December 13th, 2008: St. John's at LIU

St. John's Red Storm 65, Long Island University Blackbirds 46

Kelly McManmon fires away, Monique McLean is clutch, and the Game Notes approve.


I'm pleased. I'm very pleased. And if you follow my game notes regularly, you'll know that I'm not easily pleased with my team. I thought LIU was going to be a tough matchup for them because of Ashley Palmer's versatility, but we matched up well with her. I'll take giving up 14 to Chelsi Johnson if it means only allowing six to Palmer.

The first time there, I sat across from the benches, at about center court, my usual perch. Figured being supportive of the team meant sitting behind the bench on the road. While I liked the peek into game-day strategy and coaching, and the interactions within the team, I think I prefer having a little more ability to see what's going on on the floor.

Dear anthem singer, please note that it's "the" bombs bursting in air, not "those" bombs bursting in air. Once is forgivable. Twice is not.

Joy and Da'Shena did yeoman's work on Ashley Palmer. The freshman had seven double-doubles in nine games going into this matchup, but she was held to six points and seven boards. I'm really starting to think that with LIU, players have a certain number of shots they're going to take, whether they're hot or not, and high scorer (and victory or defeat) is based on who gets the rolls and who doesn't. This time, it was Palmer not getting the shots to fall and Chelsi Johnson who did. She's got a nice touch inside- and she's tough, too. I keep thinking that she's somehow the lovechild of Barbara Farris and Lisa Leslie, because she looks a lot like Farris, but those elbows are a hazard to one's health. She picked up two of her three fouls on the offensive end, and at least one of them was an elbow to Da'Shena's throat. Way with the not cool. Much like in the game against Kentucky, Connie James couldn't get her shots to fall, though she did have one especially nice bucket on a putback, and a nifty pass to Johnson. Li'Esha Garcia played a lot more than she did the last time I saw this team- I suppose it was because Jade Brown really couldn't get it together. Both of them start, but Marika Sprow played more minutes off the bench than either of them. It was Sprow who hit the three that Sky was trying to answer at the end of the first half. Pretty sure hers was near the end of the shot clock for LIU, too. Justine Stevenson again had foul trouble, though she didn't get screwed quite as badly as she did against Kentucky. Got my first look at their Euro, Tessy Hetting. She seemed a bit tentative. Overall, I just got the sense that they were in over their heads a little- they didn't really play badly, they knew what they were doing, they just couldn't keep up the pace. I also suspect that not being able to get much out of Palmer threw the gameplan somewhat off kilter.

Odd note about LIU- they were wearing their colors at home. It took me a few minutes to figure out what was so odd about shootaround until I realized that the Red Storm were not, in fact, red. Either their home whites have gone missing or the women take the Blackbird thing more literally than the men. (Which just comes out sounding wrong, but there's no real way around it.)

I've always said that Kelly makes her best plays on the sideline and baseline, and she definitely showed that today on both ends of the floor. And, oh yes, let's not forget the 5-7 three-point shooting. Once again, a couple of those shots were from beyond the men's arc. I really like how she's developing this season. She looks like she's putting a lot of effort into improving her all-around game. Monique also played well, if a bit sloppily. But her timing was impeccable. Whenever it looked like LIU was ready to go on a big run and make us sweat like they made Kentucky sweat, she'd hit a shot and we'd get back on kilter. Some good defensive plays, too, but we'll get to that. Solid game for Sky- not a great shooting percentage, but a positive A/TO and no egregious mistakes (though I personally felt that she was calling her own number a little too often early in the game; she settled down in the second half; is it coincidence that her mom showed up at halftime?). It helped that she got to switch back to the two more often than I've seen in the past, with the unworthy midget picking up a big chunk of time at the point. Da'Shena played well- dear universe, why do you keep trying to break the freshman? Poor kid just takes a licking and keeps on ticking. I'll give Joy a pass, because Palmer was her assignment, and bottling her up is more important than offense. Coco played well in spurts off the bench- there was one point where she really wasn't playing well at all and then she suddenly started pounding the boards like there was no tomorrow. The midget played an awful lot- was not impressed with her, though she was part of the second nicest play of the game for the Red Storm. A few minutes out of Recee, a few minutes out of Sheree, and at long last I got to see Victoria play in a game that actually counts in the standings! She even notched a steal (along with a couple of stupid fouls, but hey, gotta shake the rust off somehow).

Second-favorite play of the game- Monique with the steal, ball goes out to Britney, Britney finds Joy for the deuce. Favorite play of the game- Monique and Joy double-down on a Blackbird and Sky comes up with the loose ball. Sucks for Sky that she wasn't credited with it in the official score, though. But she did a lot of stuff she wasn't credited for- she had a defensive play in the first half that I thought was a block, that steal, and then the three at the end of the half that was a hair too late. I think she'll really be a lot more comfortable once she's allowed to go back to the two guard next year.

What should have been the best play of the game for either team: the touch pass from (I think) Johnson to Sprow for the lay-up that spun out. I was rooting for that to go in and that's not even my team.

Referees were occasionally inexplicable but otherwise unremarkable. They eventually learned from their mistakes, but they never did get the hang of counting.

Awkwaaaaaaaard moment the first: having several Lindsays clustered around me while I'm desperately trying to remember the first half so I can give them details of what Sky did while they weren't there. (By the way, Lindsay family, I think I owe y'all an apology. I was under the impression that the crazy screaming guy in the Yankee cap was related to you guys, but since he stayed for the men's game, I'm not so sure. If he's not, I humbly apologize for lumping him in with y'all, because y'all don't deserve that. If he is… um, have you considered introducing him to Kia's Aunt Olivia? I think they'd get along like a house on fire.)

I like the way this team's shaping up, I really do. We stayed within ten of Baylor, we played well against Vermont and Long Island- two solid mid-majors- I think we're really getting it together.