March 24th, 2008: Iona at St. John's (WNIT)

McLeans are everywhere as St. John's plays host to the Gaels, and have I mentioned lately that Sheree Ledbetter is awesome?


Okay, so it's not the important dance, but it's nice to have one of my teams dancing unexpectedly, as St. John's picked up a win against Iona tonight at Carnesecca Arena.

Clearly our band decided that they didn't have to show anything remotely resembling effort- not that they're very good in the first place, but tonight was exceptionally awful. We were wincing by the end of it, it was that bad. I got the sense during early shootaround that some of the Red Storm didn't care about this game as much as they would about a normal game, but that got shaken out of them in a hurry; perhaps they expected Iona to be an easy opponent?

I owe Iona a big favor for last year- indirectly, they're responsible for my bragging rights in the bracket challenge by giving me cause to take Marist over Ohio State. They also produced Martina Weber, so I have to give them some love for that. They play tough, they play physical, and they fear no one and nothing. The MAAC may be a two-team league, but those two teams are pretty damn bad-ass. They have a big center, Anna McLean (who obviously confused the daylights out of St. John's fans who are used to McLean being one of the good guys), who isn't afraid to use her size to get inside. They bring (or brought) forward Jessica Smith, who's got a nicely balanced game, and off the bench they had a Serbian forward, Anda Ivkovic, who's only a freshman and has a gorgeous shot- I'd like her a whole lot better if she weren't a dirty player with a nasty set of elbows. Lauren DeFalco bombed a couple of deep, deep threes- we're talking professional range, maybe even NBA range. Their coach is a little insane- okay, a lot insane- but he's done well with what he has. I'm not sure how long Iona can hold on to the #2 slot in the MAAC; they're losing a lot to graduation, although they have some good freshmen in Ivkovic and Catherine Lutz.

For St. John's, this game was all about the second half. While Tiina and Sky did all their scoring in the first half- and for Sky, that scoring was almost completely neutralized by her boneheaded mistakes and Coach's odd insistence on using her as a point guard when there were actual point guards on the floor- Kelly and Joy combined for 13, and Kia loaded up on free throws and layups to score 12 of her 14, in the second half. Kia wanted this game too much, I think; she didn't play as smartly as she knows how to, although she steadied in the second half, and her hustle in the paint was unfreakingbelievable. Monique took over on offense, and for a change she wasn't forcing bad shots. Sky, on the other hand- we will not talk about Sky's shot selection or her court vision tonight. Tiina… so inconsistent. So blonde. So Euro. Joy was dead quiet in the first half- I thought she was having flashbacks to the preseason NIT game last year, when she was one of the only five Red Storm players remaining for the second half against an Iona team that lacked Martina Weber but that pushed Marist all through MAAC play. Someone kicked her in the ass during halftime, though; she came out hustling more like herself, going up strong with the ball instead of trying to bring it down and getting stripped, and performing what's become her signature offensive move, the pell-mell drive down the lane capped by a sweeping hook from the right side. Off the bench, Kelly made some great defensive plays against the baseline and hit a big three that got St. John's some breathing room from the stubborn Gaels. Sheree got a lot of time, and I liked that; she's become our sparkplug, the catalyst for a backcourt trap that makes me all tingly inside. The more I see of her, the more I like her, because she brings so much energy and because she balances the enjoyment of the game with attention to the game. Some of our players have so much fun that they seem to forget to pay attention to what they're supposed to be doing. Recee came in to try and balance out McLean, because that big girl was doing all kinds of bodily harm to our skinny posts. Kristin and Coco got minutes; I don't think Coco did much with her minutes, though she certainly had enough of them.

I wasn't expecting genius from the zebras tonight, since anyone who's worth a good goddamn should be calling the NCAA tournament, but there were some pretty egregious misses, and some questionable out of bounds calls. I'm still trying to figure out how Coco got called for her first foul.

Iona brought a big loud fan contingent. Major props to them- yes, I know, it's not exactly a long trip, but I didn't know how many Iona fans there were out there. At some points, they were drowning us out. It's good to see a good team well supported. Good for the game, good for the team, good for the other fans.

The VIP seats went to a couple of McLeans. I wasn't sure if they were Monique's, Anna's, or completely random McLeans until the end of the game, when Monique came upstairs, hugged the lady McLean, and called her momma. Papa McLean said he wasn't sure if he could make it up on Thursday, but he's going to have to, and Papa Wright's just going to have to wear that tie again, because we need all the help we can get against a big, strong Boston College team.

We had the pleasure of sitting next to a couple of fellow Liberty season ticket holders (they have better seats than we do, though). If by sheer dumb luck, you happen to be one of those Section 70 ladies, holler.

I thought the ride was over against Louisville, so I'm just holding on for dear life and grinning from ear to ear. I'll go as far as my team takes me, bay-bee.