I thought going in this game would be a real test for the ladies. This is a decent BYU team with good shooters and a nice post player in Gustin.
First Quarter
AJ would hit an opening three and after a bad turnover BYU answered with their big scorer Gustin. For a period of time in the first our offense was very forced trying to get Crooks going and it wasn’t working. BYU was doubling down on her. Brown also had two early turnovers as she too was forcing things.
AJ would hit another trey. Our defense kept leaving players open for shots and they hit most. We were missing shots inside and out as Gustin was eating us for lunch. BYU went on a 8-0 run. Diew was cold as ice and Natabou kept banging the ball off the glass. BYU pulled out to a 16-11 early lead. Crooks would end our little scoreless streak and Brown followed with a trey. If there is anything you want to say about these players…they don’t get rattled and they always fight back.
The quarter would end with ISU on a 9-0 run. Crooks got a pair of offensive rebounds (off her own misses) and put backs followed by a wild tear drop from AJ and a 20-16 lead.
Second Quarter
The first possession saw Diew miss her third shot of the game. She’s not really even close on these. Crooks would also get hammered and promptly missed both FT. Tough start. Ryan came in the ball game. Brown would end our little scoreless streak. BYU started missing everything until Gustin nails a jumper. Meanwhile, ISU kept missing wide-open shots and BYU would tie things up. The entire offense is just out of sync.
Diew would miss her fourth shot. BYU took the lead after the sisters missed on four straight possessions. Then we had a shot clock violation. Not something you probably have seen this year. The offense was ice cold. At the same time, BYU kept scoring and built their lead to four. 14-6 quarter for BYU so far. Natabou would tie it at 30 on a pretty hook, but on the next two possessions she commits really bad offensive fouls. Those really hurt at the end of the quarter and allows BYU to hit a trey at the buzzer for a 33-30 lead at the half.
Third Quarter
BYU opened up with two buckets including another trey by their post from deep. AJ would stem the bleeding with a trey. And Bristow airballs one followed by BYU’s Wooston hitting a trey and the BYU lead was back to eight. Our offense was a mix of bad misses and sweet shots. Too many bad ones. Diew missed a layup. She was still 0 for the game. Not helping the effort at all. Thank god for AJ as she nailed another trey. Diew missed another bunny.
ISU would stay around, but kept having defensive breakdowns after playing exemplary defense. Woolston was left open again and pushed the lead to five. But as she always seems to, Brown answered. Brown is simply playing possessed this half. On one possession the effort of the sisters was clearly demonstrated. Crooks hit a free throw, missed the second, Joens rebounded the miss and AJ hit another trey. ISU was up two 53-51. Crooks was fouled again with two seconds left. She hit both and ISU led 55-51 after a little 9-0 run.
Fourth Quarter
If there was a fun time to watch this entire game, the fourth quarter was it. Talk about a battle. The best part was watching Ryan literally take the game over. But I digress…
Crooks would again rebound her own miss for two, but then we left Woolston open for another trey. BYU would hit another after a Joens air ball. Suddenly it was a tie game. This is where the fun began. Ryan made a strong drive for two and missed the harm. Then Ryan turns the ball over and AJ saves it with a steal. Folks…thats an effort play by AJ. Ryan was in command and there was a nice assist for a Belanger trey. Ryan would make another beautiful drive for two and a nine point lead. Diew would air ball a trey. She really struggled in all aspects of her game today. There were four minutes to go and the sisters held an eight point lead. Ryan got fouled again (BYU should know better) and her pair of FTs makes it a 10 point game. Ryan made another pair of FT with 2 min left. ISU led again by 8. BYU would answer with a trey. Guess what? Ryan drove again and got fouled again. She hits one of two. BYU kept scoring and whittled the lead down to 4. Ryan dished to a wide open Brown at the end of the shot clock for a dagger trey. Seven point lead with 35 tics to go. Quick BYU bucket on poor defense. 28 tics. ISU promptly turned the ball over on the inbounds. GREAT defense by Bristow forced a bad shot and Ryan got the ball. 20 tics. The inbounds went to Brown and she was fouled and hits both. 18 tics. BYU missed and ISU forced a jump ball. 11 tics. The clock strikes midnight and the sisters have another road win 80-75. They move to 3-0 in the conference.
Observations
This was the 600th win for Coach Fennelly at Iowa State. A few congratulatory emails might be in order from all of us WBB fans!
POG - This is just like last game. I have to go with the trifecta. AJ, Brown and Ryan. AJ continues to hit her shots (what a blessing it is to have her scoring!) as she played 25 minutes, went 6-9 from the field (5-7 from deep) for 17 points, 4 boards and 2 assists. Brown overcame an off first half and ended up with 24 points, 8 boards and 3 assists. I’ve NEVER seen a freshman play with the strength and poise she exhibits. Ryan…oh Ryan…what we saw in 21 minutes of play was the magnificent leader at her best. When we needed her to she literally took over the game on offense. Whether it was dishing the ball (3 assists) or driving to the hoop she literally won this game for us. Eleven points and hit 5 of 7 free throws.
Belanger - Ten big points and three boards. She really got the job done today as well. Solid on D as she hustled through screens. She took advantage of her open moments.
Bristow - she continues to do things quietly. She’s not the offensive threat yet that I feel she will eventually turn into. BUT she does good things on defense and she’s always around the ball. No points, but three rebounds. Perhaps her biggest play was when she cut off a driving BYU player forcing a bad shot.
Crooks - Struggled early, but man when she establishes position underneath look out. When she missed she cleaned up the boards and then didn’t miss. Thirteen points and 9 boards. Free throws regressed a bit from last game back to 50%. More work to do at the line.
Natabou - she’s settling in nicely as a great backup post. Had a couple of ???? fouls in the first half, but she still plays well when on the court allowing for some different looks.
Diew - whew…two games in a row where Ny couldn’t find the net with a seeing eye dog. Not sure what’s going on and I can’t wait to see the “good” Ny again. Today was really rough on offense as she went 0-8 from the field and only had 2 boards. Has to get better.
Joens - She’s like Bristow. We aren’t seeing her score a lot even though we know she can. Three points on one make and FIVE big boards. Like Bristow she makes her presence known quietly and effectively.
Free Throws - we are so used to having great free throw shooting teams. It was a pleasure to see CBF pull the other players off the lane because we knew what the results would be. Not so much this year. This is the big area that needs more improvement. Today it was 12 of 17 which is a titch higher than normal at 71%. I’m greedy. I want to see us in the upper 70’s minimum.
The Three ball - this was a game where the viewer got to see some GREAT shooting from deep. The sisters would make 12 out of 27 (44% which I’ll take all day) and BYU would hit nine of their own.
Rebounding - one of the trademarks of this team is that they out-rebound their opponents every single game. Rebounding is an effort play. Today the ladies didn’t dominate, but would still outbound BYU 41-32. Even more important, the sisters would score 21 second chance points. HUGE.
Turnovers - Ten. That’s really good. Most were in the first half I believe. This is a positive step forward.
Assists - 22 assists on 32 shots. Yowza. These ladies have great court vision and can find the open shooter.
So, the ladies sit at 3-0 in the conference. Next comes a HUGE challenge in the friendly confines of Hilton. West Virginia and their smothering full court, hack the crap out of you defense comes to town. Our free throw shooting had best get better AND we need to have some schemes in place to protect the ball. They average nearly 15 steals a game. They are coming off a dismantling by Texas at home. We need a big home crowd to help the ladies out.
First Quarter
AJ would hit an opening three and after a bad turnover BYU answered with their big scorer Gustin. For a period of time in the first our offense was very forced trying to get Crooks going and it wasn’t working. BYU was doubling down on her. Brown also had two early turnovers as she too was forcing things.
AJ would hit another trey. Our defense kept leaving players open for shots and they hit most. We were missing shots inside and out as Gustin was eating us for lunch. BYU went on a 8-0 run. Diew was cold as ice and Natabou kept banging the ball off the glass. BYU pulled out to a 16-11 early lead. Crooks would end our little scoreless streak and Brown followed with a trey. If there is anything you want to say about these players…they don’t get rattled and they always fight back.
The quarter would end with ISU on a 9-0 run. Crooks got a pair of offensive rebounds (off her own misses) and put backs followed by a wild tear drop from AJ and a 20-16 lead.
Second Quarter
The first possession saw Diew miss her third shot of the game. She’s not really even close on these. Crooks would also get hammered and promptly missed both FT. Tough start. Ryan came in the ball game. Brown would end our little scoreless streak. BYU started missing everything until Gustin nails a jumper. Meanwhile, ISU kept missing wide-open shots and BYU would tie things up. The entire offense is just out of sync.
Diew would miss her fourth shot. BYU took the lead after the sisters missed on four straight possessions. Then we had a shot clock violation. Not something you probably have seen this year. The offense was ice cold. At the same time, BYU kept scoring and built their lead to four. 14-6 quarter for BYU so far. Natabou would tie it at 30 on a pretty hook, but on the next two possessions she commits really bad offensive fouls. Those really hurt at the end of the quarter and allows BYU to hit a trey at the buzzer for a 33-30 lead at the half.
Third Quarter
BYU opened up with two buckets including another trey by their post from deep. AJ would stem the bleeding with a trey. And Bristow airballs one followed by BYU’s Wooston hitting a trey and the BYU lead was back to eight. Our offense was a mix of bad misses and sweet shots. Too many bad ones. Diew missed a layup. She was still 0 for the game. Not helping the effort at all. Thank god for AJ as she nailed another trey. Diew missed another bunny.
ISU would stay around, but kept having defensive breakdowns after playing exemplary defense. Woolston was left open again and pushed the lead to five. But as she always seems to, Brown answered. Brown is simply playing possessed this half. On one possession the effort of the sisters was clearly demonstrated. Crooks hit a free throw, missed the second, Joens rebounded the miss and AJ hit another trey. ISU was up two 53-51. Crooks was fouled again with two seconds left. She hit both and ISU led 55-51 after a little 9-0 run.
Fourth Quarter
If there was a fun time to watch this entire game, the fourth quarter was it. Talk about a battle. The best part was watching Ryan literally take the game over. But I digress…
Crooks would again rebound her own miss for two, but then we left Woolston open for another trey. BYU would hit another after a Joens air ball. Suddenly it was a tie game. This is where the fun began. Ryan made a strong drive for two and missed the harm. Then Ryan turns the ball over and AJ saves it with a steal. Folks…thats an effort play by AJ. Ryan was in command and there was a nice assist for a Belanger trey. Ryan would make another beautiful drive for two and a nine point lead. Diew would air ball a trey. She really struggled in all aspects of her game today. There were four minutes to go and the sisters held an eight point lead. Ryan got fouled again (BYU should know better) and her pair of FTs makes it a 10 point game. Ryan made another pair of FT with 2 min left. ISU led again by 8. BYU would answer with a trey. Guess what? Ryan drove again and got fouled again. She hits one of two. BYU kept scoring and whittled the lead down to 4. Ryan dished to a wide open Brown at the end of the shot clock for a dagger trey. Seven point lead with 35 tics to go. Quick BYU bucket on poor defense. 28 tics. ISU promptly turned the ball over on the inbounds. GREAT defense by Bristow forced a bad shot and Ryan got the ball. 20 tics. The inbounds went to Brown and she was fouled and hits both. 18 tics. BYU missed and ISU forced a jump ball. 11 tics. The clock strikes midnight and the sisters have another road win 80-75. They move to 3-0 in the conference.
Observations
This was the 600th win for Coach Fennelly at Iowa State. A few congratulatory emails might be in order from all of us WBB fans!
POG - This is just like last game. I have to go with the trifecta. AJ, Brown and Ryan. AJ continues to hit her shots (what a blessing it is to have her scoring!) as she played 25 minutes, went 6-9 from the field (5-7 from deep) for 17 points, 4 boards and 2 assists. Brown overcame an off first half and ended up with 24 points, 8 boards and 3 assists. I’ve NEVER seen a freshman play with the strength and poise she exhibits. Ryan…oh Ryan…what we saw in 21 minutes of play was the magnificent leader at her best. When we needed her to she literally took over the game on offense. Whether it was dishing the ball (3 assists) or driving to the hoop she literally won this game for us. Eleven points and hit 5 of 7 free throws.
Belanger - Ten big points and three boards. She really got the job done today as well. Solid on D as she hustled through screens. She took advantage of her open moments.
Bristow - she continues to do things quietly. She’s not the offensive threat yet that I feel she will eventually turn into. BUT she does good things on defense and she’s always around the ball. No points, but three rebounds. Perhaps her biggest play was when she cut off a driving BYU player forcing a bad shot.
Crooks - Struggled early, but man when she establishes position underneath look out. When she missed she cleaned up the boards and then didn’t miss. Thirteen points and 9 boards. Free throws regressed a bit from last game back to 50%. More work to do at the line.
Natabou - she’s settling in nicely as a great backup post. Had a couple of ???? fouls in the first half, but she still plays well when on the court allowing for some different looks.
Diew - whew…two games in a row where Ny couldn’t find the net with a seeing eye dog. Not sure what’s going on and I can’t wait to see the “good” Ny again. Today was really rough on offense as she went 0-8 from the field and only had 2 boards. Has to get better.
Joens - She’s like Bristow. We aren’t seeing her score a lot even though we know she can. Three points on one make and FIVE big boards. Like Bristow she makes her presence known quietly and effectively.
Free Throws - we are so used to having great free throw shooting teams. It was a pleasure to see CBF pull the other players off the lane because we knew what the results would be. Not so much this year. This is the big area that needs more improvement. Today it was 12 of 17 which is a titch higher than normal at 71%. I’m greedy. I want to see us in the upper 70’s minimum.
The Three ball - this was a game where the viewer got to see some GREAT shooting from deep. The sisters would make 12 out of 27 (44% which I’ll take all day) and BYU would hit nine of their own.
Rebounding - one of the trademarks of this team is that they out-rebound their opponents every single game. Rebounding is an effort play. Today the ladies didn’t dominate, but would still outbound BYU 41-32. Even more important, the sisters would score 21 second chance points. HUGE.
Turnovers - Ten. That’s really good. Most were in the first half I believe. This is a positive step forward.
Assists - 22 assists on 32 shots. Yowza. These ladies have great court vision and can find the open shooter.
So, the ladies sit at 3-0 in the conference. Next comes a HUGE challenge in the friendly confines of Hilton. West Virginia and their smothering full court, hack the crap out of you defense comes to town. Our free throw shooting had best get better AND we need to have some schemes in place to protect the ball. They average nearly 15 steals a game. They are coming off a dismantling by Texas at home. We need a big home crowd to help the ladies out.
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