Ryan and Joens were exchanging the ball. Joens was fouled and hit two. The crowd starts chanting the standard “SEC” which morphs to “Let’s go State!” Final 82-72.
Observations
POG for this one goes to Diew. Her getting hot on offense and making some solid defensive plays were a huge difference maker at a critical time. 19 points and 3 boards.
Joens - she is playing like the clock is approaching midnight. 22 points the hard way as she was fairly cold from deep.
Donarski - what an up and down day. Missed a couple easy ones but came back hard with 20 points overall.
Ryan - 9 points, 5 boards, 5 assists and only 2 turnovers. Nice point line.
Kane - still battles but this wasn’t the kind of game she flourishes in. 3 points and 1 rebound.
Fritz - a tough day from the field. 9 points and 7 tough boards. She was tenacious on D.
Zingaro - she continues to maximize her impact in minutes played. No points today, but her presence altered things.
Free Throws - 13 of 15 from the line. Each one was critical.
Rebounds - barely outrebounded -4.
These were two teams with similar makeups. The difference in my opinion was ISU’s defense. They were sticky tough all afternoon. Defense leads to offense and even when ISU had some scoring droughts the defense covered it up.
Next up is Texas for the title. This will be a tough physical game and the ladies are going to need every tool at their disposal. They need to limit fouls and be aggressive at both ends. See you all tomorrow at Hilton South!
