November 11th, 2018: UMBC at Kennesaw State (at Seton Hall)

Just the Facts, Ma'am: In a morning match-up, UMBC came out victorious at Seton Hall, overcoming a fourth-quarter deficit in the final minute to win 57-53 over Kennesaw State. Te'yJah Oliver and Janee'a Summers each had 13 points to lead the Retrievers, with Oliver adding a team-high five rebounds. Alexis Poole had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Kennesaw State in the loss.

For a drama in one act, traveling fans, long roads, hazy recollections, and being so tired, join your intrepid and temporally displaced blogger after the jump.


You can't see my face, because this is the Internet, and this will probably be posted several hours after the aforementioned facial expression. But I'm not happy. I'm not happy because it's 7:30 on Sunday morning and I've already been awake for the last hour, because it takes that long to get to Seton Hall from where I am on a Sunday morning. I already disapprove of Seton Hall scheduling games at 11 in the morning, so you can imagine how I feel about scheduling a double-header. Sleep. Sleep is for the weak.

I have such stupid direction-face that I can tell someone I don't know where they're going and they still come back to ask again. And then she gets annoyed that I'm annoyed. I already told you I don't know what you want! Leave me alone!

I think this is the first time I've had a panhandler ask for directions to the place where they're going to beg for money. I'm too tired for this. I'm too tired for everything. Below follows a sample of why.

Panhandler: *panhandles*
Fellow passenger: "You already been this way, go around the other way."
Panhandler: "Nah, I'm not going that way."
(Exit Panhandler, that way.)

So here we are, ready to see Kennesaw State and UMBC in the first game of the second day of Seton Hall's Tip-Off Classic. Didn't get to see a lot of their shootaround because of schmoozing.

Kennesaw State's gear is very yellow. UMBC's gear is very black. They have sort of a baseball look going with their warm-up shirts. I shouldn't be surprised. They're Under Armour. I also shouldn't be surprised at that.

Hi, Danaejah!

At halftime of a competitive but not fundamentally sound game, UMBC is up 23-20 on Kennesaw State.

Under Armour seems to have a sports bra problem. Dominika Skrocka and Kayla Jackson are both bouncing badly. Skrocka is actually giving me sympathy pains in the chest.

Funny moment of the game: ball goes out of bounds behind the "celebrity row" chairs right on the sideline. It ricochets between the chairs and the first row of bleachers a couple of times. Finally, it comes to rest, and Kamiyah Street attempts to pull it up through the space between the seat and the back of the chair, only to discover that said space is not large enough for a basketball. This is followed by Tyler Moore kicking back a completely different chair as if it had offended her sensibilities. (To be fair, it was impeding her ability to inbound the ball.)

Family here for both teams- Berenato's for Kennesaw, Janee'a Summers's for UMBC.

That turned into a very fun game at the end. Free throws win ballgames, or so I've been told. UMBC left the door open briefly, and Kennesaw walked right into the wall.

Sariah Penese played very briefly in the first half and disappeared for the second. Kristen Teklits came into the game and turned the ball over pretty much on her first touch, so that didn't go well. Kayla Jackson got some second half run, and though the foul was a rough start, she played pretty well. Big, tough guard. (for the record, I didn't even notice Silvia Ferreiros come in, which is a little bit embarrassing, so can't comment on a player whose existence I literally forgot)

Dominika Skrocka kept her team in the game late with three-point shooting. Seriously, though, please get her a better bra. I'm about to go beg the Twitter account. Tyler Moore was named by parents who either didn't watch TV or watched too much of it. There's something I like about her, but I can't put my finger on it. Lucrezia Costa got a lot of minutes in the post, and got rough down there.

Janee'a Summers had family, or friends, or someone, in the house, since there was a whole lot of noise for her. I couldn't see them, since they got there after I sat down, but I could hear them. She made some big plays in the fourth quarter. Eryn Fisher got the start, but I don't think she played any of the crucial minutes.

O'lesheya Braxton showed some great defense in the first quarter, then got in foul trouble and sat most of the first half. Then she started the third quarter like gangbusters, driving the lane hard and scoring in rapid succession. I'm very impressed with her- and she's only a freshman! When she wasn't driving, Te'yJah Oliver was. They powered the Retrievers' offense in the second half. Paula Rubio brought height, but left no other impression.

Breanna Hoover didn't start the game for Kennesaw State, but she started the second half, and managed to foul out in those twenty minutes. Well done there, right? Lexi Mann got a few minutes in the first half and didn't look terrible. I'd honestly have gone with her more than I would have Simina Avram, whose only claim to fame in that game was her size. Avram couldn't hit at the rim, couldn't rebound, and kept having to be shuttled in and out of the game because of her conditioning (or lack thereof).

I may be a little tiny bit in basketball infatuation with Alexis Poole. She reminded me so much of one of my all-time favorites, DeAngelique Waithe. Her ups aren't quite as crazy, and she's not the maniac on inbounds that Angel was at LIU. But her style of play is so much the same, in the paint and on the glass (and yes, this does mean missing bunnies). I'm really excited to see how she develops. Carlotta Gianolla had to pick up more minutes than I think she wanted to. I remember her being in the mix a lot, but not necessarily making the play herself.

Amani Johnson ran the show with a firm hand. She's a tough little guard. I like her, too. Visually, she reminds me of Jen Fay, the Quinnipiac player I did so love to hate. (I say this with the greatest of respect.) Their playing style isn't similar, save for their shared love of going after loose balls. I think they need to get more offense from her. I think they also need to get better shooting from Kamiyah Street. I can see the weapon she can be, but it didn't work out in this game.

This isn't quite a power team like Berenato had at Pitt, although they've got some of that with Poole on the inside. I think she's okay with that.

I have to say, this game got pretty exciting in the fourth, when it was a slog of missed shots for much of the first. Both teams stepped up their game late. UMBC just had a little more firepower.