December 17th, 2016: Wagner at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. John's dominated from start to finish against an undermanned Wagner team in their 62-34 win. Jade Walker had 12 points to spearhead a balanced St. John's attack. Tanasia Russell had eight points and nine rebounds to lead Wagner.

For pity, awkward injuries, defensive specialists, questionable personnel choices, and a ride home (shoutout our awesome band peeps!) join your intrepid and discomfited blogger after the jump.
It's gross out there, I'm not even gonna lie. It snowed last night, and it rained this morning, and it's a tricky slushy mess outside. But I've got boots, and today's gameday. So here we are at Carnesecca Arena, getting ready to see St. John's take on what's left of the Wagner Seahawks.

I say "what's left" because they have 11 names on the roster, eight players present on the court during warm-ups, and six available to play (the other two are both in walking boots, one right and one left). I feel really bad for them, unless the rest of the team is on a bus somewhere or something. Which, given how hard it is to travel to/from Wagner via mass transit on a weekend, and factoring in the weather, gives me the mental image of antsy Seahawks on the S79.

DSPN, my man, I'm happy that you're doing work and getting into your field, but I wish we still had you and the noise you bring in the stands instead. Selfish, I know.

Don't drop the drums, y'all, Garfield will never let you hear the end of it.

Solid anthem.

At half, it's 28-13 St. John's, but I've got a really uncomfortable feeling. I don't think that was a clean play by Akina Wellere in response to the bump by Julia McClure; all I know is that McClure bumped Akina, Akina did not look happy, and suddenly McClure was on the floor and pounding a fist in pain.

But the thing I'm actually more uncomfortable with is Wagner's response- which was to take one of the players in a boot, take the boot off her, tape up her entire foot, spray her with anesthetic, and jersey her up. No. If she's injured, she's injured. There's no reason to risk her long-term health in this game. That's reckless. (And after a foulout, they needed her, but at least they kept her movement to a minimum. I'm still not okay with this.)

This was one of the stranger games I've been to in a long time. Here's the moment that encapsulated it just a little bit for Wagner: at the end of the third quarter, one of their players put up a three-quarters-court heave. It had the distance. It had the angle. And it nestled itself perfectly into the tiny space between the basket and the backboard.

Kellie Crouch was pressed into service near the end of the game as a substitute for the disqualified Taylor Butigan- she was the one who was in the boot, then taken out of it. To Coach Jacobs's credit, she did her best to keep Crouch from having to move too much- she only left the backcourt once. I think Crouch wanted to give it more of a go than her coach did. Corinn Baggs was the sole healthy bench player for the Seahawks. Her shot could use some work, but I love her defensive instincts- she had a great stop that turned a St. John's breakaway into a turnover.

Kerstie Phills brought physicality in the paint and on the boards. Taylor Butigan was also physical down low, and it might be a miracle that she didn't foul out earlier than she did. (Or it might have been a choice, but we'll discuss that later.) Jackie Dluhi set screens for her teammates- there was one possession where she and one of the guards were in a textbook pick and roll, except that she missed the shot.

Tanasia Russell was the focus of the offense, and while she had some moves, mixing jumpers and drives, she took a lot of shots under pressure- I don't think she was ready for the defense. As the game went on, she started to wear down. She was the only player who never got to rest. Not that Julia McClure would have wanted to play such short minutes the way she did with that ankle sprain. I'm just glad it wasn't a knee; for a moment, with the pounding the floor in pain, I thought it was.

Wagner spent a lot of time in zone, which was a pretty good idea- we're not the strongest three-point shooting team, no matter what hitting back to back threes to open might indicate. And it kept them fresher longer. Coach Jacobs used her timeouts early in each half, which I thought was strange; I would have thought she would want to stagger them. They boxed out well as a team.

If anyone knows why Crystal Simmons and Sandra Udobi didn't play today for St. John's, that would be cool. I mean, we weren't exactly in need of our super defensive specialists, but inquiring minds want to know and all that.

It's cool, though, because that gave the young guards more time to shine. I'm not sure where Kendyl Nunn falls in the guard/forward mix, though, but we list her as a guard, so she's going in this paragraph. She has a very odd, strong shot; if she can put a little less strength into it she might have more luck with it instead of having it rebound off the back of the iron as often as it does. I feel like she's starting to find her place in New York and figure out her role on this team. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her. Tamesha Alexander made a strong defensive play (we heard the basketball get slapped) and recovered a fumble for a midrange jumper. She's adorable, and really great with kids (today was an autograph day). It's like some kind of mirror universe version of Philadelphia rudeness or something. Shamachya Duncan alternated running point with Sox. I like her speed, but I don't know if I like her jacking threes early in the shot clock of a fourth-quarter blowout. One must learn discretion. I think she will, though.

Alisha Kebbe seems to have taken her removal from the starting lineup well. She looked like she had done some extra defensive drills after the Fordham game, though level of competition might also be a factor. I kinda wish she'd saved the good luck on her last two baskets for a closer game, though. We might need five points someday, and the rim and the gods of sport will say "no". Jordan Agustus has to go back to work on her fundamentals. Go hard to the basket, go strong, and forget throwing it up there like "LOL whatever". She did really well on the boards, one of the few Johnnies who controlled the rebounds she grabbed. Maya Singleton has to finish better at the basket and stop committing stupid fouls, but I absolutely love how she fights for loose balls. She has that junkyard dog mentality that every ball is hers by divine right, so if someone else has it, there's something wrong with the universe.

I don't normally swear in this blog, but I feel this needs to be said: Aaliyah Lewis makes the basketball her bitch. It comes to her when she calls it and she makes it do tricks. So what else do you call it? She is tiny and fierce and adorable and I think she relished starting the game off with a bang from three against the team from Staten Island. (I suspect she also relished a game where she got light minutes and got to watch everyone else go to work.) Andrayah Adams still needs direction on defense (Aaliyah had to yell her into position at least once) but her offense is coming along. Akina Wellere seemed to have a lot of energy pent-up from her limited minutes in the Fordham game- she was all over the boards like a demon, especially in the first quarter. I get the feeling like she thinks she's got something to prove- maybe to herself, maybe to Joe, maybe to Chicago, maybe to New York.

Jade Walker was powerful in the paint, but she's got to stop expecting that the foul is going to be called in her favor. It's not, Jade. You're never going to get the call, even when they knock you over as blatantly as they do. Stop acting like you're going to get the call and stop letting it get to you. Do you, go strong to the basket, hit those sweet jumpers, and crash the boards. I'm not sure what was up with Imani Littleton, but I agree with Joe's decision not to play her a lot. She had opportunities in the paint and blew them, and really seemed to have checked out of the game mentally. I know this time of year is rough for a kid from San Diego, but you chose this, Imani.

The fourth quarter was not what I would call a fabulous display of basketball from either team. Wagner was playing back to avoid running out of players, and St. John's was playing back because of the lead, and there were stretches where no one seemed to be too terribly interested in the outcome of the play. (Oddly enough, Maya was the biggest offender during this stretch. Maya - intensity = confused blogger.)

There were stretches when it looked like the officials were looking for excuses not to call fouls on Wagner to avoid the situation of running out of players. That was part of why Jade was in her feelings.

Cheer camp was today, and the kids were adorable and well-taught, and the parents were well-behaved. I approve.

Pants do not go on over a skirt. Please take apparel into consideration before picking dress-and-dribble contestants.

We won, and it's on to the day game against James Madison. Hi, Ashley!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have cookies to make. The office bake-off is on Monday.