Saturday, February 27, 2010

February 27th, 2010: Villanova at St. John's

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I love my team so much. So, so much. I have to get to the postseason with them, guys. I can't handle them playing this much of the season without me. I can't take not being there at the end of this crazy, incredible ride.

I started getting misty a good half-hour before the ceremony, but I was expecting to. This senior class has been so good for us over the last few years- rarely in the big ways, but always, always in the small ways. All three of them are getting their degrees in education, and the world is picking up three very good teachers. So if you don't mind, I'm going to take a few moments to talk about each of them. If you do mind, skip the next four paragraphs.

Victoria Hodges never really got the chance to show what she had for us. Nagging injuries shut her down three out of four years. When she did get to play, she showed good court sense and a lot of potential. She's made the transition to assisting on the bench so smoothly someone once mistook her for the head coach. Just because she hasn't been able to help us the way she would have liked on the court, that doesn't mean she hasn't been a part of our success. I'll always remember her fondly as the first player I ever got a scouting report on.

Kelly McManmon transferred in from Indiana during a rough patch (the year she sat out was the year after the tournament year, when things went to hell in a handbasket somewhat. She's been solid ever since. Everyone talks about her automatic three-point shot- as well they should, as she will leave St. John's with more three-point field goals than any Johnnie and is one of the top three-point shooters in the country right now- but what I've always liked about her is her ability to make big plays on the endline and the sideline. It's been a pleasure to watch her mature as a person and a player. I'm going to miss her- and her folks, who would drive out from Massachusetts religiously to see her games. (I still owe Mrs. McManmon twenty bucks for dinner after the Stony Brook game- we'll have to settle up at the tournament.)

I could have written an entire post on Joy McCorvey. You know all the clichés coaches like to whip out about players? She really is the player who does all the little things, who keeps her teammates in the game, who is unselfish and always looking for her teammates, who gives up her body to make the play. She's also one of the nicest, warmest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. She's going to be a coach someday- at least, I hope so, because otherwise that's a wasted slot in the "So You Want To Be A Coach" workshop- and she'll be a great coach, and an excellent role model.

Oh, jeez. Here I go again. It's Senior Day, not the end of the world; there are at least three more games to the season. The ride's not over yet.

The Senior Day ceremony was quite moving. I don't know how Kelly didn't cry. Victoria and Joy definitely did. I lost it again there.

This was the PinkZone game, much to my annoyance (yes, I have a shirt, no, I'm not putting it on; it's Senior Day and I'm wearing team colors, if you have a problem with that, I really don't care unless you attempt to kick me out of the arena), and while they stressed the living daylights out of the pinkness of it, the turnout was still fabulous. They really did a great job of getting people into the arena for this one, and I think it made a difference. The only problem I had with the seating was that they got a little too enthusiastic about putting the clinic kids in seats, so they filled the section behind the visitors' bench. Unfortunately, there were a whole bunch of Nova fans there who ended up sitting in front of us, thus robbing us of our legroom and our view at the same time. They were troopers, though. I have to hand it to them; the only time any of them got annoyed at us was when I accidentally catapulted my pen at one of them, and they stayed enthusiastic for their team all the way through the blowout.

An excellent anthem by, of all people, the women's volleyball coach. Not exactly a profession that lends itself to sweet voices with emotional vibrato.

Sarah Jones has some sweet shot, as well as nerves of steel. I think she's going to be a great leader for that team, if she isn't already. I'm also high on redshirt freshman Laura Sweeney. I like that she's got a big mobile body and range for her size. Unlike a lot of Perretta's players, she's also not afraid to go inside to get physical. She and Coco Hart mixed it up a little. I was surprised that Perretta didn't go to his bench more, unless there just aren't any more players to go to- as far as we stretched that lead, there were a lot of opportunities to get some players time.

I... really wasn't impressed by the Villanova starters. Like, at all. Kyle Dougherty looked like she was taking out her frustrations at being named Kyle on my team. She was close to throwing elbows once or twice. Rachel Roberts got good looks, but couldn't get them to go down. Shannon Elliott didn't have a bad game- like Sweeney, I like Elliott's build and range. We did a real number on Maria Getty. It was good.

Villanova fans, I'm sorry. I'm desperately trying to recall things about half your team, but a lot of them weren't memorable. They just weren't ready for our defense.

Because it was Senior Day, Kelly started for Shenneika. That didn't mean Shenneika didn't play close to her normal minutes, and she put on a show. She's starting to display a real knack for getting that shot at the end of the clock to go down, or at least draw iron to reset the shot clock. I love having that player. I love having that player be a freshman even more, because that means we'll have her longer. Eugeneia bounced back from a couple of awful games. She goes full throttle all the time, and her vertical is absolutely sick. She had a couple of great defensive plays. You will see this sentence a lot. Coco worked her tail off on the boards and had some absolutely ridiculous lay-ups go in. We even got to see Buzz and Jennifer get some work in. Buzz labored under the mistaken belief that St. John's still has a football team when she all but tackled Roberts from Nova. Jennifer's footwork needs work, but she got a nice defensive board and looks like she's picking up her defensive game.

Da'Shena was on fire. She crashed the boards hard- we were sure she had a double-double, though she only finished with seven rebounds. She, Coco, Eugeneia, and Kelly, at various times, were savage and merciless in the backcourt trap. Sky still can't hit water without falling out of a boat, but she got down for a couple of good defensive plays. Nadirah ran a solid game and had a few great defensive plays on loose balls. Kelly didn't really affect the game much on offense, though we all cheered when she added yet another trey to her collection, but she was another key part of the defense. Joy started the game absolutely inspired, working it on the boards and going hard in the paint. She got tagged with a lot of bad turnovers where she didn't really have possession of the ball, so how exactly could she turn it over if she didn't have it? Near the end of the game, she started looking for her shot more than usual. I think it finally hit her that she was allowed to look for herself for once. And it was good.

It's so hard to describe the energy that was in the building today. We were determined that not only were we going to beat Villanova, we were going to send our seniors off right. I've never seen our team so hyped up for a game, both during warm-ups and during the game itself. They were ferocious, fearless, and merciless. If they can keep up this level of intensity, or at least this kind of pressure, into postseason play... I wouldn't want to be the team who faces us.

In addition to being Senior Day and PinkZone, this was Alumnae Day. Shoutout to Kia Wright, the great point guard from the last tournament run- and if that was Mercedes Dukes she was sitting with, then shoutout to the sparkplug from that same run. Also, shoutout to Recee Mitchell, who would have been in this senior class if she hadn't transferred before the season. The one piece this team is missing is an enforcer, and six-foot-one of broad-shouldered Texas bad-ass would have fit nicely into that slot in our post rotation. Watch out, SWAC.

The referees really let 'em play today. I didn't necessarily mind, but the Villanova guards kept trying to get piggyback rides from our team, and they couldn't have them. One thing I really liked- and I've seen it before from Janice Aliberti- was the communication among the officials, and from the officials to the players and coaches. Their signals were crisp and prompt, keeping everyone apprised of the situation at all times. They were on top of some tough calls. Hats off to Aliberti, Humphrey, and Zentz.

The idea of this being the last home game is close to making me tear up again. When did I turn into so much of a soppy girl? But if you've got a chance to see this team, do it. I don't know how many times I've had to say this, but I'm going to keep doing so.

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

February 16th, 2010: Notre Dame at St. John’s

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I LOVE MY TEAM I LOVE MY TEAM WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVE MY TEAM BUT I WILL TRY.

Mother Nature does not seem to approve of us having big games. There was yet more snow dumped on Queens right around the time people would start arriving. I was not amused, especially given the number of people whose snow I had to slog through to get there. But you don't want to hear about that. You want to hear about the biggest win in Red Storm history, right?

Gotta give credit to the student sections, who showed up in force for this huge, huge game. Special shoutout to the guy in the backwards cap, the guy in the gray hoodie, the guy in the Ellsbury jersey, and their crew, who kept the noise level up all through the game and gave us our cues to work from for chants. We also have to show much love for the group of students behind us who may have thought we were crazy, but who joined in our shouting, and to the trio of Johnnies in the section behind the visiting bench who made sure there was a chant coming from that end too. In general, the crowd was great and really into it.

I wish the anthem singer had been competent, but I'd rather have a win than a good anthem.

I assume Devereaux Peters is still working her way back from injury- not because of how she played, but because she didn't start and because she only played 28 minutes. (Yeah, only. *mocks self*) She was the best post presence Notre Dame had on both ends of the floor. I didn't like the reaching- she probably should have fouled out, but with two calls that weren't made and one that shouldn’t have been made. I was expecting Novosel to make more plays, but she was a little out of her depth, I think- I assume that she got more minutes because of Schrader's absence. Turner came in for a few minutes to be the foul magnet in the last couple, and Williamson got some time when both Peters and Bruszewski were in foul trouble- I like her size. If I'd been Muffet McGraw, I might have used her more to take advantage of the Red Storm's lack of size.

I don't think I need to tell readers of the Game Notes of Doom, or of Swish Appeal, that Skylar Diggins is the real deal. Either you know or you can guess that she's one of the best players in the conference and one of the best players in her class. She's fast, she's smart, she's athletic- did I mention she's fast?- and she can get to the basket pretty much whenever she wants. She doesn't need help from the officials. Ashley Barlow came up with a lot of big shots for them, and worked her butt off on defense. Brittany Mallory showed exceptional ability to slash to the basket and hit the long shot. I was surprised to be impressed by her. I wasn't expecting Melissa Lechlitner to be so easily shut down, but she wasn't really a factor in this game. Neither was Becca Bruzewski, though that had more to with her foul trouble than with any lack of ability- when she was in, she did a good job of getting and holding position in the lane. I really like her, though that may be a function of her name and the bright pink ribbon woven through her hair for style points.

We didn't win this game because of our bench. There were some plays Coco made that were sheer hustle that I applaud her for, but there were twice as many plays where I wanted to go down there and wham her with the Clipboard of Doom for blowing an easy play. Kelly added two more treys to her total, but really fell asleep on defense and rebounds. There's a difference between expecting her to get stuff that she doesn't normally get and expecting her to do more than stand there and be decorative. Eugeneia showed nothing. Less than nothing, even. She played one or two bursts, then sat down for the rest of the game.

We won this game because of our starters. Joy came to play- the stats might not show it, because she wasn't credited with a single block, though she had at least two. She tore it up on the boards. I'd love to see her +/- for this game, but the St. John's play-by-play doesn't have substitutions. Nadirah quarterbacked a solid game and picked up on the boards where 'Geneia usually does. She crossed over Diggins late in the game with a move that had the crowd "oooh!"ing at her. Da'Shena hit her free throws! Well, seven of them, but out of ten, that's a much better percentage than we've been getting out of her. She was victimized by some bad calls, too; she takes a lot of hits, and I'm not sure how much more she can take. Sky came up with the big shots when we needed her- the one that sticks out most in my memory is the three to beat the shot clock and extend the lead. This might have been Shenneika's breakout game the way UConn was Da'Shena's last year- it wasn't that her shooting percentage was great, but she did a little bit of everything, both in terms of mixing up her offensive repertoire and in terms of filling the stat sheet. (However, she also got blocked by Ashley Barlow. Shenneika, you are 6'1" and therefore there is no excuse for a 5'9" guard to block you.)

I have no idea what game the referees started watching in the second half, but I don't think it was the one they were supposed to be watching. They started calling phantom fouls and really questionable fouls whenever Red Storm players dared to defend Skylar Diggins. Did we commit dumb fouls? Yes, we did. This is the sort of thing that tends to happen when Coco Hart is on the floor. But some of that contact was incidental, and a lot of it was stuff they'd been letting go, and some of it was not being called at both ends of the floor. Diggins doesn't need that kind of help from the refs, and it reflects badly on her through no fault of her own. And as the game went on, it seemed like the referees were doing everything they could to keep ND in the game- plays that should have been fouls were called jump balls or not called at all, that sort of thing.

The worst was the last play of the game. St. John's was up six as Notre Dame put the ball up on their last possession. From where I was sitting, it looked like Diggins fell on Nadirah. As the clock ran out, we began to celebrate, because, well, WE BEAT NOTRE DAME. And then we saw that as the light turned red, Bonita Spence's arm was up and her whistle had blown. Somehow, that play turned into a three-shot foul against Nadirah. Ms. Spence was not Captain Popularity in the arena. Diggins stepped to the line, having hit all nine of her free throws without a quaver, and proceeded to miss two free throws off the back of the rim, the second identical to the first, before hitting the third. I'll swear on a stack of media guides that she tanked the first two shots and hit the third to avoid the rebound because she knew the foul was bogus.

And then we celebrated again because, well, WE BEAT NOTRE DAME. Yes, the absence of Schrader is a bit of an asterisk. I recognize and accept that. Notre Dame has a solid team and a lot of good players, though I don't honestly know that they're the third or fourth best team in the country. They'll do well and go far. Maybe we got lucky.

But, on the other hand, that's the third time in a row we've beaten them at Carnesecca. And maybe our bench would have risen to the occasion if we had to contend with Schrader as well as Bruzewski, Mallory, Diggins, and the rest of the Irish. What ultimately matters is this: there are no asterisks in the standings. We won, despite the referees. We won, despite the runs Notre Dame threw at us. We won, despite the differential in the rankings. We pulled it off, and we are now guaranteed to finish above .500 in one of the strongest conferences in the country.

This team doesn't give up. This team turns it up in the second half. And that's what's got me so excited. We play at Rutgers on the 24th. We play at home on the 27th. We're at Pitt March 1st. Come and see about us. We're ready to Dance.

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Friday, February 12, 2010

February 12th, 2010: Princeton at Columbia

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We went to Levien Gym figuring we had a chance to see the battle for the Ivy crown. It might only be February, but having seen Columbia play a lot of BCS schools tough, and hearing about Princeton's out-of-conference success, we figured this would show who was the cream of the crop. It did, but not in the way we were expecting.

Levien Gym is one of my favorite intimate arenas to visit for a game. Tickets are reasonably priced, the arena is comfortably sized, the cheerleaders and dance team aren't completely incompetent, and the band never ceases to come up with some novel way of amusing the crowd. (Tonight it was one of the band members miming the shapes of Tetris pieces while the band played the Tetris music. AWESOME. My nerdy heart goes boom.)

Excellent rendition of the anthem, too. We happened to be sitting next to a friend who goes to a lot of Columbia games, and she said that this was the first time this guy was lucky enough to get through the whole song without the mic going out on him. He deserved better than those previous occasions.

A friendly hello to our colleagues at SportsPage Magazine. I'm sure Tracy and Tara covered this game as professionally and thoroughly as they've covered many other women's basketball events.

Because the game turned out to be such a blowout, we got to see the deep ends of both benches. I'm not sure I like Krystal Hill cranking a three with seven seconds left in a twenty-point game when she had already scored and she had scoreless teammates out there with her. Laura Johnson did a good job keeping the pressure on Columbia while she spelled Polansky. Kate Miller also gave them good minutes as a freshman off the bench. Their seniors didn't play very much, which tells me the coach who's only been there for three years is recruiting far superior talent to what was there before.

I've been on the Addie Micir bandwagon since I saw her light up Penn a couple of years ago when she was just a freshman. She's still bringing it, but I think she's better suited to the Robin role that she can step into with a post like Niveen Rasheed around. Rasheed was... she completely dominated Columbia tonight. She's not afraid to mix it up, which is a critical element of success anywhere, but especially in the Ivy League, where having a banger makes a very big difference. She's also got good hands, which allowed her to tip a lot of balls- what I didn't realize until I got home and looked at the box score was that she led the team in assists tonight as well. Devona Allgood also took advantage of Columbia's weakness in the paint to pounce early- she and Rasheed were almost taking turns scoring for the Tigers. Polansky did a good job running the offense and keeping things on an even keel- she didn't look to score, but they didn't need her to score.

I like some of the freshmen- sorry, first-years- for Columbia. Tyler Simpson doesn't seem to be daunted by the transition from high school to Division I. And while announcers may not be thrilled at the prospect, I think we'll be seeing more of Bhavna Chadalavada in the next couple of years- I like her instinct to go towards the basket, though she could do with being a little less tentative about it. Do or do not; there is no try. Diana Lee plays like someone who was slightly taller than her classmates and was able to use her height to her advantage then. Unfortunately, she's only 5-6, and that style of play's not going to do anyone good at that size. Of course, my perspective may be skewed, because her first couple of plays were pretty boneheaded- a bad shot and a blatant hit on a Princeton player. Mary Beato canned one ridiculously long three that was well beyond the men's line, and she really was trying on defense, but she lacked a certain grace, or any grace at all. She was blowing her nose during most of the time she was on the bench, so perhaps that's a pass for her. I'm not quite sure what Caitlin Stachon's excuse was for not staying on her woman when the Tiger post players had been abusing Columbia, but whatever it was, it was unacceptable, and she didn't do enough on the offensive end to make up for it.

As beat-up and worn-down as the Columbia starters looked, perhaps Paul Nixon needs to go to his bench more often. Danielle Browne's got a brace and a hand wrap, Judie Lomax seems to be having hand problems... I'm wondering if this is why Columbia started off so well and then seemed to start running out of gas in the Ivy season. And it couldn't have helped that Kathleen Barry, who's one of the key parts of the Lions' offense, was out injured or sick. Melissa Shafer got the start for Barry, and I think she was in over her head a little. There were times she looked scared to shoot when she had good looks; there were times when she took shots she had no business attempting. She got dinged up a bit too- there was a stretch where she had to sit because she got scratched and they couldn't stop the blood. Lomax wasn't herself- she wasn't holding on to the ball when she got it, and she was taking far too many shots away from the basket. I've seen her a few times. She doesn’t have a jump shot. For some reason, tonight she thought she was an outside shooter. Though she got rebounds, she probably should have had more, or at least kept Rasheed from getting a double-double with stronger boxouts. Browne was really forcing things, especially in the second half. On the other hand, I was surprised that Lauren Dwyer didn't assert herself more, especially in Barry's absence. I recognize this probably had a lot to do with the physical post play of Princeton, but she's got a decent midrange shot. It says something about the way Columbia was playing that, arguably, their best rebounder on the night was Sara Yee- you might recall her from other Game Notes of Doom as the player fondly referred to as "Ten Pounds of Crazy in a Two Pound Bag" for her tenacity and 5-1 stature. But she was boxing out far taller and stronger players and fighting for loose balls like nobody's business. Her offensive choices left a bit to be desired.

Just as a general note, the Columbia players didn't look like they actually knew each other, or that basketball is played with the assistance of other people who are wearing clothes similarly colored to one's own. In mid-February, twenty games into the season, this is really not good.

I'm normally not one to blame the referees, and you can't blame officiating for a twenty-point margin, and I'll also admit that sitting behind the Columbia bench would have colored my opinion of any calls I didn't see. But it seemed like Columbia was being called for a lot of things that Princeton was getting away with, that Princeton fouls were not being called, (which led to fouls that were called on Columbia), and that loose balls were going to Princeton at an inordinate rate. It also seemed like one particular ref made most of the more inexplicable calls, a brown-haired woman with a tan. From the box score, I would guess that she was Michelle Ross. (She might have been Michele St. Pierre, but she didn't look French enough to carry a name like that off, and I am certain that she wasn't Kenneth Kelly.)

On the other hand, while I do love hearing fans get loud and involved in the game, not every call is going to go your way, and sometimes your team does commit the foul in the questionable play. Please stop complaining, especially if you're sitting in the row behind me.

This didn't seem like the same team that gave St. John's all kinds of trouble when they played in December. That's why they play the games, I know, but it's still jarring to see a team go from scrapping for every loose ball to not contesting lay-ups in the paint, from playing a BCS school within twelve points to going down twenty-five to an Ivy League team. I'd like to think it's just the grind of the season and the absence of Barry that made this game such an aberration for the Lions, and that they'll bounce back tomorrow night against the winless Quakers.

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

February 10th, 2010: Louisville at St. John's

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Neither snow nor sleet nor rain nor gloom of night nor a cold/flu/other respiratory ailment that has turned my head into the Incredible Gunk Factory nor moving the start time up five hours will stay this fan from her appointed rounds. The aforementioned respiratory ailment reduced my effectiveness a bit by taking away my voice, essentially turning me into the Harpo Marx of women's basketball fans by forcing me to communicate with the various Liberty noisemakers we packed to make up for the lack of a crowd.

If you stop the anthem singers in the middle of their rehearsal, they might be bad. If you then have the team's pep band perform the anthem instead, they might be gods-awful. As it was, the band was merely tolerable. The trumpets could use some work, though.

You would have thought that Louisville would have learned their lesson about lapping an opponent's court after l'affaire d'Georgetown, but apparently they're not going to let a little thing like a suspension-drawing fight stop them from their routines. Jennifer Blanding gave them a little guff as they came around, but there were no incidents worth mentioning. They're also one of the loudest teams I've ever heard during stretching and ball-handling drills. It's not a very good look for them. I coughed often and repeatedly at them for that.

I was impressed that we got the band and the cheerleaders in. I would have thought that they had class, but I guess maybe classes were cancelled? We made extra noise anyway. We happened to be in the same section as the St. John's men's team. I'm not sure they appreciated our racket. Someone in that general vicinity seemed rather fond of Coco, but I couldn't tell if it was coming from the team, the band, or elsewhere.

I guess LaToya Johnson wasn't as healed up as they thought she'd be- Cardinal Couple left me with the impression she'd be ready to play, but she didn't. I was also surprised at how little we saw of Brandie Radde. I thought she was going to be a high-rotation player, but the ball didn't seem to be in her hands enough (though maybe that was 'cause of Nadirah and the rest of our defense- they were all quite busy). Maybe she didn't want to seem like she was stealing shots from her teammates? Gwen Rucker really needs to work on her footwork. The refs weren't calling traveling a lot today, but she should definitely have been rung up for it more than once. Rachel Story busted loose for one lay-up that made me want to go down there and smack Kelly McManmon with my clipboard, because whatever is beyond matador defense in the lexicon of things one should never be seen doing on a basketball court, that was what Kelly was doing.

I suspect that Asia Taylor was the one player who wasn't on the St. John's scouting report, because she was the one player who really got loose for the Cardinals early. I guess it makes sense when you've got outside shooters like Burke and Harper to keep an eye on, a big center like Hines to worry about, and a double-double threat like Reid looming. Taylor's sort of the fifth wheel in that situation. Shelby Harper shoots like a lost Frese sister- Stacy Frese at Iowa State had a very similar shot. She's very cute, but she's very small. That didn't serve her well when the trap closed on her, and she didn't seem to know how to get out of it. I'm surprised Burke doesn't go inside more- she's got a strong build, and while I know she's got the good outside shot, she might be able to open up more offense if she were willing to drive it more. I think we did a great job of taking her out of her game, which took away from Louisville's offense. Reid and Hines both started to find their groove in the second half, but that might have had as much to do with us backing off on defense as it did with Louisville finding their offense. If I hadn't looked at the box, I wouldn't have guessed that Keshia Hines shot 50% from the field- she missed a lot of very easy shots by putting too much on them.

Eugeneia, stop shooting, at least until you worry more about making the shot and less about drawing the contact. She was 1-7 from the field- she probably could have improved that to 3-7 if she'd done more to make sure she got a good shot instead of the contact. She's got incredible ups, a lot of strength, the mindset of a defensive tackle, and good speed- sometimes, she just needs a little common sense to go with all of that. Likewise, I wish Coco would ditch the habit she has of flopping. If it's obvious from the other side of the arena that no one hit you as you folded to the ground, then perhaps your flop is not going to convince the official standing right there. Good hustle, as always, but just some boneheaded plays, as always. Kelly, except for a few awful defensive sequences, actually played pretty well. She had a couple of rebounds that she fought for, and she canned four treys to put her over 200 for her career. My boyfriend, who slogged through the snow with me and therefore deserves a shoutout, whipped up a sign for her pretty much on the spot. I was happy to be wrong about him jinxing her by making it when she hit 199. It was enough of a blowout that we got to see extended time from Jennifer and Amanda.. Buzz scored a three and Jennifer put in a lay-up, so everyone scored, which is always a good thing. I really think Buzz is making a case for Kelly's minutes next year.

We see you, Shenneika Smith! I love when she does her "psycho" look- she gets this smug little smile on her face, her headband moves up to stand her hair up, her eyes roll up a little in her head- almost like "yeah, bring it, punk, I'ma smack it into the next ZIP code". She got a lot of rolls today. I love watching the way she moves, too- it's sort of a weird cross between Deanna Nolan and DeLisha Milton-Jones. She had the gaudiest stat line, but I think Nadirah had the best game- she was the field general for the offense, and then there were the seven steals. She picked Louisville clean- a couple of those plays were SportsCenter worthy, in my biased opinion. I'd say half her points were on fast breaks off steals- and then she got fancy. I've also got to love what Joy was doing. She set the tone for them by hitting the deck constantly for loose balls- no question, she was sacrificing her body for the good of the team, and this is one of the things that makes her a player whose jersey I'd go out and buy with pride. Her work- and Shenneika's, and Coco's, to be completely fair to the three players with more o-boards than defensive rebounds- on the offensive boards kept a lot of our possessions alive. Sky had a good first half, but it was almost as if she got stage fright when her mom and sister got there at halftime; the only really good play she made in the second half was a three-point play that I think Coach needs to tape and show Eugeneia: "This is how you take contact and go to the hole. You think about hitting the shot first, then you take the contact. The officials aren't going to give you anything- you have to take it." Da'Shena had a good day from the line- 4/5 (actually 5/6, but her first shot didn't count because Walz wouldn't shut up and the ref waved it off). She got dinged pretty good and spent some time on the bench getting stuff put up her nose. I think that caused us to back off a little, between the increasingly absurd lead and the physicality of Hines and Reid.

Play of the day for St. John's was first going to be Nadirah's block on Harper, because it was a pretty sweet block, even if Harper's a little bitty. Then it was going to be one of Nadirah's steals where she just plucked it out of the air. But then late in the game, Joy and Eugeneia teamed up on a play that made my heart go pitter-pat, so that decided it. Joy swatted a shot, keeping it in bounds. Eugeneia scooped up the ball and fired the outlet pass to Joy, who swooped in for the lay-up. I love when teammates reward each other. Really, though, there were a few baskets with sweet passes attached. The ballhandling was pretty crisp today for St. John's.

I really don't know what to say about the officiating. While I appreciate the philosophy of "let 'em play", I think they let it go a little too far. I know it's gauche to complain about officiating when you hit fifteen free throws, but Keshia Hines should have fouled out of the game earlier than she did, and I wasn't thrilled about Gwen Rucker's elbow encountering the side of Buzz's throat, or the time Da'Shena had to spend with the smelling salts and tissue up her nose.

Shoutout to Adrienne Johnson, working the radio for the Cards- nothing but love for a former Rocker up in here. Also, shoutout to Frisco, who was kind enough to confirm for me that that was Adrienne Johnson. It's good to have friends who know how to answer not just the question you're asking, but the one that you haven't gotten around to asking, too.

This was definitely worth the hike through the snow and suffering in the cold. I love my team so much. *tiny cough of victory* Go St. John's! Don't get creamed too badly by UConn!

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