December 21st, 2016: James Madison at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Down 10 at the half, St. John's stormed back in the fourth quarter to beat James Madison, 74-63. Jade Walker had a team-high 16 points, supported by the 14 points and 13 rebounds of Imani Littleton. Precious Hall had a game-high 22 points for JMU.

For ugly sweaters, foam fingers, point guard energy, defensive lapses, offensive sparks, battening down the hatches, and the hot hand with the Cali chill, join your intrepid and proud blogger after the jump.

Good morning, for lack of a better phrase. It's time for the annual exercise in masochism and team pride: Field Trip Day. Yes, surround the childfree people with thousands of screaming children. This is a good idea.

(Why don't I skip them? Because there is a game and my team is playing. Honestly, ask a stupid question.)

At halftime, James Madison is up 36-26. Precious Hall went off in the second quarter for all 14 of her points. We are not being coached well. The offensive game plan has been stagnant; the defensive game plan went from brilliant to WTF in the course of a single substitution. Joe does know that he can't jake it for the old alma mater, right?

Seriously, though. Precious Hall had 0 points in the first quarter, mostly being guarded by much larger players. She had 14 in the second, mostly being guarded by our more skillful defenders. Gee, what do you think was working?

I can't believe the grit of this team in the fourth quarter. It's night and day from how we started the year against Duquesne, and I'm up for a rematch.

Shout out to the JMU fans, even when their nearest local connection is a Connecticut yankee. (And also to the JMU bus. That is a nice bus.)

Coach O'Regan was working with a fairly short bench, and it got steadily shorter as the game wound down. Lexie Barrier has the perfect name for a defensive player, so I wasn't necessarily surprised when she missed her first two shots badly. She was pretty solid on the glass. Devon Merritt was the first sub for the Dukes in the first half and the last sub in the second half. She was unremarkable.

I will say, Hailee Barron looks to have diversified her skill set. The last time I watched JMU play, she was a straight-up three-point specialist with no thought to any other part of her game. Now she's a three-point specialist who gets up close and personal on defense and can force the occasional turnover. Aneah Young brought physical defense and an absolutely monstrous fourth-quarter block on Alisha Kebbe.

I really like the knack Kamiah Smalls has for being in the right place at the right time. I'll probably like it better if/when I go see them at Hofstra, when I get to cheer for them (and not just for our RPI/SOS, or because of Ashley Perez- I like the program and want to see them do well). She was the most effective offensive player at the beginning of the game, not Hall. I was expecting rather more out of the Syracuse transfer, Tasia Butler. It's not like she hit foul trouble until the fourth quarter. She's strong- physically so, I mean. Amber Porter grabbed some strong boards in the middle- she, like many JMU players, spent much of the second half in foul trouble.

I know who you're probably here to read about, if you're not here for St. John's, but you know me, I like to build to a point. So let's talk about the point guard Logan Reynolds a little bit (whose last name is not Richards, no matter what the PA guy thought that one time). Offensively, she looks like the new version of Barron, but with better passing skills. Her first reaction when she takes a shot is a three, though, and I don't know how confident she is- which means we really don't know how confident she'll be without the magnificent security blanket known as Precious Hall. And Hall is one heck of a first option to have. She's not afraid to shoot, nor should she be. She's got a nice-looking shot, too, though she was more successful on the drive than from the perimeter in this one. She's fast, and she's aggressive, and you basically have to beat her on sheer physical tools to beat her. You match her with skill, she beats you. You match her with speed, she beats you. In this case, size matters.

JMU swarms when they spot weakness. They're not afraid to get down low and grab loose balls, or the occasional ankle.

Oh, Maya. Bless her heart, but in the first quarter Maya Singleton came in and immediately turned the game into a dumpster fire. Her head was not in the game, which made me sad. She recovered somewhat in the second half, showing her fire and her strength, but this missing bunnies at the rim thing needs to stop. She and Crystal Simmons were the defensive half of the platoon subbing Joe spent much of the fourth quarter playing around with. But she was so bad early that Joe went to Sandra Udobi almost immediately in the first. Sandie was unremarkable. Foul trouble and decreased effectiveness forced Joe to give Jordan Agustus early run, and it was clear that she wasn't ready.

Crystal Simmons brought close on-ball defense, and I love to watch her with the quick hands, but she has got to do something about the long wind-up on her shot to be anything more than a defensive specialist. I don't know- maybe that's what she's focusing on, and her offense can go to hell for all she cares. Andrayah Adams came in to shoot, but was unsuccessful at that. She really looked lost.

What a day for Imani Littleton! This was the kind of game we were waiting for from her, and I'm so happy we got it. She was efficient inside, taking advantage of defensive lapses by JMU, and she was absolutely vicious on the boards. All the rebounds were hers, especially in the first half. I love to see her playing with urgency, especially when she combines it with that Cali chill expression. Jade Walker hit the lane like a freight train and scored well, but she always seemed upset at the calls she wasn't getting and the plays she wasn't making. I do love to see Jade work inside, though. Smite them!

Akina Wellere's developing a disturbing habit of getting into foul trouble late in games. I don't know if it's a conditioning thing and she can't keep up, or if she's never going to be as good defensively as she is offensively, or if she hasn't picked up the finer points of defense yet. She had a huge trey in the fourth quarter to really key the St. John's run. Alisha Kebbe had really rough puck luck with the rim- I'm thinking she might need to soften up her shot a little bit to stop getting some of the weird bounces. Her defense on Precious Hall was great, both straight up and help. Aaliyah Lewis won the hearts of some of the kids behind us (by the end of the game, there was a scattering of "Let's go, number 4!" cheers, and I don't think they were for Tasia Butler) with her speed, her daredevil drives into the lane in the fourth quarter, and her dribbling skills. Ankle-breaking has universal appeal. I don't know if she feeds off the team, or the team feeds off her, but she has that synergy with her team's energy that good point guards always have. I don’t know if she has the control of it that elite guards have, or if she's as susceptible to it dragging her down as she is to riding the wave up.

Usual complaints about the officiating: they call the ticky-tack stuff and ignore the three-player pile-up. There was one sequence near the end of the game where my heart was in my throat because Jade was down and still very vulnerable to being stepped on. No breaking our seniors, people!

Ugly sweaters plus cheerleaders equals awkward, terrible idea. Pretty much everyone affiliated with the team in any significant capacity had an ugly sweater, except for Tasha Pointer (because say what you will about Stringer, but when her players leave her system, they will have dignity whether they want it or not). Why are ugly holiday sweaters a thing? This is a cultural question, I genuinely don't get it.

Shoutout to the school group across the aisle from us, who had awesome signs and an adult willing to get them cheering in big moments.

Ms. Kelly, while I'm flattered you recognized us, trust me, we never saw you play unless it was in an alumnae game.

We needed a comeback win like that. It gives the youngsters some confidence.