I had a lot of time to think about tonight's game as the trip home from Ames was rather harrowing. Snow and ice and covered the highways and it was so bad that you didn't know if you were in a lane or not going around Des Moines. The team reminded me of a line from one of my favorite movies - Galaxy Quest where they oft said the "Never give up! Never surrender!" when faced with nearly insurmountable odds.
We knew going into this game exactly what WVU was going to do - press and press hard. The coaching staff had devised a game plan similar to what Texas ran...force WVU to shoot outside and take away the inside game. In tonight's case it was a game of halves.
The first half was quite the back and forth affair as each team made pushes at each other. To be honest, the vaunted full court pressure only accomplished one thing - slowing the ISU offense down. Each possession would take the full ten seconds to get across the line and left only 20 seconds for the offensive set. Yes, there were some turnovers, but for the most part they didn't hurt that badly. WVU was able to get and maintain a first quarter lead in one way only - hitting the three ball. The rate they were tossing them up and hitting just enough enabled WVU to maintain a one or two possession lead throughout. Our sisters actually made more baskets that WVU and yet were on the wrong end of the score. The main thing that was working was feeding the ball inside to Crooks. Even when double teamed they had a very difficult time stopping her. As for our outside game? It was non-existent as the WVU defense made it difficult to find and open look and even when the ladies did they couldn't make the shot. It was just a gritty, grind it out kind of quarter which WVU led 21-19. For all of the threes (five) WVU hit they only led by a bucket.
The second quarter was much the same with each team battling for points. WVU kept chucking up the open threes and the sisters kept going inside. It was a relatively close game until a brief stretch in the last two minutes of the half when our sisters made several mistakes against the press that allowed WVU to score three times in about 45 seconds. It was chaotic and frustrating all at the same time. What had been a very closely played game was all of a sudden a 44-31 WVU lead. Much of the halftime discussion centered around the experience and speed WVU showed and the very inconsistent officiating that left fans of both teams scratching their heads. I'd say that most people were not thinking positively at this point, but as I told my wife...there's still a lot of time to go.
The second half actually started out pretty good for the sisters as they scored a couple of baskets and things looked positive. But man the bottom seemed to quickly fall out with a slew of mistakes and more open threes for WVU. Suddenly with four minutes gone in the half WVU led by 19 points. At this point many fans were just hoping to continue the three point streak. In the past we've had veteran teams fold up their tents and you knew the game was over. Yet, quite the opposite happened. This amazingly young team didn't give up. There was no surrender. What happened next was all started when Joens hit the first three of the game for the sisters. I'd told a seat mate that if we could hit one I felt the lid would come off the basket. I was right. Joens was followed up with two more treys by her teammates. The house that Hilton built was exploding. As Crooks would describe in the post-game, the sisters climbed back brick by brick. They held WVU to 11 points in the third while scoring 16. The lead was actually down to 55-47 at the end of the third. When the buzzer sounded the place was as raucous as I've ever heard it for a women's game. The sound level would only increase from there. But here's something I'll share that I'm sure some of you noticed. There was a move the coaching staff made that was brilliant and was huge in creating this turnaround. They pulled both Crooks and Natabou. In came Bristow to play the middle. This is the move that stymied WVU offensively. All of a sudden we had a team that was just as quick...maybe quicker than what WVU had on the floor. This was huge.
The fourth quarter was a thing of beauty. Crooks and Natabou would make appearances and do their damage. Especially Crooks. But Bristow kept getting back in to play the middle and all of a sudden I noticed something. The guards for WVU were starting to hesitate. They were deferring shots or forced them. Another change...we started to get the defensive boards giving few second chances (unlike in the first half when it seemed like every missed trey of theirs led to a second chance basket). One of the lynchpins of this entire operation was seeing Ryan on the floor. She and Bristow started the second half and what a difference they made. Ryan is such a floor general and she distributed or scored or was fouled. It was that simple. I can't hardly describe the chaos that was Hilton during the fourth. The crowd was crazy. My ears were ringing. The ladies were scoring inside and out (they ended up going 5-10 from deep this half). They were defending like crazy. WVU wasn't getting ANY clear looks at the basket. It was the Twister Sister defense that was frustrating WVU. Timeouts were used masterfully. This was the most dominating quarter against a high quality team that I've seen in a while. The sisters just completely dominated the quarter on their way to a ten point win. Think about that. Down by 13 at the half and later 19...and they win by 10. Not only do they win by 10, but had a 27-9 quarter. TWENTY SEVEN to nine. Holy buckets Batman. In the end it all came down to Ryan. She scored. She hit free throws. She did what the team needed and best of all, she made those around her better.
Observations
There were those that were calling out the coaches at halftime. In a sense they were calling out the players as well. Yes, the end of the second quarter was a mess. But one of life's big lessons is learning how to deal with adversity and that's exactly what Coach Fen was letting happen. In the second half I think we saw some absolutely brilliant coaching that quite literally changed the entire game. Best part? The Sisters bought in to it and delivered. I paraphrased The Grinch after the game and said this team grew "three times this day." I truly believe they did.
POG - of course it has to go to Ryan. As mentioned, she distributed the ball (2 assists), rebounded (7), scored (13) and was fouled six times leading to 5-5 shooting from the line. She was actually fouled more than that, but that's how many were called. Would you believe I almost said Bristow was the POG? The brilliant move to put her in the middle was a game changer. Six points, three boards and fouled three times in 15 minutes of playing time. Her defense was spectacular. So she gets honorable mention here.
The inside game - this is what held us in this game for a long time. Crooks was nearly unstoppable. My goodness she is going to be a power in this conference for another 3 1/2 years! She ended up with at least five bruises, 22 points, 11 rebounds, was fouled 27 times (ok, officially it was 4) and worked her butt off getting SEVEN offensive rebounds, most of which resulted in points. Meanwhile her partner in the middle, Natabou, went for 8 points and 2 boards. It was one of her better performances on the year. So we get 30 points and 13 boards from our inside players. I'll take a second helping of that.
Bellanger - She played a very good game tonight. Didn't wilt to the pressure and netted 8 points, 3 boards and 3 assists. Played 30 minutes meaning she was out there through the thick of it all.
Joens - this gal is a Joens through and through. We aren't seeing the scoring from her like some of us with were happening, but she took the lid off the basket with the first three of the night for the sisters. Even more important she was zooming around the court hustling after six boards. Full tilt effort. Every game, every time.
Diew - it was another scoreless outing for her. Shot just isn't there and there was a couple of times she just seemed to be lost out there. Still gives it all, but outside of two assists she had an empty stat line. I hope this changes and soon...preferably by Saturday.
AB - this was a tough game for our young do it all player. Had five turnovers on the night. But you know what? She doesn't hang her head. She just looks to the next play. Struggled to score again in the first half. But she just keeps going at it and finds ways to make a difference. How about 12 points, 8 boards and EIGHT assists. That's determination for you.
AJ - we didn't see the stellar scorer from the last two games tonight. Postgame said she has a hurt hand. She still managed to play outstanding defense and helped the offense run. Let's hope she's up to 100% for Saturday.
Rebounding - while it seemed like WVU had a gazillion offensive boards (it was actually 12), our ladies did their usual thing and dominated rebounding. They led by 7 or so at halftime and ended up with a 45-26 game advantage. This, as usual, was a team effort. EFFORT.
Treys - whew...the streak continues. Didn't seem like it would happen for a while, but when the lid came off with Joens' make all was well in the world once again. ISU hit 5 of 17 while WVU made 12 of gasp...FORTY THREE.
Assists - how about 17 on 25 made shots? Yessir I like it.
Fouls - you knew a bunch would be called. It's the WVU way. They got caught 23 times resulting in 21 free throw attempts for the ladies. They made 19. That's good stuff.
If you weren't there tonight you really missed something. Our TEAM just keeps growing. Up next is a daunting task with Baylor coming to town after a HUGE loss tonight to Kansas. For now at least, our sisters are one of two unbeatens in the Big 12. Let's enjoy it and come to Hilton Saturday to help them beat Baylor.
We knew going into this game exactly what WVU was going to do - press and press hard. The coaching staff had devised a game plan similar to what Texas ran...force WVU to shoot outside and take away the inside game. In tonight's case it was a game of halves.
The first half was quite the back and forth affair as each team made pushes at each other. To be honest, the vaunted full court pressure only accomplished one thing - slowing the ISU offense down. Each possession would take the full ten seconds to get across the line and left only 20 seconds for the offensive set. Yes, there were some turnovers, but for the most part they didn't hurt that badly. WVU was able to get and maintain a first quarter lead in one way only - hitting the three ball. The rate they were tossing them up and hitting just enough enabled WVU to maintain a one or two possession lead throughout. Our sisters actually made more baskets that WVU and yet were on the wrong end of the score. The main thing that was working was feeding the ball inside to Crooks. Even when double teamed they had a very difficult time stopping her. As for our outside game? It was non-existent as the WVU defense made it difficult to find and open look and even when the ladies did they couldn't make the shot. It was just a gritty, grind it out kind of quarter which WVU led 21-19. For all of the threes (five) WVU hit they only led by a bucket.
The second quarter was much the same with each team battling for points. WVU kept chucking up the open threes and the sisters kept going inside. It was a relatively close game until a brief stretch in the last two minutes of the half when our sisters made several mistakes against the press that allowed WVU to score three times in about 45 seconds. It was chaotic and frustrating all at the same time. What had been a very closely played game was all of a sudden a 44-31 WVU lead. Much of the halftime discussion centered around the experience and speed WVU showed and the very inconsistent officiating that left fans of both teams scratching their heads. I'd say that most people were not thinking positively at this point, but as I told my wife...there's still a lot of time to go.
The second half actually started out pretty good for the sisters as they scored a couple of baskets and things looked positive. But man the bottom seemed to quickly fall out with a slew of mistakes and more open threes for WVU. Suddenly with four minutes gone in the half WVU led by 19 points. At this point many fans were just hoping to continue the three point streak. In the past we've had veteran teams fold up their tents and you knew the game was over. Yet, quite the opposite happened. This amazingly young team didn't give up. There was no surrender. What happened next was all started when Joens hit the first three of the game for the sisters. I'd told a seat mate that if we could hit one I felt the lid would come off the basket. I was right. Joens was followed up with two more treys by her teammates. The house that Hilton built was exploding. As Crooks would describe in the post-game, the sisters climbed back brick by brick. They held WVU to 11 points in the third while scoring 16. The lead was actually down to 55-47 at the end of the third. When the buzzer sounded the place was as raucous as I've ever heard it for a women's game. The sound level would only increase from there. But here's something I'll share that I'm sure some of you noticed. There was a move the coaching staff made that was brilliant and was huge in creating this turnaround. They pulled both Crooks and Natabou. In came Bristow to play the middle. This is the move that stymied WVU offensively. All of a sudden we had a team that was just as quick...maybe quicker than what WVU had on the floor. This was huge.
The fourth quarter was a thing of beauty. Crooks and Natabou would make appearances and do their damage. Especially Crooks. But Bristow kept getting back in to play the middle and all of a sudden I noticed something. The guards for WVU were starting to hesitate. They were deferring shots or forced them. Another change...we started to get the defensive boards giving few second chances (unlike in the first half when it seemed like every missed trey of theirs led to a second chance basket). One of the lynchpins of this entire operation was seeing Ryan on the floor. She and Bristow started the second half and what a difference they made. Ryan is such a floor general and she distributed or scored or was fouled. It was that simple. I can't hardly describe the chaos that was Hilton during the fourth. The crowd was crazy. My ears were ringing. The ladies were scoring inside and out (they ended up going 5-10 from deep this half). They were defending like crazy. WVU wasn't getting ANY clear looks at the basket. It was the Twister Sister defense that was frustrating WVU. Timeouts were used masterfully. This was the most dominating quarter against a high quality team that I've seen in a while. The sisters just completely dominated the quarter on their way to a ten point win. Think about that. Down by 13 at the half and later 19...and they win by 10. Not only do they win by 10, but had a 27-9 quarter. TWENTY SEVEN to nine. Holy buckets Batman. In the end it all came down to Ryan. She scored. She hit free throws. She did what the team needed and best of all, she made those around her better.
Observations
There were those that were calling out the coaches at halftime. In a sense they were calling out the players as well. Yes, the end of the second quarter was a mess. But one of life's big lessons is learning how to deal with adversity and that's exactly what Coach Fen was letting happen. In the second half I think we saw some absolutely brilliant coaching that quite literally changed the entire game. Best part? The Sisters bought in to it and delivered. I paraphrased The Grinch after the game and said this team grew "three times this day." I truly believe they did.
POG - of course it has to go to Ryan. As mentioned, she distributed the ball (2 assists), rebounded (7), scored (13) and was fouled six times leading to 5-5 shooting from the line. She was actually fouled more than that, but that's how many were called. Would you believe I almost said Bristow was the POG? The brilliant move to put her in the middle was a game changer. Six points, three boards and fouled three times in 15 minutes of playing time. Her defense was spectacular. So she gets honorable mention here.
The inside game - this is what held us in this game for a long time. Crooks was nearly unstoppable. My goodness she is going to be a power in this conference for another 3 1/2 years! She ended up with at least five bruises, 22 points, 11 rebounds, was fouled 27 times (ok, officially it was 4) and worked her butt off getting SEVEN offensive rebounds, most of which resulted in points. Meanwhile her partner in the middle, Natabou, went for 8 points and 2 boards. It was one of her better performances on the year. So we get 30 points and 13 boards from our inside players. I'll take a second helping of that.
Bellanger - She played a very good game tonight. Didn't wilt to the pressure and netted 8 points, 3 boards and 3 assists. Played 30 minutes meaning she was out there through the thick of it all.
Joens - this gal is a Joens through and through. We aren't seeing the scoring from her like some of us with were happening, but she took the lid off the basket with the first three of the night for the sisters. Even more important she was zooming around the court hustling after six boards. Full tilt effort. Every game, every time.
Diew - it was another scoreless outing for her. Shot just isn't there and there was a couple of times she just seemed to be lost out there. Still gives it all, but outside of two assists she had an empty stat line. I hope this changes and soon...preferably by Saturday.
AB - this was a tough game for our young do it all player. Had five turnovers on the night. But you know what? She doesn't hang her head. She just looks to the next play. Struggled to score again in the first half. But she just keeps going at it and finds ways to make a difference. How about 12 points, 8 boards and EIGHT assists. That's determination for you.
AJ - we didn't see the stellar scorer from the last two games tonight. Postgame said she has a hurt hand. She still managed to play outstanding defense and helped the offense run. Let's hope she's up to 100% for Saturday.
Rebounding - while it seemed like WVU had a gazillion offensive boards (it was actually 12), our ladies did their usual thing and dominated rebounding. They led by 7 or so at halftime and ended up with a 45-26 game advantage. This, as usual, was a team effort. EFFORT.
Treys - whew...the streak continues. Didn't seem like it would happen for a while, but when the lid came off with Joens' make all was well in the world once again. ISU hit 5 of 17 while WVU made 12 of gasp...FORTY THREE.
Assists - how about 17 on 25 made shots? Yessir I like it.
Fouls - you knew a bunch would be called. It's the WVU way. They got caught 23 times resulting in 21 free throw attempts for the ladies. They made 19. That's good stuff.
If you weren't there tonight you really missed something. Our TEAM just keeps growing. Up next is a daunting task with Baylor coming to town after a HUGE loss tonight to Kansas. For now at least, our sisters are one of two unbeatens in the Big 12. Let's enjoy it and come to Hilton Saturday to help them beat Baylor.
