March 2nd, 2018: Bryant at LIU

Just the Facts, Ma'am: LIU raced out to a 21-4 first quarter lead, then held on tight in the fourth quarter to preserve a 69-61 win over Bryant. Denisha Petty-Evans had 22 points and five steals to power the Blackbirds, with DeAngelique Waithe adding 20 points and four blocks. Sydney Holloway had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Bryant.

For reluctant farewells, seniors with traveling families, defensive stops, unexpected offense, people who are in the wrong section, gyrations, and no small amount of pride, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.

Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, and of course our well-mannered folks who defy and deny the gender binary! We're not quite the post office, but we're not going to let anything like a nor'easter keep us from a game. Your intrepid blogger comes to you as one of the eight people currently in the stands at LIU as they take on Bryant.

Believe me, I'd rather have skipped this game and gone Sunday for Senior Day, but of course that's the day the Liberty are doing their select-a-seat event up in White Plains, and there's no way we can do both.

For God's sake, Stylz, put a shirt on, you're making me cold just looking at you. Granted, the new t-shirts are reasonably pointless and I can understand not wanting to wear them, but still.

Denisha Petty-Evans just blocked a pass with her face, I'm starting to think this is going to be a long night.

Literally the entire sections behind and in front of the visiting bench are empty, why have the Bryant fans decided to park in the section across from the home bench? I hope Nish's family shows up and gives them whatfor. Come on, man. You literally have to walk past the visiting bench and the sections near it to sit over here.

Seneca Richards always looks like she's running on two hours less sleep than she actually needs, but now there's an enormous shiner under her left eye, and her right's not looking all that great either.

Drew Winter's still hurt, Paris Jones is hurt again, and Destoni Willock's been getting taped up for half of warm-ups. Injuries are really starting to take their toll. I mean, it's the end of the season, we have, at best, two more games left, so there are worse times, but it's rough, man. It's rough. (Actually, looking closer at Destoni, she also looks a little dinged up around the eyes. Who's been throwing 'bows in practice?)

I have no idea what this song is, but they just namedropped Pinky and the Brain, so hello new favorite artist. Now, if the DJ could turn the volume down so that it's not vibrating through my feet, preferably before my ears start bleeding, that would be great.

I've never had occasion to use this in the positive sense, but what even is happening?! It's 42-19 at the half. 42-19 LIU. Hands up, everyone who expected that. Bryant is shooting like they've never seen a basketball hoop before. Denisha Petty-Evans has 13 points and a ridiculous number of steals to lead both the Blackbird offense and defense. Haley Connors has 5 off the bench to lead the scattershot Bryant offense.

I don't know if we can keep this up in the second half. We're short-handed, after all; eventually the energy spent on defense is going to come back to haunt us. We just need to hold on to enough of it.

We held on to enough of it. Bryant made a big run in the fourth quarter, but they made their move too soon, and we were able to recover defensively to hold the line. I love what this team brings on defense so much. We are so terrible on offense and so determined on defense that it makes my teeth hurt sometimes.

Brooke Bjelko did some work on putbacks right at the basket, but also missed a bunny down there. She's got good height, but she still needs a little work. She's only a freshman. She'll learn, I'm sure. Kathleen Everson was the belle of the ball for the people behind us, who were her family and extremely proud of her. I would be more appreciative of their appreciating her if her dad didn't do that ear-piercing whistle thing. She set a beautiful screen to set up one of the threes for Stephanie Lesko. I'm pretty sure she got multiple offensive rebounds on the same possession- there was one sequence where Bryant had three or four cracks at the basket before getting it to go down.

When I put together the roster card/score card for this game, I spent entirely too much time trying to figure out whether Stephanie Lesko was related to Tori Lesko at Iona. I probably should have waited until gametime, because while I love Tori, she does not have a jump shot, and this Lesko definitely has a jump shot. She came up big for Bryant in the fourth quarter. Haley Connors had a spurt of offense from the right wing in the first half, enough that we knew we couldn't leave her open. Kandis Taylor tended to be on the defensive end of the offense-defense substitutions. She's pretty stocky, and wasn't afraid to body up on anyone (I'm pretty sure she ended up entangled with at least one of our posts at least once).

Sydney Holloway plays like she wanted to play for Mike Carey and his physical West Virginia teams. (Yes, if you're from Morgantown and every foul you commit involves checking someone into the boards, you will get Mountaineer references, put your sunglasses on and deal with it.) She was able to draw a lot of fouls on paint penetration, and credit where credit is due, she converted on them. That's an incredibly important and underappreciated skill. I was impressed with her hustle, even when it cost her team (she was so enthusiastic about following up on a free throw that she committed a lane violation and negated a made shot). The people who shouted "HOLLA!" when she hit shots were simultaneously annoying but appreciated. Despite my "get off my lawn" tendencies, I like passionate opposing fans. They just need to not be on my lawn. Hannah Scanlan showed touch at the basket in the third quarter, but I think Bryant was happier with what they were getting from Everson than from Scanlan.

Naomi Ashley was really tough. She made a lot of plays happen low to the ground, whether it was wrestling the ball out of our guards' hands or getting an offensive board on the baseline. She went hard in the paint and on the glass, and she got rewarded for it. She made a lot of good things happen for Bryant on both ends of the floor. I kept thinking Kierra Palmer didn't play much, and then I looked at the box score and saw that she played over half the game. That probably doesn't say a lot of good things about her. The box score tells me that she threw up a lot of threes, but I don't remember seeing Bryant put up a lot of threes. Most of the bad shots I remember them putting up were random heaves in the paint at the basket. Masey Zegarowski had a pretty, pretty pass to set up Bjelko for an outside jumper, and a steal in the fourth quarter- I'm trying to remember if she or Ashley was the one who brute forced the ball out of Denisha's hands.

I have to give Bryant credit- they figured out who they were in the second half. They got outside shots to fall from their shooters, and converted better on the inside against our tired defense. They adjusted. I'm glad they didn't adjust enough to win, though.

Destoni Willock is going to be the death of me, if she's not the death of Coach Del Preore. You can't fault her hustle. You can fault her occasional urges to play for the Maple Leafs, or her occasional inability to recognize her teammates, or her lack of a shot. She'd be less dangerous to us and more dangerous to the opponent if she could consistently control her physicality. I was surprised not to see more of Ella Vaatanen in the second half- I thought she brought good energy on defense and decent size to cover on the perimeter. Jeydah Johnson hit big shots in the second half, but I'm not sure whether she was paying attention to what the play call was supposed to be. Sometimes it worked out. Sometimes it didn't. She had to play out of position a lot thanks to our short bench, and I don't think it affected her game positively.

Tia Montagne had probably the most freshman game that it is possible for a freshman to freshman. She made a whole lot of horrific passes that had no business attempting to go where she was attempting them. (Although, to be fair to Tia, the worst passing situation of the night came from our grad student.) She looked like a freshman trying to spearhead an offense that isn't exactly much of a spear to start with. She also had a monster block on Zegarowski, played frenetic defense on the ball, and sank two clutch free throws late in the game. Up and down, with moments of facepalm and moments of glory- if that's not the definition of a freshman, I don't know what is. Denisha Petty-Evans slowed down, or was slowed down, in the second half, but came up with two huge threes to help ice it in the fourth. Sometimes I question her shot selection, but someone on this team has to shoot and I'm pretty sure it's not going to be Tia. That being said, when they say to hit your teammate with the pass, they don't mean it literally. This isn't dodgeball. (Also, I love Angel to pieces, but she should have had enough court awareness to, y'know, not literally get hit with the basketball.) Seneca Richards continues to impress me with her clock awareness, though that might be because no one else on this team seems to really have it. I look forward to seeing how she develops next year.

Solid, solid game from Stylz Sanders. That's the best word that comes to mind for her. She hit the shots she needed to hit on the inside, especially in the first quarter. She made the defensive stops she needed to make, save those that would have involved her needing to be several inches taller. She boxed out well and rebounded well. She spoke up for her teammates when the refs were being, well, NEC refs who probably weren't looking forward to going home in the teeth of a nor'easter. I've grown to admire her leadership this season, taking the kids in hand. DeAngelique Waithe had herself a day on the inside, though there was a stretch in the third quarter where it looked like the coffee wore off and she was completely tuned out of the game. A particularly emphatic teaching moment ensued, and Angel got her head on straight once more, making a big defensive stop down the stretch and finishing with a bang on the fast break lay-up. I love to watch her defend. I enjoy watching her take good shots in the paint, too, but I really love to watch those long arms in action.

I knew we couldn't sustain the offensive pace we were putting out in the first half. I was worried about the collapse in the fourth quarter, because Bryant is good enough, and we're mostly young enough, that it might have gone all the way down. But I should have remembered that our seniors and our grad student weren't going to let that happen. Nish made buckets, and Angel made stops, and we held the line.

Granted, this may also have been because the players were getting tired, but we went from a total of six fouls in the first half to something like fifteen fouls in the third quarter. It wasn't like it was dangerously physical in the first half and needed to be reined in, either. The refs just seemed to remember that there were whistles around their necks and wanted to take full advantage of them. And then Bryant didn't get called for a foul until midway through the fourth quarter. It looked a little fishy, but we got through it.

The halftime scrimmage involved unusually small Brooklyn Bulldogs. They didn't look old enough to be in college, but you know how kids are starting their education younger and younger these days. (The joke here is that Brooklyn College's teams are called the Bulldogs.)

Dance team has been working on their moves. Spines don't work that way!

We got to say goodbye to Denisha's mom and grandma after the game, and then to DeAngelique herself when she came out to say hi to her family. Man, I am so bummed I'm going to miss this Senior Day. This senior class has been so clutch for us.

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February 12th, 2018: St. Francis PA at LIU

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Red Flash of St. Francis University got off to a hot start and never looked back in their 85-54 win over LIU. Maya Wynn had 18 points to lead the Red Flash, who shot just over 55% from the field. Denisha Petty-Evans led LIU with 18 points, including five triples.

For moments of playing the wrong sport, loads of expired soda, Mario Karting, timidity, temerity, and crankiness, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.


It's the Red Flash. It's the Blackbirds. It's basketball in Brooklyn. What's not to like?

I'm currently killing a little time before the game in a nearby Starbucks, it being the nearest place with both a place where I can charge my tablet and things I can drink but not eat (husband is buying dinner, it would be tacky to eat right before). Their taste in music is great, but these ladies need another person or two behind the counter. Possibly an octopus.

I guess tonight is BHA? LIU is wearing eye-searingly pink warm-up shirts, and Autumn Ashe has bright pink wraps on her crutches. Ugh, please don't tell me we're going to be watching the Pinkbirds or the Pink Flash.

I should pick up more LIU gear. Don't have nearly enough LIU shirts, so I've had to settle for dressing like a beatnik and wearing a silly hat.

There are way too many people in St. Francis gear here. I mean, I know one of their kids is from Brooklyn, and I know they travel, but c'mon, man. We're going to need Denisha's family in force.

St. Francis has their numbers on their shorts. I'm not sure what to think about this, other than that it's unusual. At least these are their actual uniforms. No one seems to be wearing excessive amounts of pink. Small mercies. Maybe BHA was Saturday?

At halftime, it's 42-23 St. Francis, and quite frankly, things could be worse. Our offense is offensive and we can't hold on to the ball for love nor money. The graduate students are dueling; Denisha Petty-Evans has 14 for LIU, while Ace Harrison has 11 for the Red Flash. Only difference is that Jessica Kovatch and Maya Wynn each have seven in support of Harrison, while only two other Blackbirds have scored, period.

Most teams have players come out one by one for intros and do whatever rituals they've chosen with the team's hype person, for lack of a better word. (It's Shavonte Zellous for the Liberty, for example, and Tamesha Alexander for the Red Storm.) St. Francis walked out with the five starters arm in arm.

One of the refs (Aldrich, I think?) got distracted by a small child before the game. It was cute.

Our halftime entertainment is Girl Scouts playing Knockout. *throws up Scout salute*

Well, I guess it could have been worse. At least we didn't have to play UConn, I guess. And if the defensive game plan was to shut down Jessica Kovatch, then that's the part of the plan that worked. It's just that we didn't manage to shut down anyone else.

Look, PA guy, the answer to my complaints about inconsistent announcing of the opposing subs is not to stop announcing them at all. When the other team doesn't wear names on their jerseys, I need a trained professional to indicate when new people without names on their jerseys have entered the game.

Jenna Mastellone is not ready for prime time. That's about the nicest way I can put it. I realize she's a freshman, and buried so deep on SFU's bench that she might even be a walk-on. But her ballhandling is bad and her defensive positioning is bad, and we're just going to pretend that the free throw that whispered against the very bottom of the net didn't happen. Caitlin Carroll sneaked in a three-pointer near the end of the game, and I can't begrudge her that, though I can certainly question the excessive celebration from her teammates for going up 30+. Karson Swogger has an interesting curve/spin to her three-point shot that got it to curl back towards the basket. (I am also probably a terrible person for thinking her name sounds like a position one plays in Calvinball.) Leah Morrow comes at you like a cannonball, which occasionally meant turnovers and at least one charge. But it also results in steals and fast breaks for the Red Flash, and given how much they like to run, that does a lot for them.

So many tall, skinny people. Cannot cope. Can't shake feelings of mild jealousy. I'm trying to remember who had the nifty turn over her shoulder for a basket. I think that was Courtney Zezza, who did a nice job of finishing near the rim and taking advantage of being overlooked. Jill Falvey made some stops on the defensive end. Haley Thomas was the last post off the bench, and she seems to have embraced the Red Flash's offensive strategy of "shoot ALL the threes", though she hasn't quite mastered the art of where or when.

I am starting to take a bit of a dislike to Jessica Kovatch. It's not the one born of reluctant respect, either. It's the one born of a player complaining to the ref at every single call she doesn't like, except for the times when her teammates get to her first and wrap her up before she can say or do anything. The most generous reading would suggest that she was frustrated at the defensive pressure she faced and the shots she couldn't hit. But we lost by 30, so I'm not exactly inclined to be generous. She's got game, but I don't believe the hype. The Red Flash got really good minutes out of Caitlin Kroll, who did a lot of everything. She was at her best taking advantage of LIU's mistakes, hitting the deck for loose balls and disrupting the ballhandler- SFU threw a press at us that we were not equipped to handle with a freshman point guard. But she did everything for the Red Flash. I think we overlooked her a bit.

It's somewhat less explicable how we managed to overlook Ace Harrison, because she's very tall, very strong, and at least in this game was wearing bright green sneakers. She hit back to back threes to open the game, and was a nightmare match-up for us all night because of her perimeter game. We tried to match her with DeAngelique Waithe, but Angel is not at her best as a perimeter defender, to put it lightly. So that didn't go well. Harrison defends like a guard and is built like a forward, and these are not good things for us. Maya Wynn still has one of the best names in women's basketball. Her game is a strange hybrid at times. She took over in the second quarter with seven points, going deep and driving the lane with equal skill. Kyasia Duling got into foul trouble in the first quarter, and I think it says a lot about her and the trust her coach has in her that she played most of the first half, even when she picked up the third foul late in the second quarter. I do think that the foul trouble took away from her ability to defend inside- there were possessions later in the game where LIU was able to get a little leverage close to the basket, and I think she was one of the defenders in those scenarios.

Life comes at you fast, and so does St. Francis. They like to run on offense and press on defense, and it's not easy to prepare for that onslaught, especially since they send in so many players that their squad is usually fresh.

I get the feeling it's going to be an interesting year next year with Destoni Willock as our primary low post player. She's fantastically disruptive to the other team's offense... it's just that she's almost as disruptive to her own team's offense as well. She deflected a lot of passes and chased down a lot of loose balls, but she had trouble holding on to the ball and minding her footwork. Ella Vaatanen's shot is improving, though I don't know if that step forward is legal or not. I'm glad she's worked on her strength in that regard. She showed some good hustle today.

The player who surprised me in a good way in this game was Seneca Richards. I figured she'd be a good match-up against St. Francis, since she's a tall player with perimeter skills, and thus some comfort on the perimeter defensively. She was very aggressive and very disruptive, going after the ballhandler with wild abandon. I think it affected her offense, but I'll take the defense in that situation. Paris Jones needs to not foul the damn shooter- she did that twice, including on a three at the end of the first quarter that really did a number on the game's momentum. She knows how to use her lack of size to her advantage, getting low to steal rebounds and get loose balls, but there are times when I just want to dope slap her.

I don't know why Jeydah Johnson couldn't hold on to the ball, but it was bad. She played like she had turned her hands to stone and then smeared butter all over them. It looked like she was overshooting the ball, too; her shots were way too strong, going over the basket instead of at it or in it. Not her night, to put it mildly. DeAngelique Waithe did what she could on the boards and in the paint, but the St. Francis defense collapsed on her when she started to drive, and there's only so much you can do when two or three tall people are coming at you at once. And while she's a solid defender in the post, she's at a loss on the perimeter, which led to Harrison opening the scoring with two triples. Stylz Sanders chased down rebounds, but as undersized as she is, she was outmatched and outgunned.

Denisha Petty-Evans lit it up from beyond the arc, but sometimes it seemed like she was the only Blackbird on the floor who was actually willing to shoot the ball. If this is going to be as defensive-minded a squad as I think Coach Del Preore wants it to be, it still needs someone who's going to be a shooter. Nish fills that, er, niche, for this year, but what about next year? Near the end of the game, there were moments where she looked like she was super frustrated, and I can't say I blame her. Tia Montagne played like a scared freshman, especially when the Red Flash's defense pressured her. There was a play where she had to inbound the ball, couldn't find anyone, couldn't get a look, and clearly panicked by throwing it at DeAngelique Waithe right before the five-second violation would have kicked in. Attempting to lob a weak pass over Ace Harrison is a terrible plan. Tia spent most of the night looking like she was in over her head. This was not a game we could have afforded to be without Drew Winter for (and I have no idea what's up with her, though to be fair we weren't winning that game even with a full roster).

Someone other than Nish needs to be willing to shoot. And everyone needs to get them to a shooting coach. This, perhaps, cuts to the quick of what LIU's problems are. I love this team, but sometimes they play way too scared.

She was wearing black, not blue, but does it count as a real live Mario Kart moment if a Maryland alumna shoots an offensive player out of the air?

Refs missed at least one out of bounds call and a few fouls, but all things considered, it's hard to get too upset at them. They're not why we lost the game.

If nothing else, this game showed us the difference between the top of the conference and everyone else. In a one-bid conference, sometimes being the most balanced team on the floor is enough to seize the day.

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January 29th, 2018: Fairleigh Dickinson at LIU

Just the Facts, Ma'am: FDU used a strong third quarter to take control of a close game and win 61-49. Madelynn Comly led three Knights in double figures with 13, while Lauren Francillon had 11 rebounds. DeAngelique Waithe had 24 points and 10 rebounds in the losing cause for LIU.

For travel difficulties, awaiting the snow, overpassing, the discourager of hesitancy, cough drops, death glares, and not finding the open shooter, join your intrepid and blurry blogger after the jump.


Good evening, fellow travelers! It's game night in Brooklyn, as the Blackbirds take on the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson.

I would have sworn FDU was wearing blue earlier in the season. Maybe that was the men. It would be interesting if they actually wore different colors, though perhaps not the greatest sign for intra-departmental solidarity. (See: UConn.)

Stephanie, you really need to work on your communication skills. There's a difference between all set for two games for two people and all set for one game for one person. I think by the end of the season I'm going to have to become an LIU booster to make up for this. And I don't wanna be a booster. NCAA regulations are a headache.

(We got the ticket thing worked out. Also, if Stephanie wants any of my cough drops she's welcome to them.)

At halftime, FDU is up 25-24, in a game that's been closely contested and defensive-minded. DeAngelique Waithe has 10 to lead the Blackbirds. Peniel M'Bikata and her flaming orange hair have seven points for the Knights.

Rousing anthem by the band, and I'm always here for their rendition of "Poison".

As you can imagine, attendance is sparse. Even Denisha's contingent is down to about half strength. But they bring enough noise, and we work together well, or at least I like to think so.

I think of everyone currently active on the roster, Destoni Willock would be my last choice to take the last shot of the half. Our Canadian needs to work on her ballhandling skills.

FDU came out of the locker room super late- they had one player run out of the corridor about thirty seconds before the buzzer, waving her teammates along after her; the Knights' coaching staff didn't actually emerge until after the buzzer, and I'm surprised they didn't get dinged for a delay of game. Whatever they said in there, whatever adjustments they made, whatever change of plans they had- boy howdy, did they ever work.

Once again, our PA guy was slacking on announcing opposing subs coming out of stoppages of play, so I'm not as clear as I'd like to be on rotations. I didn't even know Madison Stanley came into the game until I checked the box score. I'm going to guess that was at the very end of the game, for the final possession or two. Elise Graham gave the Knights an alternate ballhandling option in the open floor- she had a nice transition lay-up amd set up Kamrin Weimer for a three with a nice pass. Weimer didn't leave much of an impression, and most of what I dimly remember from her was more rebounding-related than offense-related.

Natalie Zamora tried to defend people who were bigger than she was. It usually didn't end well for her- she really racked up the fouls in the third quarter. Courtney Blankenship set screens (she had one particularly solid one that impressed me with both its solidity and its legality- you know how hard it is to find a legal screen in the lower echelons of D-I?!), got boards, hit free throws, and had trouble holding on to the ball.

Lauren Francillon gave up her body on the glass, and picked up steam as the game went on- balls she was losing in the first quarter, she was winning the fights for in the fourth quarter. Good interior toughness. Amina Markovic went on a scoring run in the third quarter, hitting from the outside and at the rim. I don't think she was on our original scouting report, because we sagged off her a lot. Then again, we had a lot of trouble hanging with shooters on the wing, so maybe that was the bigger issue. (Also, I think I may have annoyed her when I was questioning a foul call, but it was a bad call and the ref should have felt bad for making it, so there.)

How exactly were we losing track of Peniel M'Bikata? I mean, I don't know if they noticed, but her hair is flaming orange. It's not literally on fire, but it is pretty close to the color of an open flame, and does stand out rather spectacularly. She shook loose for three-point shots and drives in the lane. I like her style. Lucia Serrano-Ranz was a three-point specialist with moments of defensive prowess. Madelynn Comly got to take most of the free throws at the end of the game. Her passing game needs work.

FDU fought for possessions, and collectively boxed out really well- it seemed like there were always three burgundy jerseys going to the ball once it came off the rim, especially if it was LIU putting up the shot. Following your shot is a thing, people. I'm pulling my hair out over here.

I'm not sure who's a stronger indication of "welp, here goes nothing", Paris Jones or Destoni Willock. Paris tries, and she had a nice defensive stand that her teammates helped her finish, but I don't think she's gotten all the rust off yet. She doesn't seem to fit into the current schemes. Destoni tries hard, but if the ball is being passed to her on the inside, disaster is inevitable- either she's going to fumble or the ball's never going to get to her in the first place (probably because she's out of position or hasn't done enough to get into position). I'm really starting to wonder what Daisha Davis has done, or hasn't done, to be so far out of the rotation.

Ella Vaatanen gave not-terrible minutes off the bench in the post. She's still a little more tentative than I'd like, but she's learning, and she seems willing to learn. Tia Montagne carried the bulk of the load for the reserves. While I'm not sure how she's picking up the various code-named defensive schemes, she's got great instincts on the ball defensively, taking advantage of opponents' miscues. Her shot needs work, both when she takes it and when she doesn’t take it, but I like watching her play.

Follow your shot, Denisha. Follow your shot, Drew. This isn't a recording, but I'm starting to think it needs to be one, and broadcast everywhere they go like a somewhat more specific version of the Shame Nun. Denisha Petty-Evans shot three-for-eleventy billion and somehow still looked like she was avoiding shooting the ball. It looked like she was passing up too many good shots to end up taking desperation shots near the end of the shot clock. She had a nice steal, though, and another good attempt at one. Drew Winter does fancy ballhandling tricks, and then she slows down the offense. She looked scared to shoot today, and when she did finally put the ball in the general vicinity of the basket, "general vicinity" was a generous definition of where the ball ended up. It seems fitting that the one shot that went in was the twisting lay-up she practically shot over her own head. She racked up the assists, but I don't know how many of them were actually the best looks for the squad.

At least Seneca Richards had some awareness of time and score in the fourth quarter, putting up quick threes and draining a surprising number of them. I didn't realize she had that much legitimate range. She was looking a little like she had Katie Douglas eyes out there, so I hope she's okay and she hasn't been staying up too late. (Says the woman who's typing Game Notes of Doom at quarter past one in the morning. For reasons.) She's a shooter and not much else, but she tries and she's got height and our options are somewhat limited as long as Jeydah's out, so it is what it is. Stylz Sanders was consistently getting out-sized out there, but she made a lot of smart plays on the baseline and kept loose balls alive. She's making a strong run at trying to be my favorite, but it's too late for that. DeAngelique Waithe played like she was the only one on the floor trying to win the game for LIU. (I looked at my clipboard at one point and realized she was the only Blackbird to score in the third quarter. This is a problem.) She had her moments where she looked like she wasn't sure where to be on defense, and she's got to watch that first step when she gathers for the jumper at the top of the key. But she went hard at the basket, and she hunted down loose balls like there was a bounty of their heads. She was looking for opportunities and she took them. I unabashedly love to watch her work- she has such a nice combination of strength and flexibility that results in her showing up very quickly in very small spaces.

Way too much hesitation on offense. I get trying to find a teammate with a better shot, but sometimes the best shot is the one you have, instead of the one your teammate is forced to take because the shot clock's running down and she's got two defenders in her face. There was one sequence at least, possibly more, where pretty much the only people in the building who didn't realize Denisha Petty-Evans was open were the people who were supposed to be defending her... and Drew Winter with the ball. By the end of the game, we were joking that Drew was clearly a Jets fan, because she seemed to believe in the Herman Edwards school of clock management.

Officiating was the usual NEC trainwreck. No one wanted to call travels or major contact, but minor hand-checks were another story entirely. I think I did most of the gasket-blowing that Stephanie secretly wanted to do. (I consider that part of my responsibilities as a fan. There are things fans can get away with that coaches can't.)

We got pretty dinged up in this one. Stylz took a couple of hits, Tia was slow getting up after a collision, and I thought Angel was going to throw up during some FDU free throws. This might be part of why I'm a little annoyed at the officials.

There's something missing for this team, and I can't put my finger on it. It might be as simple as getting Jeydah and her offense back. It might go deeper. I don't know. But we've got good senior leaders, so there's that in our favor.

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January 27th, 2018: Sacred Heart at LIU

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Sacred Heart rode a strong second quarter to a 50-46 win. Candice Leatherwood led the Pioneers with a game-high 21 points, while Abigail Kangudie had 15 rebounds. Denisha Petty-Evans led LIU with 10 points.

For minor injury concerns, youth cheerleaders, terrible passing, and other embarrassments, join your intrepid blogger after the jump, as long as you remembered to bring a bottle of Lethe.


Note to self: always lie to mom about tip-off time. We just barely made it in the door in time.

It's halftime of LIU-Sacred Heart as I type, and the Pioneers are up 30-21. The Blackbirds are taking some of the dumbest shots I've ever seen (and I've seen this team take a lot of dumb shots in their time, believe you me). I think having the two seniors, Stylz Sanders and DeAngelique Waithe, off the floor with foul trouble hasn't helped- they really don't have anyone to bail them out. And Angel took that second foul badly- she got stompy, and then there was a water bottle on the floor and everyone but her cleaning it up. Be an adult. Seneca shouldn't have to literally clean up your mess.

We had two youth groups cheering at half. Unfortunately, I went for soda and missed the Diamonds but saw the younger, less talented group.

Jeydah Johnson hasn't played. I wonder if she's still in concussion protocol. At least she seems to have lost the light/noise sensitivity.

Denisha Petty-Evans's family, or at least the people who cheered loudest when she was introduced, is out in force and making noise. That's good, because I'm still getting over crud and can't sustain my usual noise levels.

That was not good. That was, in fact, very bad. I don't think either team could have been happy with that performance, though I suspect Coach Del Preore was far more vocal and more profane in her opinion than Sacred Heart's coach was. There was no sustained energy, no real desire to fight back against the brief pushes of momentum that Sacred Heart occasionally, somehow, managed to put together. It seemed like we were going through the motions, and that's not really something you can get away with when you're a middling to bad team in a bad conference. The one thing we have going for us is our hustle. When we don't that, hoo boy are we going to have a bad time.

I can't tell you as much as I'd like about Sacred Heart's substitution patterns, because our PA guy was asleep at the wheel and could barely be bothered to announce when people were coming in. Since the Pioneers don't have names on their jerseys, half the time I only noticed someone new was in because she scored or committed a foul. Y'all. This is not acceptable, I don't care if this is "only" the NEC. Either get better PA guys or put names on your jerseys, okay?

In any case, sorry about the disgression. Olivia Dabney was part of Sacred Heart's constant trapping and pressing, a defense that kept LIU on their heelsl and never let them get into a rhythm. Jayla Davis gave the Pioneers a quick spurt of offense when she first came into the game in the first half. Asia McCray got inside a bit to help deflect rebounds.

Erin Storck has a strange looking shot. I'm not surprised that it often took strange angles off the heel of the rim. She wasn't afraid to put it up, even when she was contested. Sacred Heart as a team was prone to travels, but she was especially guilty with shuffling the extra step on the drive to the lane. Tykera Carter was quick, and came up with a couple of baskets late in the game to help the Pioneers put it away. Candice Leatherwood is a little bit scary on defense- she's got a very effective mean mug. We kept fouling her at the end of the game, and she kept hitting free throws. (I may be a tiny bit salty that she took more free throws than my entire team did. But we'll cover that more later.) The Sacred Heart fans behind us kept calling her Candy, and it just doesn't seem to fit her. Maybe she's one of those people who looks tough but she's really a sweetheart.

I'm really trying to get a clear picture of Adrianne Hagood out there, and I'm failing miserably, though part of it is most likely my desire to burn all the tapes of this game, even the ones inside my head. Abigail Kangudie did a really nice job of keeping DeAngelique Waithe off her game. She might not have had much of an impact on the score line, but she killed it on the glass, and she made sure that LIU couldn't get too much going off rebounds.I don't know if defense is usually her role, but she did yeoman's work bodying up on Angel.

If Tia Montagne doesn't figure out what's wrong with her shot, someone's hair is getting torn out, and I don't know if it's going to be mine, Coach's, or hers. She's both too hesitant and too willing to shoot, which is paradoxical and probably indicates just how much is wrong with this team. I do like her heart, but she just didn't have it today. Paris Jones gave spot minutes at point, but she didn't seem to be meshing with the other personnel on the floor. I think she was expecting something from them, and none of them knew what she wanted of them. That's actually pretty close to how everyone was behaving towards everyone, but Paris was especially spanner-in-the-works like there.

Destoni Willock was actually pretty solid on the boards. I'm surprised Coach didn't go back to her more in the second half, given the foul trouble on everyone whose number ended in 0 and happened to be sort of tall. She scrambled for balls on the baseline and came up with a lay-up off a steal. Ella Vaatanen looked a little lost, and still seems to be ranging her shot, but for the first time I saw this season seemed more confident in her height and her body, using them both to her advantage defensively on the perimeter.

I don't normally ask this about my favorite, but I found myself wondering by the end of the game exactly how DeAngelique Waithe had gotten that stick wedged in such an uncomfortable position, and just how long it was going to take her to dislodge it. She spent most of the day looking like she had run out of damns to give. There were flashes of her usual self, especially in the third quarter, when she flashed into the lane for boards or shots, and she kept her shot-blocking game on point. But her usual energy was missing, and that makes me sad. Stylz Sanders picked up the slack in the first half, which is a refreshing sort of look, but couldn't keep up the energy level through the fouls. Y'all know Stylz can't defend everyone at once, right? I still maintain she's going to end up a coach one of these days. She just seems to have that awareness of all the things. Seneca Richards got the start for Jeydah Johnson, and while she's still much more perimeter-oriented than I usually like my players, she's at least trying to be more of a forward inside on defense. Her teammates need to understand what her angles are, though. She's usually better from the corner than from the middle of the floor.

Drew Winter does fancy tricks with the ball, but breaking the opponent's ankles does no good if you can't hit the shot. And I love her offensive rebounding, but it doesn't help if no one can hit the shot. She's got to be smarter with the ball. If Denisha Petty-Evans doesn't stop launching threes from somewhere in the vicinity of Bridgewater Commons, and if she doesn’t start following those shots in the event of her taking them, someone's going to lose their mind and it might not even be me. As it turns out, her family has opinions about as strong as mine regarding the importance of offensive rebounding, especially on long shots. I like them.

Coach Del Preore spent most of the game looking like she was in desperate need of a strong drink. I don't really blame her. I don't know if the team just didn't care, or if they were engaged in the fine art of Not Running The Expletive Deleted Play (a well-known St. John's Strategy) or what. But there were a lot of teaching moments called for. That being said, Coach, if one of your players goes down in front of you, can't get back on defense, and is visibly limping when she does get up? It may be time to call for the deliberate foul or call a time out. Just saying.

(By the way, Sacred Heart did not score 5-on-4.)

The officiating was a terrible hot mess. Lots of contact that went uncalled, with bodies sprawled all around. I'm pretty sure one ref actually mistook the ball for someone's head. Pretty much no part of the NEC covered itself in glory in this game.

They must have been expecting quite the crowd for the double-header- LIU actually set up a souvenir stand and an orderly queue for the concession stand.

We didn't stay for the men's game. I was unprepared (I thought they were playing Sacred Heart as well) and wanted to get the taste of failure out of my mouth. (As it turned out, the men beat Central Connecticut in OT.)

Besides, a tall, handsome gentleman wants to take me on a date to Iona tomorrow! How can I possibly resist?

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January 15th, 2018: Mount St. Mary's at LIU

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Strong defense in the clutch helped LIU hold off Mount St. Mary's, 53-48. DeAngelique Waithe had 17 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks to spearhead the Blackbirds' attack. Juliette Lawless had 13 points and nine rebounds to lead the Mountaineers in the loss.

For totally being a responsible adult, returning basketball to sender, post players breaking ankles, mean mugging the opponent to sleep, RedBullRedBullRedBull, and signs, join your intrepid and introspective blogger after the jump.

I have already adulted responsibly today. My mom had cataract surgery and I escorted her there and back again, carried her stuff, dropped off her laundry, and picked up her dry cleaning. So I feel no guilt in taking the R train back towards Manhattan three stops and going to LIU's game against Mount St. Mary's.

That is one big Mount on the Mountaineers' jerseys. I mean, dang.

Band anthems are almost always the best anthems.

At halftime, LIU is up 27-20. My most favorite DeAngelique Waithe is playing like she wants to get real paid, with 11 points and some monster blocks. Scoring is rather more scattered for the Mount, with Daly Sullivan's two long threes leading the way.

Bad news is that Jeydah Johnson is almost certainly concussed. She was on the bench with a towel over her head and her hands over her ears for the longest time, and she had to leave the bench for a while, though she's emerged about two minutes before the start of the third quarter. If she can't go- and from here I'd be very surprised if she even tried to give it a go- I don't know if we have the depth to hold anyone off, even a team as sloppy as Mount St. Mary's has been.

Well, so much for that theory. No, this is a good thing. Jeydah stayed on the bench the whole time (which is actually comforting, given the light/sound sensitivity it looked like she was showing in the immediate aftermath of the scrum) and we immediately got into major foul trouble, so Coach Del Preore had to go rather deeper into her bench for longer than I think she wanted to, and the reserves answered the bell.

Hunter Rowson entered the game for the Mountaineers in the first half, after a timeout, so it took a moment to recognize that she was in in the first place. I think we got into her head during the free throws she took. I'm okay with that. That's part of my job. Bridget Birkhead was mostly set up outside, but with her lack of scoring, she didn't leave much of an impression.

Rebecca Lee is a fairly big center for the NEC. She grabbed a couple of nice boards early. I felt really bad about trying to disconcert a fellow member of the sisterhood when she went to the line in the first half, but it's about the name on the front, not the name on the back, as it were. (I'm protective of my fellow Rebeccas. It comes from not having met another one in the flesh for the first nine years of my life. I thought we were all fictional!) Jatarrikah Settle played the bulk of the minutes off the bench for the Mount. She's got a nice jump shot and some good moves in the lane. I think she'll be good for them in a couple of years, and I think that's why she's coming off the bench now- she still seems to have a lot to learn.

Juliette Lawless did not make herself popular with the swinging elbows, but I have to admire her coast-to-coast drives. Shaky ballhandling along the edges of the court got her in a lot of trouble and caused LIU to strip her of the ball. She forces a lot of contact, and I guess I should respect that. (It just annoys me when officials go on long stretches of calls one way or another. But we'll get to that later.) Caroline Hummell has a surprisingly nice outside shot for a big center, but her hands were a hot hard mess. Lots of passes and deflections bouncing off them, which meant that loose balls occurred, which meant that LIU came out of a lot of scrums with the ball. I'd have to look at the play-by-play to see if it was her shots or Lawless's shots that Angel was sending back to Maryland the hard way.

Katrice Dickson needs to work on her footwork. Refs didn't catch it often, but she was walking all over the place- there was one drive where she scored after two fairly blatant travels. There's something about her I like, but I can't put my finger on it. I'd have to watch them again to see if she was doing the leadership type stuff that's usually why a player catches my eye for non-statistical reasons. Daly Sullivan's shot is aesthetically pleasing, with a high, high arc. When it goes down, it's nothing but net, but from where I was sitting, I don't know how anyone can read the arc to see where it's going to bounce when she misses. Those were some tough rebounds. She was a bit physical on defense, and I was surprised the Mount's coach left her to defend the ballhandler late in the game after her fourth foul, in what seemed to be an intentional foul situation. I guess they'd already conceded at that point. Kayla Agentowicz has an awesome last name that gives rise to all kinds of "ex-spy who has no idea how to live in the real world" story ideas. She also has no fear of shooting the three. She hit one late that put the game close, but was mostly ineffective.

Paris Jones is back in action, and not a moment too soon! I think this is the first time I've seen her play in over a year, and she definitely looks like she's still trying to figure out where she belongs on the floor at times. But it was good to see her be assertive on offense, and she hustled hardcore in the fourth quarter to hold off Mount St. Mary's when they went on a run to close within one possession in the final minutes. Seneca Richards canned back to back corner threes to extend the lead in the third, and was called on for a lot of defensive work that I don't think she's used to. We needed her height and her reach, and she did what we needed her to do. Tia Montagne's shot continues to be highly unpredictable, and she needs to be more assertive as a point guard- she spent a lot of time looking for someone to give the ball to to make decisions instead of initiating herself. I mean, I'm a Libra, I get being indecisive and wanting someone else to make choices, but if part of your job description is to make choices, do it.

Destoni Willock didn't play much- her seconds were super brief at the end of the third quarter, just to give the starters a little bit of a rest at a meaningless stop. Ella Vaatanen looked a little overmatched, especially on defense. She was very much not ready for this. That happens with freshmen.

I think DeAngelique Waithe wants to get real paid in Europe, because she's been playing the best ball I've seen out of her in a long time, and it is glorious. I hope if she ever hears me use the phrase "demented spider" that she understands it's a compliment. Those long arms of hers are up in everyone's business, everywhere, every time. Her read on rebounds, always strong, has been fantastic the last few times I've seen her. She's scoring at the rim. She's rejecting shots with authority. She's also getting called for a lot of travels, but if she's in Europe that might not be a problem. She's been fantastic and I just love her to pieces, and I have no qualms about being biased about her. Stylz Sanders does not match up well against really big centers. We had her defending all over the court today, both inside and out, and I think we were asking more of her than she was able to give. That all being said, watching her on the floor, communicating on offense and bringing the team in during stoppages, I'm starting to think she'll make a really good coach if that's the direction she wants to take her life. I guess when you're a 5-9 power forward, you have to learn a lot more about reads, angles, and positioning than the average power forward.

I swear to the sweet suffering hypothetical nine-pound twelve-ounce reason-for-the-season baby Jesus, if Denisha Petty-Evans doesn't figure out how to follow her shot I'm going to end up popping a blood vessel before the end of the season. Her shot's not that great. Her percentages aren't that great. It's great when the shot goes in, but if it doesn't, you've pretty much either given up a fast break to the opposing team or Angel has to put in double work to keep the ball. She's taken a step back from the start of the season, and that makes me sad. Jeydah Johnson hustled after loose balls, which was what led to her being in the scrum that got her hit in the head. I didn't actually see what happened, only what she looked like after she was subbed out of the game, and it didn't look good. Poor Jeydah. :( Drew Winter started the game like she'd chugged three Red Bulls and an energy shot- fast-moving, jittery, and fired up. She had a lot of trouble getting the ball inbounds today, though I couldn't tell you if it was because she couldn't see through the Mountaineer defense or because her teammates weren't coming to the ball. It's distinctly possible it was a combination of both. Her concentration started to slip in the second half, to the point where Coach was putting in Paris or Seneca for her.

There were a lot of great connective plays, for lack of my brain actually creating coherent words today. LIU's box scores don't have a place for team rebounds, but I think there were quite a few rebounds one would characterize as "team", where one player (usually DeAngelique) deflected it over to another Blackbird (usually Drew, though Jeydah and Paris both got in on the action). There were multi-player defensive sequences that were a joy to behold. They look like they're starting to gel (or is it jell in this context?) and I am inordinately proud of them.

Officiating was the usual NEC hot mess. A lot of things went uncalled on both teams. I couldn't tell you why the Mount's coach got her tech, though I'm going to guess she used strong language, given how thoroughly Stephanie was haranguing the refs about the non-calls on the baseline. (Seriously. Y'all have got to stop knocking Stylz out of bounds like that. It's not fair and it's not nice.) I think it's nervy of a coach to complain about calls when there was a stretch where the fouls were 6-0 LIU, but I'm just a fan in the stands.

Trying to beat the line at the concession stand doesn't work when the concessionaire has neither the food you want to buy nor enough change to take the money you have. Had to wait until halftime, but worth it. I needed the caffeine and I needed the liquid.

I really hope this team really is hitting its stride. They seem like really nice kids and I want all kinds of wonderful things for them.

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December 29th, 2017: St. Francis NY at LIU Brooklyn

Just the Facts, Ma'am: LIU finished with strong defensive play to beat St. Francis College 61-59. DeAngelique Waithe led the Blackbirds with 19 points on 8-8 shooting, plus 15 rebounds. Jeydah Johnson added 17 points for LIU. Alex Delaney had 15 points to lead the Terriers, all on three-pointers.

For rivalries, squeezing at one's favorite player, three-pointers, height misconceptions, being outnumbered, and issues with hairstyles, join your intrepid and maybe a little bit racist blogger after the jump.


All right, so that's two sets of notes done and two more to go. I doubt this is truly the official Battle of Brooklyn, at such an odd time as it is, but LIU and St. Francis are going at it today, and I'll never pass up a rivalry game. If I went to it in a blizzard and raced the clock to get home before transit shut down, I can go to it in blistering, merciless cold. I just have to remember to wear the right hat.

The right hat was worn, but Under Armour tells lies that it's one size fits all.

It appears to be a Christmas miracle. Paris Jones is in uniform for the first time that I can remember since her freshman year.

I really hope I'm not the only person here rooting for the Blackbirds. That would be unpleasant and awkward, given that this is at LIU. I don't have sufficient data to advance a theory as to the relative availability of SFC family versus LIU family.

No cheer today, but band is trying to step up on the defensive chants. If I were more confident in LIU's offensive chants, I'd try to lead some. (And band is not as sharp as they could be musically today. They do seem to be a little short-handed.)

At halftime, LIU is up 36-32, and SFC is only that close because Jade Johnson swished a three from Geelong just before the buzzer. DeAngelique Waithe is playing her ass off with 15 points and a whole boatload of rebounds. I keep wanting to yell "That's my girl!" even though I know I have no right to.

There are a lot of St. Francis fans here, but we did get some LIU reinforcements. I'm still the loudest person in the room, though.

We don't sell alcohol, so I’m not quite sure how the PA guy managed to mix up the notes from the men's game after this one with the notes from the women's game against Lehigh at Barclays a couple of weeks ago, but he was laughing at himself afterwards.

Less Destoni and more Daisha, please. And less traveling, by everyone. The poor husband would probably be a permanent falsetto after this game.

Woooooo! Now that's what I call a rivalry game! Big defensive plays down the stretch from both the senior DeAngelique Waithe and the freshman Jeydah Johnson. If this is what the non-trophy game is like, the trophy game in February is going to be a trip.

I temporarily acquired a wayward Liberty fan who was up for the holiday from Atlanta, but she disappeared a little bit ago.

If Samantha Keltos could have hit the easy looks she got right at the rim, this might have been a different game for St. Francis and she might have earned herself a few more minutes, but she missed a couple of bunnies. Being part of a three-point barrage is not as helpful as one might think when you're not using your size effectively inside. Either they lost Ally Lassen's jersey or she changed numbers midseason, because she's #31 on my roster and on the website, but she was #11 on the floor. Y'all are all ponytails without names, changing numbers like that is just cheating. I didn't even realize she was on the floor until she committed a foul. Mia Ehling gives off an impression of smallness and quickness, with a reasonably attractive stroke, but I'm not surprised neither Lassen nor Ehling played in the second half.

If Casey Carangelo could hit a bunny, St. Francis might have won this game. This is not a recording. She had three good looks right at the basket, two on the same possession, and blew them all. A height advantage doesn't help you if you don't know how to use it. (And there's a young lady in the next section over who would very much like to have a height advantage on anyone.) Abby Anderson scored in spurts and I don't even remember her doing it. (Indistinguishable ponytails. I am so sick of them.) Dana DiRenzo drew some tough defensive assignments, and was able to take advantage of our dubious passing to Stylz.

I don't know if y'all noticed this, because we certainly didn't, but Jade Johnson can shoot a little bit from outside. And she wasn't afraid to take them from deep either. She plays a good bit taller than she is. Amy O'Neill is feisty, as one might expect from a small Australian guard, and had herself a nice passing game. She wasn’t afraid to get down real low for balls, nor to get on the floor. (I actually felt bad for her on one drive when she got rolled by Stylz. That should have been a foul, as much as I love my Blackbirds.) Maria Palarino argued a lot of calls and had a lot of calls to argue. She picked up her bucket on an offensive rebound.

Alex Delaney was also arguing calls. I'm not used to her setting up outside so much- I remember her being a tough, physical, interior player. That's not a change I necessarily like, and I don't think it speaks of good coaching. (Then again I might be biased, because we know how much I looooove Thurston.) The shots were going down for her, so I guess it might be a matter of going with what's working. Lorraine Hickman needs to work on her screens a little, but only a little- she had a wicked one that picked off Drew clean. She brought the inside play that most of her teammates seemed unwilling to essay, and I think that's going to be a problem for the Terriers. If you're going to only have one interior option, frankly she needs to be better than Hickman.

St. Francis understand that the three-point shots aren't going to fall forever, right? They also understand that there can only be one high-octane St. Francis offense in the NEC and the Runnin' Red Flash have long since called first dibs? (I don't really have room for another NEC team in my heart, but if I did it would be SFU.)

I am honestly not sure why Coach keeps going to Destoni Willock over Daisha Davis. Maybe the one day I saw Daisha was the best she's ever played in a Blackbird uniform, but she showed a nose for the ball that I haven’t seen out of Destoni in far more time on the floor. Destoni got out there, turned the ball over, and ended up on the bench for the second half while we desperately shuffled the lineup around to try and make four guard-type people work around DeAngelique. Ella Vaatanen, whose name I will someday spell correctly on the first try, did some work in the lane, which was a pleasant surprise. I'm not used to her going inside, but I'd love to see her keep doing it.

Seneca Richards was called upon for a lot of tall perimeter defense, and she answered the call more than I'm used to her doing. She brings more height out there than most of the squad, and I'm glad she's starting to leverage it effectively. I love watching Tia Montagne on the floor- wide-eyed, head up, shoulders square- bringing the ball up in a flash. She's got to be more careful on defense, though- move your hands, not your feet, especially if you've got the speed to cut the angle like she did in one of the late possessions. I'm really excited about her potential.

I'm also really hyped about Jeydah Johnson after the way she stepped up in the fourth quarter. I mean, I was already most of the way on the Jeydah bandwagon, but she came up with big stops and a big o-board late to help seal the win. Her three-point shot was a weapon late in the shot clock, though I think one or two of those baskets might have been "no, no, yes!" shots from a coach's perspective. Drew Winter left shots so short I'm starting to wonder if she's either hurt or has some kind of depth perception issue. There were at least three shots that she didn't put enough oomph on that were easy bunnies. But her passing game was crisp, and having a senior post have herself a day down low makes anyone's assist numbers look good. If Denisha Petty-Evans launches too many more threes from somewhere in the vicinity of the Skylands, I may have to scream just a little bit. I know, I know, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, but sometimes you need to take better shots instead of taking the same shot over and over again. I think it got to her a little bit.

Dear my Blackbirds: y'all are aware Stylz Sanders is only 5-9, right? She plays a lot bigger and has good ups, which are the primary reasons why she ends up as our de facto power forward despite her lack of size. That does not mean that attempting to throw her high lob passes when she's well-covered is a good plan. She did everything we could have asked of her, and got called for some terrible fouls as a result of it. And then there was the heroine of the day, DeAngelique Waithe, and let me tell you the only thing better than watching Angel have herself a day is watching her have herself a day against St. Francis. She cut to the basket with an authoritative first step and ripped down rebounds like her life depended on it. She stepped up on defense and on offense. She had the most complete game I've ever seen her play, and every moment of it was glorious.

(Yes, even that one, Steph. I agree she should have gone for the fast break lay-up to seal the game on that steal, but turning out to kill more clock and take the foul isn't the worst instinct in the world either.)

Moppers, y'all need to do your jobs better. Too many slips in this game, including one that could have changed the course of the game if St. Francis could inbound cleanly.

Lots of ticky-tack contact calls. They were pretty even-handed, though. I mean, I might be biased, but I didn't see anything terribly blatant against LIU except for the previously mentioned hit by Stylz on O'Neill.

I have to say, the St. Francis fans were pretty quiet except for intros and those few moments when they were able to tie or take the lead on a three (because it was pretty much always a three, you'd think we'd get the idea eventually). If you're going to travel to support your team, even if it isn't much further than you would usually travel, one would think you'd be more vocally supportive, to let them know you're there.

The local elementary school cheerleaders (which is actually not as horrifying a sentence as you might think, they're very good and very clean) showed up in the middle of the game. We were able to get them going in the fourth quarter. I was surprised they didn't perform during either the women's game or the men's game; they're usually good for a halftime performance.

The best way to open conference season is with a rivalry win. I love it. Here's to building momentum for 2018!

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December 29th, 2017: Fairleigh Dickinson at LIU

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Balanced offense helped Fairleigh Dickinson pull away in the second half of their 82-71 win at LIU Brooklyn. Mike Holloway Jr. had 27 points to lead the Knights' charge. Joel Hernandez had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead LIU.

For weird beards, an enthusiastic fan, autographs in the seats, dubious leggings, biting cold, and impressive foot-stomping, join your intrepid and wayward blogger after the jump.



And now for something very slightly different: as I type these words, the LIU and Fairleigh Dickinson men are warming up and stretching, which gives me a good forty minutes to finish up the women's notes.

I am really not feeling this unadorned navy that FDU is wearing. Nike let them down. That being said, the shorts fit very nicely and I am shamelessly ogling some cute college behinds, because this is a thing one does before actually seeing what basketball skills there are to appreciate.

(I don't necessarily object to appreciating an athlete's physical beauty. I do object to it being the only thing one values about them.)

Not gonna lie, ally-oops actually look cooler when they don't end in dunks.

The ladies have started dressing and trying to escape. Daisha, Seneca, and Ella seem to have gotten out unnoticed. Denisha, not so much.

And I stand corrected. There is a blonde in LIU basketball gear and the most hideous pink and purple leggings in the next section, and as a matter of fact I am judging her so hard right now. I think that's Seneca.

Meanwhile, everyone has found Jeydah and she has ridiculously neat handwriting.

FDU better be careful with those practice dunks. One of them shook the shot clock slightly out of position. Seriously, y'all are going to bring that shot clock down on your heads and I'm going to laugh SO HARD before worrying for your well-being.

Why is Tia in a boot? WHY IS TIA IN A BOOT? I am not okay with this!

I'm surprised one of the St. Francis players stayed. I can't see her bookbag, so I can't tell you who.

At halftime, FDU is up 39-36, behind 12 points each from Mike Holloway Jr. on the inside and Darnell Edge on the outside. Fast game, physical game, and sloppy game. I think there have been more deflections than there have been clean rebounds.

Shoutout to the loud dude in the upper deck. I hear you, man. Keep it coming, all positivity and all supportive.

FDU's warmups are plain, but the blue gradient on the shorts works.

That was certainly an energetic and enthusiastic game. Tempers seemed to be flaring and I'm surprised there weren't even more technical fouls than were already called. I don't know if I can say I honestly enjoyed the chaos.

FDU went deeper in the first half than in the second, as so many teams do. I thought they actually got good minutes from Nadi Beciri in his brief time. Tyler Jones was so forgettable I only happened to notice he was in because I didn't recognize his jersey number. Pretty much ditto for Pat McNamara. Be more memorable if you want me to write about you, deep reserves. Kaleb Bishop mixed it up a fair amount in the paint, and I'm not sure it was as ineffective as the box score might lead you to believe. He had a big block on Raul Frias in the first half. Elyjah Williams also gave them good inside play, though if I recall correctly, one of his baskets was actually granted either on a goaltend or an own goal by LIU. Neither would surprise me.

Jahlil Jenkins is very energetic and very quick. I'm not sure if calling a player a waterbug is a thing anymore, but that's the comparison that comes to mind, the one that people used to use for Betty Lennox. He had a few very nice steals off LIU's sloppy passing and sloppy ballhandling. Darian Anderson got handsy, which was a problem for him late in the game. Pretty three-point stroke, though. Darnell Edge, while he drove a bit, was mostly FDU's outside threat, and he got off to a hot start with a couple of early threes to spread the defense and make room inside for their big center.

Mike Holloway Jr. is a big dude, and a powerful one at that. He went in for buckets, and no one was going to successfully stop him on a regular basis. I was really surprised when he stepped outside for a pretty sweet-looking three-pointer late in the game. He was huge for them, both literally and figuratively. Noah Morgan played with a lot of emotion, which wasn't always to his advantage, given the double technical with Batts after he hit a big shot. He was also arguing with the ref a fair bit, even after the technical.

I actually sort of like the balance FDU brought to the floor- it's good to have both solid outside shooters and an inside threat who can clean up the mess inside.

The less said about Raul Frias's shooting, the better. I think it's best for everyone's dignity. Jamall Robinson came on and hit a couple of threes late to keep it close and keep LIU in the game. I'm trying to remember if he was part of the stretch of three or four offensive rebounds that ended with a turnover and no points. You could hear the crowd groan when the Knights came away with the ball. Eral Penn was ridiculously athletic down low, going up for monster dunks and big blocks. There's something to be said for the high-flying game in moderation. I don't know the context for the double tech with him and Holloway. I suspect someone may have said something about someone's mother, or something along those lines. I can understand why he switched to the bench- it's nice to have a change of pace off the bench.

(I don't understand why LIU carries so many players and plays so few of them. Is this coach handing out redshirts like a Starfleet security recruiter, or is there something more here that I don't understand?)

Julius van Sauers has one big problem that's not going to be tenable in the long term if he's going to start, and that's his tendency to get into foul trouble. You can't do that if you're going to start, especially if that's going to leave your team very thin up front. I don't think LIU wanted to go to Eral Penn as long as they did. He did have one play that I thought was really nice, a hesitation move where he timed it perfectly to force the FDU defender to foul him. I just don't know if he's a sustainable starter. Raiquan Clark took over the game in the second half for LIU, and I don't know if that was entirely a good thing. It seemed to get to the point where everyone was expecting him to make things happen and forcing the ball inside to him, instead of looking for the best shot. I do understand the concept of feeding the hot hand, but this looked a lot more forced than feeding the hot hand. I enjoyed watching him kick ass, and I think he might be my favorite of these gentleman Blackbirds. But I do also believe in offensive balance, and I'm starting to wonder if they do.

I still think that Julian Batts shot should have counted. I thought he got it off in time. Fight me. I don't care. Really quiet game for him, and that's a problem. This team's not good enough that a starter can go 0-fer from the field. Jashaun Agosto ran a good point guard game, choosing his moments to shoot well and making good passes. Joel Hernandez didn't force things for himself as much as he did the first time I saw this team this year, though he was the man with the ball in his hands at the end of the game when LIU was desperately chucking up threes to try and stay in the game. I think he might grow on me after a while.

Can I admit something? Something weird that most basketball fans might not get? Of all the differences between men's and women's basketball, the one that threw me off most, at least in this game, was the beards. There were a lot of beards and attempted beards in this game. Is Harden making that a trend? It's not a good trend.

The other sharp contrast between the second game and the first game was the number of deflected and contested rebounds. I would have to watch the film closely, but I think there were more contested boards than clean ones.

Let me tell you, if the women's officials had been calling the men's game, it would have been twice as long and both teams would have had twice as many turnovers. The footwork was abominable, and I think I actually did let fly a Bronx cheer when they called one of the few travels in the game. Most of the turnovers were off sloppy ballhandling, sloppy passing, and charges.

I wish more of the people behind the LIU bench had been at the women's game- they missed one heck of a game, and I mean, it's a rivalry, what's not to love? We could have used the noise. But I'll take the support for the school anyway. It's nice to see people at low mid-major games.

I'm genuinely surprised neither coach got a tech. LIU's coach was screaming at anyone who seemed to be vaguely near where he was yelling, and FDU's coach was stomping the floor so hard I swear Stephanie Del Preore was taking notes from the bleachers on how he got those acoustics. Given how double-tech happy this crew was, I expected someone to be leaving early at some point.

You're going to be hearing a lot about this team in 2018, but only because all of LIU's weekend games are doubleheaders, not because they're, like, super good or anything.

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December 16th, 2017: Manhattan at LIU

Just the Facts, Ma'am: LIU scored the first basket, but it was all downhill from there for the Blackbirds as Manhattan built up as much as a 40-point lead on their way to a 72-38 win. Kayla Grimme led the Jaspers with 15 points, while Courtney Warley added 14 points and 12 rebounds. Denisha Petty-Evans led LIU with 11 points.

For putrid offense, soft defense, bad shots, a lot of guessing, a lot of green people, throwing freshman spaghetti at the wall, and the nagging feeling I should have done my laundry instead, join your intrepid and refrigerated blogger after the jump.

And now, the storm before the calm. Your intrepid blogger will be at five games in the next six days, including the big UCLA East Coast trip that I've been looking forward to for quite some time. And then there will be massive amounts of holiday baking, followed by a stretch of falling over.

We're starting this run off at LIU, where the Blackbirds will be taking on Manhattan of the MAAC.

The original plan for the day was to experiment with bus routes, but I spent too much time looking for cheap vanilla extract at Marshall's, so it's train time again. Should still make it in plenty of time for the game, but I'm a little bummed I couldn't go the long way around. Then again, no rules about doing it on the way home... after all, I'm flying solo today.

(On second thought, I'm down to 34% battery and my power bank is dead. Guess it's the train to the 56 after all.)

Manhattan has a custom bus. I mean, it's not the fanciest bus, but it's got their name and hashtag on it.

Looks like Lynette Taitt isn't dressed for the Jaspers, which means they might have to go a little deeper into their guard rotation. Or, I guess, ask Gabby "mini-Moriah" Cajou to play more minutes.

Alex Smith, whoever told you that you looked good with sideburns lied to you and is not your friend.

It's 43-19 Manhattan at the half, with the Jaspers ending each quarter with a trey. We ended the half by fumbling the ball on the inbounds- not fumbling the inbounds, but fumbling it before it ever came inbounds. Kayla Grimme and Amani Tatum each have 11 for Manhattan. Jeydah Johnson has seven for LIU, while Denisha Petty-Evans and Stylz Sanders each have six. If you do the math, you will realize the even bigger problem with that scoring distribution for the Blackbirds. Quirky stat here: Stylz's baskets all came on and-1s... and she's missed all three free throws.

At the end of the first quarter, I tweeted, "Have Coke. Send rum." I stand by that statement.

Hostos's team is across the aisle in the next section over. Boss letter jackets.

There is a tiny child behind the Manhattan bench area in an equally tiny Manhattan jersey. Okay, I guess that's cute. If you're into that kind of thing.

Those who have been following the GNoD since my cross-posting days understand that I have developed a policy of not swearing in the GNoD. I would like to be all-ages-friendly. So my exact opinion of this game will have to remain at my Twitter (@NYCScribbler, shameless plug) and the words you will read below are but a lengthy paraphrase of the pithy summation posted there.

The Manhattan bench was rooting really hard for Pamela Miceus when she came in at the end of the game, and they seemed bummed when she missed the look right at the basket. Nyala Pendergrass is long and lanky (her build reminds me of a volleyball player) and did good work on the offensive glass. Julie Høier brought height off the bench- I'm not entirely sure where she fits in Manhattan's scheme yet, though. They seem to like small guards and really big forwards, and she seems to be more the traditional European forward who shoots threes despite her height. Alex Smith is a very large woman. This is a problem for a team that regularly expects a 5-9 player to guard post players. We put DeAngelique Waithe on her, and she bumped her right out of the way to score at the basket. She's not mobile, and I'm still not sold on her stamina, but she certainly makes herself a target down low. Especially if the officials aren't calling three-seconds, she provides Manhattan with a size advantage on offense.

I don't know why Gabby Cajou doesn't start. I'm sure Manhattan has their reasons, and I certainly don't begrudge them their seniors. But she's damn good. She gives them killer speed- the ball is not safe coming up the floor if she's behind the ballhandler. I think during the Battle of the Bronx I compared her to Moriah Jefferson if you accidentally left her in the dryer, and I'll stick to that comparison (and not just because I like that turn of phrase). I don't know if she has a jumper or if her only source of offense is the rocket-fueled drive to the basket. Lizahya Morgan is of similar size, but seems to have more of a jumper when she does shoot. She seemed quieter, somehow. Kelly Anne O'Reilly came into the game late and hustled on defense. Her three-point shot was not pretty, though. Nyasha Irizarry missed her one shot badly (probably one of the high points for the LIU supporters in the stands was being able to give her the "airball" chant). I think she was part of an offense-defense switch, but honestly, there were so many Jaspers the numbers are starting to blur together in my head.

Courtney Warley mostly kept her elbows to herself this time around. She's smooth around the basket, and she got good position on our shorter players to snag offensive rebounds. She and Kayla Grimme work well together- if one missed a shot, the other was there for the putback, and if it was someone else missing the shot, they were both in position. Grimme had a simple go-to move with a single strong dribble and a single step to the basket. It was impossibly simple and equally impossible to defend. She can step outside a little bit, too- she ended the half with a straight-away three.

Amani Tatum is one of the most frustrating players I've ever seen as an opposing fan. I don't know whether it's one of those "love to hate her" or "hate to love her" situations. She plays with a chip on her shoulder, and I can always do without the diving theatrics from players. At the same time, I can't question the ice in her veins, or the leadership she shows on the floor- every stoppage, she was gathering her teammates around her to keep them fired up. She set the tone for Manhattan, scoring early and often, before leaning back to let her teammates carry the load the rest of the way. Taylor Williams was strong defensively, giving LIU no quarter. She made some solid plays on the offensive glass. Sini Mäkelä bombed from long-range, with mixed results. She needs to work on her defense a little bit.

Manhattan has a lot of size and rebounds well. This is not a good match-up for a team that starts a 5-9 power forward. They beat us on the boards and sealed us off defensively.

As an aside, I don't know what's making me angrier about this bus, the 40-minute wait for it to arrive, the fact that the driver then took his layover because schedules don't mean anything anyway, or the fact that I'm balancing my laptop on my backpack because I've been chasing a cockroach around my seating area. (Can't change seats. There's only one set of seats with enough leg room for the computer.) Honorable mention goes to the bus in front of us, which didn't flip its sign to reveal the route closer to my house until after we were both out of the last transfer point. There are times when I really don't like the MTA very much.

Daisha Davis was, IMO, one of the few bright spots in the game for LIU. She has a great nose for the ball. She crashed the glass hard and pursued loose balls. I think she's got a lot of potential, assuming her spirit isn't crushed. It looked like Tia Montagne was dealing with some lingering stiffness- she opened the second half riding the exercise machine to nowhere. I like her speed and the high arc of her shot, but she's got to be a touch more offensive-minded, unless she's supposed to be a strict distributor, which means she needs to work on her ballhandling instead. Ella Vaatanen gave me the urge to learn Finnish just so I could yell "What exactly were you thinking?!" in it at least twice today. If she's going to be a three-point shooter, she needs to actually be able to shoot from the NCAA line. Her shots were almost consistently short, and not even all that deep. If she had confidence at any point in her Blackbird career, she doesn't seem to have it now.

Destoni Willock got the benefit of the doubt on her drives (most of them should have been travels), but even with that advantage couldn't convert them. Her rebounding improved as the game went on, but I don't know if she looked better because she was learning from her mistakes, or because she was going up against inferior opposition. Seneca Richards chucked threes most of the afternoon, some of them rather deeper than necessary. She did make some good hustle plays on loose balls, though.

DeAngelique Waithe. You know you're my favorite. You know I usually only castigate you for offensive ineptitude and usually I am singing your praises about defense and rebounding. But in order for me to do that, you actually have to rebound and defend. These are not things that happened with great frequency in this game. She found some energy in the third quarter, but it was gone pretty quickly. I'd have to check the play-by-play, but I think it was the sequence where we had four shots and ended the possession with a bad pass by Drew that took the wind out of her sails. 404 error, damns not found. Stylz Sanders did yeoman's work in the paint, but there was only so much she could deal with, being consistently outsized and outmuscled. I'm not necessarily giving her a pass, but I think she did everything she could out there and then some.

Drew Winter has to stop with the bunny hop. There are a lot of things that are technically travels that are never called. That's the kind of thing that's too blatant not to call. She keeps doing it, and she keeps turning the ball over. Denisha Petty-Evans needs to finish at the basket if she's going to get the fast break opportunities. She was throwing it up there without seeming to make any real attempt to hit the shot. Jeydah Johnson showed more range than I was used to out of her, but couldn't hit when she got closer to the basket, and seemed to be backing out of plays a lot.

Where do I begin to dissect this collective trainwreck? Our passing was bad. Our ballhandling was bad. Our shot selection was bad. Our defense was soft. We played like we were mired in concrete. Do I think we were at least partially cowed by their size? Yes. Does Manhattan have team leaders and players who can take over a game? Yes. But we should have at least looked competitive out there. We had to come back just to cut it under 40.

I would love to blame the officiating, but except for a couple of stumbles (#15 is not #30 and Stylz is not Denisha, and I'm pretty sure Manhattan's coach lobbied for a call that was made about five seconds of real time after the initial infraction) I can't put it all on them, as much as I might like to.

I can't think of anything else to say about this game that isn't profane, so I'm wrapping up and going to bed. Tomorrow's a big game with a lot of travel involved.

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December 2nd, 2017: Michigan at LIU

Just the Facts, Ma’am: Michigan used a 25-0 run to put away LIU 86-49. Hallie Thome had 19 points to lead Michigan. Drew Winter’s 13 points, all in the second half, led the Blackbirds.

For unexpected ambiguity, onomatopoeia, autocorrect actually being useful, the clank of missed free throws, seeing old friends, Starbursts, and not getting a stiletto through the throat, join your intrepid and torn blogger after the jump.
It is inevitable, when one cheers for multiple teams, for loyalties to come into conflict. It’s usually more apparent in the Big East, with the twice-annual Awkward Bowl between St. John’s and Seton Hall. This is a different kind of awkward, though. Michigan doesn’t come to town very often, and when they do, it’s usually at Rutgers. I think I’ve chronicled the struggle to get to and from Rutgers before; it’s part of how I ended up aligning with St. John’s in the first place. So this visit to LIU is a godsend.

On the other hand, we’ve suffered with these Blackbirds. We know their struggles and their triumphs. I will fight anyone who talks trash about DeAngelique Waithe around me, up to and including Coach. I don’t really know these Wolverines.

On the other other hand, we’ve known Kim’s family for years. We’ve cheered with them from section 2, shared Starbursts with the kidlets, goggled at family photos. And the St. John’s jersey I wear to every Red Storm game? That’s Joy McCorvey’s #25. Literally, unless it was a blood jersey. (For the first ten years of that typeface, she was the only player who wore #25, that’s how I know.) These are our friends. How do you root against your friends?

So here we are at LIU with Michigan shirts and St. John’s accessories, because you have to remember your roots. And I’m not saying I like cheering against LIU. But you have to make choices sometimes, and sometimes they suck as choices.

We’re at half an hour before gametime, and the stands are mostly Michigan fans, or possibly Michigan family. I think I recognize Jillian Dunston’s folks. We’re also not the only St. John’s folks here.

“Respect Above All” would be a winning t-shirt motto if it weren’t still tied to to the Jeter retirement (with the 2 replacing the S). I know he’s from Michigan and all that, but c’mon.

You can lock the doors, but you still can’t keep us out, LIU. (To be fair, I think the keymistress forgot which way the lock was supposed to turn.)

Cecelia got tall! Who told her she could do that? I know it wasn’t me, and I didn’t think it was her mom. (KBA is not exactly tall herself.)

There are a couple of stray TBT stickers on the steps leading to the student section and band area.

We can hear the band practicing from the enclosed room one level up and catty-corner from our section. They might be loud. The soundproofing might be on the wrong side of the wall.

Come to think of it, it’s been years since I sat on this side of the arena. I think the last time I was a true visiting fan at LIU, Sky was still playing. And I’ve always preferred to sit across from the bench instead of behind it. But when you’re supporting the road team, you get behind the visiting bench. Then again, the family/friends/alumni contingent is sitting dead center across from the benches, so I might just be an old-fashioned girl (but I’m not in an old-fashioned hat).

This is about what I expected from a Michigan team that miiiiiight have had some frustrations to work out and an LIU team that I love but isn’t that good. It’s 45-11 Michigan at halftime, including a quarter-length stretch of scoreless play from the Blackbirds. Katelynn Flaherty has 14 points, including four threes; Hallie Thome has 10 points

In the great “what might have been” folder, let’s file the idea of Joy McCorvey- an undersized, defensive-minded, high-rebounding, never-give-up post- coaching DeAngelique Waithe- an undersized, defensive-minded, high-rebounding, never-give-up post. Okay, so Joy’s offense was a bit more polished, but that could have been coached up.

A good chunk of Kim’s family drifted back here, so we’ve got company.

Didn’t Katelynn Flaherty used to be blonde? Or am I just assuming?

Highlight of the game, or at least most impressive moment, might have been Cece Arico utterly destroying the shooting contest, hitting all three of the shots on the first try.

Michigan got to get deep into the bench in the fourth quarter, and even a little bit in the second quarter. LIU’s PA guy was trying so hard to make sure he didn’t say Smeenge wrong that he managed to get his tongue tied around Priscilla. (This is not giving the proper mental image, and I apologize for that.) Definitely not ready for prime time. Samantha Trammel came into the game and almost immediately committed a three-second violation (though in her defense, the officials were being especially persnickety about that in the latter stages of the game). KeAsja Peace had a nice shot in the lane, but still seems to be learning the schemes, which might be a problem for a sophomore.

I like the potential of Akienreh Johnson. She had a nifty putback in the lane off a missed shot from one of her teammates, as well as a nice steal (of course, DeAngelique Waithe promptly smacked the taste out of the ball when she went up at the other end, but that’s life, that’s what they say). She’s got a good nose for the ball. Deja Church made a couple of great defensive plays, but she’s got to be more careful with her fouls. I don’t know if she’s ready to be a starting point guard, but she’s going to have to be after this year. Kayla Robbins has good positioning on the boards but needs to work on her shot.

I like that Hallie Thome’s last name can be an onomatopoeia for the sound of her making a monster block. “THOOOOME!” If she keeps the ball above all the shorter people, she’s in good shape. It’s when she brings it down to where everyone else can get it that the problems start. Her ballhandling isn’t great, and her hands could be better. She could use some work on her free throw shooting, as well, though that’s the story of the average post player’s life. Hailey Brown is still very raw, and I don’t know how I feel about her taking three-pointers. There’s promise, like the resounding block on Drew Winter, but there’s a lot of work to be done with her. We’ll see if she’s up to the task next year, when the big senior class graduates. Jillian Dunston was born a few years too late; if she’d been in the class of 2003 or 2004, she might have gotten a look at the next level. She’s very strong- I’ve never seen a guard with such broad shoulders and upper body strength- but she’s not all that tall, and her game is as stuck between as her size is. She rebounds well, and her passing game was on point, but putting her on the perimeter defensively is a disaster waiting to happen, and her offense is inconsistent.

Katelynn Flaherty put on a show in the first half. I was glad she started sharing the ball more and slowing down the offense in the second half, because I was starting to run out of space to mark down her baskets. Her stroke is just so pretty and so fast. I’d like to see her offense be more diversified, but I think that’s part of why KBA wants her running point. I just don’t see it working. (Also, the deep three attempt up 36 with just over two minutes left? Really?) Nicole Munger was firing off corner threes in the third quarter like they were worth money (but of course they’re not, she’s an NCAA student-athlete and that would be wrong). She had a bit of a shaky start because of the two fouls in the first five minutes, but she came alive in the third quarter.

Senior power will push Michigan through this year, but next year’s going to be rough until this year’s freshmen and sophomores get it together.

I don’t know if I’d call Daisha Davis a center, or if everyone on the floor just looks short after Thome’s been out there. I also don’t know the context of the goggles, only that she’s rocking them. I would appreciate if Destoni Willock would stop doing whatever it is she’s doing to her shorts, whether it’s tucking them or rolling them or whatever. It’s not a good look for her. She’s got good size, and she had a nice block, but I’m not sure what to think of her.

Tia Montagne has flair and style, and made a great defensive play deflecting a would-be fast break. She still has work to do, but I see promise. Ella Vaatanen attempted, and failed, to defend Hallie Thome, and put up dubious threes. One drew no iron and barely drew net. Seneca Richards attempted, and failed, to guard Hallie Thome, but at least showed some midrange offense that I didn’t think she had. I’m used to her just setting up beyond the arc.

It’s a Christmas miracle, come early: DeAngelique Waithe hit a jumper. Granted, she missed a boatload of other shots too, but I think this is the most offense I’ve seen from her in a long time. She brought the best defense against Thome, arms up and giving her as little space as possible. I love her defense, in general. Quiet game for Stylz Sanders, and mostly a defensive one. She was bouncing all over the place on defense.

Drew Winter shone in the second half, whether it was from beyond the arc, driving the lane, or on the fast break. Her ballhandling needs work (she got called for a lot of travels) but she showed out against major competition. Jeydah Johnson had a rough day beyond the arc, and I think it was mostly in the second half, mostly because I don’t clearly remember seeing her take the shots, so that would have been at the other end of the floor. From what I’ve seen of her, I don’t know that that’s her strength. Denisha Petty-Evans had a solid game, though now I’m wondering who the point guard is in that lineup, her or Drew. Denisha tends to bring the ball up more, but Drew seems to be more of the playmaker. I guess it depends on who has the hot hand. If Denisha’s threes had been falling, the game might have been more respectable. (And even on the one she did hit, the announcer credited it to DeAngelique, which is about as likely as being struck by lightning while holding a winning Mega Millions ticket. My dude, these are your own players, you should know who’s who.)

I think we knew going into this game that this was not going to end well for LIU. They’re not tall enough, they’re not fast enough, they don’t shoot well enough. You can go down the list. But I’d like to think they used this game as an opportunity to see where their worst weaknesses are and to work on them.

(For both teams that’s free throw shooting, because holy carp on a stick, 50% should not be the higher free throw percentage on the day.)

For whatever reason, things were unusually restrained at LIU. The spirit squad didn’t make an appearance, the dance team mostly didn’t get involved in the game, and even the band was slow to react when the Blackbirds were shooting free throws. I like the dance team’s new uniforms, though.

Michigan really needs to do this more often, but if they could do it against, I dunno, Columbia or St. Francis, that would be great. I don’t like being stuck between two teams! At least I can come back to LIU next week for the Barclays doubleheader.

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February 18th, 2017: Sacred Heart at LIU

Just the Facts, Ma’am: Sacred Heart used long-range shooting and clutch defense in the fourth quarter to erase a seven-point deficit and come away with a 51-41 win to spoil LIU’s Senior Day. Hannah Kimmel had 15 points to lead three Pioneers in double figures. Shanovia Dove had 18 points in the losing effort for the Blackbirds, with Aja Boyd adding 10 points and 13 rebounds.

For seniors doing all the things, collages, small children, signs, balloons, the efficient use of personnel, and absolutely no sense of urgency, join your intrepid and transiting blogger after the jump.

It's entirely too gorgeous a day for mid-February in New York City. I'll take it, but at the same time I'll worry about it as the harbinger of climate change that it surely is. In either case, it's almost too nice a day to spend inside. But I did say almost, and it's game day, and it's Senior Day in Brooklyn. The Blackbirds of LIU Brooklyn are hosting their last home game of the year, taking on the Pioneers of Sacred Heart.

We didn't realize until this morning that it was a double-header with the men, and frankly, I was not leaving the house for a noon tip for a game I don't really care about. We got in early enough to catch the very exciting end of the men's win over Sacred Heart. I'd be hoping that some of the magic could rub off on the women, but since about 80% of the crowd has left, I'm not taking any bets on that. It looks like it was Senior Day for the men, too, judging from the large framed photo collage of Iverson Fleming that one older couple (presumably Mr. Fleming's parents) carried out with them.

Making your injured players useful: Paris Jones and Mackenzie Freeman were deputized to put into position the silver number balloons for the three seniors.

Looks like Stylz Sanders will be wearing a mask for this game- she's got it tilted up on her forehead, but I would think she'll be wearing it for the game itself.

The victorious dudes have emerged from the locker room. Bring your mojo! We need all the help we can get.

It’s a little confusing, but the clock on the center-hung scoreboard is counting down to about quarter to three. So Senior Day festivities are definitely before the game.

Fans from the state of Connecticut travel fairly well, and the Sacred Heart contingent is no exception. I think we might end up being outnumbered by the time the game tips off, which is not okay.

NEC basketball at its finest: the table for the Senior Day presentations was the table that the summer camp literature was on when we came in.

As befits an acolyte of Tony Bozzella, LIU opens Senior Day ceremonies by acknowledging the opposing seniors, though LIU doesn’t have flowers for the Pioneers. They do, however, get the opportunity to give flowers to the senior members of the dance team before the game.

It’s kind of hard to keep a straight face at the listed accolades of a player who’s only been here for one year.

Okay, cool, the photo collages are the same for the women as they are for the men. I mean, font and everything, not just equivalent. Though now I’m wondering if they’re in stead of framed jerseys...

I kind of feel either bad or confused for Shanovia Dove, who has a cousin with her but not her parents (Dionne Coe and Brianna Farris both have their parents with them). D’awww, Brianna’s dad has one of those “Most people never get the chance to meet their favorite athlete; I raised mine” shirts.

Heh. Someone tried to start a noise war with the LIU band. You can’t win a noise war with the LIU band. The only people who win those are the people who make hearing aids.

At halftime, LIU is up 27-18. Aja Boyd and Shanovia Dove have both been solid for the Blackbirds, and Brianna Farris has brought the energy. For Sacred Heart, their seniors have done all the scoring. They seem rather more reliant on the three than today’s shooting indicates that they should be.

There’s someone sitting in the endcourt nearest the opposing bench who looks an awful lot like one of last year’s seniors, Shanice “so what I sprained my ankle, y’all need me” Vaughn.

The kids sitting near us have been pretty cool, but I’m worried that they’ve moved over to set up camp right next to the Sacred Heart contingent. They’ve brought the noise, and it seems like that might not be a good idea near the opposing fans.

There’s a hook from my college years that seems to be making a comeback as part of a remix, and I am totally okay with this. Sugar, how you get so fly, indeed. I expect this to be a new Cheesy Musical Hook for Sugar Rodgers this summer.

Still getting used to this new computer and this new version of Word. Not sure how I feel yet. I think this computer is slower than Jocelyn, my Envy, but I’m only asking this one to be a mobile typewriter that can access the Internet. (Jocelyn’s casing is falling apart, her hinges are so-so, and if I touch her without properly grounding myself I electrocute her.)

Well, that was a thing that happened, and it’s a thing I very much do not approve of. Saying that LIU fell apart in the fourth quarter might be an exaggeration, but they definitely showed that they’d been to the Herman Edwards school of clock management. There was no sense of urgency late in the game; it’s as if they not only ran out of gas, but ran out of give-a-damn in the last five minutes.

Sacred Heart didn’t go very deep on their bench. Erin Storck didn’t exactly make a great impression when she compounded a missed free throw with a foul on the rebound. She brought decent physicality off the bench from the guard spot. Tykera Carter is very fast, and she is not a good player to make bad passes around. Unfortunately for LIU, they showed a tendency to pass a little further ahead of where the recipient was going to be, and Carter read those passes for fast break opportunities.

Katherine Haines was a big body down low. While she absorbed a lot of fouls, she also made life more and more difficult for Aja Boyd as the game went on, and she was good at setting screens. The fans across from us got very excited when Shelby Hickey scored her one basket, so I guess that’s not a thing that happens very often?

Adaysha Williams didn’t seem afraid to pull the trigger from deep, and did not get the rolls on the rim inside. Some days you’re the windshield, some days you’re the bug. I think the fans across the aisle from us were Kelcey Castro’s family, or at least knew her and/or her family well enough to cheer loud and long for her. She hit a couple of big threes in the fourth quarter to put SHU in front. Hannah Kimmel is dangerous from all over the floor, and she creates an interesting match-up with her size.

Sacred Heart’s zone really did a number on LIU. That, combined with the doubles on Aja Boyd and Shanovia Dove at appropriate times, shut down any semblance of offense that LIU could muster. They forced LIU to think too much and fed into their tendency to slow the game up.

Seneca Richards is not good at defense. She got into foul trouble quickly and seemed very grouchy about the calls. She came in at the end to provide a distance threat, but she didn’t seem to be seeking her shot, nor did her teammates look to get her the ball. That rather defeats the purpose of a three-point specialist, I would think. Autumn Ashe shows promise as a defensive post, but you can't run the exact same plays to her that you would to Aja Boyd for the simple reason that she's not Aja, and she's not as tall as Aja and she doesn't catch passes the same way. Victoria Powell moved the offense slightly faster than Dionne Coe did, but got in her own teammates' way as much as she did her opponents.

Dionne. We need to have a talk about the bit where you launch threes from the general direction of Gravesend. And we need to have a talk about these stretches where you dribble the ball on the perimeter for six or seven seconds at a time, especially when it's a two or three possession game and time is running out. I don't know if she doesn't have passing vision or she has no faith in her teammates, but she holds the ball for way too long and it kills anything that looks like momentum. Shanovia Dove got fired up on offense, but for much of the game, it looked like her teammates weren't even thinking about taking shots for themselves, instead force-feeding her or Aja. Brianna Farris started the game with great energy on both ends of the floor, and I love everything she did in the first quarter, but she wasn't able to sustain that kind of intensity through the whole game.

Aja Boyd showed great moves on the inside, and if/when she can finish consistently at the rim and from the weak side, she'll be an unstoppable powerhouse. As it was, too ofen she got phenomenal position inside and then took a bad shot. Her rebounding was fantastic. I feel like she has the potential to be something truly special for LIU if she can keep developing. Gabrielle Caponegro has talent, and shows it in flashes on the glass, but she's still scared, and she still holds the ball way too long, allowing the defense to bottle her up and promptly freaking out when they accept that invitation. I'm sure a lot of this will come with time, but I'm worried about what happens if it doesn't.

The lack of urgency at the end of the game really killed me. You have to understand that you can't just be passing the ball around the perimeter and take twenty seconds to get into your offense when you're down two or three possessions in the final two minutes. You have to do something different from what you usually do, and LIU kept doing what they always do. That’s not going to work when time is short. Even Coach Oliver seemed to be urging them to speed it up, though without her usual acidic sarcasm. (Which is good. Acidic sarcasm should be saved for the stands and for those moments behind closed doors. You never let outsiders see anything that might be division.)

Officiating was the usual mess of what is this I don’t even. I do think they did a good job managing the game at the end (as compared to the Sacred Heart fans who were baying for a travel while they were up 10 with less than a full possession to go). And calling the technical on Sacred Heart’s coach had the effect of calming both coaches down somewhat.

I somehow suspect LIU won’t be sorry to see the end of this season- but there’s promise for the future, if Coach Oliver can get through to this class and instill confidence in them. Someone’s going to have to show the ability to score with Shanovia graduating. Everyone’s going to have to step their game up.

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