November 29th, 2018: Delaware State at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Red Storm owned the boards in a resounding 82-44 win over Delaware State. Three players notched double-doubles for St. John's: Curteeona Brelove with 20 points and 13 rebounds, Kayla Charles with 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Akina Wellere with 12 points and 11 rebounds. NaJai Pollard had 25 points for Delaware State, but none of her teammates scored more than five.

For the triumphant return, hitting the glass hard, apples, cookies, and hitting people in the face, join your intrepid and cautious blogger after the jump.

Home sweet arena. After starting the season on the road, and in all kinds of exotic locales, the Red Storm finally get to play a game on homecourt, as they take on the Lady Hornets of Delaware State. (Actually, hang on a sec, I'm looking up whether Delaware State uses the Lady modifier.) (Yep, they do. I thought so; it's still fairly prevalent at HBCUs.)

Delaware State's logo is pretty cool-looking, but I'm not sure about the placement on the warm-up shirts. It seems to be outlining certain areas rather more than it should be.

Band looks to have done some heavy recruiting, and am I seeing a new band director?

Why do opposing fans persist in sitting on the same side as the St. John's bench? These ladies are genuinely lost- I saw them coming into the arena and not knowing which door to use- but c'mon, figure out that the bench with two people in St. John's gear sitting on it is the St. John's bench.

So either ESPN3's definition of a balanced crew is having a St. John's commentator and a Delaware State commentator, or the Delaware State kid who went over to shake the dude's hand is the kid from Christ the King, and that's the connection. Or it could be some other connection. I mean, basketball is pretty much six degrees of separation.

Well, we've got at least two students here. That's something. I mean, it's half an hour before game time, so I'm not surprised.

That is one big STJ logo at center court. The new floor looks pretty crisp. It's straightforward- no fancy inlays, no complicated colors, just a plain and simple court. There's something to be said for that, and I think it fits with the St. John's mentality.

UA's cheer garb needs work. I think every cheerleader has had to pull her top down at some point. Cool, the guys are getting in on the tumbling runs this year.

The drill Delaware State was running before the game, where the coach jabbed at a player with the ball and the player promply fell down, takes on a lot more ominous air when you realize that we've been called for three charges in this game. Please don't teach your players to flop.

At halftime, it's 41-24 St. John's, with Delaware State making a push at the end of the first half. We've been abusing their zone from the corner, with five threes. Qadashah Hoppie has a team-high 11 points. NaJai Pollard has half of Delaware State's points.

Our halftime has featured a dance team performance and the swearing in of the ROTC cadets. I think there's a dribbling challenge next, or possibly the ROTC obstacle course. They better hurry, though. There's less than seven minutes left in halftime. They ended up having to end the challenge early because the players were coming back on the floor.

Yeah, so the refs even got bored with this game and wanted to go home. I've never seen a player so completely in the end zone not actually be called out of bounds.

I think the nicest thing I can say about Delaware State's coach is that he's doing his best to coach up a team that doesn't have a lot of talent to work with, and he'll teach them whatever it takes to win. But I'm not a fan of flopping drills and flailing forearms.

And that means I'm not a fan of the Hornets' reseve center, Elayna Birch-Smith. She's very physical, and there are times I can respect that. Those times do not include when she is sawhorsing opposing players (and getting a foul called on her teammate) or hitting one of her opponents in the mouth (and not getting called for a foul even on review). It doesn't help her, or her team, that she's the only real size they had available. I did like Genell Addison and her quick hands- she had a nifty steal right at the beginning of the second quarter. But on the other hand, I think she was the one with the open lane who completely bricked the open shot. Yazmin Batch fired up a couple of buckets in the second, and I think they were part of the quarter-ending run. The second seemed to be the best quarter overall for Delaware State.

The Hornets didn't get a lot from their starting backcourt in this game. There was a nice offensive rebound from Tylea Galloway, and a late three pointer from Britney James. But they were hassled and hounded all night, and if there's one thing we do really well it's defend guards.

I'm not sure if the game plan was to let NaJai Pollard get her buckets and lock down on everyone else, or if she's just that good. But in either case, she was just that good in this game. She was hitting inside and out, putting away straightaway threes and going to the lane. She hit from everywhere on the floor, even through contact. Great game for her. Lanayjha Ashe had her motor going all game- even when the lead ballooned in the fourth quarter, she never gave up on loose balls. She and Pollard both gave everything they had, and it wsn't enough.

So, um. Yes, this is not a good team, and will probably not be a good team in the MEAC. They have a lot of freshmen, and I recognize that freshmen and pressure are a terrible combination. Their coach is probably relieved they don't have to deal with Hampton's defense anymore.

Moochy, bend your knees! Jasmine Sina's shot is still falling consistently short. At that point, you have to either really get the PT going to get distance back on the shot, or give up on the three and try for the midrange jumper or to drive the lane. I think the misses are making her a little scared to shoot- she was passing off what looked like good looks. Or she would just rather have the assist, which is an acceptable mindset. Shamachya Duncan almost had one go down, and you could see the entire bench rooting for her.

Kayla Charles had a couple of consecutive boneheaded plays that put her on the bench for a Teaching Moment, but she roared back in the second half and took full command of the glass. I'd like her to be able to finish better at the rim, but given some of the contact she was taking, I can't say I'm surprised. I love when she just stays on the rebound and uses her height and length to lay claim to the ball. Solid game from Kadaja Bailey. The only worry I had coming out of there was that her tweener status showed a little bit, in terms of positioning and placement in the offense.

Akina Wellere seems to have decided to refine her inside game and abandon her outside game, at least in this game. I think she's bulked up a little bit to be our de facto four, and I don't know how I feel about this. She got off to a rough start, but shook it off to power through on the glass. Curteeona Brelove gave us an interior presence, in terms of size, that we haven't had in a very long time. I'm going to have to ask her to stop thinking she's Jade and launching the outside jumper, because it did not look good. At all. But when she went inside, she was unstoppable, tough, and physical. I love seeing that out of her.

Alisha Kebbe went hard on the glass like someone stole something from her. She was merciless. I love her intensity. I love her defense. I love that she's made this the heart and soul of her game. She defends well inside for her size. Tiana England continues to murder helpless, innocent seconds with her dribble, though in this game, slowing down the offense was definitely called for. As the game went on, she started showing off some of the fancy passes. She's got to be more careful, though. I don't like seeing players throw the ball directly into the teeth of a double-team. Qadashah Hoppie started the game off with a bang with her quick threes, and she was pretty solid on defense, too.

Things I love: watching Kadaja and the guards on the backcourt trap. SO GOOD.

Things I do not love: jerseys without names on the back. Ahem, Delaware State. It makes it harder to remember who you are if you don't have a name.

Also things I do not love: officials who can't be bothered to make calls. It grows tiresome, even when my team's the team that gets the calls, as happened early on.

Attendance continues to be a disappointment, but it's a disappointment I should be used to by now. This year's posters look amazing, but if they're going to charge for the scorecards, we'll have to miss out on them. Too bad, so sad.

On to the next one, on to the next one, on to the next one...