Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. Mary's went up by as much as 24 in the first half and held on to beat Tennessee Tech 73-58. Jackie Nared led St. Mary's with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Danielle Mauldin added 10 of her 15 in the second half. Tennessee Tech cut the lead to 1 in the second half, but couldn't get over the hump, even behind 22 points from Jala Harris and 17 second-half points from Diamond Henderson.
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Good morning once more from beautiful Carnesecca Arena! I’m taking in warmups with about twenty of my closest friends (plus my husband), as we get ready for the consolation game between Tennessee Tech and St. Mary’s. Blowing my theory out of the water, Tennessee Tech is wearing their home white and designated as the home team, while St. Mary’s is in a much more flattering road red with very old fashioned shirts.
I like a player who does a little extra shooting, and Jackie Nared is out on the floor alone for St. Mary’s, getting in a few lay-ups and shots. It was only a minute, but sometimes that means a lot. Now it’s just a half dozen Tennessee Tech fans, a handful of St. Mary’s fans, some arena staff, our ESPN3 posse, and the two of us.
At halftime, St. Mary’s is up 37-23, and we’re being treated to an excellent biddy game. Tennessee Tech went missing for a while, down as much as 24 and unable to hit pretty much anything. Then Jala Harris happened. There’s a New York Life logo on the St. John’s court, between the coach’s box and the halfcourt line. She hit a three from that logo. I was wondering when they would give her the ball. Then they did. Then they pulled closer. Maybe you should give Jala Harris the ball more. St. Mary’s had their chances to pull it out further, but they’ve missed a lot of shots close inside. Both teams are defending the offensive boards well, better than the defensive boards.
That turned out to be a better game than I was expecting in the second half. Tennessee Tech cut it to 1 with the ball, but they couldn’t help but shoot themselves in the foot over and over again, and it got away from them in the last six or so minutes. St. Mary’s and Kate Gaze made the big plays when they needed them.
Kate Gaze hitting back-to-back threes when the Golden Eagles were threatening broke Tennessee Tech’s collective back. Seriously, who leaves an Aussie open beyond the arc? Lauren Nicholson did not endear herself to me when she jabbed Jala Harris in the, er, chest with an elbow. I was happy for Amanda Arter that she got to score a basket after the defensive battles she had to cope with yesterday. The rest of the bench really didn’t do much.
Danielle Mauldin came alive in the second half. Someone must have yelled at her at halftime, because she was mixing it up on the boards more and getting points off offensive rebounds. Carli Rosenthal showed a bit of wear in this one- she was unpleasantly sweaty at a couple of points, and I’m surprised that Tennessee Tech didn’t go at her more when she was so obviously exhausted. She bodied up early and often on Tennessee Tech, which I think threw them out of their game plan. Jackie Nared seemed more focused on pulling down boards and trying to hit her teammates with quick, sharp passes. She really does seem to play the game at a different speed than most of her teammates. Morgan Hatten didn’t get a lot of good shots, but she seemed to make a lot of smart plays that you would expect out of a senior. Little things on defense and on loose balls that don’t go into the box score. I would like to see a +/- for both Hatten and Mia Greco, because either Greco is having a really bad tournament or she’s a defensive specialist.
Quira Demery got into this game, unlike yesterday, but didn’t impress me- three first-half fouls and a noticeable fumble will do that to a reserve. Tia Nicholson’s time was only at the end of the game, because Mariah Dean had an issue with her ankle brace and had to come out of the game to get it fixed, and since it was 15 points with less than two minutes to go, it wasn’t worth bringing her back in. Both Kellie and Kylie Cook came off the bench in this one, and neither of them impressed me. Candace Parson should have known better than to argue that travel. If I can see your feet shift from section 2, it’s a travel. Mariah Dean continues to impress me. She’s got a lot of potential- she makes a lot of freshman mistakes and has to have those mistakes and tendencies sandpapered off of her, but she’s got good instincts. By senior year, she’ll be All-OVC if she sticks around.
I like Lashay Davis on defense, playing the passing lanes and getting loose balls. I don’t like her shooting and shooting a lot. Diamond Henderson was MIA for most of the first half, her shots refusing to fall. She had 16 of her 18 points in the second half as the drives down the lane started to roll the other way and the three-ball started working for her. Molly Heady was nice on the boards- right at the start of the game, she got two offensive rebounds in a sea of three red jerseys. There’s something I like about her. It may just be her stubbornness, and maybe it was just this game, but I like her. T’Keyah Williams played sparingly (I suspect Coach Davis may share my opinion of Dean). Jala Harris wasn’t getting a lot of touches in the first half, and then she did things. She did lots of things. They went away from her more as Henderson got hot, and maybe that was a bad plan, but she was also in foul trouble in the second half. She didn’t make some smart decisions on defense.
The officials in this game weren’t necessarily the best refs I’ve ever seen, but the communication among the crew in making sure that they got the calls right was fantastic. They weren’t afraid to consult with each other or to change their calls. There’s a block/charge I remember with Jala Harris going into Danielle Mauldin; it was originally called a charge that would have been Harris’s third foul at a very bad juncture, then was reversed to a block when the refs noticed that Mauldin was in the circle. We like to think we helped point that out from where we were sitting, but maybe the refs were just on the ball. You know the place is quiet when the players start to get weirded out by you yelling at the refs.
I thought Jim Davis was going to get himself thrown out. I also thought Paul Thomas might get himself thrown out. Those are two very passionate coaches.
After Tennessee Tech made that huge run, I was reminded how much I want to see the match-up between them and UT-Martin. Even with the performance today, I’m not as sold on St. Mary’s.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
December 16th, 2012: St. Mary's at Tennessee Tech
Saturday, December 15, 2012
December 15th, 2012: St. Mary's at UCLA
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Behind the double-doubles of Markel Walker and Alyssia Brewer, as well as the second-half offense of Jasmine Dixon, UCLA fought off St. Mary's 76-62. Walker had 15 points and 12 rebounds; Brewer added 12 points and 10 boards. For St. Mary's, Danielle Mauldin led the way with 26 points and 9 rebounds.
For bad first impressions, rough halftimes, laundry mishaps, and raw tools, join your intrepid and less-than-coherent blogger after the jump.
On to game 2, which is pretty much everyone's cue to leave for some reason. Come on, guys, there's another game, you paid for it, you might as well stick around for it.
Johnnies, or at least Jennifer Blanding, are starting to circulate, though I think it'll take longer for people who actually played to come into the bleachers. There'll be plenty of room for them when they get here.
St. Mary's has very depressing gray/off-white home jerseys. Like someone accidentally put them in the same wash with Raiders gear or something. Iona definitely have my favorite Gaels.
Spotted between games: former St. John's star Da'Shena Stevens. I think they're giving her the grand tour of the redecorated areas. She's kind of a big deal.
At halftime, UCLA is up 35-28, and I can't figure out why it's not more. St. Mary's has rarely been able to buy a bucket. When you have a possession with five offensive rebounds followed by a deflection and side-out, you should be able to score on it. I also keep thinking St. Mary's needs to hit a weight room or something. Maybe that's just the type of player their coach recruits because they slip through the cracks, but it's sort of amusing to see all these blocky, solid players- and then Jackie Nared looking like a willow tree.
This didn't turn into anything vaguely like a rout until about the six-minute mark. I think the Gaels just ran out of gas and UCLA got inspired. Somehow.
Please note: St. Mary's wore whiteish and UCLA wore blue, but UCLA sat on the home bench and was announced as the home team. Assuming this was to allow each team to only carry one set of jerseys. Ordering is assuming UCLA as the road team.
Kari Korver took both her shots from somewhere in the vicinity of Suffolk County which really seemed to be unnecessary. Mariah Williams needs to hang out with Shakena Richardson from Rutgers, because seeing the two of them on back to back weekends was like instant replay. Williams has a knack for the flashy pass and the quick play, but needs to get some of her fundamentals down pat. Jasmine Dixon was in and out so often that I was starting to get seasickness. The physiotape on and around her knee is interesting, but I don't know if having enough tape on to build your own basketball net (and even criss-crossing it to look like a net) is a good sign for one's future. She was solid in the second half; she looked like she had gained confidence at halftime and was more willing to go into the paint. I'd just like for her to be healthy.
Thea Lemberger looked good early with her jumper. As UCLA went more to their forwards, she became less of a factor. Nirra Fields made some pretty plays. Atonye Nyingifa started to get it going in the second half close to the basket. Alyssia Brewer was a physical presence in the post, but a very slow one. They found her a little more in the second half, though not as much as I think they will tomorrow. Markel Walker started out the game with a rather dumb turnover, but righted the ship and made a nice showing. I like the way she uses her long arms on defense and the way she cuts into the lane. I don't know if she's a guard or a forward yet, though I think she needs to lean more forward if she wants to make it at the same level. I'm looking forward to getting a better look at her tomorrow.
Regrettably, Kate Gaze did not hit a three, so I had no excuse to break out the "AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI", and that makes me sad. It's St. Mary's, after all. Amanda Arter had the unenviable task of guarding Walker and Brewer at different points in the game. Fouls ensued. Shannon Mauldin got in at the end of the game and did not look comfortable. I don't have any clear recollection of the other St. Mary's reserves, which makes me sad.
For most of the first half, the plan seemed to be to run the old Southwest Missouri State offense- give the ball to Jackie and get out of the way. The fact that it was Jackie Nared instead of Jackie Stiles didn't seem relevant. She was arguably the only St. Mary's player to pass the eye test, which just goes to show what kind of bullhockey the eye test can be. She had a nice outside shots and fired off passes quite rapidly. Then Danielle Mauldin happened, reminding me very much of a young Le'Coe Willingham with her build and willingness to take the ball into the paint, coupled with a nice little midrange shot, adding some rebounding to boot. I like her. Morgan Hatten didn't have a lot of great plays, but I like that she always had a hand up when UCLA went on the fast break. Mia Greco- huh, I wonder if she's related to Michelle Greco- got tangled up in a couple of stupid plays. Carli Rosenthal cleaned up the glass fairly well.
Some screwball officiating in this one, but I've learned not to be surprised by that anymore. At least one of the guys reversed a blatantly bad out of bounds call.
St. Mary's fans were very enthusiastic. It was a pleasant surprise to hear that kind of support for a team on the other side of the country from home.