February 2nd, 2008: Marquette at St. John's

NB: I don't usually comment on future events, but it's worth mentioning that perhaps Leslie was scouting for something other than guards- because in April 2008, Tiina Sten was invited to the Sparks' training camp.

I think the phrase "about damn time!" applies to this game. About damn time we got a win at Carnesecca. About damn time Kia Wright stepped it up, or was allowed to step it up. About damn time someone lit a fire under Sky Lindsay's ass. About damn time Recee Mitchell found her cojones. About damn time they played like they actually wanted to be out there.



I like when things like this start off on a good note, so the fact that the anthem was vocal and didn't suck? A major, major plus. That always makes me manage to find the good in the day instead of the bad. Strange, I know.

I promised Marquette Fan I'd make a detailed report, and so I shall. I really think Marquette's going to be something else in the next couple of years. With only one senior on the roster, and with some very impressive underclasswomen, they're loaded to make some noise next year and the year after that. Sophomore guard Janelle Harris got whatever shots she wanted, both on the perimeter and on the inside; I like the way she positions herself to either get a good shot or get the foul and go to the line. Krystal Ellis seemed to spearhead the whole thing, and I think Marquette first found themselves in trouble when she got into foul trouble in the first half- they righted the ship, but that set up the ending of the game where they no longer had her available. Their ball movement seemed better when she was out there. I also liked Angel Robinson from the starting lineup, though I'm not sure how much of her offense was legit and how much of it was because she had the weakest link in St. John's defense on her. But the player who really impressed me actually came off the bench. I love Jocelyn Mellen's nose for the ball- she's got nice size and seems to like going either inside or out. A great pickup for the Golden Eagles. It looks like Coach Mitchell's done a great job in getting size for her team- I think her only issue now is that she's got to trust more of her rotation, and that will come with time. She gave UConn a scare last year- I think that'll happen again next year.

We see you, Sky Lindsay! Yeah, Sky only scored eight, but she was getting better shots, getting her shots to go down, and becoming confident enough to make better plays on the defensive end and on the boards. I hope she keeps this fire through the rest of the season, because we are now in the belly of the BEast, and there is no mercy here; we need everyone to be sharp. It was also absolutely wonderful to see Kia back in her element, because when Kia's game is on, not only does she get her shots and make them, she gets other people their shots in better position and makes things happen in that way. The only thing that bothered me about Kia's game today was her passing- she made more than a few uncharacteristically stupid passes to players that were quite clearly covered, although I'm never sure whether to credit that to the passer or to the defense. Ahem. Anyway. Little Sista got her offensive game on, but not so much her defensive game. Probably wouldn't have been close at all if she'd stayed on her woman; on the other hand, twenty-three points is nothing to sneer at, and most of her shots seemed to be coming within the flow of the offense. Joy did her hustle thing, and in the second half, she was one of the few St. John's players to think 'hmm, Marquette has nine fouls, perhaps going inside would be a really good idea'. Tiina… please don't let's talk about Tiina. The next time anyone else starts bitching about their center, please note that ours is a blonde and a Euro, and as the season has progressed, has taken to playing more and more like a blonde and a Euro. Our bench stepped up big today- not on the scoreboard, but in a lot of little ways. Someone found Recee's cojones, which is a big relief when Tiina's not on, because Recee was fighting and scrapping for rebounds and she came up way big. Kelly, though I'd like to see her drive more, hit her shots when she needed them, and she made a couple of plays against the edge of the court that helped St. John's stay in it. Sheree came in and injected the team with a whole lot of fire, even if she couldn't necessarily hit shots off the rebounds she got. She'll learn. She's only a freshman, after all. The only player who really, truly, and honestly disappointed me today was Coco- I can't for the life of me recall one good play she made.

Good thing we didn't need Kristin today, because she was in street clothes and seemed to be limping slightly. At least she's a good dresser. Some of our players are from the "what do you mean, people will think I only have two shirts?" school of dressing for games. Speaking of folks in street clothes, I don't know if Victoria will ever be healthy enough to play, but she seems to be learning a lot about the coaching side of the business on the St. John's bench. I'm intrigued. Speaking of Connecticut connections, if any Sun fans are reading this, could you thank Le'Coe Willingham for the loan of her hair? Recee looked magnificent, and she certainly played better than I've seen her in a month. (A couple of players changed up their hair. Seeing Joy with her hair down was disconcerting, to say the least. And Marquette forgot their headbands, so the red with the blue and gold was interesting.)

Dear Coach: plz to be losing the jacket with the strained single tie, kplzthxbye. There comes a point where you have to sacrifice your wardrobe to your figure. If Brenda Frese can pull off carrying twins without looking like a fashion disaster, I'm sure you can find something that doesn't make you look like you're about to pop OMGnow.

I'm still not sure what that technical was about near the end of the game, or who it was on. I only had Ellis with three fouls when she committed the foul on defense that resulted in her disqualification. Now, if the T were on her, or if I had miscounted earlier on, I can understand what happened, but otherwise, I think Mitchell had a very good reason to be pissed off. The refereeing was consistently inconsistent so that some of the more egregious errors balanced out; in complete honesty, Kia should have fouled out, but there were some interesting calls on St. John's. Like I said, in my doing-my-best-to-be-unbiased opinion, the refs balanced themselves out.

She Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken did make an appearance, but they must have rescheduled her halftime appearance thing to pregame clinic stuff, because the only way we even knew she was there was an announcement by the PA guy near the start of the second half. She seems to look good, though we didn't get much of a view of her. Mom wondered if she was taking the opportunity to get in some scouting for the Sparks, but Kovalenko's no prospect and I don't think Kia's the kind of guard they're looking for. (Then again, the Sparks are pretty much looking for any kind of guard, aren't they?)

Okay, ladies, take this to Georgetown, because if you can't beat the Hoyas, you should just call the whole thing off and see what you can do about taking your courses from home. Come on, guys! All we need is .500 to dance somewhere.