Just the Facts, Ma'am: In a morning match-up, UMBC came out victorious at Seton Hall, overcoming a fourth-quarter deficit in the final minute to win 57-53 over Kennesaw State. Te'yJah Oliver and Janee'a Summers each had 13 points to lead the Retrievers, with Oliver adding a team-high five rebounds. Alexis Poole had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Kennesaw State in the loss.
For a drama in one act, traveling fans, long roads, hazy recollections, and being so tired, join your intrepid and temporally displaced blogger after the jump.
You can't see my face, because this is the Internet, and this will probably be posted several hours after the aforementioned facial expression. But I'm not happy. I'm not happy because it's 7:30 on Sunday morning and I've already been awake for the last hour, because it takes that long to get to Seton Hall from where I am on a Sunday morning. I already disapprove of Seton Hall scheduling games at 11 in the morning, so you can imagine how I feel about scheduling a double-header. Sleep. Sleep is for the weak.
I have such stupid direction-face that I can tell someone I don't know where they're going and they still come back to ask again. And then she gets annoyed that I'm annoyed. I already told you I don't know what you want! Leave me alone!
I think this is the first time I've had a panhandler ask for directions to the place where they're going to beg for money. I'm too tired for this. I'm too tired for everything. Below follows a sample of why.
Panhandler: *panhandles*
Fellow passenger: "You already been this way, go around the other way."
Panhandler: "Nah, I'm not going that way."
(Exit Panhandler, that way.)
So here we are, ready to see Kennesaw State and UMBC in the first game of the second day of Seton Hall's Tip-Off Classic. Didn't get to see a lot of their shootaround because of schmoozing.
Kennesaw State's gear is very yellow. UMBC's gear is very black. They have sort of a baseball look going with their warm-up shirts. I shouldn't be surprised. They're Under Armour. I also shouldn't be surprised at that.
Hi, Danaejah!
At halftime of a competitive but not fundamentally sound game, UMBC is up 23-20 on Kennesaw State.
Under Armour seems to have a sports bra problem. Dominika Skrocka and Kayla Jackson are both bouncing badly. Skrocka is actually giving me sympathy pains in the chest.
Funny moment of the game: ball goes out of bounds behind the "celebrity row" chairs right on the sideline. It ricochets between the chairs and the first row of bleachers a couple of times. Finally, it comes to rest, and Kamiyah Street attempts to pull it up through the space between the seat and the back of the chair, only to discover that said space is not large enough for a basketball. This is followed by Tyler Moore kicking back a completely different chair as if it had offended her sensibilities. (To be fair, it was impeding her ability to inbound the ball.)
Family here for both teams- Berenato's for Kennesaw, Janee'a Summers's for UMBC.
That turned into a very fun game at the end. Free throws win ballgames, or so I've been told. UMBC left the door open briefly, and Kennesaw walked right into the wall.
Sariah Penese played very briefly in the first half and disappeared for the second. Kristen Teklits came into the game and turned the ball over pretty much on her first touch, so that didn't go well. Kayla Jackson got some second half run, and though the foul was a rough start, she played pretty well. Big, tough guard. (for the record, I didn't even notice Silvia Ferreiros come in, which is a little bit embarrassing, so can't comment on a player whose existence I literally forgot)
Dominika Skrocka kept her team in the game late with three-point shooting. Seriously, though, please get her a better bra. I'm about to go beg the Twitter account. Tyler Moore was named by parents who either didn't watch TV or watched too much of it. There's something I like about her, but I can't put my finger on it. Lucrezia Costa got a lot of minutes in the post, and got rough down there.
Janee'a Summers had family, or friends, or someone, in the house, since there was a whole lot of noise for her. I couldn't see them, since they got there after I sat down, but I could hear them. She made some big plays in the fourth quarter. Eryn Fisher got the start, but I don't think she played any of the crucial minutes.
O'lesheya Braxton showed some great defense in the first quarter, then got in foul trouble and sat most of the first half. Then she started the third quarter like gangbusters, driving the lane hard and scoring in rapid succession. I'm very impressed with her- and she's only a freshman! When she wasn't driving, Te'yJah Oliver was. They powered the Retrievers' offense in the second half. Paula Rubio brought height, but left no other impression.
Breanna Hoover didn't start the game for Kennesaw State, but she started the second half, and managed to foul out in those twenty minutes. Well done there, right? Lexi Mann got a few minutes in the first half and didn't look terrible. I'd honestly have gone with her more than I would have Simina Avram, whose only claim to fame in that game was her size. Avram couldn't hit at the rim, couldn't rebound, and kept having to be shuttled in and out of the game because of her conditioning (or lack thereof).
I may be a little tiny bit in basketball infatuation with Alexis Poole. She reminded me so much of one of my all-time favorites, DeAngelique Waithe. Her ups aren't quite as crazy, and she's not the maniac on inbounds that Angel was at LIU. But her style of play is so much the same, in the paint and on the glass (and yes, this does mean missing bunnies). I'm really excited to see how she develops. Carlotta Gianolla had to pick up more minutes than I think she wanted to. I remember her being in the mix a lot, but not necessarily making the play herself.
Amani Johnson ran the show with a firm hand. She's a tough little guard. I like her, too. Visually, she reminds me of Jen Fay, the Quinnipiac player I did so love to hate. (I say this with the greatest of respect.) Their playing style isn't similar, save for their shared love of going after loose balls. I think they need to get more offense from her. I think they also need to get better shooting from Kamiyah Street. I can see the weapon she can be, but it didn't work out in this game.
This isn't quite a power team like Berenato had at Pitt, although they've got some of that with Poole on the inside. I think she's okay with that.
I have to say, this game got pretty exciting in the fourth, when it was a slog of missed shots for much of the first. Both teams stepped up their game late. UMBC just had a little more firepower.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
November 11th, 2018: UMBC at Kennesaw State (at Seton Hall)
Friday, July 15, 2011
July 15th, 2011: Connecticut at New York
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Second-half shooting woes nipped a comeback in the bud as the New York Liberty lost 68-59 to the Connecticut Sun in Newark. Kia Vaughn led New York with 15 points and nine rebounds. Tina Charles had 15 points for the Sun.
For late arrivals, non-arrivals, and far too much time spent on TV Tropes, join your intrepid and uninspired blogger after the jump.
I'm not feeling an auspicious start for this team. It's past six and I'm still in Brooklyn. With all apologies to the Langhorne family, words cannot sufficiently express how much I hate the MTA. I'm going to miss tip-off, and my season ticket rep is going to hear it again about our renewal being predicated on the ability to make it to the game on time.
Tina Charles is beasting in this first half. She looks unstoppable. I have a feeling of impending doom about this, although we're only down one.
It got kinda church up in here at halftime. I'm really not sure what to think of a church group dancing to gospel music on the floor here. I don't bring my basketball to your church, do you have to bring your church to my basketball?
I... do not think it is a brilliant plan to encourage people to wear youth basketball gear on the day Spoon is being added to the Ring of Honor. Encouraging people not to wear Liberty gear? So they can get a free shirt which is also not Liberty-branded? This... is not exactly what I would call a great marketing strategy, kids. You want your logo plastered on everything, and you certainly don't want people to be afraid to cover up something that isn't team-branded with something that is.
I missed the start of the game thanks to the sterling service of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, so I can't tell you anything about the anthem, or why Danielle McCray started, or any of that other good stuff.
Allison Hightower saw time to stop the hot hand. Five billion is quite an impressive number to put in the box score, but probably not the kind she was looking for. Kara Lawson came off the bench, and people, you cannot leave her open behind the arc. She brought some physical defense, too. Kelsey Griffin did her work on the boards with some nice positioning. Jessica Moore has been taking acting lessons from DeMya Walker. Tan White was relentless and a bit annoying.
Tina Charles could have done a lot worse to us tonight, so I'd like to thank her for going easy on Quanitra Hollingsworth and Kia Vaughn. We did a better job than I expected of keeping her off the boards, though. Danielle McCray started, presumably to take advantage of our lack of size, and she played solidly. Renee Montgomery is fast. I feel like I keep saying that, but she is. I also think she's been spending a little too much time with her friend the football player, because I'm pretty sure that you can't throw low blocks in basketball. Asjha Jones got her work done in her usual style. Same for Kalana Greene, with a dose of hard-nosed defense- I think she played a large part in Cappie Pondexter's inability to put on her cape and save the day.
Felicia Chester scored! And okay, she put in decent effort, and she's got that famed “pro body”. But she needs to get overseas this winter and hone her game. I assume some of the problems about not knowing the plays and where she needs to be on the floor will be resolved with time. However, her footwork and her ballhandling need a lot of help. Sydney Colson had eighteen seconds to look kinda pretty on the floor. Sidney Spencer was, um, out there. Somewhere, at some point. Unfortunately, she did nothing relevant. Essence Carson was back to her inability to see; looks like someone needs new glasses to adjust to the lighting. At least Alex Montgomery discovered this strange new thing called offense that is so rarely seen at Georgia Tech. Her defense suffered for it, but we must all suffer for new and exciting experiences.
Paging Nicole Powell's shot. Would you please come home? We miss you very much. If you miss the robot jokes, I can totally bring them back if it means Powell finds her shot again! Because I'm sorry, no professional basketball player should miss a breakaway layup and follow that up with missing an open three. Her rebounding was all right, but she was slow on defense too. Argh. Grr. Kia Vaughn had some nice moves in the post, and did a nice job on the boards, but her passing and ballhandling were sloppy. I must assume that something's wrong with Leilani Mitchell, and that's why she wasn't diving for loose balls or exerting much of anything that could be considered proper effort. Her shot was off, her defense was lousy... we really need a bigger point guard. All apologies to Leilani and her fans, but I'm running out of patience. Quanitra Hollingsworth got the start in place of Plenette Pierson, and she did a nice job on defense, but offensively... Q, it's okay, you don't have to solve Fermat's Last Theorem in your head, you can settle for calculating the parabolic arc of your free throws. And Cappie Pondexter... I suppose I should be grateful that she wasn't trying to take over the game, but at the same time, that's what she's paid to do. Connecticut's defense did a nice job on her, but she had her moments where she could have taken over and didn't.
Our defense was pretty damn good. Our offense, however, would put the Keystone Kops to shame. Sloppy passing, sloppy ballhandling, tipped rebounds off teammates, tipped rebounds to opponents... it was a hot mess.
The officiating didn't help, either. It got a little chippy out there; perhaps playing in New Jersey brought back UConn-Rutgers memories for the five Huskies and three Scarlet Knights. There were some sketchy out of bounds calls.
Donna Orender was at the game, and was duly honored (though I do hope that they consulted with Kia before giving the Prima Donna a #15 jersey, I'm just saying). She worked her way up and through the crowd, schmoozing the night away.
We were also graced with the presence of Tweety Nolan. I am intrigued by this development.
I'm too tired to give really substantive analysis at this point, but I do think we need to pull it together on offense. We had our chances in the fourth quarter and blew them because we couldn't hit water if we fell out of a boat.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
December 1st, 2009: Stetson @ St. John's
St. John's Red Storm 87, Stetson Hatters 51
The Game Notes see you, baby, shaking that ass... oh, sorry, no, you're kicking it, not shaking it.
There's no place like home court. There's no place like home court. There's no place like home court. *clicks Red shoes*
They've renovated the place since last season. Finally, they updated the WNIT banner. Only took them two seasons, but what the hell. It's not like it's something important like the CBI. So much shiny! We have a notreallyJumbomorelikeMediumtron! And an entrance video! And graphics! I'm tearing up here.
This team is much looser than I've seen from them before. They laugh and tease each other a lot during warm-ups and stretches. The seniors don't get much involved in it, but everyone else does. No one else dances the way Sky does, though.
The band does not suck. This is, like, a great revelation for me. It is joy. (But not Joy. This is why capitalization matters.) However, cheerleader third from the left, pull your skirt down, the bottoms of your asscheeks aren't that interesting.
Buzz, you're adorable and we know you love your team, and you seem like a nice kid, but, um, some of your family members appear to have been raised in a barn. Please remind them not to talk during the anthem, especially when ROTC is presenting colors.
Stetson knows the game- they just had a lot of trouble executing. There were a lot of crisp passes that were too fast, too strong, or not well-timed. They kept it close through the first few minutes, and that's with St. John's pitching an eight-minute shutout to open the game. Then we remembered how to rebound and Kelly remembered how to shoot. End of story.
Daphnee Frieson gave us a lot of trouble down on the block, because of her size. She wasn't afraid to body up on our slim posts. Janelle Mills tried to do the same thing, but being slightly shorter and somewhat less talented, she had less success at it. Simone Taylor jump-started their offense off the bench, somewhat aggressively. Don't leave Ashley Dennis open- we're lucky she only put in two triples on us. Hell, even the St. John's men were yelling for her to shoot it. Dashauna Truss also put up in a couple of triples.
I seem to recall Stetson's starting guards doing a lot of stupid things, driving into multiple players and throwing up prayers. (Not smart when the refs are calling it pretty loose.) Ashli Jackson was the only player to break double figures for the Hatters, doing it with a mix of shots. But yeah. Lots of fail and stupid from Jessica Conner, Tierra Brown, Kerri Simpson, and Lyllique Roman.
I'm sorry, Stetson. I only have two plays starred for you, and they both belong to Daphnee Frieson, a nice block and a hard rebound.
Getting up twenty in the first half and stretching the lead further in the second meant that we got to see a lot of the bench. I wish Britney had gotten into the game (no, not that one, where do you think we are, Colorado?), but I'm glad the freshmen got a chance to strut their stuff. Eugeneia was a little over her head, and she didn't play much. Buzz got the bulk of the guard minutes off the bench. She really needs to work on her timing on her defensive plays, but she's got the right instincts and lots of moxie. Her shots were falling tonight, though when they weren't it was obvious why- she uses every bit of the rim and glass that she possibly can- I don't ever want to get into a game of HORSE with her. Kelly found her shot again and it was glorious. We've discovered her problem: if she tries to shoot a women's three, she'll shoot it too long. She was canning them from behind the men's line all night, though. Jennifer, who I keep referring to as Not-the-Kia!, got some time, shoots free throws with too much spin, and managed to foul out in ten minutes. She is also the loudest player I've ever heard. Yeah, Not-the-Kia! needs a bit more polishing, and fast, so we can hit somebody in conference play. Coco's gotten a little stronger, it looks like, and she's crashing the boards well, but she still engages in acts of epic fail that do not amuse.
Sky really dominated the ball today, and in a good way- she scored six early, quick points, including one shot off a carom off the side of the backboard from a truly heinous shot from Da'Shena. Can't make it up if I tried. She set up Joy on a gorgeous fast break, and got one back on a steal from Nadirah in the second half. Joy took a while to warm up- she looked really out of it in the first half, then started going inside again in the second ad doing her thing, tipping balls and getting easy buckets. Nadirah committed some awful freshman mistakes- dumb fouls, sloppy ballhandling- but found her teammates well. She really makes things go smoothly, which opens things up for Sky, which makes everyone happy. Da'Shena had a quiet game, and a lot of the shots she missed were easy ones. But we didn't need her to have a big game, which is a refreshing change. Okay, it was only Stetson, but having such balance is a good thing.
I've seen this crew before. They called it pretty loose. I can't complain too much, since if there was any favoritism, it was towards St. John's, and while I might comment on bias towards my team, I'll never complain about it.
The crowd seemed bigger than I remembered, but they were giving away free t-shirts to students. Whatever. I'm happy with my magnetic schedules. *covers everything*
It was good to be home. GNoD approved!
Monday, April 14, 2008
December 29th, 2007: Fordham Holiday Invitational
Rose Hill Gym is beautiful, the Fordham Rams need a lot of help, and Fairfield is all over the offensive boards.
Rose Hill Gym is one of the most beautiful places to go see basketball that I've ever been. The whole campus gives the impression of being archetypal: time is immaterial, and the hubbub of the Bronx is left behind, replaced by a hush as the stone buildings and wide spaces absorb the sound. The gym is small, but surprisingly comfortable. One side of the seating offers actual seats, while the endcourts and the side behind the benches offer bleachers. Unsurprisingly, the seats are the most popular.
I don't know if Fordham normally has a band, or if they were at some other event, or they refrained from using theirs to not show up the other teams in this holiday tournament they hosted. Whatever the situation, the music was canned, and not very well piped. They had a half dozen cheerleaders who were as perky as they could be while maintaining the world-weary sense that they weren't leading much at all. The crowd was surprisingly male-dominated, what there was of it- not very loud, except when Fordham (or, for the visiting fans, Fairfield) made a run. I hope they're more enthusiastic when Fordham doesn't suck, because Rose Hill Gym deserves to have passionate fans rocking it.
Mount St. Mary's started off very balanced, providing an interesting counterpoint to Fordham's one-option system, but when they needed someone to step up on offense, it was Lauren Howell, a sniper from New Jersey who looks disconcertingly like Nicole Wolff (and just to confuse matters even further, one of her teammates looks disconcertingly like a shorter, wider Ann Strother). Tiffany Green was their firestarter, a small, quick guard with very good hands on defense- there was one play where Fordham had a sure fast break that she disrupted with a well-timed deflection. She had a tendency to overdramatize contact, which irked me slightly, because Mount St. Mary's really needed no help from the referees that they weren't already getting- for the record, this isn't a slight on the crew, since I thought it was actually a pretty decently called game, but more a reflection of what Fordham seemed to believe was defense. They got some solid post play out of what bigs they had- Mary Dunn (the super-sized Strother) was especially effective, I thought, in getting position and denying the inside to the Rams.
Fordham, on the other hand, relied on freshman phenom Megan Mahoney. She doesn’t look a thing like her namesake in Connecticut, but there are definite similarities in their playing styles. Young Miss Mahoney plays all out all the time- much like the line about Jessica Bibby, she only knows one speed, and that's 90 mph. Sometimes it's to her advantage, such as when she's diving for loose balls or on the fast break. Sometimes it's a disadvantage, such as when she gets ahead of her passing or loses control of the ball. If she can learn to play within herself, to rein in some of that speed and enthusiasm, she can be a prospect, because the girl definitely has game. Of course, judging her solely on a game against Mount St. Mary's isn't fair. She and Raina Spencer did yeoman's work on Brianna Gauthier, who came in as the top scorer for Mount St. Mary's, but only managed five points. The player I really liked was Takita Earl, who had ten rebounds and a gutsy attitude. She needs to be a little more willing to shoot, though- the people next to me were screaming for her to take some of the open outside shots she had. Also, she may be the first player I've ever seen who's developed her upper body but not her lower body- she's very solid up top, but she's got the thinnest little shins I've ever seen on a post player. The not shooting thing, though, that may be a coaching decision, because the other two people in the general vicinity of six feet tall who played also didn't shoot much. (Actually, I liked the third string center, Alex Zamora, more than I liked the second-stringer, Kassie Humphries- I liked her hustle better and she seemed to have a better idea of what she should be doing on the floor.) On the other hand, one of the starting guards… lord, but I have never seen a player as clueless on the floor as Annie Zopf. She had no idea how to get out of a double team, no idea what she was supposed to be doing during some of the plays… when she was in the game, things ground to a halt and everything seemed to go wrong, not just with her, but with everyone else on the floor. I'd love to see her plus/minus…
Fordham seemed to have issues with not committing fouls. They committed a lot of stupid ones, that's for sure. I don't think they were ready for post players who would provide resistance. At 0-11, I'm not sure why…
I found out after getting to the arena that this was a tournament, and thus a doubleheader, which soothed my soul after seeing the ticket prices (yes, I know, historic gym and all, but the price differential between the A-10 and the BEast should be more than $1, yanno?). Good thing I decided to stay for the second game, because Troy and Fairfield provided a much more interesting game to watch.
Bonita, we must stop meeting like this. I'm serious. I'm starting to think either she's stalking me, she thinks I'm stalking her, or we've both decided to tour D-I basketball in the New York metro area. This is, what, the fourth venue I've seen her at this year alone? Sheesh. I didn't recognize any of the other officials.
Rebounding. Holy hell in a handbasket, can Fairfield rebound and create on second chances. According to their recap, they had 27 second chance points. They had 23 offensive rebounds… out of 45 total, and out of 43 missed shots. They just did not give up. I'm pretty sure Baendu Lowenthal got all her points on putbacks, and Stephanie Geehan had to have gotten at least half her points the same way. Sabra Wrice seemed to be their firestarter- she can actually create for herself, which in turn sets up either a scoring opportunity for her or a second chance for her teammates. The only thing that would worry me, were I a fan of Fairfield, was that once you get past that top three or four (if you toss in Tara Flaherty) there wasn't much on the floor for the Stags. Yeah, three solid players will get you past most of Fairfield's schedule, and probably even past most of the MAAC, but I think they'll have trouble with Marist and Iona. That being said, I think Frager can take them pretty far- it'll be interesting if he starts competing with Hartford for UConn's sloppy seconds.
I was primed to absolutely adore Troy. I mean, come on. Five Aussies in one place that isn't Australia. How cool is that? The funny thing is, though, that the player I walked out with an immediate fondness for and interest in was not one of the half dozen "not from these here parts" players, but forward Audrey Muse: if she could hit half the open looks she creates for herself on the inside, she'd probably be playing at Florida or Florida State instead of Troy. Both visually and athletically, she reminds me very much of Tina Thompson- she doesn't have the outside game, but she's a warrior through and through. Oh, I liked the Aussies, or at least hearing the Aussies- there's something very reassuring about that Aussie twang on the floor, like the universe has been rearranged properly- because Amy Lewis has a nice little shot and Kylie Morrissy has a knack for getting to the line. But Troy seems to be a live by the three, die by the three type of team, and when you play a team that rebounds as fiercely as Fairfield did today, you're going to be shit out of luck if the threes don't fall. They played a stubborn, sticky, man-to-man defense- but only on the first opportunities. They didn't go after the boards, and Fairfield took full advantage of that. Their coach also seemed to be trying to channel Geno. This isn't going to be a successful tactic when you play a team from Connecticut. Frager's Thibault-esque cool served much better.
I saw four different possession reversals in this game, and a completely inexplicable shot clock reset that led to a Fairfield shot hitting iron, a Stag getting the offensive rebound, and Sabra Wrice hitting a three-ball. I've never seen so many possessions reversed. Tres strange.
I thought to myself that the female commentator for Fairfield looked awfully familiar. At first I thought Doris Burke was slumming, but then I got a look at her profile and said to myself, "Hey, that looks an awful lot like Maria Conlon. Huh. I thought she was busy in the world of high finance and higher heels." But such is not the case- she might also be in the financial advising business, but she's doing the Fairfield color gig. Can't help but wonder if anyone else there recognized her.
All in all, though, I'd have to say that my favorite player on the day was actually the little girl from the first biddy game who spent much of the first half of Mount St. Mary's-Fordham wandering around the arena with a WNBA tucked under her arm. Woo for the second generation!