November 10th, 2018: Manhattan at St. Francis

Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. Francis surged in the fourth quarter to win 73-65 over Manhattan. Jade Johnson had 20 points to lead four Terriers in double figures. D'Yona Davis had a team-high 13 points for the Jaspers in the loss.

For unexpected wrestling terminology, facility shortcomings, NOT GETTING DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS DAMNIT, coaching the kids up, unexpected hugs, undesired selfies, and easing into a new team, join your intrepid and adventurous blogger after the jump.

We go from Iona's heel turn yesterday to a face turn today. Since John Thurston- he with the astonishing talent for finding dishwater blondes across the world yet overlooking most of the talent in his own city- has departed St. Francis College, it's a lot easier to root for them. It's even easier when we know the new coach. So we're on our way to Remsen Street to cheer on, instead of cheer against, the Terriers for the first time in I don't know how many years, as they take on Manhattan.

The in-game notes may be a little spotty. It's Pokémon Go's monthly Community Day, which is why we're in Brooklyn Heights instead of South Orange, so I have shinies to chase and stardust to collect. But you'll get your postgame notes, hopefully with the coherency and snark you've come to expect.

Well, St. Francis has a nice new floor, and the mural is still pretty boss, but every time I come here, I am reminded just how subpar a facility the Terriers have. The more I think about it, the more I think it's not a good look to have the half-closed bleachers be the side behind the bench (where cameras, such as they are, usually face).

St. Francis has gone heavily to the Brooklyn branding, especially on the warm-up shirts.

There were small children dancing at halftime and having their pictures taken. One of them seemed really freaked out by the mascot, but ended up hugging him in the end, so that all worked out.

I remembered Manhattan as a second-half team, so I was pleasantly surprised that St. Francis was able to pull off the comeback in the fourth quarter. But our defensive rebounding was atrocious. Between the freshmen and the returners, there are a lot of bad habits to be unlearned, but I think Coach Cimino is on the case in that regard.

Manhattan went pretty deep into their bench, though some players only got a couple of minutes. Nyala Pendergrass came in very late, very briefly. Kania Pollard got off some corner threes, but couldn't get them to go down. Pamela Miceus showed some moves in the post and had a nice block, though they don't seem to have credited her for it.

Lizahya Morgan was unafraid to launch from deep, and some of them came at critical moments. She's a quick little guard. Sini Mäkelä did some work on the glass. Tuuli Menna picked up a lot of minutes in the second half and did a lot of good stuff inside. (Good stuff. This is the kind of incisive commentary all nine of you come to the Game Notes of Doom for.)

I still very much enjoy watching Gabby Cajou play, even if it's usually in frustration because her team is never my team, and even if she wasn’t quite as show-stopping as she was the last time I saw her. She was one of the few players for either team who was willing to shoot at the end of the shot clock. D'Yona Davis was also putting up some big shots. She looks good for a freshman. Candela Abejón didn't play that much, and I don't remember her very clearly.

Their inside players did a really good job of getting offensive rebounds. Julie Høier and Courtney Warley both used their height to full advantage, both in getting position and in getting reboudns even when they were out of position. There were multiple possessions with multiple Jasper offensive rebounds. Warley was throwing some elbows on her screens. She's a tough player. I think I could respect her more if she set better screens. Høier was very efficient. I was quietly impressed with her.

Manhattan fell apart in the fourth quarter, in ways I wasn't expecting. We were coming up with the 50/50 balls that they were getting in the first half. I'm glad we were able to buckle down at the end.

Coach Cimino was pretty quick with the hook whenever her players were making stupid mistakes, and there were plenty of stupid mistakes to go around. So she was doing a lot of subbing. Kate Bauhof is definitely still working out her way into college shape, both physically and in terms of fitting into the system. Alex Tudor got a couple of minutes in the first half, but I think they may have been to give someone else a Teaching Moment. Abby Anderson got her run in the second half and did a nice job of being a sparkplug on the boards (which we sorely needed).

Ebony Horton made a fantastic first impression. I can see where she needs work, how she can sharpen her passing and work on her shot selection. Coach was especially not pleased with her getting trapped on the sideline on one occasion, since is forced a timeout. But I love her driving ability, and when she can get the passes off, they're great. Ally Lassen hit free throws down the stretch and came away with offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, when we hadn't been getting them all game. Appreciate the hustle.

Good Lord, Amy O'Neill. She wasn't the star of the game, but she certainly had some of the flashiest plays, with dipsy-do lay-ups and long passes to get the fast break going. She goes hard for the ball, even if she doesn't get it. Mia Ehling hit the free throws when it counted to seal the game. Jade Johnson was hitting threes early, but she spent an awful lot of time flat-footed on the glass. I don't want to blame her for all of our rebounding woes, but it sure seemed like she could have been doing a lot more than she did in that regard.

Dominique Ward brings good size, but I was expecting somewhat better ball thought from her on the floor, given that she's a grad transfer. Maybe today was just an off game for her. Maria Palarino did well getting fouled on the glass. I'd have to do a closer reading of the play-by-play to determine this, and I'm too tired and I have two more games to write up today, but I think she did the best job of taking advantage of those times when Manhattan was in the penalty.

I know we were outsized, but we still gave up way too many rebounds. Too many times, we had a player in position and Manhattan just reached over her. Too many times, we stood and watched the ball as Manhattan charged for it. This is not okay. This is never okay. We have to be more assertive.

There was an enthusiastic rookie ref making a lot of calls on the floor. At one point Coach was pointing that out and telling her team that the official was calling every handcheck, that if someone fell down there'd be a foul called. It wasn't completely accurate, but it was a good benchmark. Not nearly as bad as the crew at the Iona game, but there were definitely some dubious calls. At least these ladies could count.

I'm interested in the development of St. Francis. I think, though I am biased, that they got in a great coach for a rebuild. Pointing out strengths and weaknesses seems to be a strength of hers, and I have faith in her ability to teach the game.