January 25th, 2019: Georgetown at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: A strong second half powered St. John's to a 59-51 win over Georgetown. Curteeona Brelove had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Red Storm. Brianna Jones came off the bench to lead Georgetown with 14 points.

For defensive stands, ill-advised behind-the-back decisions, grinding on the glass, power games, and fanny packs, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.

Good evening! We're coming to you on our usual tape delay from Carnesecca Arena, where the Red Storm start the front end of the Eastern Seaboard pod by hosting Georgetown. Your intrepid blogger has a two-bus commute now, so pregame notes will be thin on the ground.

We're at halftime, and St. John's up 24-23. Alisha Kebbe and Akina Wellere have provided the bulk of the offense for the Johnnies, while Georgetown's offense is a bit more diffuse. The Hoyas are relying mostly on their swarming defense and a lot of motion that frees up shots in the lane.

The Hoyas are getting hosed by the refs- they've had two fouls that should have been three-shot fouls instead of two-shot fouls. The refs have been letting both teams play, for the most part.

Georgetown's bench is noisy. Objectively I don't object. Subjectively I don't want to hear it in my building and we need to get louder.

Kadaja Bailey ended the first half with a phenomenal defensive play wherein she deflected the ball right back into the would-be inbounder, and almost topped it with a halfcourt shot, but the shot went off the rim.

Huh. The Hoyas just came out of the locker room doing stretches. I'm not used to this sort of a reset.

I'm not actually quite sure how we pulled away in the fourth quarter, only that it happened. I'll be satisfied with that for now.

I'm assuming that Brianna Jones did not start for non-basketball reasons, because she played heavy minutes and started the second half. She's very determined and demonstrated a nice midrange game. Anita Kelava's height in the post caused us some problems, as she blocked a few of our less well-thought-out shots and picked off boards at the rim.

Tatiana Thompson gave Georgetown a little heft in the post, though she's not terribly mobile. Her power was a little bit of a problem for us, but we were able to keep up with her. She seemed to be one of the loudest people on Georgetown's bench- and I respect that. I may not like it, but I take it as a challenge to shout down any cheering or chanting coming from the visiting bench. Cassandra Gordon got most of her run in the first half. She seemed okay, I guess. Nothing too terrible, nothing too exciting.

Nikola Kovacikova started the game, subbed out fairly quickly, and then disappeared until the fourth quarter, where she committed a foul and took an ill-advised three-pointer. It seems like she still needs a lot of work, or that her coach was doing some experiments with his lineup that weren't working. Morgan Smith was present on the glass, a big-bodied guard who boxed out well. Dorothy Adomako demonstrated dubious shot selection and fantastic defensive skills. She had a couple of nifty blocks and a steal that led to a fast break. I keep wondering what she could have been if not for the injury last year and for the cavalcade of coaches that has run in and out of Georgetown. She's got a lot of natural tools and a nose for defense; if she'd been able to hone her offensive skills a little more, she'd probably have a really good chance at an overseas career, and I can still see her being that player who gets it together after a few years overseas and surprises the WNBA in training camp. I mean, Georgetown's almost due for their next W player, right?

Mikayla Venson got off to a pretty strong start, and seemed pretty solid for the Hoyas. I can't put my finger on what she did, precisely, but she always seemed to bein the right place. Dionna White was ridiculous on the offensive glass- there was one sequence where she had two of the three offensive rebounds that eventually got Georgetown a bucket. She's so quick, and she's so relentless. Defense has been Georgetown's calling card through multiple coaching changes, and she and Adomako are exemplars of that philosophy.

Georgetown presents a lot of of length and a lot of defensive intensity- most of how they stayed in the game for the first few quarters was by hassling us and leaping on loose balls They forced us to take gambles, and then took advantage of the mistakes we made on those gambles. But they didn't have an offensive go-to player, or at least not one that showed herself in this game.

I don't understand what Joe is doing with Kayla Charles's minutes. We have, like, two post players and she's one of them, and Joe sat her the entire second half. I don't know if she's not putting in the work in practice, or he's dissatisfied with something she's doing, or if she's giving him lip, or if he's getting ready to run her off, or he just doesn't like the color of her socks, or what. Yes, her touch around the rim needs work and she makes some terrible life choices sometimes. But she's got potential and she can rebound. What are you even doing, Joe? Kadaja Bailey had a rough time with her handle in this one, but she did amazing work on the offensive glass to secure rebounds on loose balls and tips from her teammates, and when she finished, she finished with style. She seems a little more sure of who she is now, and I feel a little more confident about her future here. Jasmine Sina left one shot short, but not the other, and we all went a little crazy for her. She's a nice kid, as far as I can tell, and I wish her the best. With Machi Duncan's injury keeping her out of the rotation for the nonce, it's good to have a guard with some experience to spell the crew for a couple of minutes. I mean, yes, I'd rather Joe have actually brought in players he trusts so our starters aren't all playing 30+ minutes every night, but I'm starting to understand I should set my expectations low in that regard.

Qadashah Hoppie understands that she doesn't have to do it all herself, right? As much as I like that take-charge and can-do attitude, sometimes she's got to slow down and maybe not try to force a 1-on-4 fast break. She showed handles and she showed moves, but she just couldn't finish. Tiana England strangled the shot clock for a while, which we're all used to by now, but there were occasional moments where she was willing and able to accelerate to the basket, and I cherish those moments when she does that.

Akina Wellere got off to a pretty good start inside. There was one possession where I think the only people who knew that she was open in the corner were here and Shenneika, because no one else seemed to notice, either her teammates or her opponents. She did have a couple of "oh no what is you doing" moments on defense. Curteeona Brelove came out in the second half like a house on fire, hitting inside and out (something tells me that foot-on-the-line jumper was a "no, no, YES!" moment for Joe). The power of her game really gives us a different dynamic when she gets going. Alisha Kebbe was intense She's killing it on the glass. I think she might be getting a little too amped on offense, because so many of her shots are going too long, too hard, or too strong. Her scrappiness on the boards cannot be understated. She's found another gear this year.

I was not expecting a higher-tempo offense to serve us well against Georgetown's defense, but it seemed like once we were able to get through the first wave of pressing and trapping, and get the ball in motion, we were able to really be most effective.

There were some really weird ref calls in this game, and we got the benefit of most of them. This crew was especially fond of long continuations. It was a physical game. Georgetown's not afraid to push the limits, and while there was one moment where I thought Adomako slue-footed someone, most of the time their limit-pushing isn't egregiously dirty.

Dance should have won Nationals. Delaware can go pound sand.

Sponsor pens are very nice. Actual name brand!

The fanny pack is interesting. I'm not sure how I feel about this, other than "can't sleep 80s will dress me".

I'm honestly not sure what's going to happen with Villanova. I don't know if I want to know.

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January 12th, 2018: Georgetown at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: A game of first half runs turned into a runaway for St. John's, as the Red Storm took out Georgetown 64-41. Qadashah Hoppie had 12 of her 15 points in the first half to set the tone for St. John's and lead four Red Storm players in double figures. Dionna White had 16 points to lead the Hoyas.

For chippiness, a boring bus, cheering on the deep bench, an exchange of pleasantries, and rising above the muck, join your intrepid and foggy blogger after the jump.


Hello on this ever so foggy Friday night in the heart of Queens! It's Georgetown. It's St. John's. It's... about two dozen people in the seats if you don't include the band. I counted. I know it's about twenty minutes before tip and it's Friday night after work, but still. We're into the 30s now, I think.

Good news! Akina Wellere is dressed! We'll see if she's ready to go or of this is an "in case of emergency break glass" move, but after how bad she looked to be injured last time out.

Welp. Crew just came out, and we've got Enterline. And the four Georgetown captains and the ref crew sure looked like they were trying to freeze out Maya. This will surely not end badly.

Jumpman needs to let the Re2pect thing go already. It sort of made sense for Michigan because he's from Michigan and almost went to the school. But c'mon, Hoyas. Find someone else's coattails to ride on.

Andrayah, put a shirt on, you're making me cold.

Now that Shenneika's fully embraced the dapper look, she's working it, bowtie and all.

Substitute announcer. Dubious on pronunciations.

Not a terrible anthem. Styled after the Irish tenors and the hockey singers.

At halftime, it's 33-18 St. John's. Georgetown closed within 20-18 on a 14-something run, to which St. John's said, "LOL U FUNNY" and went on a big run. Qadashah Hoppie has been the sparkplug in the second quarter, with 12 points.

Play of the night- loose ball scrum, shot clock running down, either Akina or Alisha gets the ball up and out to Tiana England with two seconds on the shot clock. Tiana touch-passes it over to Qadashah Hoppie for the three to beat the shot clock buzzer (here via Twitter, I love having wi-fi!). Q's been clutch in this game, whether it's beating the buzzer or drawing fouls from people who who should know better. I'm going to guess DiDi Burton did not watch Tennessee-Texas A&M last night. Dionna White's the live-or-die player for Georgetown tonight, with 10 points but some boneheaded turnovers.

I don't actually know what DiDi Burton was doing last night, but it seemed to involve losing her mind, as the foul on the three-pointer and the ejection during the brawl would indicate. (Well, brawl might be an overstatement. Scuffle, maybe? I've always preferred the euphemistic "exchange of pleasantries" myself.

I expected better from Georgetown. I'm used to the physical play and the defensive play, and I'm even used to them having spurts of offensive ineptitude. But this game seemed to bring out all the worst the Hoyas had to offer, and I don't think it's just the viciousness of the schools' rivalry.

Breonna Mayfield played for a stretch in the first half, a big body taking up space inside. Honestly, she was more effective from the bench, as one of the loudest voices in their endless chanting of "DE-FENSE!" (I have a problem with them being quite so loud, and I think the cheerleaders did too. But we'll get to that later.) Tatiana Thompson is pretty much the opposite of everything the rest of Georgetown's guards are- stocky, slow, and not very mobile on defense. I'm a little confused as to how she ended up as a Hoya, all things considered. She's got a decent-looking shot, so it's not that that I'm questioning. Morgan Smith ran her mouth a bit after a foul call went against her, which I thought was rich- besides, trying to trash-talk a Philly kid like Alisha Kebbe is probably not a good plan. (Given that Alisha went to Neumann-Goretti and was around the same time as the kids who had the smear campaign run against them, she's probably heard worse than I want to think about anyone yelling at a high school kid.)

Mikayla Venson is quick with the ball, quick on her shot, quick on defense- just lightning quick all over the floor. I think I'd enjoy watching her more if she didn't play against my team. There's a bit of a chip on her shoulder, a bit of swagger in her step- she reminds me of the guard from Manhattan, Amani Tatum. She didn't back up the swagger quite as much as Tatum did in the Fordham game, but she's got the game to back it up a bit. I'm not sure if she's usually a starter or not. I expected a lot more from DiDi Burton, but while she brought some of the old intensity on defense, her head was not in the game. I don't know why she involved herself in the exchange between White and Maya. There's a story there, methinks. Dionna White is damn quick, and her shot is really nice. She made some slick defensive plays, never letting up on the ball. But her quickness cost Georgetown almost as much as it gained them- she gambled a lot on the ball and got burned, and she was careless leading to turnovers. She's got to keep her head in the game if she's going to be a big part of Georgetown's season.

Yazmine Belk is a load in the middle, able to simply power her way to offensive rebounds. If she could put back the looks she got at the basket, this game might have had a different complexion. She sets screens well for her teammates- there were a couple of beautiful open looks from deep that she created the space for. Cynthia Petke was part of the extremely persistent and insistent Georgetown defense. I don't know if I'd call it a press per se, but it was very close and very intense. There was a shot she missed that I'm pretty sure she would have made if she hadn't changed the angle of her arm to put her upper arm into the Red Storm defender.

One of the things I was favorably impressed with from the Hoyas was their screen awareness on both sides of the court. They set beautiful screens for their shooters and did a really good job of getting around the screens set by St. John's. I don't know if they were calling them out well or if that's a point of emphasis for them.

That all being said, it is crass to make enough noise that you're drowning out the cheerleaders on your side, and it would certainly be highly inappropriate to disconcert the shooter from the bench. I can't say for certain that the well-timed disruptive noises were coming from people on the Hoyas' bench or behind it, but it sounded pretty close to the bench.

I don't know what our starters were more hyped about, the three by Shamachya Duncan or the assist by Tamesha Alexander. The family ties with Qadashah and Shamachya definitely intensify the celebrations, though. It's always nice to see Sox and Machi get a little time on the floor. They're good kids. Kayla Charles, I thought, rebounded well, though I think she lost credit for a couple of rebounds by turning them into deflections to teammates. She made some freshman mistakes, and I think Joe was too short on the leash for her. She's got to learn somehow, Joe; did you have any better suggestions than harsh experience?

I'm so glad to see Akina Wellere back in action. She's not 100%- I don't think she's getting the lift out of that ankle that she would like to get- but she's a threat even when she's not fully healthy, and I’m just so relieved she's back. It felt good to see her going to the basket. Mobility is probably going to be an issue against Villanova and possibly at the Awkward Bowl. Andrayah Adams has adjusted surprisingly well to being called on as a power forward. Her rebounding has been very good, she's making some good defensive plays, and she's still stretching out the opposing defense with the long ball. She still has moments where you can see Joe resisting the urge to face-palm in public, though.

Tiana England seemed to be going off the playbook quite a bit, and while it worked sometimes, it did not work all the time. When it didn't work, and sometimes even when it did, Joe looked furious; after one ill-advised shot in the lane, he yelled, "Run the play!" She has panache, and she has a good passing eye, but I don't know if she's as ready to go off-script as she thinks she is, and I'm not impressed so far with her mastery of the point guard position. I recognize that she's a freshman, and many stranger things have changed with freshmen. I just don't know if she and Joe are ever going to be on the same page. Qadashah Hoppie had dubious ballhandling under pressure, and boy howdy did Georgetown bring the pressure. But she got her points in big moments in the first half. (No matter what our point guards think, she's not quite Aliyyah Handford with the ups and I don't think she can pull off the Jewelly-oop, even if we do try.) I sense many years of elation and frustration wound together around each other with her. Alisha Kebbe hit the deck for loose balls and did work on the glass. She was reading angles and driving Georgetown mad. I love the work she was putting in. One of the best games she's had all year, and certainly one of the most complete.

Imani Littleton is entirely too young to have to be worrying about this, but she was moving very stiffly today and had a lot of trouble going for loose balls on the floor (she tried, but by the fourth quarter I wasn't sure she'd be able to get back up if she dove). And she does have the ACL history, and it was damp as a mofo out there. I knew Georgetown was bad news when they had her visibly riled up, because Imani doesn't get riled up all that easily. She did a lot of work today- not all of it the kind of thing that will end up in box scores, though the monster block on Thompson and the block on Venson certainly did. She made loose balls happen, even if she couldn't go for them herself, and was our anchor down low on defense. Maya Singleton started out the game rebounding like her rear was on fire. The second foul got her out of her rhythm a little bit, and I think the lack of calls for all the contact she was taking started to get to her in the second half, culminating in the loose ball that turned into a bit of a scuffle with White. A source I trust tells me that Maya did in fact start it, but I'd believe she was provoked. She got more aggressive offensively in the second half, like she was taking it personally. I'm not sure the short braids are working for her, though, and yes, that is an observation of dubious merit.

We've got to do a better job communicating on the floor. That being said, the hustle was incredible and the number of big-time plays was impressive. There were stretches when it felt like we were playing 5-on-8, and we used it as fuel. Admittedly, sometimes we used it as the wrong kind of fuel.

I did not expect better from Bryan Enterline. I did, however, expect better from Eric Brewton. These refs were a mess from beginning to end. Blowing the whistle a good five seconds after the play you're claiming the foul was committed on, when the next possession has pretty much started and almost everyone is at the other end of the floor? Really? They did call the worst of the contact, and they did manage/ to end the exchange of pleasantries before anything stupider than Burton jumping in off the bench could happen, but I still think that the way they called that game allowed the situation to degenerate to that point.

I still can't get over the terrible pun in the contest to win Netflix. They play Johnny Cash to win Johnny cash.

Georgetown-Villanova may be the strangest pod to prepare for. You go from a faster-paced defensive style to a slower offensive style. So I don't know how much this game says about us going forward. We've got to keep our heads in the game and not let other people in them, though. (And given my fondness for Seton Hall, I don't envy them that task on Sunday, either.)

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March 6th, 2016: Georgetown at St. John's (Big East Tournament)

Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. John's clamped down on defense in the fourth quarter to pull away from Georgetown, 65-52. Aliyyah Handford had game highs of 22 points, including her 2000th, and five steals to lead St. John's, with Danaejah Grant adding 18. Dorothy Adomako led Georgetown with 15 points and five rebounds.

For defensive teams, flags blowing in the wind, dangerous collisions, going behind the charge circle, hard bleachers, stomping the floor, and #Liyyah2K, join your intrepid and perturbed blogger after the jump.

One more set of game notes, and then I can fall over. This one's the most important, though. It's St. John's playing Georgetown for the right to take on this DePaul squad that just walloped Butler.

Team Jersey is showing out, and I think Chicagoan Akina Wellere has family here too.

We seem to have struck a chord with an Under Armour guy. Cool beans.

Ashton Millender and her family are all over in the next section, and I think that explains the woman in Sky gear who's been wandering around.

Small world after all- one of the tournament organizers used to play in and work for the MAAC. Always fun to meet people from your neck of the woods in less familiar areas.

At halftime, St. John's is up 35-32, and it's uncomfortable. It's been a very physical game, with a lot of contact going uncalled. Aliyyah Handford scored the first 11 for the Red Storm, including her 2000th point, and Danaejah Grant picked up the slack in the second quarter with six of her 10. Faith Woodard is playing well for the Hoyas with 11, and Dorothy Adomako has 9.

That's it, Pirates, wander around the other side of the arena, don't notice me, don't comment on my red, don't tease me, don't come at me, just stay over there. Damn it, Tabatha.

St. John's pulled away at the end, much to my relief. Talent wins out; when you combine one of the best backcourts in the nation with a steady point guard and some key contributions from the bench, you get a win.

Georgetown actually went pretty deep into their bench, though I'm not sure if that's by design or if Natasha Adair was just looking for ways around the foul trouble and combinations of players that would strike a spark. Jasmine Jackson came in to run the point and rotate in for DiDi Burton when Burton was in foul trouble. She's definitely a change of pace, a bigger guard than the small, quick starters. Katie McCormick got her shot off, but couldn't get it down; at least she hustled for the ball on defense. Tyshell King's impact on the game is harder to see from four rows up than it is from eight or nine rows up. Logan Battle brought height and a bit of defensive presence. She saw more time in the second half than the first. Yazmine Belk came in n the first half down low and threw her weight around.

If the Big East had an All-Defensive team, Dionna White would be on it. When she's not playing against my team, I love to watch her work on defense, reading the passing lanes and making ballhandlers pay. DiDI Burton is the more aggressive on-ball defender- she almost forced a five-seconds-closely-guarded call on (I think) Danaejah Grant. The two of them together are impossibly pesky. And then Dorothy Adomako goes to work in the lane with the high shot. She's got so many dimensions to her game that it's ridiculous. She's tough on the inside and can step out to the midrange.

Faith Woodard gave the Hoyas a big boost up front- she was able to get to the basket with a fair amount of ease and put up shots at the rim. She's tough. Dominique Vitalis brought senior leadership to the floor- things just seemed to go better when they had her on the floor to direct traffic and look to. She's a steadying presence, and I'm using the present tense because it would be pretty cool if Georgetown made the WNIT.

The defense is on point for the Hoyas. They just need some offensive help around Adomako and to replace the depth they lose with the seniors. I think Adair can do it.

Jordan Agustus saw some time in the first half and was ineffective. Akina Wellere hit a big three to end the first quarter and give the Johnnies some momentum going into the second. She got called for a couple of questionable fouls, and that was the end of her run in her hometown. Crystal Simmons brought so much defense that I may have to make Google Translate work overtime for nicknames. She elicited a five-seconds-closely-guarded call out of (I think) Dionna White. The three-pointer at the end was just the cherry on top, but it had to have done wonders for her confidence. She's another one who should be all-defense, if we had an All-Defensive team. Jade Walker is probably not 100%- she missed a couple of rolls to the basket that she normally makes, but she got stronger as the game went on, stealing rebounds and hitting jumpers. We're going to need her tomorrow. Today. Against DePaul.

Sandra Udobi played sparingly, but came up with defensive stops down the stretch. Imani Littleton was hit and miss- she committed stupid fouls, but she drew a lot of contact and got to the line. She's starting to mature, which is good- we're going to need her to step up in a big way next year. She's really shining on defense.

Aaliyah Lewis is going to be an amazing coach one of these days. She has such command of her team on the floor- it's not as obvious when the ball is in play, but she gives direction to her teammates when there's a stoppage or they're off the ball on defense. And they listen to her, even the seniors. She knows the game so well. She didn't score a lot, but the points came when we needed them. Her passes were picked, but she made answering plays on defense. For a while it looked like Aliyyah Handford was going to have to be the entire show- she scored the first 11 for the Johnnies before she got slowed up a little bit. She's a terror on the break, and she stole a lot of balls to lead breaks. She's just so fun to watch. Danaejah Grant is as not flashy as Aliyyah is flashy- she hits jumpers, she uses her strength in the lane, she defends and passes the ball, and yet I can never find words for her. She's just there, like a universal constant, and it's going to be so confusing when she's not there.

The officiating got tighter as the game went on, much to everyone's annoyance. Both sides were questioning calls- there was one play where Adair wanted a foul on Handford, Tartamella wanted a foul on White, and play went on. Mid-air collisions aren't good for the game, guys.

Jack won the dance-off, although I disapprove of his audacity in putting his hat on Johnny's head. We have the far superior band and dance, though. Their band is awfully tinny, and I can't imagine what it sounds like in that aircraft hangar they're forced to call a home court.

The host is a very nice woman, but she's still annoying when she's working. And I do wish people would stop being surprised that we support two teams, but, well, that's a bit of a sore spot at the moment. Their heads might explode if they knew how many teams we really go hard for.

So yay! We're on to the semifinals! And our reward is DePaul in their own arena at primetime! Yay?

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February 14th, 2016: Georgetown at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. John's never trailed in a steady pacing of Georgetown, 63-55. Danaejah Grant had 20 points to lead the Red Storm, with Aliyyah Handford contributing 13. Dorothy Adomako's 12 off the bench led Georgetown.

For deflections, steals, disruptions, chaos under heaven, too much pink, slight disorientation, and knowledgeable folk other than me, join your intrepid and sleep-deprived blogger after the jump.
Happy Valentine's Day, readers! I'll save you any trite doggerel about Johnnies being red and Pirates being blue, mostly because I can't think of a good rhyme for Iona. Your intrepid blogger is off to St. John's once more, this time for the Gorgetown half of the Eastern Seaboard pod. Ironically, today of all days, I'm flying solo, as my very significant other is off to Seton Hall to (one hopes) witness Pirate history. (Tabatha, if you don't score 23 today, we are going to have words. And those words are going to be "what is wrong with your shot?")

It's cold out. I just thought you should know that.

Instead of t-shirts, today's giveaway is a pink winter hat. They said I could take one, instead of foisting one upon upon me. So I didn't take it. I did, however, bid on Selina Archer's BHA jersey from last year. Let's see if I win. I'd like to have a pink jersey I can wear, if nothing else so I don't get people guilt-tripping me over my refusal to pink.

The St. John's BHA gear is eye-searing. Dry-highlighter pink on the uniform, a shade or two brighter on the accessories, Day-Glo pinkish-orange on the coaches' shirts. At least some of the accessories are in the black accent. My eyes might actually start bleeding if everything were the pink of Danaejah Grant's arm sleeves.

At halftime, St. John's is up 31-25. Danaejah Grant has 16 for the Johnnies. It's a bit more balanced for Georgetown; Dominique Vitalis and Yasmine Belk have seven each. It's been a fast game, but not a terribly well played one- lots of turnovers, lots of inexplicable passes from St. John's and lots of missed shots from Georgetown.

Georgetown's defense is ferocious. They have some of the most active hands I've ever seen. You don't get a moment's peace with them. It costs them in the long run, because they're going to get called for fouls, but they're super disruptive. They just need a little more discipline to temper the enthusiasm.

Dorothy Adomako came off the bench today, which surprised me a little. She uses her length pretty well on defense- her shots just were not falling. Tyshell King has a really pretty jumper. Katie McCormick put up threes and scrapped for loose balls, but her shot wasn't falling, and it seemed like that got to her a little bit. Jasmine Jackson played in the first half and defended at the point, and she got very physical with Aaliyah Lewis.

Jade Martin saw a little bit of time in the first half and was unremarkable with it. Yasmine Belk made an impact both on the boards and with her shot- she was very physical with our defense, but was also able to step out and hit a jumper or two. She was relentless. She also needs to pick on people her own size- she fouled Aaliyah hard going up for a shot, which led to Aaliyah looking like she had to aim for the basket in the middle when she took her free throws.

Dionna White is sneaky fast and has some serious ups for a little bitty guard. She read the passing lanes really well and got Georgetown's offense moving on the fast break. So did DiDi Burton (though someone is going to have to tell me the backstory of why her name is pronounced like "Da-Da"). I think White made smarter decisions with the ball, which surprises me a little, given that White's a freshman and Burton's a sophomore.

Logan Battle lines up as a guard, but she plays more like a forward, so she's over here with the frontcourt type people. She facilitated a lot of the offense, not in the point guard sense, but in being in the right place at the right time for people to move around her. She had a really nice block on Imani Littleton that she was able to keep in play. Faith Woodard made good plays at the rim but couldn't get the shots to go down. Georgetown either needs to work on their shooting fundamentals or needs to get some better puck luck- they had a lot of shots go wide off the rim. Dominique Vitalis showed why she's so important to Georgetown- she brings senior leadership. She's a stabilizing force. She does a little bit of everything for them, but she's also important to keep everyone's ehad on straight.

Now I understand how and why they gave DePaul fits.

We went pretty deep into our bench today, which was refreshing and somewhat needed. Akina Wellere seems to have gone back to her reticence to shoot, and that informed the rest of her game today- there was a play where she was woefully out of position on defense (think it was a boxout), and that led to Jordan Agustus being forced into fouling. I was disappointed in her today. I was also a little disappointed in Tamesha Alexander, but that's becoming sort of a habitual thing. I like Sox, if only because, well, socks, but she really hasn't stepped up this year. We got good defense off the bench from Crystal Simmons, and at least a little offense, though the technical flaws in her shot were pretty obvious. Jordan Agustus got some extended run, and she looked good- she has the confidence to take the shot that I wish some of her teammates had. I like her potential. Jade Walker rebounded well, and she was confident in her jumper, bu she didn't move well on defense.

Either Aliyyah Handford is having a bad case of bad puck luck, or there's something wrong with her shooting hand that she's not admitting to, because her shots are going the same direction off the rim when she drives, and it bothers me. She looked a little more like her old self, though. She had the speed and quickness. Danaejah Grant had the touch. She's just so quietly, calmly, effective and efficient. Aaliyah Lewis ran the show and took a lot of hits.

Sandra Udobi was back in action today, and while she's not real quick, she gets the job done down low. She played well on defense, and there was great rejoicing when she put up a shot and got the basket. Imani Littleton still needs to work on her defense and her ability to grab passes, but she seems to have decided that defense will be her caling card, and I'm okay with that. I wear the jersey of a rebounder/shot-blocker/grit player, do you think I'm going to get mad about a player choosing that as her focus?

General issue with the team today: too many extra passes. Georgetown was reading the passing lanes way too well to be trying to find the perfect shot at the pefect time. Playing like this made it clear that we can't have Sandie and Crystal out there at the same time, or either of them with Akina. Too many players trying to follow, not enough to lead.

There were some curious choices of call to make on the baseline, but my biggest issue with the crew was that they seemed to be calling the foul on the wrong player much of the time. I'd be sure it was on Jade, and then it was on Imani. Or Aliyyah, which was super annoying.

I won the auction! And it came with shorts! Now I have a couple of options for what to wear to the gym! (As long as Selina doesn't want her stuff back.) (This meant that I didn't buy ducks this year. Next year, perhaps, we'll see a little flock of Wildwings and Jillians.) (Yes, I name my ducks. Yes, I name them after Ducks.)

This was the wakeup call we needed. Now it's off to the Old Northwest Territory, and perhaps history for Aliyyah. Gotta keep rolling. Can't afford any bad losses against the back end of the conference.

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February 22nd, 2015: Georgetown at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. John's surged out to a big lead, then held off the dogged Hoyas to win 75-61 in their home finale. Aliyyah Handford led the way with 27 points and seven assists, while Danaejah Grant had 26, 14 in the second half. Dominique Vitalis led Georgetown with 17 points, with Dorothy Adomako adding 16.

For a shot to the feels, a lack of sentiment, guard play, sparkly bows, hustle at all the wrong times, coaching advice, and much love, join your intrepid and verklempt blogger after the jump.

So it's that time of year again. The season starts to wind down, the last this, the last that, until there's only one ticket left. Senior Days always get me right in the gut- or, to borrow internet parlance, right in the feels. I can go to a team's game for the first time all year and get verklempt for their seniors, so you can only imagine how it is with my own team.

For the first time, though, we have a senior that I really don't know well. What can you say about a player you've only had for one year and who's spent a recent chunk of that time injured? I'll miss Kyra Dunn's shot-blocking, and her uncanny ability to find a teammate to tap the ball out to when she can't get hold of the rebound. But I don't have a strong enough sense of who she is in real life to miss the person she is. But with a Cal undergraduate degree in her back pocket, I know she'll succeed wherever she goes and whatever she does. Which may be another year here, since she wasn't part of Senior Day.

Selina Archer made me root for a different team. I think I told this story both when it happened (appropriately enough, against Georgetown) and in the game that resulted, but I'll tell it again. So we're sitting in our usual seats, and we notice a whole bunch of people in St. Francis Red Flash gear sitting in our section, and they're cheering like crazy for Selina. Seems kind of random, since Selina's from Florida and St. Francis is from Pennsylvania. Turns out that Selina's sister Corissa plays for St. Francis. We get to chatting with them, and I sort of end up promising to hit LIU for their game. Fast-forward to LIU, and there I am in a red shirt and my ever-present St. John's scarf, cheering for the Red Flash and saying hi to Selina. At the end of the game, three or four St. Francis players come up to me, thank you for coming, and hug me. And then the coaching staff takes a shine to us. But anyway. Injuries have really messed up Selina's time with us, and I'm sorry I didn't get to see more of her clearing out the lane and causing opponents to suffer. She's a sweetheart, and I wish her all the best.

While you were reading this sentence, Amber Thompson rebounded something. She's always been solid on the boards and on the block, but she's taken it to another level this year. In a draft like this, maybe that'll be enough for her to get a look. I love how expressive she is, whether it's her death glare right before a shot ends up out of bounds, her 8-O face when she gets called for a bad foul, her 'oh God stop' look of despair when her mom's embarrassing her, and her big huge enormous giant smile when she's happy (said big huge enormous giant smile is on the poster across from me, and it lights up her face like you wouldn't believe). I'm going to miss her interactions with her ridiculously proud mom, who loves and adores her even when Amber might really not want her to. (I don't know if it's a complicated play they put on for outsiders, or if Amber is really that uncomfortable with public affection, but they're adorable.) No one holds it down in the paint like Amber does. She's grown and matured as a Johnnie, and I hope to see her again in the summer.

So, Senior Day. The schedule posters, with Amber and Selina and Joe, were out in force, but there were no proper scorecards. The ceremony was very bare-bones and brief, and Amber still started tearing up by the end. There was a brief intro for each player and her family, a white-and-pink jersey, flowers, and photographs. I would have liked a little more time spent on each player's accomplishments- Selina's intro didn't even mention that she had been at another school. It seemed like they were trying to get it out of the way in a hurry.

Georgetown is not a good team. Not yet. They have height, and they have potential, but they are (to borrow a phrase from Clay Kallam) raw as a side of beef. They committed a lot of sloppy turnovers, traveling almost constantly and getting dinged for three seconds plenty of times. Natasha Adair seemed unnaturally calm on the sidelines, almost to the point where I thought she might be on medication. She had her foot in a boot, so maybe that's why she didn't get up very often. They used their length well in the passing lanes.

Yasmine Belk brought a lot of physicality and size off the bench. Katie McCormick hit a three as part of Georgetown's run, but mostly demonstrated that at some point in her life either she played, or she should have played, softball- she executed a perfect take-out slide. Justyce Swango is very tiny, but is very aggressive on defense- there was one possession where she was stuck to Amber Thompson like a burr, to the point where no one on St. John's felt comfortable passing to Amber despite the gross size mismatch. Brittany Horne hit an early three and moved with grace. I didn't even realize Jade Martin played, so I apologize to her.

I'm not sure how DiDi Burton ended up pronouncing her name Dada, but that's how the announcer said it all day, and no one from Georgetown attempted to kill him, so whatever makes you happy. She brought the ball up, but I don't think they really had a defined point guard, someone to take the reins and make the team answer to her. Faith Woodard found her offense in the second half, getting into the paint- but then usually traveling. Logan Battle also found her shot in the second half, but also had a case of happy feet. There were a lot of travels today. Somewhere, Bonita Spence is nodding in approval. Dominique Vitalis sliced us up inside, going in on St. John's defenders all day. She had Kyra Dunn for lunch and even had her way with Amber Thompson. But having Jade Walker come in on the double did the trick. Dorothy Adomako is the real deal. She's a volume shooter, but she's got size and perhaps not all the moves, but more than a freshman's fair share of said moves.

St. John's keeps slowing down the offense, and I don't know why. You have players who play best when they're running. You have a super-fast point guard. Why pound the dribble for 15 seconds? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GOD WHY?

Imani Littleton sighting! She needs to improve her court awareness, but she did decently enough on the boards. I'd like to see her be more assertive. Tonoia Wade got some time in the second half, but did little with it, but it wasn't a lot of time. Crystal Simmons took a couple of hits and missed some easy opportunities. Kyra Dunn was tentative on defense, but pulled down one wicked rebound. Tamesha Alexander gave Aaliyah Lewis a little break.

(As an aside: three players on St. John's were wearing unusual socks, and none of them were the kid nicknamed Sox for her unusual socks in high school?)

There were a couple of early attempts to force feed Amber Thompson on this her Senior Day, but ultimately, we should have all known her first basket would come on an offensive rebound and putback. She killed it on the boards, because that's who she is and what she does. She was impractical with her elbows- no matter how much a Hoya annoys you, you can't chuck an elbow into her chest after the play, away from the ball, in front of the ref. Jade Walker got her some buckets, and as questionable as her defense might have been in the first half, she came up with big boards and big stops down low late. I love it when a big girl decides she's going to make someone's life miserable down low. Aaliyah Lewis played tight defense and came up with some pretty passes. Danaejah Grant did that thing where she shuts down on defense, as opposed to shutting down her assignment, but she got buckets, especially in the second half. She did work getting to the line and hitting smooth jumpers. Aliyyah Handford did everything, because that's how Liyyah rolls. She hit jumpers. She hit lay-ups. She found her teammates. She got rebounds. She took a ridiculous amount of contact. She caused mild officiating errors. She's awesome and adorable and thank God she's only a junior.

Play of the game for Georgetown: Aaliyah Lewis goes up for a jumper. Katie McCormick channels her inner Ewing, Mutombo, and Mourning and smacks the living daylights out of the shot.

Play of the game for St. John's: Tamesha's sweet pass to Aliyyah for the bucket.

“Y U NO?!” moment of the game: Jade Walker is on one of the Georgetown forwards, I think Vitalis. Joe is screaming, “LEFT SHOULDER! LEFT SHOULDER!” at Jade. Jade is not listening. Vitalis goes over the left shoulder. Swish.

Not Top Ten moment: Late in the first half, Aliyyah Handford is at the line. She misses the first free throw and charges after it immediately to try and put it back up. Why is this a Not Top Ten moment? Because Georgetown by this point in the game was up to their 13th foul and St. John's was in the double bonus. It was a dead ball. The really bizarre thing? Somehow, the officials' decision on the matter was to forfeit the second free throw and have St. John's inbound on the baseline under the basket. Of course, then Danaejah committed an offensive foul to turn the ball over, because that's how we roll.

I think the refs were watching Rutgers-Michigan State in the first half and Seton Hall-Villanova in the second half. The foul splits in both halves were obscene. 13-3 Georgetown in the first half, 13-9 St. John's in the second half, with a stretch in the second where it was 5-0, and another 7-3. Inconsistency in officiating is going to get someone hurt one of these days.

Use the window, children in shooting contests!

It was Women in Sports Day, which meant pregame clinics, which meant Kym Hampton and Teresa Weatherspoon sitting in the courtside VIP seats for the first half. I sort of envied Kym's daughter A'riel, because it looked like Spoon was talking basketball with her and coaching her up through the game, and oh my gosh wouldn't that be awesome?

Shoutout to the kid from Queensborough I ran into at the bus stop.

I'm thrilled for Amber (and for poor lonely Selina in her sweatsuit on the bench) that we pulled out the win on Senior Day. It's off to the Northwest Territory (not the Canadian one) for Xavier, Butler, and the Big East's Little Dance. Go St. John's! Make us proud!

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January 26th, 2014: Georgetown at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Red Storm came up with big shots down the stretch to hold off a dogged Georgetown squad 66-63. Eugeneia McPherson and Danaejah Grant each had 16 points for St. John's, McPherson dropping 13 in the first half and Grant 10 in the second half. Andrea White led Georgetown with 18 points, while Natalie Butler had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

For friendly fire, epic lulz, rebounding woes, and questionable choices, join your intrepid and congealed blogger after the jump.

Bleeping expletive unspeakable, it's cold out there. Yet here we are, at Carnesecca Arena for a night game against Georgetown.

Attendance is surprisingly robust, considering the Fimbul-winter going on out there. People keep trickling in, which I was not expecting. I mean, okay, it's Joe Tartamella Bobble-Head Night, but how many people genuinely care about that kind of thing? (Joe joins our bobble-head coaching staff, which is now up to four- Richie Adubato, Brian Giorgis, and Kim Barnes Arico are the others.)

I don't think Katie McCormick is dressed for this game, which is a break for St. John's- she won't be bombing threes and she can't provide on-court leadership.

The band appears to have called up reinforcements, though Kevin is absent. Fortunately, the chain of command is clear-cut. No, never mind, there he is, wearing a nice warm cozy sweater.

Nice anthem. A little nasal, but good technique.

Random Red Flash are random. Someone there knows Selina Archer, I think; they only got into the game when she was there. I don't know what they're going to do with half a dozen Tartamella bobble-heads and a medium St. John's shirt, but I wish them joy of their trophies. (Roster check: well, #23 on St. Francis is an Archer from the same hometown as Selina, so I'ma take a wild guess that they're related.)

At halftime it's 37-30 St. John's, but it should be more- the Red Storm started with four missed free throws. Eugeneia McPherson's got three threes among her 13 points, and there have been stretches of excellent physical defense on Natalie Butler, especially from Sandra Udobi.

However, sustainability, we no haz it. Why we don't press when our entire backcourt is more than capable of it and the one time we did so we induced a 10-second violation, I don't know.

Jim Lewis didn't go heavily to his bench in the first half, though we saw more of the subs in the second half. Dominique Vitalis did well on the boards and threw a couple of nasty trips that didn't get called. Samisha Powell started the second half and played heavy minutes, scoring at the basket and playing good defense. Logan Battle also started the second half- got to the line, was otherwise unmemorable. I was surprised not to see Vitalis much in the second half- I think she would have been very handy, especially with Andrea White in foul trouble late in the game (White eventually fouled out).

Natalie Butler got the job done down low, though I still think a large part of that is strictly based on her height and size. She tried to mix in a midrange jumper, a la Ruth Riley from the free throw line or Tamika Whitmore from the elbow, with mixed results. You can't teach size, but you can make size highly uncomfortable, and our posts got low to disconcert her. Tyshell King got the start, as Lewis went heavy with his freshmen in the first half. She did all right trying to set the offense. Jade Martin got physical on defense, and seemed distressed when calls didn't go her way. Faith Woodard has a lot of potential, and she came up big in the second half, always seeming to be on the play, but she makes stupid freshman mistakes, as all freshmen do- ill-advised shots and accidentally took out Samisha Powell right after the buzzer on a collision. Oops. From what I've seen of Georgetown, though, they're going to rise and fall with Andrea White. She goes hard to the basket and hard on the boards, and when she fouled out, I think the tide turned. There's a toughness to her that I think her team relies on- senior leadership by example, not by word.

Georgetown really needs to work on court awareness, or at least knowing where they are on the court. Andrea White and Natalie Butler fought each other hard for a rebound, leading to a traveling violation. Ms. Butler was not pleased. At the end of the game, Faith Woodard accidentally wiped out Samisha Powell. I felt kind of bad for her, but I laughed. It's human nature to laugh at pratfalls.

The St. Francis contingent was very happy that Selina Archer got two separate appearances, which I think is more playing time than she's gotten in any other game this year. She bodied up decently on Butler, but she needs to be more assertive down low. Can't stand around and watch, can't let things go out of your hands. Jade Walker got called for fouls pretty much for breathing. I know she's foul-prone, but there was one point where I hadn't even registered that she was in the game before the foul was called and she was off to the bench again. She's got to be more careful, but still. Keylantra Langley was good defensively- that missed free throw is uncharacteristic, though. Aaliyah Lewis still drives a little too frequently for my liking, but the jumper was pretty, and she was a much needed change of pace in this game. Danaejah Grant got big minutes and made big things happen on the offensive end. She picked us up in the second half, when we needed someone to step up offensively.

In the first half, that player was Amber Thompson, who showed off a nice array of low post moves and easily got around Butler planted in the paint. She swatted shots with very loud authority, too. Amber made things happen. Briana Brown never gave up on a play- she wasn't shooting a lot, but her defense and her work on loose balls was crucial. She went toe to toe with Butler on one, and came away the victor just after the whistle. Eugeneia McPherson lit up the scoreboard with threes in the first half, but seemed to become more shy about shooting in the second half. She remains a capable, but uninspired point guard, which I think suits Tartamella but might not work in the long run- both of them like to slow things up, and while that works when you have a lead, it's not the world's greatest plan when you're down. I think there's also a lot of cringing when she takes any contact. Sandra Udobi didn't play a lot, but she gave excellent defense on Natalie Butler- played her tough, played her physical, and knocked her off her marks. Aliyyah Handford still looks like she's trying to find her confidence again, but she was good today. Not as incandescent as she was to start the season, but good.

St. John's-Georgetown hasn't been a big rivalry on the women's side for a while, if only because it hasn't been until recently that both programs have given enough of a damn about women's basketball to make it anything worth mentioning. But it's a school rivalry; each school takes beating the other one seriously, no matter what it's in, and it showed. There was a small student contingent that got loud today, and Georgetown certainly played with more passion today than they did at Seton Hall.

The officiating was pretty putrid today. A lot of contact was missed, and some of it dangerous. We're lucky no one got badly hurt, because it was hit and miss with Amber near the end of the game. I still don't know what she injured, though the ankle seems most likely. (Fortunately, I think her big ol' pile of hair partially padded the impact on her head.)

Tonight was the post-game autograph session, so we got to say hi to our team, talk our way out of awkward situations, and congratulate them on the things they did well. There may have been a miscommunication or two somewhere along the line. I'm pretty sure my husband's not actually related to the coach at Seton Hall, though it's an understandable mistake. They're both loud. My team is adorable, though. Gina's so used to us. It's like she's been here an extra year or something.

One of these days, slowing down the game is going to bite us somewhere soft and vulnerable. But I'll take the wins as long as we get them.

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January 18th, 2014: Georgetown at Seton Hall

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Pirates came out shaky but righted the ship midway through the first half, coming away with a 73-62 win over Georgetown. Tabatha Richardson-Smith led all scorers with 22 points, 17 in the second half, while Bra'Shey Ali had 13 points, 10 rebounds, and five steals for Seton Hall. Andrea White had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Hoyas; Natalie Butler had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

For the return of the awkward, dance dance revelation, late-arriving groceries, slim forwards, a free tee for three, and notes for self-improvement, join your intrepid and carbonated blogger after the jump.

Hello again! Or should I say "Hallo?" We're coming to you in stereophonic sound from Walsh Gymnasium on the campus of Seton Hall University for the Pirates' matchup with the Georgetown Hoyas. My first Seton Hall game since the first matchup with St. John's, after which there was much awkwardness, so I'm expecting more awkwardness. Look, guys, I have my team and I will root for other teams, but I can't root for you against my team!

Stupid MTA. I hate the MTA. We left at about 9:50, and it took us until 10:30 to actually get on a train. A bit troublesome when you're trying to make an 11:11 train at Penn Station.

Janee Johnson has a plethora of dance moves. In that regard she reminds me of some of my Johnnies back in the day, especially Sky Lindsay, who couldn't seem to walk without shimmying if there was music around.

Not to say that Georgetown's rebounding needs work, but a ball pretty much crashed into the Seton Hall bench off a missed shot. As long as they remain unaware that Natalie Butler can't do everything until January 26th, I'm okay with this. (Why, yes, St. John's hosts the Hoyas on the 25th, thank you for asking.)

Entirely too much vibrato in that anthem.

At halftime, it's 34-25 Seton Hall. Bra'Shey Ali is making some noise, with 11 points and a fair number of boards. Janee Johnson is playing through at least two hard hits, and I think she's my new favorite. A lot of sloppy play from both teams- inbounds issues, missed rebounds, fumbles, that kind of thing. Neither of these teams seems particularly strong on the fundamentals. Katie McCormick scored the first nine points for the Hoyas, then went quiet.

I like the Kashmere Joseph shirt that one lady is wearing, with a British flag replacing the Pirate's bandana.

It was closer than it needed to be, but apparently it takes a full half and change to get the Tab delivered to Seton Hall- Tabatha Richardson-Smith dropped 17 of her 22 in the second half, and I think about 12 of those were in the third quarter or equivalent thereof.

Jim Lewis went deep into his bench, especially in the second half- I think he wanted to give his reserves more of an opportunity to produce when the game was just out of reach. If they could get them back in it, great; if not, then at least he knows what he has and they have a few more minutes under their belts that might help them somewhere down the line. It was easy to mix up Jade Martin and Tyshell King if you were just going by hairstyles- rare to see two sets of braided pigtails on the same team. It doesn't help that they were in during the same part of the game, or that they both did their part bringing the ball up. Martin was bigger and a better rebounder; King was more defensive-minded, especially on the traps that the Hoyas threw near the end of the game. Ki-Ke Rafiu came in briefly, long enough to snag a nice pass, hit the shot, and get fouled. (She missed the free throw, but Georgetown came out with the rebound. I think. Unless that was one of the ones Shey stole.) Dominique Vitalis slithered in on the offensive rebounds well- she found nooks and crannies and exploited timing mistakes by Seton Hall. Faith Woodard, I suspect, only comes off the bench because she's a freshman and not quite as indispensable as Natalie Butler. She was very impressive on the inside today. She has to work on her passing, but she was dangerous.

Katie McCormick scored the first nine points of the game for Georgetown, canning threes and getting to the line. Our defense did a better job closing on her in the second half, though she did sneak open a little bit more as more of the defensive pressure focused on the paint late in the game. She had a nice little leadership moment late in the game with Faith Woodard. Logan Battle didn't play a lot. I think she was there for defense, though I'll freely admit that I might be thinking that because her last name is Battle and she wears #22, and I really like Ashley Battle (though I don't think they're related). Samisha Powell was unmemorable, except for being solidly there- it's hard to put a finger on what she was doing while she was there, but I remember her being out there. Natalie Butler is a load in the middle, but if referees decide to call three seconds, she's in a lot of trouble, because she's not very mobile. She's powerful, and she's tall, and she rebounds well. She'll get her numbers. She'll get the job done. But she's vulnerable if you keep her running. Andrea White is a crucial glue player for this team. She gets the boards, she gets the big shots. Her team needs her in the game if they're going to do well. I'd need to get a look at the plus/minus, but I think she's one of those who has a strong one. Wouldn't surprise me.

Chizoba Ekedigwe played briefly in the first half when Janee Johnson was hurting and Breanna Jones needed a breather, but it's clear that her knee is bothering her, because she's lost most of her mobility. Tara Inman got some run at the very end of the game, which I think was just to test her defense in a late-game situation. Teresa Kucera showed off her pretty three-point shot and her willingness to work on defense, the latter of which appears to have improved immensely in the last couple of months. Breanna Jones worked hard on the boards and on defense, and proved why she's one of my favorites, but more about that later. Sidney Cook seemed to have her timing off all day- shots weren't falling, she wasn't staying on the play as much, she mistimed her leaps on rebounds (not that she didn't get her fair share of them).

Before the game, Alexis Brown was actually practicing the wild, throw across the body from one side of the basket to the other, sweeping lay-up. It served her well in the second half. She seemed to be everywhere, especially on the fast break. She found players, and players found her. Ka-Deidre Simmons took some stupid shots, and had some ill fortune with the rim, but hit the free throws when it came down to crunch time, a talent that's very important to shut the door on teams you should be beating. Bra'Shey Ali is a high-risk player- when those little reaches are successful, she gets steals on rebounds the opponent thought were secure; when they're correctly called as fouls, she doesn't get either the rebound or the steal. She's got to do a better job of not reaching. Either go for the rebound or go for the boxout, but if you try to do both at the same time, things aren't going to go well for you. Tabatha Richardson-Smith spent a lot of time beyond the arc. In the first half it was a bad plan. In the second half, it was a good plan. See above regarding the availability of Tab in South Orange grocery stores. She needs to be more consistent defensively, and I'd like to see her attack the rim more, instead of camping out beyond the arc and making like Laurie Koehn.

Whoever is in charge of shooting fundamentals and basic mechanics for the Pirates really needs to step their game up. Too many players were just tossing up too many bad shots at the rim that had no rhyme or reason to them. There's trying to draw the foul, and then there's desperation, and many of those heaves were at times that were not nearly desperate.

The officials didn't make themselves popular in this one. Georgetown got the benefit of a lot of procedural non-calls- if Natalie Butler is in the lane when the shot clock says 10, and she's still in the lane when the shot clock says 6, how is that not a three-second violation? On the flip side, Seton Hall got more than a few non-calls regarding grabby hands. It all comes out in the wash, though I was amused at Coach Lewis's pleas to the officials when his players were committing fouls near the end of the game. If Jade Martin can't keep her hand off another player's arm while trying to trap her, that's the player's problem and the coach's problem, not the official's problem.

Seton Hall actually throws shirts that fit! Well, more or less. An XL sort of works on me, but much better than the smediums that St. John's throws out. (No, that's not a typo.)

Curious about Brittany Webb- she wasn't with the team, per se, but she was in the front row and got pretty into the game at the end- she almost tried to get on the court at one point, which is not a good plan when gameplay is happening and you don't have a uniform anyway. Took a while to recognize her, but the blue hair gave her away. You gotta have blue hair.

Why Breanna Jones is my second favorite: during the post-game autograph session, I complimented her on her rebounding. Her response, paraphrased: "Yeah, but I need to hit a lay-up." Gotta love that kind of recognition of your weaknesses and that kind of willingness to get back on them.

Why Janee Johnson is my favorite, besides the dance moves, part one: very early in the game, she got an elbow to the jaw, courtesy of Natalie Butler. She winced, tried to play it off, worked her mouth around, rinsed and spat a couple of times, then hit the first three points of the game for the Hall. She took a couple of hard hits and came back just as tough.

Why Janee Johnson is my favorite, besides the dance moves, part two: I think they put her at the end of the autograph line because she's the most gregarious and the best with kids. So she signed my poster and the following exchange occurred, with a bit of paraphrasing:

"Hey, how are ya?" (because my folks taught me to be polite to people)

"Hey!" spots my shirt and side-eyes me "Oh. Hey. You want me to sign 'Go St. John's' under that?"

So: she hustles, she has a sense of humor, she's good with kids, and she's 100% into everything she does. Oh, yes, definitely a favorite.

In conclusion, Georgetown has potential, but they need a lot of work, and Seton Hall just needs to put in work on the unglamorous basics.

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February 9th, 2013: Georgetown at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Shenneika Smith put up 26 points and Nadirah McKenith flirted with a triple-double as St. John's took a 76-72 overtime decision from Georgetown. Sugar Rodgers led all scorers with 29 points, 22 after halftime, and the Hoyas also got 21 points and 11 rebounds from Dominique Vitalis.

For corner threes, traveling fans, bodily fluids, second impressions, and not quite that many overtimes, join your intrepid and hoarse blogger after the jump.


I shouldn't have to end up sounding like a chain-smoking diner waitress after playing Georgetown if the Hoyas are down two starters and we have a ten-point lead at any time in the game. And yet the husband and I had to turn it up as loud as we did against UConn. I'm not pleased with the folks in the seats on this one.

Nice anthem by the band- we missed you, Kevin, but your substitute did more than admirably. They stepped up their cheering game in the second half when the Georgetown fans actually started making noise, and we needed them, since RedZone didn't seem inclined to actually cheer despite showing up in impressive numbers. I really appreciate you guys coming out, but it doesn't help when you don't cheer.

Part of me wants to credit the Georgetown fans that came out for this one, partially for simply existing and partially because organizational skills are to be credited, but at the same time, I hate when opposing fans treat a road arena like their own house, and one of the Hoya assistants even got their supporters riled up. Meanwhile, I've got people asking me not to yell during overtime of a game against Georgetown. Seriously?

I was very impressed with Keith Brown as a coach. He was always correcting something or working on something with his players. They did a beautiful job playing their zone defense. It rotated in ways that would make me very happy if I weren't cheering for the opposing team. When they promoted him to head coach, I thought it was just to keep Sugar Rodgers from transferring and to maintain an AAU pipeline, not for his coaching chops, but it looks like I was wrong, and that's something I'd like to be wrong about. (There can never be enough good coaches in the game, and I don't want Georgetown to completely fall off a cliff after Rodgers graduates.)

I honestly didn't realize that Ki-Ke Rafiu played as much as she did until I got home and looked at the box score. I mostly remember her doing stupid things and shooting two free throws that were so bad she was almost an honorary Johnnie. Jasmine Jackson was kind of handsy. I don't remember her doing much else. Vanessa Moore played the bulk of the bench minutes, and there were times when she was more of an asset to St. John's than she was to Georgetown- she saved two balls right to Nadirah McKenith (getting, um, awkwardly entangled with the dance team on the second one) and getting into stupid foul trouble at the end of the first half. She hit the boards well, though. In general, Georgetown hit the boards well. They've got long, tall players who go up hard.

I was very impressed with the freshman Dominique Vitalis. She's got a great nose for the basket. She's really tough, too. Brittany Horne found her way to the boards and the ball a lot too. She was always up in someone's business on defense. Hands always moving, always in the way, always up or out. Katie McCormick looked to be the designated shooter- she looked a little lost when asked to do anything else. I know that the Hoyas were down two starters (White and Powell) so maybe McCormick isn't always a starter? Sydney Wilson kept missing shots down low that should have been easy for her- fortunately for her, Horne and Vitalis were able to clean up the garbage. I don't think she expected the defense to be as up in her business as it was, since St. John's is not exactly known for having a plethora of post players. (Which you would then think meant that guards would be going after your dribble, but I don’t play basketball, I just yell about it in the stands and write about it hours later.) Sugar Rodgers demonstrated that while she's a chucker, she's more than just a mindless automatic shooter. One of the key buckets for the Hoyas in the second half came when she gave up an easy fast break to set up a wide open Vitalis under the basket. But she showed that she's got range all over the court- do you know how rare an actual-facts mid-range game is these days? She scored from all over the floor. She did seem to take a lot of contact, and that might worry me if I were a Georgetown fan, or a WNBA scout.

No, seriously, if this game had been on television, the Big East and WNBA coaches everywhere would have been holding their breaths after that collision between Rodgers and McKenith near the end of the first half, because they both went down hard and stayed down a fair while.

I would really like to see Amber Thompson get more minutes, but we all know this. She was solid today, except for one exceptionally stupid hack on the wrist of a Georgetown player after the shot was already in the air. That, and I hope she gets the knack of running backwards on defense. Keylantra Langley chose a good time to find her stroke again, and she also had a couple of nice defensive plays.

This was the first time that I can remember in a long time that I thought Aliyyah Handford looked like a freshman out there. She's totally entitled, as super awesome as she's been for us all year. But she wasn't taking great shots and she made a couple of bad decisions. I think her teammates were trying to force the issue for her a little bit too. Shenneika and Nadirah both made the extra pass to her on plays they should have taken. I think Mary Nwachukwu was a little distracted by what's going on with the big storm- she looked a little out of it at the start of the game, and she is from Massachusetts, so I do get it. I loved how she temporarily shut up the Georgetown fans, though- they got a rip-roaring "DEFENSE!" chant going, and she proceeded to hit a lay-up off an o-board and get fouled on the play, then convert the lay-up. I'd like to see her be a little less terrified of the ball, whether she's on the court or on the bench, but you can't change people at this point, can you? Briana Brown sniped threes from the corners like there was no tomorrow, and she went to the floor for loose balls like she always does, and she valiantly defended 6-6 Sydney Wilson whenever she was called upon to do so, and she's grown by such leaps and bounds this year that it still amazes me. Nadirah McKenith couldn't get her shots to fall through most of the game, though her second-half three was crucial, but she did everything else, and I mean everything else. She was superb at finding her teammates and coming up with long rebounds off the rim, and her defense was on point. Shenneika Smith played lights out, coming up with big shots and a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor. I think she wanted to show that she was also a first-round talent, that Sugar wasn't the only future WNBA player in this game.

Officiating was mostly solid. If anything, I thought St. John's got the benefit of a lot of non-calls on travels and contact. I don't know what Aliyyah did to draw the technical, though. I suspect it may have been one of the magic words.

Nice shooting during the timeout games. That always makes me happy.

I spent halftime horking up phlegm in the bathroom (I know, TMI) so I missed the biddy game.

Crowd was a bit lacking, but that's because today was supposed to be clinic day, but then blizzard. So those kids will be at the Cincy game instead.

We finally won a game after messing it up in the last minute. I think that does a lot for the team's morale and momentum. We need every game we can get. It's a long climb, but we're ready.

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January 12th, 2013: Georgetown at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Georgetown won 76-61. And it was kind of shitty.


Time for the annual doubleheader at the Garden! The new Garden looks very shiny. I'm still hoping to find traces of the Liberty in it- not a lot of luck yet.

At least this time we're not completely surrounded by Georgetown fans, which might be because we got the tickets through Dig for a Cure, the Red Storm volleyball team's BHA event. The husband's currently chatting up a St. John's men's fan and using his knowledge of the men's team to win him over. We haven't had a chance to bring up the women's team yet, though. :/

We're so far away from our homies in the band. This makes me sad. They sound much tinnier in the Garden, though that might be because the Garden is mostly empty so far. Our seats had vendors in them before we arrived. But there are tickets sold everywhere but the new blue seats (which are more of a powder blue than the old blue-green).

No scorecards make me sad. I think it's Bri's turn. We'll see come the Pitt game.

At halftime, it's 36-19 in favor of Georgetown, and for a while it was a lot worse. St. John's actually found some offense for a stretch between the under-eight and the under-four, and made some great defensive plays. But the offense has, for the most part, been a hot mess. These guys don't seem to actually know each other. It took to the under-twelve media timeout before I saw screens being set with any regularity. So far, Chris Obekpa's blocks and D'Angelo Harrison's quick hands have been the only highlights for this hot mess for St. John's. They don't know how to stay out of each other's way on defense and don't communicate on offense. Joe, I swear I'll lay off your coaching for at least one game after seeing this debacle.

The bright white sneakers with the black suits: is this a thing I should not be mocking because I don't know the backstory of it? Because from where I was sitting, it looked like a really unfortunate fashion choice. At least wear black sneakers! Black goes with everything!

The team I really came here to see is on the other side of the arena. Hi, guys! At this rate, we'll have people staying so they can see a St. John's team win.

At least we started off with the dulcet tones of the Metropolitones. And the Garden, unlike the Prudential Center, is a Coke arena. I've missed having my caffeine at a game.

Well, that was a hot mess if ever I saw one. St. John's put together a flurry in the second half, including their first threes of the game, to make it look respectable and interesting, but when you can't hit threes until the last four minutes of the game and you go 6-16 from the line, you're going to get your butt handed to you repeatedly and painfully. If you want me to become a men's fan, this is not how you go about it.

But the intro video is way better than the one they did this year for the women. I'll give the guys that. It's tied to New York and works better with the song they chose than the women's video does with the theme and video they chose.

D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera is a lot of name (more than I realized when the game was on; I thought his name was just Dante) and he played a lot of minutes. He always seemed to be in the middle of something or another with the St. John's players, whether it was a confrontation or a defensive play. Moses Ayegba also seemed to be in the middle of a lot of things, though that's just a function of the center position. Aaron Bowen always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's the only reason I can think of for how he got so many fouls in such a short time. I don't remember much else about the Georgetown bench.

There's something I like about Nate Lubick in a basketball sense, though I can't completely put my finger on it. I mean, I'm always going to like a guy who dives full length for a ball after hitting a basket, because that's the kind of fan I am, so maybe that's it. I just always remember seeing him in the right place at the right time; he does stick out with that thick build and bright blonde hair, so that might also be it. (Actually, he looks like a guy I knew in high school, but his name's not Thomas and he didn't go to NYU, so I know that's not him.) Mikael Hopkins got into it with Jakarr Sampson in the second half, which was the fifth foul for both of them, and thus may not have been the best decision either of them ever made in their lives. Markel Starks threw me off because I'm used to Markel being a woman's name, but I like his shot. Otto Porter worked the paint well for a guard, forcing a lot of fouls from an unprepared St. John's defense. Jabril Trawick didn't play much; I think JTIII liked what he saw out of Smith-Rivera and rode the hot hand.

I have no real vested interest in the St. John's men, but I do want to be at a game where Marco Bourgault scores, if only to do a call and response with his name. Jamal Branch came off the bench with the most deceptive 16 points you will ever see. I think all those points came in the second half, and most of them came in true garbage time, when Georgetown was up more than twenty and no longer really cared about defending a shot that St. John's had shown no previous propensity for hitting in this game. My lingering impression of him is his long dribbling, including one series where he dribbled in and around the lane like the Georgetown defenders were cones and he was just lazily running a drill. Felix Balamou committed stupid fouls that made me sad. Sir'Dominic Pointer played well off the bench, turning in one of the more well-rounded performances I saw, though he didn't always exercise the best judgment; don't swipe at the ball if you already have four fouls and the officials seem determined to make the game last as long as possible.

Amir Garrett did not play the brightest game I've ever seen him play. Stupid shots, stupid fouls, just generally not in the right place at the right time, which is a phrase I feel like I've been using too much in these notes, but fuck it, these aren't getting posted anywhere but my personal archive. I did like the centerfield play he almost made on one rebound. Nice ups. Phil Greene IV did not play well, though I commend him for staying for the women's game. Pointer played most of his minutes in the second half, and deserved it, believe me. D'Angelo Harrison played well in short sharp bursts of intensity, but couldn't get his shot going, like most of the Johnnies. In the first half, he, Pointer, and Chris Obekpa looked like the only guys who wanted to compete. Obekpa blocked everything that came near him and worked incredibly hard on the boards. Couldn't get anything to drop, but I will forever have a soft spot for defensive-minded posts who can't score to save their lives. At least he was making things happen that kept the crowd somewhat into the game. Somewhat. Jakarr Sampson put up the numbers and made the offensive plays that kept the score from being a complete embarrassment, but somehow he didn't keep my attention the way Harrison and Obekpa did. I don't know what it is either.

It got a little rough and it got a little chippy, and I think the double foul near the end of the game that knocked Sampson and Hopkins out kept things from getting any uglier than they could have.

It was such a blowout that even the Georgetown fans really didn't get into it until the end. We only heard “Hoya Saxa” once or twice, and once was at the end. Of course, this might have been because this time we weren't in the opposing student section, we were in a section with Red Storm season ticket people, where the women's team apparently sometimes sits at men's games. I swear, that's probably not why we sat there. (But if it is, it's because St. John's hooked us up well.)

My general impressions: disappointment. Georgetown didn't even play all that well, and they still won going away. St. John's looked like they were still in November and hadn't had an opportunity to get to know each other yet. I'm not sure what Steve Lavin is doing with this team, but it's not coaching. They were making fundamental mistakes that any coach worth his salt would have knocked out of them by now.

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March 4th, 2012: West Virginia at Georgetown

Just the Facts, Ma'am: In a game that featured bad shots, contested shots, and ill fortune for both teams, the West Virginia Mountaineers took out the Georgetown Hoyas 39-32. The Mountaineers got 11 second-half points from Taylor Palmer to break the game open, while Asya Bussie had nine points and 13 rebounds. Sugar Rodgers led the Hoyas with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but no other Georgetown player managed more than five points, as Georgetown shot 14.7% from the field for the game.

For amateur photography, battling bands, the song that never changes, and shooting so bad the rims were unkind the rest of the night, join your intrepid and drained blogger after the jump.

Good morning, everyone! We're coming to you on a slight delay from the XL Center in Hartford for what I can only describe as a metric ton of basketball. Please note that your intrepid blogger had been up since 3:30AM, so if these notes descend into incoherency and/or more tangents than usual, I beg your forgiveness (and Q's editing).

It's a good sign when your bus driver is a St. John's fan as you make your way out to Hartford. We arrived right on time, maybe even slightly early, and found breakfast at the Hilton next to the XL Center. Got to wave hello to our team, which was nice. Pretty sure I saw Harry Perretta jogging past in shorts, which was not so nice. Definitely crossed paths with Quentin Hillsman, and furthermore deponent sayeth not.

The XL Center was prepared for fans to come early- this pregame prelude is being typed in the Hoopla Hangout just off the Hallway of Champions. Unfortunately for the sanity of all involved, it is also being typed to a repeating loop of "A Horse With No Name". It's already played at least six times; if you don't get any further notes from me, it's because I went berserk and damaged XL Center property. The chairs and couches are very comfy, though, and the power strip is much appreciated.

I would love to win one of the autographed balls, except for the St. John's one because I've already got a poster on my wall at home and a poster on my wall at the office, both signed by this year's team. It's fascinating to see teams' culture as expressed by signatures and game balls.

There will be beads. It will be glorious.

So far there's been a batch of UConn fans, some Rutgers fans, a couple of Notre Dame fans, scattered members of the West Virginia band, a few Marquette fans who wished us luck, and some Nova people. I'm hoping to see someone from every team, even if it's just team officials.

Just saw a guy in an awesome West Virginia jacket. The Mountaineers' fans are drifting in in greater numbers. Credit to them.

The XL Center/ESPNU is doing their best to make sure that folks in the upper deck on the non-TV side are represented. They're doing it by moving us down to the lower bowl and on the TV side in exchange for a blurb for a video for the 30th anniversary or something- look, it's a free upgrade, I don't care.

A few Georgetown fans have arrived to back their team. There's a few well-dressed Louisville fans in the next section with some very nifty gear, and a Pitt fan who seems to have joined them just to cheer against West Virginia. And the Georgetown and West Virginia bands have declared war on each other- Georgetown's band played "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)"- at which point West Virginia answered with the same song (and better). And then there was cacophony as the teams came out around the same time.

This is forty-seven flavors of ugly at the half. It's 15-12 West Virginia, and there is some impressive tackling going on by the Mountaineers. Georgetown's been retaliating with trips and hip-checks. I've seen Georgetown players leave with blood three times already.

There is a random Maryland fan over by the Louisville fans, sitting with someone in a "I Back Pat" shirt. Lost Rebounders? Have the Basketcases misplaced anyone? Props also to the guy in the Cincinnati cap- it takes a real fan to admit to being a Cincy fan these days. We are currently being serenaded by a high school choir (guys, "America the Beautiful" is not the national anthem, you don't have to stand).

Rodgers has eight to lead Georgetown; five each for Bussie and Bethel.

Holy Mary, mother of God. Don't ever let that happen again. I am not taking the Lord or the Virgin's name in vain. That is a prayer, not a blasphemy. Do not let a game like that happen again, I beg You.

The Guest Notes of Doom mentioned that Briana Brown off the bench was the heroine of the game when Georgetown was the home team against St. John's. Taylor Palmer served the same role for West Virginia. She got West Virginia going with a three that sparked off a full-fledged offensive run. Akilah Bethel provided a full third of the Mountaineers' offense in the first half, all five points of it. Averee Fields came on late. I don't remember Brooke Hampton doing much other than committing a foul.

Asya Bussie was how we knew that the Connecticut Sun's old PA announcer was doing this tournament. We thought it was him from the voice and the flaming red hair, but then he gave Asya Bussie the same call he gave Asjha Jones back in the day, and that was a clincher. She came up big for the Mountaineers, though how she didn't get called for anything after giving Adria Crawford some free dental work, I will never know. She didn't have to score a lot, but she was big on the boards and in the middle. Ayana Dunning ran into foul trouble in the second half and was generally knocked out of her comfort zone. Not that anyone was actually comfortable in that game, but you know what I mean. I think Christal Caldwell was the one who kept getting bad luck on her shots. I don't recall much about Linda Stepney and Harlee, other than tough play and missed shots.

Alexa Roche played well for Georgetown in the first half, but not so much in the second half. Tia McBride tried to get things going, with no luck. You're going to hear that phrase a lot in this part of the game notes; we're talking about a team that shot 14.7% from the field. Andrea White looked lost in the one stretch that she was in for, which was probably why she only played in that one stretch. Alexa Roche had the hands going on defense with steals and two gorgeous blocks. Morgan Williams is not ready to take over for Rubylee Wright yet. She doesn't have good control (or perhaps understanding) of the offense, and her judgment is a bit suspect.

I thought Tia Magee was going to kill someone by the end of the game. It might have been one of the West Virginia players, it might have been one of the refs, it might even have been one of her own teammates. But between her inability to hit even the chippies and the physical beating she was taking, she was hot under the collar. Adria Crawford was also irked, though that was from a simpler reason- she got an elbow in the mouth and nothing to show for it. Sydney Wilson played well in the middle, but I think she was out of position more than she would want to admit. She had to come out for blood early in the first half. Rubylee Wright was at a major disadvantage for most of the game, and it didn't help that defensive switches or a lack thereof kept leaving her on Asya Bussie. I don't think I have to tell you why it's a bad idea for little bitty Rubylee Wright to be on a big bruiser like Asya Bussie. Sugar Rodgers tried so hard to keep her team in the game, crashing the boards and fighting for loose balls in addition to her usual shooting, but West Virginia's defense was keying on her for most of the game, especially in the second half, and she was often trying to force things against two and three defenders. When those defenders are Mountaineers, that plan does not work all that well.

Lots and lots of physical play. Lots and lots of fouls that should have been called. Lots and lots of fouls that were called. And then the clanking began. West Virginia missed something like five free throws in a row to let Georgetown stay within six points until they got one from Bussie.

West Virginia played ugly, but Georgetown played ugly, stupid, and desperate. They were forcing things, and I suspect they were missing their signals. There were a lot of looks back and forth and a lot of animosity in the air after turnovers or especially egregious defensive breakdowns.

The best part of the game was when the Georgetown band played "Hey! (Baby)" and the West Virginia band immediately started singing along. That's really not the kind of thing that should be the best part of the game.

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January 15th, 2012: Georgetown at St. John's

For kvetching, potential, a lack of senior leadership, and jackassery, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.
I will be brutally honest. I am not interested in men's basketball- at least, not to the extent that I'm interested in women's basketball. The Madison Square Garden doubleheader is my least favorite game on the women's schedule. I'm paying more money for worse seats, the stink of beer wafts over the whole scene, I'm crammed in with way too many people, and inevitably, the largest and most vocal fan base in the building belongs to the men's opponents, with whom I have nothing in common.

Today, it really doesn't help that I'm in the wedge behind the Georgetown bench, which means that the Hoyas have two rows of students behind us, so the call and response of “HOYA!” “SAXA!” has already rung out behind me once. It also doesn't help that the Georgetown fans have had a lot more to cheer about. I have to grit my teeth and wait through the Hoyas' cheers and all these people everywhere for the game that I paid a ridiculous amount of money to see.

It's hard to imagine what benefit St. John's thinks the Garden has for them these days. What kind of draw can it be to go into your “home” arena and have the opponents' cheers roaring out? Does playing at the Garden mean that much to a player that it doesn't matter that the crowd's not behind them? Honest curiosity.

Show up on time and sit down. Don't hang out on the concourse during play, and don't get irked that people are asking you to sit down during play. This is not rocket science.

Georgetown killed the Red Storm with depth. Not that they're insanely deep like the Stanford women are, where there are legitimately three separate lines like a hockey team, but eight players put up double-digit minutes, which is more players than St. John's put on the floor. I'm working under the assumption that Otto Porter either had the game of his life, that he doesn't usually come off the bench, or that he's their strike-fear-into-the-hearts-of-men reserve that I've always coveted for any of my teams. He's a baller. I was very impressed with him. Since I didn't buy the scorecard, I don't know what year he is, so I don't know if this is the culmination of four years of polishing or if he's a top-notch underclassman. They also got some quality minutes out of Greg Whittington.

It's very wrong to be going to a game at the Garden and seeing a Starks on the floor who, 1) is not wearing #3, 2) is not someone I'm supposed to be cheering for. Henry Sims had surprisingly nice touch for a center. Hollis Thompson killed the Red Storm from beyond the arc- any time they tried to mount a defense of their dignity, he hit one, and the Georgetown fans roared, and the St. John's fans went silent. (Honestly, people. I'm not even all that much a fan of the men and I was louder than half of you. Shame, shame, shame, shame on you.) Since I didn't buy the scorecard, and since I was trying to drown out the Georgetown fans behind us, I don't have much better detail than that, other than the fact that their rebounding was damn good. They stayed hard on the boards, especially as the game wore on and St. John's got tired.

Amir Garrett has potential, but it's pretty clear that he's still shaking off the rust, and that he's got a lot of rust to shake off. Given time to be fully incorporated into the team's plays and to gain familiarity with his teammates, he'll be a valuable part of the team (if he doesn't leave for one reason or another; sorry, guys, but at this point this is almost a required disclaimer). Malik Stith was not making good decisions with the ball, which is never a good sign from a senior. He should know this by now, whatever 'this' is.

D'Angelo Harrison should not be a top option for this team. He's streaky, he doesn't make smart plays, he takes shots he shouldn't take- for a team that had a full range of personnel, he'd be a situational shooter, but he's in a position where either he has to gun or he's allowed to gun, and neither of those is good for St. John's. Phil Greene, do not be scared of the ball. It isn't going to bite you. I've never seen a guard pass up an open lane. A shot from an open lane, yes, but backing away from an open lane until you're at the arc, and then passing off, in a shot clock situation? Seriously? God'sgift Achiuwa looked like a guy who can play, but one who was outmatched by the Georgetown front line (I hear the Hoyas are known for centers). He wasn't awful, which is more than I can say about a couple of his teammates. Sir'Dominic Pointer impressed me on the defensive end of the floor, and hey, at least he got to the line and hit his free throws. Definitely a keeper, and hey, we know he'll probably stick around. Last, but most definitely not least, wow, Moe Harkless. He's only a freshman? Seriously? Can we get the birthers on this? Guy's got to be at least a junior, the way he plays. Granted, he commits stupid freshman fouls, like his fifth (which hurts even more because he backed off the play the first time so he wouldn't get it, then went back in on the offensive rebound by G'town). If he stays, and if St. John's can get him a good solid second option so he doesn't have to do everything around here, and if his teammates can be allowed to play the complementary roles they're more suited for... this team can be for real.

I do wish Dunlap had given the walk-ons and the guys who are there just to make muster a little time at the end of the game, when it was 20 points. It's MSG. It might not be the only Garden game they get, but don't run your guys into the ground in a game that's already dead and buried. Is margin really that important?

To whatever idiot set off a firecracker in the men's room: may you step on Legos in the dark every night for the rest of your life, and may you be afflicted with explosive diarrhea in a traffic jam.

Can't say much about the officials in this one- it's hard to see the finer points of play from the 300s. That's one of the things I miss when I'm in the higher seats. Seems like St. John's wasn't getting the calls, but the Red Storm didn't do as much to draw the fouls as the Hoyas did.

If I got into men's basketball, I could get into this team next year.

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February 13th, 2011: Georgetown at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: It took overtime, five threes from Amanda Burakoski, a double-double from Da'Shena Stevens, and a near triple-double from Nadirah McKenith, but St. John's fought off #17 Georgetown, 75-71. The Hoyas' Sugar Rodgers led all scorers with 23 points, and Tia Magee had 14 of her 16 in in the second half, but they were the only double-figure scorers for Georgetown. Burakoski's 15 points led the Red Storm, with McKenith adding 13 to go with nine assists and eight rebounds, and Stevens chipping in 12 points and 10 boards.

For lockdown defense, amazing a capella singing, threats of physical harm, stunning defensive plays, memorabilia, and the urge to rush the floor, join your intrepid and congested blogger after the jump.

Oh my God, what a game! This was the game we were expecting last year at McDonough. This was the game we've been waiting for this team to play on national television. This was the moment that this team needed to prove that they could step up and play with, if not the big dogs, the medium dogs. I know it's pink, and that was sort of frustrating, because our red does not go well with pink, but that was the only frustrating bit of the whole thing. We got a lot of people at the game, and a lot of people who got into the game when they were needed. This was what February Frenzy is supposed to be about, when you make your mark and make your stand and show what you've got on national television.

Dear lost marketing child, women's games at Carnesecca Arena are general admission. Don't check our tickets. We've been sitting next to the band all season, and if you watch the replay on ESPN360, you will hear us cheering.

Shoutout to the Metropolitones, who sang an awesome anthem and a spine-chilling rendition of Alicia Keys's “Empire State of Mind”. I have always said that the one thing I liked about Blaze was her fetish for Sweet Adelines and a capella groups.

I don't want to say that we're fixtures in our section, but I think one of Coach Barnes Arico's daughters tried to enlist us as baby-sitters for her when the rest of the family was late to the game. Just for the record, this is one of those things that would probably not end well and would result in us being banned from St. John's games and facilities for the rest of our lives, and that would be heart-breaking.

It takes two teams to make a great game, and I have to give Georgetown some props. They could have easily folded when we went on a 7-0 run after they tied it at 50. But they surged back, and when we surged back, they surged back, and it wasn't until Nadirah McKenith was hitting free throws on a bad ankle that we were able to put them away. They did a great job of finding the open player time and time again. I sort of feel bad for Tia McBride, though; yes, if my parents had named me Tommacina, I would probably go by Tia as well, and I'm sorry that St. John's left her full name on the roster. She had a very solid game as the sixth woman, including a great defensive play to disrupt a fast break. Sydney Wilson has impressive size, but she's not sure how to use it. She missed a lot of bunnies that she should have hit. I wasn't thrilled about her checking Da'Shena Stevens into the boards like she was trying out for the Caps or something. Morgan Williams gave minutes off the bench at the point, and while I don't have detailed +/-, I don't know that the team was better for her being in the game. I think the loud contingent behind the Georgetown bench was there for Alexa Roche, the New Yorker on the team, who brought size (but really, she's a guard? NO WAI!). I thought it was interesting that Williams-Flornoy went to her deep bench early in the game, but it paid off for them later in the game.

Sugar Rodgers does amazing things with the basketball, and she's got good hands, but sometimes I think she's trying too hard to make every shot look like it should be on the highlight reel. I wonder if she's trying to be Angel McCoughtry, to put Georgetown on the map and keep them there the way Angel did for Louisville, to make sure that everyone's watching so they can see what her team can do. Because that's the thing: Sugar Rodgers is one hell of a player, but she's got some great teammates around her. Monica McNutt didn’t have a great game, as compared to last year when she kicked our butts. But Tia Magee was hitting big shots every time we turned around- for a six-two forward, she's got some range. Adria Crawford played a good game, including one steal where she picked off the pass like she was trying out for cornerback for the Redskins. (Do it, Adria! They need all the help they can get!) Rubylee Wright ran a great game at point, and how appropriate is it that a tiny guard is from a town caled Latta? I'm not making this up. She drove the lane and put up shots that were Mark Jackson-esque. And then there was the block on Sky Lindsay, and that wasn't one of those blocks a five-three player gets on a five-eleven player where the taller player has it down at her ankles. Those were some serious ups on Wright.

Georgetown doesn't let you think. They don't give you time. If you take a moment to think, they'll strip you or force a violation from you. You have to think fast to beat the Hoyas. They're loud, too.

Nadirah must still be recovering from something, because Keylantra Langley was a straight swap for her a few times. I don't recall Key doing anything statistically relevant except for one of the dumbest turnovers I've ever seen. Jennifer Blanding came to play today. It's not going to look like it from the stat sheet, because she only had four points and two rebounds, but believe me when I say that she had a nice presence in the paint and didn't make any horrible mistakes that had us burying our faces in our hands. That was the game we needed from Biglove. That was also the game we needed from Amanda Burakoski, who went on a hot streak in the first half from beyond the arc to build our lead- oh, and hit the three to force overtime. She had some deplorable defensive lapses, especially on one basket by Monica McNutt where she wasn't even facing her player. That was probably why Eugeneia McPherson came in as the defensive switch late in the game- though Gina's offense was not as solid as I've gotten used to, she hit her free throws (with a little help from St. John on some of those back-rim shots) and had a nice little run with a basket and a steal as part of the 7-0 run.

Coco Hart works hard against a lot of players who are bigger than she is, and I'll always respect her for that. But she had some really boneheaded plays today. One turnover was so egregious I ended up yelling that it was the third dumbest thing I'd ever seen her do. Sky Lindsay didn't do a lot, but she didn't make any major mistakes, and her shots were well-timed. We needed Buzz's offense and Gina's defense more than we needed her steady hand, so she didn't play a lot. Da'Shena Stevens put in some serious work on the boards, and took a lot of physical abuse for. She seemed to be in the right place at the right time on a lot of plays. Her offensive rebound off her missed free throw was huge late in the game. We don't win this game without Nadirah McKenith running the offense, crashing the boards, blocking shots, and hitting her free throws in the OT- on a bad ankle (from where we were, we thought it was a quad, but when we asked her, “How's your leg?” she specified her ankle, so I'm going to trust the judgment of the injured person over mine). She stepped up when we needed her, flirting with a triple-double. But we also don't win this game without Shenneika Smith. Neika didn't have a great offensive game, though she started the game hot, but her defense on Sugar Rodgers was critical to the win. I know, Rodgers had 23 points- but most of those came when Shenneika was out of the game, on fast breaks, or when there was a screen for her. When Shenneika was on her, she was locked down. Period. Gina couldn't stop her, Nana couldn't stop her, and Coco couldn't stop her, but Neika could, and that was all the difference. I'd much rather see Shenneika sacrifice her offense to help keep an opposing star in check.

The officiating was all right, for the most part. Some of the calls were a little sketchy, and Kathleen Lynch seemed to think Nana had kicked her puppy or something. But you live and learn.

I'm glad Rebecca Lobo enjoyed her visit. I was quite squeeful that she was at our place. What can I say? My summer jersey is #50 in Lib black. And we had a brief conversation with the father of our grad assistant... it is very disconcerting to see Mike Thibault not dressed to coach, you know? Especially when you're a fan of his and kind of wished he'd have hauled down I-95 when Donovan went to Seton Hall?

We did not wear pink. One of these days, when I've remembered to get out the flame retardant, I have a screed against pinkwashing saved on my flash drive, but today it boiled down to “it's a rivalry game against a ranked team, I am NOT messing with my superstitions, okay?” The only sop we made to the Cause was that we brought, and my darlin' fiance wore pregame, an Edna Campbell jersey. I was sort of hoping someone would ask why his Storm jersey was the wrong color.

They did an autograph session after the game, and though we've been there and done that, we wanted to congratulate the team for the big win. This is when Nadirah obligingly told us what she injured. We ran into Buzz's mom and told her that whatever she said to Buzz, she needs to say it more often. Apparently it was, “I'm gonna kill you if you don't shoot the ball.” Which... would not shock me horribly. Buzz's mom is intense. The scorecard is going up in the office. And hey, I think we've stopped scaring Da'Shena! (Day comes off as... really, really, really shy around people she doesn't know. I mean, she's usually been sick when forced to interact with strangers, so maybe that's it, but I always feel bad that she's monosyllabic around us. We're not trying to be scary!)

I think I'll leave this here in the warm glow of the biggest win of the season. Go Storm!

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