December 3rd, 2015: Sacred Heart at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Aliyyah Handford finished the third quarter on a personal run to spur St. John's to a 67-54 win over Sacred Heart. Handford led all scorers with 24. Danaejah Grant and Akina Wellere each chipped in 17 for the Red Storm. Shelby Hickey led the Pioneers with 12.

For camo, ambushes, sawing noises, Aliyyah Handford being awesome, hot heads, cool moves, and warm pizza, join your intrepid and time-challenged blogger after the jump.


Hi, everybody!

"Hi, Dr. Nick!"

It's another day, another round of basketball. This time we're back at Carnesecca Arena for the Red Storm's match-up with the Pioneers of Sacred Heart.

You already know how much I hate the Q59; I shouldn't still be on the train at 6:20.

Fortunately for the office dress code, STJ put some golf shirts on sale last year, so I have a lovely collared shirt under my jersey and scarf. One must always dress in style, you know.

Well, this is not going well. Sacred Heart is up at the half, 31-30. St. John's does not slog well. We're also committing stupid fouls- that charge by Aliyyah at the end of the half was textbook "player-control" fail. Sacred Heart is slowing the game down, and shooting threes, and those both work against our strengths. (Of course, having our three top forwards out with foul trouble doesn't help.)

That's right, Marines don't need any damn microphones, especially not ones that scream like tortured souls. There's a military swearing-in at halftime, as half a dozen volunteers get ready to join the Army. And we've got a second one with the ROTC, too. I'm going to just leave that here with no political comment.

I thought the point of Military Night and Greek-mandatory events was to get some goddamn noise in the building. There's no point to frats showing up if they just sit there and stay quiet. Since when do frat boys stay quiet anyway?

And then Aliyyah Handford said, "naaaaaaaaaah," and took over the game, because she's Aliyyah and that's how she rolls.

Sacred Heart seemed to be playing a lot of zone and clogging the middle of the lane. Lots of collapsing on penetrators. They read the scouting report. They watched the film. Their coach has a good head on her shoulders.

Kiana Ye was last off the bench, when the game was well decided, and the one shot she took was very, very far off the mark. Danielle Durjan showed some athleticism on defense and on the boards. Kelcey Castro made some big plays in the second quarter, hitting threes to keep Sacred Heart in the game and even leading for long stretches. She's a physical guard who can use her build to knock smaller players off their feet. She had some wardrobe issues in the third quarter, where the Sacred on her jersey got rolled up in her bra or something. It was unreadable. Erin Storck looked to be running the offense when she was in, but she didn't take the Red Storm pressure well.

Lerae Ettienne is tough, and physical, and intimidating with that buzzed silver hair. That's a woman I would not want to meet in a dark alley. She made space for herself and got boards. Cleo Polyzou's brace is in the running with Rebecca Lobo's for the title of Creature from the Black Lagoon. She hit a pretty little midrange shot. I kind of have to like the Greek girls- there aren't too many of us out there.

Tykera Carter left no real impression, and I think Sacred Heart liked what they were getting out of Castro better. Adaysha Williams got into the middle of a lot of plays and made things happen for the Pioneers, but I think we got into her head a little bit at the free throw line.

Hannah Kimmel is a very smooth player. Her shot got a little more hassled in the second half, but she still found ways to help her teammates. She carries herself well on the floor. Shelby Hickey kept coming up with threes from the corner, and quickly became the darling and favorite of the frat in front of us. They kept it clean, but just in case they didn't, I'm sorry. Alissa Tarsi is a load in the middle, and not someone to be trifled with. She wasn't necessarily fast, but she knew where to be, and Kimmel knew where to find her.

Yay, minutes for Tamesha Alexander! Or at least A minute. Poor Sox. Crystal Simmons got some minutes in relief of Akina Wellere. She made some defensive plays, but I often got distracted by her bad decision to roll her shorts up until she looked like she was wearing saddlebags. It's not a good look.

Akina Wellere, have yourself a day! We needed someone to be an outside shooter to answer the threes that Sacred Heart was putting up, and she answered the bell. She needs more space than I'm comfortable with to put up her shots, but hopefully that's something she'll grow out of as she matures. She's still hesitant, but again, she's a freshman. Jordan Agustus and her goggles got a few minutes in the first half due to the foul trouble all the forwards were in. She's got some slick moves, but she needs to learn to be aggressive and finish. Jade Walker keeps forgetting that she's 6-1 and solidly built. She spends way too much time on the perimeter, and we need her to be tough inside. To be fair, she's rebounding well. I would just like to see more hook shots and fewer deep twos. Hook shots are sexy.

Imani Littleton got into quick foul trouble, which was why Jade started the second half. She looks like she's severely lacking confidence out there, and I'm worried about her. Sandra Udobi was willing to sacrifice her body on defense, but her mobility is very limited, and so are her minutes- she started the second half on the bike, which was why Akina started the second half. Bailing in the paint when there are three defenders and Aliyyah does not end well for Aliyyah. I love Sandie as a human being, but her best basketball days seem to be behind her.

Aaliyah Lewis ran the offense like the maestra she is, and made defensive plays that would make a Giants corner jealous. She got called for a lot of little procedural turnovers, the kind of things refs don't usually pay attention to unless they're haunted by the spectre of Bonita Spence. Except for losing her temper and getting a technical for okay I don't even know what, Danaejah Grant had a fantastic game. She came up with some big boards and was hitting shots from all over the floor (okay, except beyond the arc, but we have 'Kina for that). She's really dedicated herself to improving her all-around game. But the show-stopper, the one who makes 'em all gasp and who can make magic happen, is Aliyyah Handford. She believes she can fly. Sometimes she's even right- why yes, that is Liyyah pulling off the alley-oop. She gambles too much and she takes too many hits. But when she gets that look on her face and she drives the lane, you'd be a fool to get in her way. She took over the end of the third quarter to put St. John's right back in the game, and Nae took it from there.

I'd like to see more of the press from St. John's- it looks like it can be very effective.

Can we maybe do some free throw drills? And not have Da'Shena run them? I love me some Da', but it was happy fun adventure time when she was at the line.

Officiating was not good overall. Lots of ticky-tack procedural calls, lots of missed calls on both sides, I have no idea why Nae got the technical, and Sacred Heart got screwed on a missed kicked ball that led to a turnover.

Things we have learned today: we don't slog well. We can't let other teams force us into a slog.