March 6th, 2016: Georgetown at St. John's (Big East Tournament)

Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. John's clamped down on defense in the fourth quarter to pull away from Georgetown, 65-52. Aliyyah Handford had game highs of 22 points, including her 2000th, and five steals to lead St. John's, with Danaejah Grant adding 18. Dorothy Adomako led Georgetown with 15 points and five rebounds.

For defensive teams, flags blowing in the wind, dangerous collisions, going behind the charge circle, hard bleachers, stomping the floor, and #Liyyah2K, join your intrepid and perturbed blogger after the jump.

One more set of game notes, and then I can fall over. This one's the most important, though. It's St. John's playing Georgetown for the right to take on this DePaul squad that just walloped Butler.

Team Jersey is showing out, and I think Chicagoan Akina Wellere has family here too.

We seem to have struck a chord with an Under Armour guy. Cool beans.

Ashton Millender and her family are all over in the next section, and I think that explains the woman in Sky gear who's been wandering around.

Small world after all- one of the tournament organizers used to play in and work for the MAAC. Always fun to meet people from your neck of the woods in less familiar areas.

At halftime, St. John's is up 35-32, and it's uncomfortable. It's been a very physical game, with a lot of contact going uncalled. Aliyyah Handford scored the first 11 for the Red Storm, including her 2000th point, and Danaejah Grant picked up the slack in the second quarter with six of her 10. Faith Woodard is playing well for the Hoyas with 11, and Dorothy Adomako has 9.

That's it, Pirates, wander around the other side of the arena, don't notice me, don't comment on my red, don't tease me, don't come at me, just stay over there. Damn it, Tabatha.

St. John's pulled away at the end, much to my relief. Talent wins out; when you combine one of the best backcourts in the nation with a steady point guard and some key contributions from the bench, you get a win.

Georgetown actually went pretty deep into their bench, though I'm not sure if that's by design or if Natasha Adair was just looking for ways around the foul trouble and combinations of players that would strike a spark. Jasmine Jackson came in to run the point and rotate in for DiDi Burton when Burton was in foul trouble. She's definitely a change of pace, a bigger guard than the small, quick starters. Katie McCormick got her shot off, but couldn't get it down; at least she hustled for the ball on defense. Tyshell King's impact on the game is harder to see from four rows up than it is from eight or nine rows up. Logan Battle brought height and a bit of defensive presence. She saw more time in the second half than the first. Yazmine Belk came in n the first half down low and threw her weight around.

If the Big East had an All-Defensive team, Dionna White would be on it. When she's not playing against my team, I love to watch her work on defense, reading the passing lanes and making ballhandlers pay. DiDI Burton is the more aggressive on-ball defender- she almost forced a five-seconds-closely-guarded call on (I think) Danaejah Grant. The two of them together are impossibly pesky. And then Dorothy Adomako goes to work in the lane with the high shot. She's got so many dimensions to her game that it's ridiculous. She's tough on the inside and can step out to the midrange.

Faith Woodard gave the Hoyas a big boost up front- she was able to get to the basket with a fair amount of ease and put up shots at the rim. She's tough. Dominique Vitalis brought senior leadership to the floor- things just seemed to go better when they had her on the floor to direct traffic and look to. She's a steadying presence, and I'm using the present tense because it would be pretty cool if Georgetown made the WNIT.

The defense is on point for the Hoyas. They just need some offensive help around Adomako and to replace the depth they lose with the seniors. I think Adair can do it.

Jordan Agustus saw some time in the first half and was ineffective. Akina Wellere hit a big three to end the first quarter and give the Johnnies some momentum going into the second. She got called for a couple of questionable fouls, and that was the end of her run in her hometown. Crystal Simmons brought so much defense that I may have to make Google Translate work overtime for nicknames. She elicited a five-seconds-closely-guarded call out of (I think) Dionna White. The three-pointer at the end was just the cherry on top, but it had to have done wonders for her confidence. She's another one who should be all-defense, if we had an All-Defensive team. Jade Walker is probably not 100%- she missed a couple of rolls to the basket that she normally makes, but she got stronger as the game went on, stealing rebounds and hitting jumpers. We're going to need her tomorrow. Today. Against DePaul.

Sandra Udobi played sparingly, but came up with defensive stops down the stretch. Imani Littleton was hit and miss- she committed stupid fouls, but she drew a lot of contact and got to the line. She's starting to mature, which is good- we're going to need her to step up in a big way next year. She's really shining on defense.

Aaliyah Lewis is going to be an amazing coach one of these days. She has such command of her team on the floor- it's not as obvious when the ball is in play, but she gives direction to her teammates when there's a stoppage or they're off the ball on defense. And they listen to her, even the seniors. She knows the game so well. She didn't score a lot, but the points came when we needed them. Her passes were picked, but she made answering plays on defense. For a while it looked like Aliyyah Handford was going to have to be the entire show- she scored the first 11 for the Johnnies before she got slowed up a little bit. She's a terror on the break, and she stole a lot of balls to lead breaks. She's just so fun to watch. Danaejah Grant is as not flashy as Aliyyah is flashy- she hits jumpers, she uses her strength in the lane, she defends and passes the ball, and yet I can never find words for her. She's just there, like a universal constant, and it's going to be so confusing when she's not there.

The officiating got tighter as the game went on, much to everyone's annoyance. Both sides were questioning calls- there was one play where Adair wanted a foul on Handford, Tartamella wanted a foul on White, and play went on. Mid-air collisions aren't good for the game, guys.

Jack won the dance-off, although I disapprove of his audacity in putting his hat on Johnny's head. We have the far superior band and dance, though. Their band is awfully tinny, and I can't imagine what it sounds like in that aircraft hangar they're forced to call a home court.

The host is a very nice woman, but she's still annoying when she's working. And I do wish people would stop being surprised that we support two teams, but, well, that's a bit of a sore spot at the moment. Their heads might explode if they knew how many teams we really go hard for.

So yay! We're on to the semifinals! And our reward is DePaul in their own arena at primetime! Yay?