November 30th, 2008: Vermont at St. John's

St. John's Red Storm 70, Vermont Catamounts 52

Monique McLean kicks ass, Sky Lindsay kicks ass, and Courtnay Pilypaitis is a late starter.


Now this is the Red Storm I've been looking forward to seeing all season. I don't know if we can keep this up- I honestly do doubt it- but it was nice to see.

Major props to the folks who drove from Vermont. Yes, it may have been southern Vermont, but that's still quite the schlep. I love when fans travel for their team.

Also, shoutout to the student section! The rowdies from the Army game were back and having fun with the Catamounts. Nothing indecent, but lots of noise. That's what I like to hear.

We're still using the instrumental recording of the national anthem. Again, I approve. Our band isn't set up to handle the Star-Spangled Banner. They're better than they used to be, but they still can't handle something that complicated.

Vermont is unexpectedly tall for a mid-major. They brought a lot of height against us. Courtnay Pilypaitis really didn't get going until late in the first half, when she got to the line for two free throws and then got free for a jumper to end the half. And then the second half started and it ws like everyone on St. John's forgot she was there. She started getting into the lane, and good Lord, the one trey she hit was from somewhere in southern Brooklyn. She was a big part of their comeback. I was also impressed with May Kotsopoulos, who also turned it on in the second half. Alissa Sheftic got into foul trouble early and really wasn't a factor. Amy Rosenkrantz had one helluva block on Kelly from beyond the arc. Kelli Poles- damn, that's a tank in the middle. Looking at the box, I see that they outrebounded us, which surprises me, because I thought we were actually doing pretty well on the boards. Shows how much I know.

Very good game for Sky. She was shooting well, she was passing well, and her head was mostly in the game. That's been a problem sometimes, and I'm glad she shook it off for this game. When she's playing well, I love to watch her on the floor- there's just something compelling about the way she moves, something slinky and graceful. Monique, of course, went off, and we genuinely thought she had a double-double while we were at the arena. She's getting fiercer and feistier. I like that. I like it a lot. She's working hard on all aspects of her game, which is what I think separates great players from good players. Kelly didn't score, and only got two touches, but she was working hard on the defensive end, and ended up with two blocks. This is not normal, but I like it. Da'Shena went down holding her leg in the second half, and her first-half minutes were limited because of foul trouble, but she still managed to lead the team in rebounding. That's awesome. Not to mention that she had her long shots falling; if she can do that on a regular basis, and combine that with badassery down in the post, she can be something truly special. Joy was solid, and kicked ass on the defensive end- she leaves it all out there every single game, and that's what I love about her. Coco played pretty solidly in the paint- I'm starting to wonder if she just plays better when she comes off the bench. Good minutes out of Kristin, and even out of Britney- she hit a nice little driving lay-up that reminded my mom a lot of Kia.

Refs were unimpressive but unremarkable.

The bad news was that we let Vermont make a run in the second half. The good news is that we weathered it and brought the lead back up to near where it was at halftime. I'm not happy with how we ended it- they were very aggressive when the game was well out of reach for the Catamounts, and Coco's last three was especially unnecessary. But other than that, I'm very happy with them, and I hope they bring this for the rest of the season.