November 30th, 2016: Albany at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: After a tied third-quarter, St. John's tightened up the defense on Albany and came out with a 54-36 win. Jade Walker led the Red Storm with 13 points, with Andrayah Adams coming off the bench for 10. Imani Tate of Albany led all scorers with 18, but no other Great Dane had more than 6.

For missed opportunities, people who just look right in purple, a Sacramento Monarchs reference, a Minnesota Lynx reference, sekrit compartments, thunderous blocks, superstars, and a freshman breakout, join your intrepid and somewhat cranky blogger after the jump.
Good evening, fellow travelers, or perhaps people hoping not to be called for travels. We're on the campus of St. John's University for an in-state battle between the Red Storm and the Great Danes of Albany.

Anthem singer was trying. Not necessarily succeeding, but trying.

Aliyyah Handford and Briana Brown are both in the house. Looks like Liyyah got her hair did. She's been spending most of the game with the strength and conditioning coach/trainer/dude who needs a beard and an axe to audition as a dwarven extra for the next Hobbit movie.

At halftime, St. John's is up 28-19, and my favorite play of the game is the volleyball-style deflection by Crystal Simmosn that led to Crystal's rebound and a lay-up by Jade Walker. Jade Walker has found some of her stroke, with 8 points, while Imani Tate has impressed for Albany with 6.

This halftime biddy game has been pretty good.

Shoutout to the loud students, possibly athletes, in the next section over.

We still have to figure out how to coordinate our chants with the cheer squad. I might need to buy pom-poms. I'd look silly with them, though.

I wasn't expecting Albany to be as one-dimensional as they turned out to be. They have a star in Imani Tate, but I'm not sure the supporting cast is up to the task, even collectively, of filling the shoes of Shereesha Richards.

Alexi Schecter played briefly, just long enough to be called for an offensive foul that Jade Walker did a remarkable dive job on, and was promptly pulled, never again to see the light of day. Cassandra Edwards played a stretch in the first half and was forgettable, which made me a little sad- I thought I remembered her being more of a factor for them. Khepera Stokes apparently did not come equipped with a pronunciation guide, because our PA guy paused noticeably pretty much every time he had to say her name. She was aggressive offensively, perhaps a bit too much.

Bailey Hixon showed some nice stroke, and great hustle on deflections defensively and on the glass. I can see why Albany's coach went to her early and often. Tiana-Jo Carter was called upon to do a lot of physical work in the post. I swear half her missed shots came on Albany's final desperate possession, when they threw everything at the basket and the rim denied everything. Very tough, but wild on offense.

I thought Heather Forster played more than the box score indicated. She made some good defensive plays on the baseline, and had a monster block on an ill-fated drive by Aaliyah Lewis. She also set a really nice screen on a three that didn't go down- but the screen was pretty sweet. I'm not sure if Jessica Féquière's name was being pronounced correctly, and there were enough opportunities for the announcer to try to get his mouth around it. She stepped her game up somewhat in the fourth quarter. Bose Aiyalogbe was very active on both ends of the floor, though not always effective. She has a pretty shot, but it wasn't going down.

Mackenzie Trpcic ran the offense with a firm hand. She's pretty quick, and stuck on defense to our ballhandlers. Her ballhandling needs some work, and I think she was pressing too much near the end of the game, but she might just turn out all right for them. Imani Tate is awesome, and a whole lot of fun to watch. Her release is so quick, and she has such a knack for creating space for herself. She jumps the passing lanes well, and she uses her reach effectively to tip balls away, both as a pass defender and as a rebounder. She has to be less reckless when driving- she got called for some offensive fouls in the second half that took her and Albany out of the game. (though I'll admit the fourth foul was a pretty cheap call) Some refs are going to catch those pushoffs and those moments where she doesn't look before she drives.

We have a bench! And we even got to see the very end of it! Shamachya Duncan, Kendyl Nunn, and Tamesha Alexander all played the last minute or so and showed a lot of hustle. Kendyl and Sox were both especially aggressive going after potential held balls. I get the feeling we're going to need a pronunciation guide soon. We also got some good defensive minutes from Sandra Udobi, though you can tell there are plays she thinks she can still make, but the flesh is weak.

Andrayah Adams showed a little more today than she did the last time I saw her. I'm not sure about running her at the point with Crystal Simmons, as Coach did to get Aaliyah a little rest- she seems more suited to being the offense instead of initiating the offense. She's still got some freshman jitters to work through- the fumbled pass at the end of the first half when she was being set up for the corner three comes to mind (as an aside, the name of that play amuses me immensely, because I understand the reference, and no, I'm not going to give you my team's signals). Crystal Simmons had an impact beyond the box score- she was everywhere on defense and kept her hands active on loose balls. She made a lot of things happen, and that's what I love about her. Her jump shot is still one of the weirdest things I've ever seen, and she needs a geological epoch to get it off, but it goes in. Maya Singleton's strength was her strength, and that's not redundant or tautological. She ripped down rebounds with sheer, raw power and tore balls away from opponents (there was one play where she basically un-held a held ball situation with {I think} Féquière). She finished strongly at the basket, and delivered resounding blocks with the dominance of a certain other Maya. (She also had a pretty hilarious flop that was rather more DeMya than Maya, if you know what I mean.)

Aaliyah Lewis has started falling into the habit of dramatically protesting pretty much every call against her, and it's not a good look on her. She gets caught palming, or reaching in, and she starts stalking around like a petulant child. I get that it's frustrating to actually be caught, but staaaaaahp. It detracts from her pinpoint passing and her defensive disruptions. Alisha Kebbe was quiet, and Joe was swapping her out frequently for more advantageous match-ups. After the good start, I think the speed of the college game is starting to catch up to her, more mentally than physically.

Akina Wellere was hobbled early by foul trouble- she picked up two fouls in the first quarter and Joe sat her for the entire first half. She never really had a chance to get her shot off- I don't know if she's adjusting to being a primary focus of defensive attention well. Near the end of the game, she was making up for lost time with steals in rapid succession- she read Albany's telegraphed passes like she was working for Western Union. Imani Littleton had a quiet game offensively, but laid the hammer down inside on the Great Danes' shots. She had a real beauty on Féquière late in the game to help seal it, and the one shot she hit was a sweet hook shot. I am, and always have been, a sucker for hook shots. Jade Walker found her shot, or at least her willingness to shoot, but I'd like to see her finish better at the basket and move back in towards the hole. Long straight-away threes are not her shot, at least not yet (and since she's a senior, I'm not holding my breath). I am also a sucker for strong play in the paint, and I feel like Jade relies too much on her jumper; the big girl's ability to shoot the sweet J becomes less of a secret weapon if it's her only weapon. (And it is a sweet jumper. Don't get me wrong.)

I don't know if the strategy was to let Tate get hers and lock everyone else down- I've seen teams use that strategy because they know the superstar will get it anyway- or if it just worked out that way. But Tate was the only Great Dane to score in the third quarter, and the only one with a second-half field goal until deep into the fourth. The defense really clamped down, and it was glorious.

I have no real beef with the officiating, which is a blessed relief. I think I want Kathleen Lynch at all the games.

It was YMCA night, but not only did there not appear to be any YMCA groups, neither the band nor the arena played "YMCA", nor did the cheer squad or the dance team do the Y-M-C-A. Theme night, you're not doing it wrong so much as you're not doing it at all.

I'm not sure if the art on the roster cards is done by an artist or an Instagram filter, but it's pretty cool-looking anyway.

Nice to get that home win. Now it's on to the next one. Lafayette, we are coming!