December 16th, 2008: Howard at St. John's

St. John's Red Storm 66, Howard Bison 36

Zykia Brown is Howard's offense, Sky Lindsay kicks ass, and Victoria Hodges gets on the board.


While this certainly isn't going to prove anything to anyone, this is the kind of game a team needs in order to start revving up for the big games. The starters, for the most part, were sharp, and the reserves got some much-needed time to shake the rust off. But I can't help but wonder when Howard's going to win a game.

Attendance tonight was dreadful, but I expected no less with a bad team in town, few local connections, and the first day of prolonged snow this season. Not that a lot of people show for St. John's games anyway...

Worst.Anthem.Ever. I'm going to pretend that the real anthem singer didn't show up and they had to use one of the team managers because they didn't have anyone else and half the band was missing, because there's no way on God's green earth you can hear that guy and honestly decide that he should be given a microphone.

I have the dim recollection that Howard is a very good academic school. I certainly hope it is; that way the Bison have something to comfort themselves with. Zykia Brown played really well for the Bison, and I'm pretty sure Coach Barnes Arico isn't happy about her scoring 20 on us… but since Howard only put up 36 total, that might be forgiven. There's one thing Howard did much better than we did- they set some very nice screens, especially Amanda Edwards and Tamaya Daniels, to get their shooters open- they can't be faulted if their shooters miss in every way known to man. Okay, so sometimes those screens moved a little, and sometimes there were elbows. Still, at least they were setting them. And I liked that their coaching staff and bench stayed involved to the end of the game. It sets a good example. Nice ball-hawking when the clock ran down, too. That looked like a drill that they run often.

I feel like I've said this a few times this season, but hey, here we go again. This might have been Sky's best game of the season. Her shots were falling, and she looked much more confident on the court. Even the plays that didn't go well for her (one bad pass off a nice rebound comes to mind) were done with the right idea in mind. Da'Shena was fierce, although I'd like to see a few more conversions on those shots in the paint, and especially from the line. (Also, everyone, please stop hitting the freshman, please, I mean it.) It's occurred to us that with her hair in the color and style it is, and the shape of her face, she looks like Recee's Mini-Me. Monique, despite being de-ribboned so that her hair kind of exploded, was neat and efficient, with her shots falling softly and sweetly. Kelly looked awfully tentative on her shot, almost as if she was scared to shoot unless she had the perfect angle, the perfect opportunity, and all the time in the world. She got a little better in the second half. Joy, of course, is the queen of the little things, and took home rebounding honors tonight. The midget impressed off the bench. Some stupid freshman plays, but one sweet little shot and a lot, a lot of hustle on the defensive end. That's one thing I can stand about her- she's a ball-hawk, and she'll make your life hell if you're the opposing ballhandler. I love Sheree's hustle, but she's got to learn some discipline, and I have the sinking feeling that she tries to do too much because she thinks that's the only way she's going to get playing time with Da'Shena's ascension. Coco needs to remove her head from her ass. Too many dumb plays, too many balls through her hands, too many spaceouts. Kristin came in once, spaced out during a rebound, and was yanked for a long time. When she came back in, she ended up getting clocked in the head, and the trainer was still checking her out at final buzzer. She did rather look like she was seeing two of everything. Good vibes and best wishes to you, Kristin. Be safe and healthy.

Favorite play of the game: Kelly and Britney doubling down on the ballhandler- I think that play led to a turnover. Second-favorite play of the game: Joy, sitting on nine points, only needing one more shot to be the fifth Stormie in double figures, instead passes off to Kelly for an easy three; we figured that Joy was being all captainy and trying to bolster Kelly's confidence.

Best image of the game: Joy sprawled out on the baseline after an attempted save.

Most heart-warming play of the game: Victoria Hodges, at the shot clock buzzer, sinking a jumper to notch her first two NCAA points. The bench went wild for her. Congrats, V!

Guess who's back, back again? After an entire half-season of not having seen hide nor hair of Bonita Spence, she was one of the refs for this game. And she brought an evil twin, to boot. All apologies to Norma Jones, but she does look like Spence's evil twin. As to be expected from a Spence crew, there were a lot of travels called, and only a few inexplicable calls. The only moment that comes to mind is the call that Da'Shena didn't get. We could hear her going "What?" from our seats.

Despite the questionable play of our bench, I'd still rather have seen them get more run. That's the only way they're going to get used to the floor and each other, and it's not really necessary to keep pouring it on, considering we had enough offense in the first half to win the game without scoring a point in the second. But it's from Bison to Buffalo on Saturday. Let's see if we can keep building.