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.
For impressive freshmen, grit, loooooong shots, better fashion choices, and AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI, join your intrepid and tardy blogger after the jump.
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: Tennessee Tech at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Shenneika Smith had 15 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists to lead St. John's over Tennessee Tech 58-46. Amber Thompson added 12 points off the bench for the Red Storm. Molly Heady led the Golden Eagles with 12 points.
For offensive rebounding, Nutmeg moments, purpleyness, making up words, vivid hallucinations, and emotional rollercoasters, join your intrepid and perhaps delusional blogger after the jump.
Good morning and afternoon, everyone! I'm coming to you on slight tape delay from beautiful Carnesecca Arena, and since this is two days of double-headers, you're going to be hearing from me a lot. Since I'm borrowing a computer that is the laptop equivalent of Debbie Black, I sneaked it into the arena under my clipboard, so I'm writing up my usual pre-game.
It's sort of discomfiting, or perhaps just strange, to have a team praying on a Catholic school's court and not have it be the home team. Tennessee Tech, aren't you a public school? But I do like the Golden Eagles' purple, and the purple that their supporters are wearing behind the road bench. Some St. Mary's fans have also joined us, despite the early hour.
Mrs. Claus and the elf are here with the band. I haven't seen Santa, but this is a busy time of year for him, so I understand if he can't make it out.
Poor Cedrica Gibson. Still in street clothes. Not how I think she imagined her freshman year.
Looking forward to seeing how Jala Harris fares in her second Chartwell's; she played for UAB when they came here. I remember her being a bit of a wild thang, but liking her nonetheless.
Santa did put in an appearance, and so did Amber Thompson, and so did the cutters of Tennessee Tech. It's 29-24 St. John's at half. Amber didn't get the start, but she's got 10 points and a couple of blocks. Now, if she could just hit free throws. Tennessee Tech has a very fast-moving offense that we haven't been able to rattle as much as I'd like.
To be honest, right now, my biggest concern is that my purse has been missing since before the game, so I've been venting my frustrations during gameplay and sobbing at other times. Stupid hormones. Like I needed any more proof this week that humans are scum. (False alarm. It turned out to be at home. How I managed to hallucinate wrapping the strap around it and putting it in a bag I haven't used in years on top of a computer that isn't mine, I don't know. Hopefully my ability to have detailed delusions won't affect your opinion of my game notes.)
That was a closer game than I was expecting it to be. St. John's turned it up very late in the game, just enough to make it look more like what happens when a Big East team runs into an Ohio Valley team, even a good Ohio Valley team. Both teams were on the ball when it came to picking off errant passes.
Tennessee Tech got good minutes out of Mariah Dean in the post. She went at it in the paint with Amber. I don't know how her shooting is, but I'd be giving her the ball more if she gets in position in the paint as well on offense as she does on defense. Lashay Davis did an impressive job playing the passing lanes- she snagged two steals that might better be termed interceptions in the open court. Katherine Barker was first in off the bench, but left no real impression on me. Pretty much the same story for the rest of the Golden Eagles who came off the bench.
Diamond Henderson shredded the Red Storm defense a couple of times with her crossover. Pretty impressive, since her defender on those plays was the taller and long-limbed Shenneika Smith. I was very impressed with her. I still like Jala Harris and her ability to drive the lane- Tennessee Tech, and the Ohio Valley, are perfect fits for her, especially with the hot shooters of Tennessee-Martin out there. Someone needs to put those games on TV. T'Keyah Williams demonstrated a tendency to throw elbows which displeased me greatly. Molly Heady started the game off hot, and I think they wanted to do more with her, but a five-nine player trying to work the post against a Big East team, even one as short as we are, is not a good plan. I think Kellie Cook was trying to take the long shot, but it might have been Kylie Cook.
They were pesky, those Golden Eagles, and they read plays well. We were just a little bit better than them at the end.
Ashley Perez and Sandra Udobi both played very briefly off the bench, raising and then dashing my hopes that Coach T was going to give them some actual time. Keylantra Langley came off the bench first, bringing her defense and a three-point shot. Odd footwork, though. Amber Thompson finally broke through the way I've been expecting her to all season. I'd like to see her work on her free throw shooting, though that's a long-running problem with St. John's posts. But she went in hard in the paint and had her wonderful shot-blocking going. I love to see her kick butt like that, and I'd like to see her kick even more butt going forward this season.
Mary Nwachukwu was very disappointing today. She had one rebound and was lucky to get that. Too much stuff was going off her hands. Aliyyah Handford is developing very nicely- she had what might have been her breakout game in this one, taking advantage of Tennessee Tech's defensive breakdowns and working the backdoor lane very well. She and Briana Brown also did a lot of work on the offensive boards. Briana never saw a loose ball she wasn't going to dive on the floor and try to tie up. She's grown so much this year- not in height, because that would be awesome- but in maturity and playing to her strengths. Shenneika Smith did not have a great offensive game, missing shots that she should have been putting into the basket, and that one moment that even she knew was stupid when the ball went right between her legs on a pass. But the one thing about Shenneika is that if she's not playing on one end of the floor, she's making things happen on the other end of the floor. Her hands were very active, both high and low. Nadirah McKenith takes a lot of contact for very little reward. She had a rough time from the field, but there's still no point guard in the NCAA I'd rather have on my team than Nadirah. Yeah, that includes Sims; yeah, that includes Diggins; yeah, that includes Goodrich; yeah, that includes Hill.
Have I mentioned that Nadirah took a lot of contact today? And somehow managed to get called for a foul when she got elbowed to the floor? Other than that, the refereeing wasn't too bad. We did give everyone the fair warning that any game with Bonita Spence should receive: watch your footwork, travels will be called. In this game it was more about the double-dribbles; three were called.
I don't like Christmas music, but the St. John's band doing "Carol of the Bells" was awesome. I do miss the flutist, though.
Little things that also pleased me: Keylantra is really stepping up as a leader on the sidelines, even with players who are older than her (yes, Love, Mary, I saw that little conversation during the moment of silence for Newtown that Key hushed you up on).
The big test is tomorrow. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to it.