Saturday, February 26, 2011

February 26th, 2011: Pittsburgh at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: On Senior Day at Carnesecca Arena, it was a junior who led the way, as Da'Shena Stevens's 15 points and eight rebounds helped the Red Storm beat Pittsburgh, 72-63. Coco Hart added 13 points, and Shenneika Smith had all 12 of hers in the second half for St. John's. The Panthers' Ashlee Anderson led all scorers with 20 points, and Taneisha Harrison had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

For flowers, the eternal choice between light and dark, defense, and about a page of unadulterated squee so sweet it will rot your teeth, join your intrepid and verklempt blogger after the jump.


Magic numbers. That's what today was about. Today was about the numbers. 4 years, 2 seniors. 1 and 30, Sky Lindsay and Coco Hart. 20 and 9, overall wins and conference wins, the magic numbers to get this team into the NCAA tournament. It was about heart and soul and tears and the thrill of a bonus game on top of a game, but at its very core, it was about numbers.

For better or for worse, the way St. John's recruits and keeps players, we really haven't had seniors who don't play very often and are only remembered on Senior Day. Our two seniors are both starters, and Sky's started every game she's played in. One's been a constant; the other worked her way up from the bench and tried to step into some very big shoes.

Whatever complaints I have had about Sky's game- and they have been legion over the years- I will never deny that she has one of the greatest personalities I've ever encountered in the game. Charming and fun-loving, she's been a great ambassador for the team. She's embraced her role as a leader of this team and mentored the younger players. I'm going to miss the way her jump shot floats in the air before splashing down in a high arc, and I'm going to miss the way she's always dancing to whatever music happens to be playing, and I'm going to miss her mother's indomitable will and boots. (I still remember the WNIT year when Mama Lindsay was bound and determined to charter a bus to North Carolina.)

And whatever complaints I have made about Coco over the years- and believe me, they have been many- I will never deny her effort, her willingness to sacrifice her body against much larger opponents, her hustle, and her fight. She comes to play, and while much has been asked of her, she has given just as much in return.

The Senior Day presentation was beautiful- each player got flowers and a framed action photo, and then there was music video. We will not speak of the music video. I love my team, and I love Nadirah McKenith as a point guard, and I think Jennifer Blanding seems like a great person to hang out with, but for the love of God, they should not have made that tribute rap-whatever-it-was travesty of a video. No. No. A million times no. My heart appreciates the sentiment, but my ears still hurt from the badness. The anthem wasn't much better, either. Again, no. Just no. I think my theory about my team being very close to a girl group went out the window when Monique McLean graduated and Sheree Ledbetter transferred.

Leeza Burdgess is a very promising big. She still needs to have some of the rough edges knocked off her, as she's not as good at keeping out of foul trouble as she'll need to be, but she's got size and knows how to use it, which is what I always lok for in a big post. She needs to get on the right side of the line between aggressive and assertive if she's going to do well at Pittsburgh, but I think she has the capability of doing so. The other reserves for the Panthers were more or less irrelevant. I'll admit that I wasn't paying as close attention to Pittsburgh as I should have been, because it was enior day and I was still focusing on my team. So my apologies to Asia Logan, Marquel Davis, Kyra Dunn, and Yasmin Fuller. If you did anything exciting, I won't be able to describe it to your fans.

Agnus Berenato is taller than I thought. Also, Patty Coyle's jacket fits. Also, we nearly died laughing when Pittsburgh almost iced one of their own foul shooters, given that that was the last straw for the Liberty regarding Coyle. Ah, memories.

I knew Ashlee Anderson had to be something special for one simple reason: everyone on Pitt is either a senior or a freshman. Therefore, if a freshman is starting on a senior-laden team, she must be something special. I wasn't proven wrong, although I think our defense was more focused on Harrison and Sims, so Anderson as the lucky beneficiary. She's got a pretty stroke from the corner. Gets happy feet sometimes, though. She's only a freshman, so that kind of thing can be forgiven. Shayla Scott threw around more weight than she actually has. I think she got a little too physical at times. I don't think she needed to be climbing into players' shorts. Well, not literally, but close enough. Jania Sims was less of a factor than I anticipated- we did our best to cover both her and Taneisha Harrison. Harrison was able to get loose for a few shots, much to my annoyance. Chelsea Cole was never able to establish herself down low.

Pittsburgh played a very swarming defense, and if our passing hadn't been exceptionally crisp today, they might have caused us more trouble, but we were more or less ready for it. Their offensive rebounding was spectacular. There were a couple of points in the game where I looked over and said, “I'm tired of chanting DE-FENSE! No, I don't mean change it up, I mean I'm sick of Pitt having the ball.”

I have to give props to Jennifer Blanding today. I'm not quite sure why Kim Barnes Arico has her on a figurative choke chain, but this needs to stop. She gave good minutes, got inside, used her body well against the bigs from Pitt, scored a little, and got a bunch of blocks. At the first mistake, Coach pulled her, and that's not going to fly next year unless Mary Nwachukwu is ready and more than legit. Eugeneia McPherson appears to have left her offense in South Florida; hopefully, it just missed the connecting flight and will have hitchhiked its way to Morgantown so they can meet up on Monday. She also seemed a step slower than usual on defense. Amanda Burakoski looked like she'd lost a lot of the nerve she'd shown in the last few games, and I think that's a bad sign- unless, of course, she only has nerve when she knows Sky isn't going to play, which means things should be all right next year. (No offense, Sky.) She had one nifty save along the sideline that reminded me of Kelly McManmon from last year's team, who always made her best plays on the sideline. Buzz's threes were fairly well timed, though. Keylantra Langley got more minutes than she'd been getting in the last few games, and, um, at least she and Jennifer teamed up on a nice steal? Box credits her with four assists, and you could have knocked me over with a feather when I read that. I don't think she's the right point guard for our system- she's more of a power player, and unless she's really going to develop her slashing game, that doesn't match our speed.

Sky Lindsay chose a pretty good game to show her stuff. She was all over the place on defense, chasing every loose ball like her life depended on it, and while not all her shots went in, more of them went in than usual. Nadirah McKenith ran a very solid game, and her sharp, stylish passes set the tone for the Red Storm offense. When Pitt started fouling her in the last minutes, she was able to build up her point total, and I sort of wish she'd hit the double-double, because points-assists double-doubles are made of win and awesome. Shenneika Smith did nothing in the first half- at least, nothing worth mentioning unless I'm Coach and I'm lecturing her about defensive lapses, questionable shot selection, lack of court awareness (don't pass the ball into the backcourt if you're in the frontcourt!), and overall epic fail. In the second half, the shots started to go in, and she got a little highlight reel action going. Da'Shena Stevens worked her butt off in the paint, and was absolutely screwed by the refs on block/charge calls. She's become a steadier contributor over the last couple of months- I mean, it's not like she hasn't contributed in most games, but her median is approaching her mean, and that's the kind of player we need with such streaky complementary players. Coco Hart took a little bit to get started, and it was clear that her head wasn't completely in the game, but she worked, and oh, did she work. At least one of her baskets was a putback.

Best play of the game for St. John's: Da'Shena in trouble, rifles a low pass to Nadirah, who rockets it over to Sky, who hits the long jumper. Nadirah's rifle pass to Shenneika for a soaring lay-up was pretty nifty too.

The referees were a bit inconsistent on their block/charge calls, and they let play get a little more physical than I would have liked, but overall it wasn't too much of a hot mess. One of the refs made a couple of really lousy calls in St. John's favor, especially the “simultaneous possession” where Da'Shena had her hands on the ball for about a nanosecond.

We bent but didn't break. I think that was the biggest thing about this game. We let them come close and we let them tie, but we didn't let them take over.

So you'd think that would be the end of it, right? We're two and a half pages into the Game Notes of Doom, all the bases have been covered, the pithy analysis has been provided, it's time to go home and rub your eyes after an assault by lots of text, right? Not quite. Because it's Senior Day, and we're probably in the NCAA Tournament, so we're not in the WNIT, but we're probably not getting a nearby site due to other teams being in the way, and while my team is going to Hartford, I'm going to Bridgeport. If this is the last time I'm going to see my team- the last time I'm going to be in my home arena this season- maybe the last time I'll see Sky and Coco- you had damn well better believe I ain't leaving until they kick me out. And as it happened, the men were on ESPN, playing at Villanova in a game that was a nail-biter at the time, so a bunch of us stayed to watch it on the screen in the lobby.

Oh, and there was a post-game autograph session scheduled. They had to delay that a bit because the players kept wandering away from the table to watch the game. Some of us made ourselves useful by announcing score, time left, and who was at the line to inquiring people around the back and sides. Some of us also went in on “DE-FENSE!” and “LET'S GO JOHNNIES!” chants. Yes, I know it's ridiculous to do that for a game that's on television, and trying to disconcert a televised shooter is generally not all that effective, but it was a warm and wonderful bonding feeling. (And yes, people behind me, I'm aware of the fact that they can't hear me counting down the shot clock- but the people behind us can, and that lets them know what's going on with the possession.) When St. John's won, there was general rejoicing, and Nadirah ran out from behind the table and started high-fiving people. It was awesome.

And we got to wish them luck (well, not everyone, because Nadirah and Eugenia did a runner, which is a shame, because I really wanted to say thanks this year to them). And we got to give Sky and Coco a proper goodbye, which resulted in one of Coco's relatives insisting we take a picture with her, I am not making this up.

Good luck, and good-bye, and thank you- that's just the short form, Red Storm. Good luck in Morgantown, in Hartford, and in wherever the committee places you- our hearts are with you, even if our finances keep us from following you. Good-bye, even if the road hasn't yet come to its end for you, because we love you and miss you already. Thank you- thank you for Manhattan, Columbia, Nicholls State, both Seton Hall games, Southern Miss, Santa Barbara, Liberty, Rutgers, Georgetown, and Pittsburgh.

Thank you for the four-on-five minutes of the Southern Miss game, for Buzz teasing us at Seton Hall, for Nadirah's lay-up against Rutgers, for Eugeneia's amazing game against Maryland, for all the times Da'Shena got up again, for Shenneika's acrobatic drives through the lane, for Coco's boxing out, for Sky's hands on every loose ball, for Jennifer's strength on the block, for Zakiyyah's laughter every time she sees us during the entrance video, for Keylantra going to the floor, for Briana's hustle for every loose ball, for the Barnes and Arico families' tolerance of the crazy people in the jerseys.

Thank you, Sky, for snarking your mother at the Columbia game, and your family seeking stats at the LIU game, and your mother's boots, and the incredible family resemblance between you and your mom (and your sister), and knocking Syracuse out of the Big East Tournament yea all these years ago, and every dance move you've ever busted in shootaround, and for the pink streamer at Key Food which is right next to me on the bookshelf.

Thank you, Coco, for liking my hair, and for stepping up into big shoes, and for calling New York home for four years, and for every rebound you've brought down, and every putback you've fought to put into the basket, and for every time you've laid out to draw the foul.

And as the lights go out on the home slate for 2010-2011 at Carnesecca Arena, it all circles back to these small things: good luck, and good-bye, and thank you.

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Saturday, February 19, 2011

February 19th, 2011: Syracuse at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Syracuse scored 38 of their 78 points in the paint, including a 36-point effort from Kayla Alexander, and stormed back from a 14-point deficit to beat St. John's, 78-65. Alexander was one of four Orange players in double figures, with Syracuse getting strong games from Iesia Hemingway and Shakeya Leary. Da'Shena Stevens led the Red Storm with 18 points, while Eugeneia McPherson added 16 off the bench, 15 in the first half.

For lots of post play, a call to arms, frustration, mysterious collapses, and some serious coaching questions, join your intrepid and pessimistic blogger after the jump.

I've given up trying to figure out St. John's. I'm sorry, guys, I just can't do it anymore. A week ago- less than a week ago, six days ago- it looked like they'd finally found their cojones again after beating Georgetown in overtime, gutting it out against a team that might have been better than they were. Today they rolled over and died against a team that isn't nearly as good as they are. And I don't know whether that has more to do with a galling lack of senior leadership, some questionable coaching decisions, some team-wide malaise, or them getting too big for their britches, because those are all possible reasons why they fell apart in the fourth quarter.

They were honoring the Army and the ROTC today, so there was a little halftime ceremony, and the ROTC presented colors. Anthem was performed by the St. John's mixed chorus, and they were all right- not great, but not awful. Someone left their blackberry near the mic, and at one point everyone heard the chirp of an incoming message. I had to fight off an attack of the giggles.

I don't know what happened, but Kim Barnes Arico was hot under the collar even before the game. She had a very long and animated conversation with one of the Syracuse assistants. I don't know what it was about, but I thought it was interesting that she and Hillsman didn't chat before the game- most head coaches seem to do that kind of thing.

Carmen Tyson-Thomas wears a number with a lot of expectations at Syracuse, and she's not doing too bad a job with it. Phylesha Bullard was the sixth woman in the first half, but the real sixth woman was the very broadly built Shakeya Leary, who's built like a 95% scale version of Keke Carrier. She was the two in the one-two punch in the post, when Syracuse was going at it in the paint. We weren't able to match her bulk, and though she took advantage of it, she didn't take as much advantage of it as I thought she would have. On the other hand, she did a nice job setting up Kayla Alexander by being that two, so there's that. Three other Syracuse players got into the game, but it's very hard to write a meaningful analysis of players who play a total of four minutes, so if you're looking for that, I do apologize.

Tasha Harris is a big girl. She looks like she wanted to play football at some point in her life and got sidetracked by basketball. Apparently the scouting report said that she was a deadly outside shooter, because our defenders (ahem, Shenneika) kept going out to cover her and leaving Erica Morrow wide open. Iasia Hemingway got loose in the second half- that's when she scored all her points. She's another big- I thought she was a forward when she originally transferred, so I wasn't looking for someone her height when trying to figure out who was who; the only reason I was able to figure out who she was before Syracuse took off their shooting shirts was that she said hello to a few folks who I know are from Newark (I think they're Nadirah's friends and/or family). Erica Morrow got in on a few nice plays, but overall I wasn't impressed with her. I did, however, enjoy watching Elashier Hall (who appears to have gotten tired of people mispronouncing her name, because the way she was announced, it sounded like her name was given to the PA guy as Lacy). I find the jackknife fold of her shot peculiarly endearing, and I like her ability to fake out an defense on the fast break with her hesitation move. I think she needs to get the hesitation out of her offense when she's not faking out opponents, but she's only a sophomore. She has time to work on that. She hit one three from far out it came from freakin' Suffolk County. Kayla Alexander- who we called Six-Four during the entire game because that was the relevance of her existence- killed us. Killed us dead. Splattered us, smashed us, and ruined us. We had no answer for her height, and for some reason, Kim Barnes Arico decided not to play the one answer we did have. Syracuse understood that she had a height and length advantage over everyone on the floor for St. John's, and she took advantage of it.

Jennifer Blanding should have gotten more than six minutes. She was the only answer we had for Alexander- the one play where they were up against each other (okay, maybe not the only one, but the most memorable one), Alexander wasn't able to shoot over her. (Of course, Syracuse ended up scoring off the play because we couldn't get the rebound because of Leary's bulk, and she had the putback. But Jennifer's defense on the original shot was on point.) She had a pretty little skyhook as well. These notes are supposed to be my immediate post-game reactions, with a minimum of research, but Barnes Arico's quotes about Jennifer made my blood boil. Amanda Burakoski can apparently only score in threes- she hit a long-range shot and an old-fashioned three-point play (though can we really call it old-fashioned when the three-point shot has existed for more than thirty years?) She had some deplorable defensive lapses, though, including one near the end of the game where she all but joined in allowing Harris to part the Red Sea. DO NOT WANT, okay? Some of that might have to do with exhaustion, because she was starting to register on the Adubato Meter for being ungodly shades of red. Eugeneia McPherson found her offense in Florida (which is a sensible place to be in February), but had apparently traded her free throw shooting for three-point shooting,. She also had only the one free throw in the second half, and that bothers me. She got more desperate and less accurate, which was a team-wide problem. I love her work on the backcourt trap, but she wasn't as ready as usual when Syracuse was able to break the trap.

Shenneika Smith was not herself today. Or maybe she was and that's what we should be afraid of. She took a lot of off-balance shots that were not well thought out, and her defensive lapses were deplorable. She cheated off her assignment way too much, and part of me wonders if she got distracted by Harris possibly talking trash. High school ball in NYC is sort of like that, from what I've heard. (I don't know from personal experience, because for one, I don't play, and for another, my high school alma mater was not exactly a sports powerhouse.) Nadirah McKenith ran a solid game- lost her head a little at the end and dove for the lane, either to draw fouls or just to get herself into double figures. Her teammates weren't ready for some of her passes, and maybe that says something about her reading of the floor, and maybe that says something about how ready they were for the game, and maybe that says something about how ready Syracuse was for us. I don't know. Sky Lindsay barely played because Gina and Buzz have been hot, but she was brought in late in the game. Of course, when she came back in, she notched a steal and a fast break layup, and Kim promptly sat her back down again. That made no sense, especially when Day was hurting and Buzz's defense was falling apart. Da'Shena Stevens had one heck of a first half, and played well in the second, but after one particularly hard hit, it looked like all the fight went out of her. With about five minutes left, it looked like she had cracked under the pressure. I don't know if she was hurt or if she was panicking, but all of her shots at that point were quick and bad- the free throws, the twos, and the straight on three. She just could not contain the bigs from Syracuse. I know it seems like I'm harping on the inside play, but that was really the difference. They killed us inside, and our undersized posts could not compete. However, that is no excuse for the awful play of Coco Hart. It's one thing to be unable to defend physically larger players. It's another thing to be so off your game that your coach would rather attempt to counter size with small forwards while you sit on the bench for ten and fifteen minutes at a stretch.

Kim's head was not in the game today, plain and simple. I don't know if she was worrying about her kid, who was watching the (very thrilling) game over at the Garden, or if she was trying to figure out if Hillsman TP'd her house, or what, but she was off her game from the start, and it became clear that she wasn't deviating from her plan, no matter what. There were times when Buzz and Gina needed rest and Sky should have come in. There were times, especially in the second half, when Da'Shena and Coco needed to sit down and Jennifer needed to come in, especially when Syracuse kept pounding it inside and Day and Coco weren't able to defend their inside players. Her handling of Jennifer was egregiously awful. I don't know if we would have won on that substitution, but I think it would have helped if Kim had been paying attention to what was working and what wasn't. I think it would have helped if Kim had accepted when players were injured and worked around that- I don't think she wanted to take Day out even when there was blood. Blood is bad, Kim.

The officiating was just barely acceptable. There were a few plays that I thought should have been called against Syracuse, and one awful call against Da'Shena that should have been on Hall (the football tackle came from the player whose school has football, Bonita). Norma Jones was on point, though. She made her calls quickly and accurately, and called for help just as quickly when she didn't have the call. I have to wonder how Hillsman didn't get T'd up for coming all the way out to the center court logo to argue an out of bounds, though. I thought keeping coaches in the box was a point of emphasis this year, and... that's pretty far out of the box.

I'm disappointed in my team and a bit broken up. There's no sign of leadership, either from the bench or from the players, and that doesn't bode well for the rest of this season. I'm starting to wonder if Kim hung all her hopes on the sophomore class- on Shenneika, Nadirah, Eugeneia, Amanda, and Jennifer, and mostly on the first three, from the way she talks about Jennifer. None of the freshmen played today, after all. I wonder if she's written off the seniors already, if she's pinning everything on the class of 2013, and maybe on Da'Shena. I don't know if she still has this team. I don't know if this team still has this team.

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Sunday, February 13, 2011

February 13th, 2011: Georgetown at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: It took overtime, five threes from Amanda Burakoski, a double-double from Da'Shena Stevens, and a near triple-double from Nadirah McKenith, but St. John's fought off #17 Georgetown, 75-71. The Hoyas' Sugar Rodgers led all scorers with 23 points, and Tia Magee had 14 of her 16 in in the second half, but they were the only double-figure scorers for Georgetown. Burakoski's 15 points led the Red Storm, with McKenith adding 13 to go with nine assists and eight rebounds, and Stevens chipping in 12 points and 10 boards.

For lockdown defense, amazing a capella singing, threats of physical harm, stunning defensive plays, memorabilia, and the urge to rush the floor, join your intrepid and congested blogger after the jump.

Oh my God, what a game! This was the game we were expecting last year at McDonough. This was the game we've been waiting for this team to play on national television. This was the moment that this team needed to prove that they could step up and play with, if not the big dogs, the medium dogs. I know it's pink, and that was sort of frustrating, because our red does not go well with pink, but that was the only frustrating bit of the whole thing. We got a lot of people at the game, and a lot of people who got into the game when they were needed. This was what February Frenzy is supposed to be about, when you make your mark and make your stand and show what you've got on national television.

Dear lost marketing child, women's games at Carnesecca Arena are general admission. Don't check our tickets. We've been sitting next to the band all season, and if you watch the replay on ESPN360, you will hear us cheering.

Shoutout to the Metropolitones, who sang an awesome anthem and a spine-chilling rendition of Alicia Keys's “Empire State of Mind”. I have always said that the one thing I liked about Blaze was her fetish for Sweet Adelines and a capella groups.

I don't want to say that we're fixtures in our section, but I think one of Coach Barnes Arico's daughters tried to enlist us as baby-sitters for her when the rest of the family was late to the game. Just for the record, this is one of those things that would probably not end well and would result in us being banned from St. John's games and facilities for the rest of our lives, and that would be heart-breaking.

It takes two teams to make a great game, and I have to give Georgetown some props. They could have easily folded when we went on a 7-0 run after they tied it at 50. But they surged back, and when we surged back, they surged back, and it wasn't until Nadirah McKenith was hitting free throws on a bad ankle that we were able to put them away. They did a great job of finding the open player time and time again. I sort of feel bad for Tia McBride, though; yes, if my parents had named me Tommacina, I would probably go by Tia as well, and I'm sorry that St. John's left her full name on the roster. She had a very solid game as the sixth woman, including a great defensive play to disrupt a fast break. Sydney Wilson has impressive size, but she's not sure how to use it. She missed a lot of bunnies that she should have hit. I wasn't thrilled about her checking Da'Shena Stevens into the boards like she was trying out for the Caps or something. Morgan Williams gave minutes off the bench at the point, and while I don't have detailed +/-, I don't know that the team was better for her being in the game. I think the loud contingent behind the Georgetown bench was there for Alexa Roche, the New Yorker on the team, who brought size (but really, she's a guard? NO WAI!). I thought it was interesting that Williams-Flornoy went to her deep bench early in the game, but it paid off for them later in the game.

Sugar Rodgers does amazing things with the basketball, and she's got good hands, but sometimes I think she's trying too hard to make every shot look like it should be on the highlight reel. I wonder if she's trying to be Angel McCoughtry, to put Georgetown on the map and keep them there the way Angel did for Louisville, to make sure that everyone's watching so they can see what her team can do. Because that's the thing: Sugar Rodgers is one hell of a player, but she's got some great teammates around her. Monica McNutt didn’t have a great game, as compared to last year when she kicked our butts. But Tia Magee was hitting big shots every time we turned around- for a six-two forward, she's got some range. Adria Crawford played a good game, including one steal where she picked off the pass like she was trying out for cornerback for the Redskins. (Do it, Adria! They need all the help they can get!) Rubylee Wright ran a great game at point, and how appropriate is it that a tiny guard is from a town caled Latta? I'm not making this up. She drove the lane and put up shots that were Mark Jackson-esque. And then there was the block on Sky Lindsay, and that wasn't one of those blocks a five-three player gets on a five-eleven player where the taller player has it down at her ankles. Those were some serious ups on Wright.

Georgetown doesn't let you think. They don't give you time. If you take a moment to think, they'll strip you or force a violation from you. You have to think fast to beat the Hoyas. They're loud, too.

Nadirah must still be recovering from something, because Keylantra Langley was a straight swap for her a few times. I don't recall Key doing anything statistically relevant except for one of the dumbest turnovers I've ever seen. Jennifer Blanding came to play today. It's not going to look like it from the stat sheet, because she only had four points and two rebounds, but believe me when I say that she had a nice presence in the paint and didn't make any horrible mistakes that had us burying our faces in our hands. That was the game we needed from Biglove. That was also the game we needed from Amanda Burakoski, who went on a hot streak in the first half from beyond the arc to build our lead- oh, and hit the three to force overtime. She had some deplorable defensive lapses, especially on one basket by Monica McNutt where she wasn't even facing her player. That was probably why Eugeneia McPherson came in as the defensive switch late in the game- though Gina's offense was not as solid as I've gotten used to, she hit her free throws (with a little help from St. John on some of those back-rim shots) and had a nice little run with a basket and a steal as part of the 7-0 run.

Coco Hart works hard against a lot of players who are bigger than she is, and I'll always respect her for that. But she had some really boneheaded plays today. One turnover was so egregious I ended up yelling that it was the third dumbest thing I'd ever seen her do. Sky Lindsay didn't do a lot, but she didn't make any major mistakes, and her shots were well-timed. We needed Buzz's offense and Gina's defense more than we needed her steady hand, so she didn't play a lot. Da'Shena Stevens put in some serious work on the boards, and took a lot of physical abuse for. She seemed to be in the right place at the right time on a lot of plays. Her offensive rebound off her missed free throw was huge late in the game. We don't win this game without Nadirah McKenith running the offense, crashing the boards, blocking shots, and hitting her free throws in the OT- on a bad ankle (from where we were, we thought it was a quad, but when we asked her, “How's your leg?” she specified her ankle, so I'm going to trust the judgment of the injured person over mine). She stepped up when we needed her, flirting with a triple-double. But we also don't win this game without Shenneika Smith. Neika didn't have a great offensive game, though she started the game hot, but her defense on Sugar Rodgers was critical to the win. I know, Rodgers had 23 points- but most of those came when Shenneika was out of the game, on fast breaks, or when there was a screen for her. When Shenneika was on her, she was locked down. Period. Gina couldn't stop her, Nana couldn't stop her, and Coco couldn't stop her, but Neika could, and that was all the difference. I'd much rather see Shenneika sacrifice her offense to help keep an opposing star in check.

The officiating was all right, for the most part. Some of the calls were a little sketchy, and Kathleen Lynch seemed to think Nana had kicked her puppy or something. But you live and learn.

I'm glad Rebecca Lobo enjoyed her visit. I was quite squeeful that she was at our place. What can I say? My summer jersey is #50 in Lib black. And we had a brief conversation with the father of our grad assistant... it is very disconcerting to see Mike Thibault not dressed to coach, you know? Especially when you're a fan of his and kind of wished he'd have hauled down I-95 when Donovan went to Seton Hall?

We did not wear pink. One of these days, when I've remembered to get out the flame retardant, I have a screed against pinkwashing saved on my flash drive, but today it boiled down to “it's a rivalry game against a ranked team, I am NOT messing with my superstitions, okay?” The only sop we made to the Cause was that we brought, and my darlin' fiance wore pregame, an Edna Campbell jersey. I was sort of hoping someone would ask why his Storm jersey was the wrong color.

They did an autograph session after the game, and though we've been there and done that, we wanted to congratulate the team for the big win. This is when Nadirah obligingly told us what she injured. We ran into Buzz's mom and told her that whatever she said to Buzz, she needs to say it more often. Apparently it was, “I'm gonna kill you if you don't shoot the ball.” Which... would not shock me horribly. Buzz's mom is intense. The scorecard is going up in the office. And hey, I think we've stopped scaring Da'Shena! (Day comes off as... really, really, really shy around people she doesn't know. I mean, she's usually been sick when forced to interact with strangers, so maybe that's it, but I always feel bad that she's monosyllabic around us. We're not trying to be scary!)

I think I'll leave this here in the warm glow of the biggest win of the season. Go Storm!

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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

February 1st, 2011: Rutgers at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Nadirak McKenith's drive and hoop in the lane with nine seconds left turned out to be the game-winner for St. John's, allowing the Red Storm to hang on to a 51-48 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Rutgers had a chance to tie the game on their last possession, but a lane violation by April Sykes nullified Erica Wheeler's tying free throw. Monique Oliver of Rutgers led all players with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Amanda Burakoski led St. John's off the bench with a career high 16 points.

For exhilaration, exhaustion, minor miracles, free t-shirts, loud fans, yipping, and bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, join your intrepid and belated blogger after the jump.
Well, this is a pretty bad sign. Tip is imminent and ain't nobody here, and there's no scorecards. I have a really bad feeling about this, especially as I see a chorus line up for the anthem.

No scorecards. I am not a happy blogger. Well, I wouldn't be a happy blogger if it weren't for this lovely 25-15 lead we've got at the half. Amanda Burakoski is going nuts out there- she's got three threes and a wicked block that helped force a shot clock violation. The Rutgers defense is giving us trouble, especially in the neutral zone (if you don't mind me borrowing a hockey term), but our man-to-man is making their lives hell. I've seen more people step on the endline this game than ever before in my life. Rutgers is committing a lot of offensive fouls. Stupid, preventable things. If Stringer adapts her strategy at the half and goes to the big girls Lee and Oliver more, we might have trouble, since we don't have a lot of solutions for them.

If there is any pause in these game notes, it's because I died of the cute when Debbie Antonelli brought Trevor Arico down to the “booth” and stuck a headset on him. That kid's got a knack for charming people. (And a shooting knack. An older gentleman who I presume is a proud relative was passing around an article about the national shooting competition he's in.) Oh, this is just too cute. I am so jealous of him right now, you have no idea.

I missed it because I was working on the first-half recap, but apparently one of the kids in the biddy game hit a three from beyond the men's line. Given how awful the bits of the game I saw were, I'm duly impressed.

Oh my gods, that was exhausting and exhilarating and cathartic and necessary and heartbreaking and heart-stopping and I'm sure the Rutgers fans are furious but I don't care because we needed that and we finally stepped up and took what we needed after almost giving it away and the state of my writing postgame as compared to halftime might be a hint as to the nature of the second half of the game.

Choral anthem. Weak start, strong middle, completely ruined in the end. Surprisingly, it was an allegory for the road team, not the home team.

It would appear that Daisha Simmons is the bench for Rutgers until they get Nikki Speed back. Or something. She played minutes at a lot of different positions. She got in on a lot of loose balls. Got slightly screwed by the refs, too; I really thought her fourth was Wheeler's third.

Monique Oliver started to annoy me in the second half, but in that “we are being overpowered by an opponent I respect” sense, not that “get this woman out of my arena because she's being unsportsmanlike” sense. She's a big girl who isn't afraid of it, and I respect that. She could have been more careful with her footwork, but that's a small nitpick for a player who already had a big game. I was less impressed with Chelsey Lee, who was willing to throw her body around, but wasn't as effective in actually doing anything with it. She looks like she's put on some weight since the last time I saw Rutgers, and it's not doing her any favors. Erica Wheeler went off in the second half. We sort of kept losing her while we were trying to put a lid on the bigs in the middle. I like that she's not afraid to go after loose balls and get down on the floor. Effort will always earn kudos from me. Khadijah Rushdan used her size advantage on some of our guards to really work the boards. I thought we did a great job of stopping up her offense. April Sykes... she's going to be the goat of this game, and I can't say she didn't completely earn it with her questionable shot selection and lousy footwork. She stepped out of bounds quite a few times, and of course there was the last play. I'll be honest, I didn't see the last play because I was too busy putting up a couple of prayers, so I have no opinion on whether the lane violation was a legitimate call or not. But I was not very impressed with her today. She didn't look all there.

They killed us on defense, plain and simple. I'll give them all the credit in the world for that. Their hands were everywhere, and all of them were willing to hit the floor for the ball.

Jennifer Blanding came in and committed a three-second violation. That was really her only contribution to the game. Eugeneia McPherson brought a good bit of her defense, though her offense was still missing in action. The story of the game, though, was Amanda Burakoski. Buzz went off. She was hitting her threes, she was going to the hole, she was hitting the boards (I have no idea how she didn't get credited with any rebounds), she was making defensive plays. That block in the first half was awesome. She looks like she's getting her confidence back, and if that's the case, the Big East better watch out.

Shenneika Smith's shot is still AWOL- she kept leaving what would normally be easy shots short, and I don't know whether it has to do with injuries or not wanting to go up against the bigs for Rutgers. Her ballhandling was not great, either; she kept trying to get fancy, which is a really bad idea against a team like Rutgers. She was cold-blooded at the line, though, and with the way we shoot free throws, and as close as this game was, we needed that. Nadirah McKenith had the same problem with fancy ballhandling, but she stayed tough on defense, and she did what I've been praying for her to do since we played Florida State: when it came down to the last, game-winning shot, she took it instead of passing off. It might be a small thing, but to me, it suggests a huge leap forward in her development as a leader and a point guard. Sky Lindsay was a non-factor, but she didn't have to be a factor, because we had Buzz off the bench. Coco Hart took a beating in the paint, and she wasn't able to get a lot of shots off, but she made up for it with hard boxing out despite giving up a lot of size to the Rutgers posts. Da'Shena Stevens had a little more luck going inside, and she put in some work on the boards. Her and-1 play was huge, even if she missed the free throw (it turned into a four-point play of sorts- she got a lay-up off the offensive rebound).

I don't know if it was just that everyone was particularly clumsy that day or what, but there were a lot of feet on the sidelines. I don't know what's up with that. I would have appreciated a foul called when Gina got checked into the Rutgers bench, but I can't complain too much about the officiating- after all, a judgment call gave us a chance to ice the game. It got very physical in the later stages of the game as things got a little more desperate.

Special attention must be given to the Rutgers fans who made it out to the game. On the one hand, I appreciate their passion and support for their team. On the other hand, I think it's a bit tacky to sing your fight song and disconcert the shooter on the road, in someone else's arena. Support your team on the road, sure. I've done that in four different states. But be positive. Don't go into someone else's house and treat it like your own. You'll just anger the home fans.

If you were watching the game on television and you heard what sounded like a yippy little dog barking, that was probably me. I swear on my honor as a former Girl Scout, I had no idea I was so high-pitched. I used to be an alto...

After the game, we concluded that St. John himself gave us a little help. Only reason I can think of for all those little mistakes that gave us the game. I'm glad to see the effort back again, and we better bring it with us to Marquette. We need this stretch.

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