January 23rd. 2016: St. Francis NY at LIU

Just the Facts, Ma'am: A strong third quarter was key as St. Francis of Brooklyn wore down LIU-Brooklyn, 71-51. Leah Fechko led all scorers with 21 points, with Olivia Levey adding 14. Stylz Sanders led LIU with 14.

For accusations, so much snow, missed lay-ups, sloppy ballhandling, people shoveling snow at 1 in the morning, attempts at lyrical writing, and reluctant criticism, join your intrepid and in dire need of moisturizer blogger after the jump.
Neither rain now snow nor yadda yadda yadda shall keep this blogger from her appointed rounds. Jonas is blowing fine powder out there in a mist of snow, but we're toasty warm at LIU for the Battle of Brooklyn. It's a double-header, but I'm not sure whether we're staying for the men's game or not. It's going to depend on how much snow is piled up out there.

Another year, another roster that's almost all white for St. Francis. For a team that claims Brooklyn as their home, they look as much like the borough as I look like a Ninja Turtle. I know there's a lot to unpack from the difference between the view of a mostly-black roster and of a mostly-white roster, but I was up until 1:30 this morning writing last night's notes, so maybe we'll save that kind of intersectional analysis for the rematch at St. Francis.

For LIU games, we perch in the endcourt by the Blackbirds' bench. It's an interesting place to sit. It's a different view. I think I prefer the sideline to the baseline, but traditions must be upheld.

The snow's really coming down now, or maybe it's just the wind blowing it around. It's hard to tell. It looks almost like smoke wafting by. It's much prettier from inside than when you're walking through it and having it sting your face.

Maybe going to this game was a mistake, but it's a mistake I'd make again. I see the potential in LIU, and I want to show them love. It sounds arrogant even as I type it, but I might just see more potential in them than Stephanie Oliver does.

I really don't like St. Francis. It's not just the color thing, though that observation may have predisposed me to look negatively on their play. I don't like the way they play. I don't like the way Levey throws her weight around and then tries to play the victim. I don't like the elbows and the holds. I don't like running plays for your leading scorers when you're up 20 on a team that literally has five available bodies; for that matter, I don't like your leading scorers still being on the floor in the last two minutes of a game that you're up 20 in and playing against literally five available players. I don't like that you're still running offense with nine seconds to go in the game. I don't like seeing a team celebrate going up 23 on a hobbled opponent the way they would if they had just hit UConn with a buzzer-beater.

The Terriers used a lot of reserves for short spurts. Tori Wagner had a short stint in the second half and used her height effectively. Cassidy Derda exploited openings in the Blackbirds' defense to get easy shots under the basket. Rachel Iozzia got the second half start (I think) and played decently. Blair Arthur and her high-arcing shot provided good offensive spark off the bench. Becky Pund provided relief at the point near the end of both halves. I honestly don't remember much about Taylor Watson.

Olivia Levey throws her weight around down low. Normally I'm a fan of this from post players, but I don't like players who throw elbows and hip checks, and then try to act like they're the victim. I'd like her strength a lot better that way. Alex Delaney got her points fairly early, hitting beyond the arc. Kat Phipps was in enough foul trouble in the first half, including one dumb foul late in the second quarter, that she didn't start the second half. She had a vicious block on Stylz Sanders early on. Maria Palarino was able to take advantage of the backdoor plays later in the game, when LIU was worn out. Leah Fechko started the game with two rapid threes, then started taking advantage of the backdoor and moving in more.

I liked the Terriers' ball movement- they did an excellent job of drawing in the defense, then either whipping it over to an open three-point shooter or having someone open in the lane for an uncontested lay-up.

Lily Abreu was the bench today for the Blackbirds, mostly relieving Brianna Farris when it was time for Brianna to either get a rest or be at the receiving end of a teaching moment from Coach Oliver. She's not ready for primetime.

I'm not a big proponent of Brianna Farris shooting threes early in the shot clock. I know, shooters gotta shoot; I know, someone has to be an outside threat, and she was the closest thing we had. But we fell very quickly into playing St. Francis's game, at their pace, and while we were able to fight back, I think that took too much out of us. I love her hands on defense, though. She found her shooting rhythm in the second half, but I'm still not comfortable with her shooting so much. Shanice Vaughan is a trooper- she took a hard hit in the third quarter and came up hobbling. She still took the free throws, but came out of the game immediately and went to the locker room. She's emotional, maybe too much, but I think that reflects an awareness of what's going on on the floor.

Stylz Sanders drove the lane hard and took a lot of contact. She got called for the charge once, but got the defensive foul far more often. Jolanna Ford needs to work on her handle and her ability to catch passes. DeAngelique Waithe might very well be my new favorite- I love to watch her rebound, and her hustle on defense. She was still chasing loose balls in the last minute of the game. If she had offense, she'd be a terror. But she's only a sophomore. She'll learn. You can't teach hustle.

Games like these, when you only have six players available, and one of them is a walk-on... and then you lose one of the starters and have to push everyone without a break... these are the games when you find out what you're made of. What your team has. And the Blackbirds have pride. Maybe it was just because it was a rivalry game and they felt they had something to prove. I'd like to think that it was pride in themselves, not their opponent.

Given the number of fouls on St. Francis, it would be wrong of me to comment on the officiating, but it seemed to get a little uneven at the end of the game. Game management calls in rivalry games are interesting.

The thing that actually worries me most about LIU is on the bench, and I don't mean the long line of injured players. It's one thing to be sarcastic and harsh if you're a fan, or an assistant. It's another if you're the head coach. I know Stephanie Oliver comes from a very emotional coaching tree, but some things are not appropriate to be said on the bench during the game. If you want to be sarcastic at a player, do it during practice.

I do hope some of the injuries have cleared up by next week, though...