Just the Facts, Ma'am: 16 points from Eugeneia McPherson and a 42-point second half gave the St. John's Red Storm a 63-48 victory over the visiting Howard Bison. Tamoria Holmes led Howard with 16 points.
For tenacity, exhaustion, threats of violence, and middle-school children, join your intrepid and sleep deprived blogger after the jump.
I swear, one of these days this team is going to kill me. I can't count how many times I've used those words to open a set of Game Notes of Doom, but it's true again. I don't care who we're missing, there's no excuse for a team like St. John's to go down nine to a team like Howard at any point in the game. We remembered who we were in the second half, and that's a plus, but I don't like how this team fell apart when presented with a challenge.
My sympathies to Mary Nwachukwu- hoping all is as well as can be. She left the team while they were in the Bahamas, and she wasn't with them tonight. There was a little bit of gossip as to the reason, but nothing has been confirmed to my satisfaction, and since she clearly doesn't want her business bruited about, I won't do it for her.
To whoever that was singing the anthem: first of all, take off your hat and sunglasses when singing the national anthem. Second, whoever gave you a recording contract should be taken out back and shot.
I find something very discomfiting about a female coach with two male assistants. The power dynamics just strike me the wrong way. Geckeler was definitely the one in charge, but... gah, I hate that I have to consider gender politics in my sports, I just want to cheer for my team.
Many of our usual suspects weren't in place today, which meant that we were invaded by middle school students who found us amusing and occasionally worth mocking. If I'd been sure, I would have gone to their chaperone. Then I would have thrown one into the upper deck. No one messes with my husband.
I was very impressed with Howard's rebounding, especially on the offensive boards. They gauged their leaps very well. They contested most shots and just about every rebound. They don't have the height, but they have the ability to sneak into spaces and wrap things up.
Zykia Brown's three-pointers had me worried for a while, but she missed when they needed her to come up big. Cheyenne Brown was the only other Bison player to log heavy minutes off the bench. She had one pretty shot in the lane, but that's all I remember about her.
Cheyenne Curley-Payne (yes, this team has two Cheyennes, welcome to the twenty-first century) demonstrated a neat facility for fitting into small spaces, and damn, is she ever fast. Tamoria Holmes brought the offense in the first half with jumpers from the perimeter- she's another fast, short, guard. Saadia Doyle reminds me a lot of Crystal Robinson in her build and her free throw wind-up. She's more of an inside player, though. Kara Smith always seemed to come up with the right shot at the right time. Likewise, Nicole Deterville seemed to come up with the right rebound at the right time. (Or maybe it was her sister. I don't know if they're identical or not, but Portia Deterville is also a 6-1 forward/center; maybe they pulled a Parent Trap.)
At least Briana Brown had the offensive rebound. Tesia Harris's shot was... I don't even know how to describe it. When two consecutive shots on the same possession are a three that goes long and a mid-range jumper that falls short, I throw my hands up in despair and scream to the heavens. Keylantra Langley had a solid game off the bench on both ends of the floor. I'd like to see her shoot less, but I can't fault the defense and the rebounding. Mallory Jones got more time than we were used to, but I'm not sure this freshman is ready yet. Zakiyyah Shahid-Martin was called upon more than usual since we were short-handed in the post, and she did admirably in the time she played- nothing big, nothing statistical, but enough to keep us from falling apart.
Shenneika Smith came up big in the second half, making the little plays, especially on the offensive boards, that got the team back in the game and extended the lead. Nadirah McKenith was off her game today, whether it was due to illness (we thought we saw her throwing up in a bucket during a timeout) or injury (she came out for shootaround holding the left side of her neck, and early in the game, she wasn't able to look in that direction). She cleaned up at the line, though. Eugeneia McPherson, I swear on my honor as a former Girl Scout, I am going to end up breaking a clipboard over your head if you keep going towards the lane, throwing something in the general direction of the glass, collapsing to the floor, and then kvetching to the ref when you don't get the call. It's nice when she slashes through the lane, taking contact like a pinball as she drives to the basket. But she always seems to prioritize getting to the line over putting up a viable shot. Amber Thompson was victimized by foul trouble, but I continue to love her hustle after rebounds. I still want her to be more aggressive under the basket on offense, but that will come with time. Jennifer Blanding wasn't completely awful- she filled space, made some defensive plays, hit her only shot. She did what we needed her to do in Mary's absence.
These refs. I don't even know what. Late whistles, pushes called in the wrong direction, jump ball situations not called, fouls on all-ball wrap-ups... I don't know what game these refs were watching, but I'm not certain it was ours.
Impressive halftime play from Our Lady of Victory. #50 in orange looked like a half-pint Katie Douglas.
I keep telling myself that we'll be fine when Da'Shena comes back, but I'm honestly not sure. I do hope that things are well enough with Mary that she can rejoin the team for the Hartford game, because Hartford is probably better than Howard, and we had enough trouble with Howard.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
November 30th, 2011: Howard at St. John's
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
December 16th, 2008: Howard at St. John's
St. John's Red Storm 66, Howard Bison 36
Zykia Brown is Howard's offense, Sky Lindsay kicks ass, and Victoria Hodges gets on the board.
While this certainly isn't going to prove anything to anyone, this is the kind of game a team needs in order to start revving up for the big games. The starters, for the most part, were sharp, and the reserves got some much-needed time to shake the rust off. But I can't help but wonder when Howard's going to win a game.
Attendance tonight was dreadful, but I expected no less with a bad team in town, few local connections, and the first day of prolonged snow this season. Not that a lot of people show for St. John's games anyway...
Worst.Anthem.Ever. I'm going to pretend that the real anthem singer didn't show up and they had to use one of the team managers because they didn't have anyone else and half the band was missing, because there's no way on God's green earth you can hear that guy and honestly decide that he should be given a microphone.
I have the dim recollection that Howard is a very good academic school. I certainly hope it is; that way the Bison have something to comfort themselves with. Zykia Brown played really well for the Bison, and I'm pretty sure Coach Barnes Arico isn't happy about her scoring 20 on us… but since Howard only put up 36 total, that might be forgiven. There's one thing Howard did much better than we did- they set some very nice screens, especially Amanda Edwards and Tamaya Daniels, to get their shooters open- they can't be faulted if their shooters miss in every way known to man. Okay, so sometimes those screens moved a little, and sometimes there were elbows. Still, at least they were setting them. And I liked that their coaching staff and bench stayed involved to the end of the game. It sets a good example. Nice ball-hawking when the clock ran down, too. That looked like a drill that they run often.
I feel like I've said this a few times this season, but hey, here we go again. This might have been Sky's best game of the season. Her shots were falling, and she looked much more confident on the court. Even the plays that didn't go well for her (one bad pass off a nice rebound comes to mind) were done with the right idea in mind. Da'Shena was fierce, although I'd like to see a few more conversions on those shots in the paint, and especially from the line. (Also, everyone, please stop hitting the freshman, please, I mean it.) It's occurred to us that with her hair in the color and style it is, and the shape of her face, she looks like Recee's Mini-Me. Monique, despite being de-ribboned so that her hair kind of exploded, was neat and efficient, with her shots falling softly and sweetly. Kelly looked awfully tentative on her shot, almost as if she was scared to shoot unless she had the perfect angle, the perfect opportunity, and all the time in the world. She got a little better in the second half. Joy, of course, is the queen of the little things, and took home rebounding honors tonight. The midget impressed off the bench. Some stupid freshman plays, but one sweet little shot and a lot, a lot of hustle on the defensive end. That's one thing I can stand about her- she's a ball-hawk, and she'll make your life hell if you're the opposing ballhandler. I love Sheree's hustle, but she's got to learn some discipline, and I have the sinking feeling that she tries to do too much because she thinks that's the only way she's going to get playing time with Da'Shena's ascension. Coco needs to remove her head from her ass. Too many dumb plays, too many balls through her hands, too many spaceouts. Kristin came in once, spaced out during a rebound, and was yanked for a long time. When she came back in, she ended up getting clocked in the head, and the trainer was still checking her out at final buzzer. She did rather look like she was seeing two of everything. Good vibes and best wishes to you, Kristin. Be safe and healthy.
Favorite play of the game: Kelly and Britney doubling down on the ballhandler- I think that play led to a turnover. Second-favorite play of the game: Joy, sitting on nine points, only needing one more shot to be the fifth Stormie in double figures, instead passes off to Kelly for an easy three; we figured that Joy was being all captainy and trying to bolster Kelly's confidence.
Best image of the game: Joy sprawled out on the baseline after an attempted save.
Most heart-warming play of the game: Victoria Hodges, at the shot clock buzzer, sinking a jumper to notch her first two NCAA points. The bench went wild for her. Congrats, V!
Guess who's back, back again? After an entire half-season of not having seen hide nor hair of Bonita Spence, she was one of the refs for this game. And she brought an evil twin, to boot. All apologies to Norma Jones, but she does look like Spence's evil twin. As to be expected from a Spence crew, there were a lot of travels called, and only a few inexplicable calls. The only moment that comes to mind is the call that Da'Shena didn't get. We could hear her going "What?" from our seats.
Despite the questionable play of our bench, I'd still rather have seen them get more run. That's the only way they're going to get used to the floor and each other, and it's not really necessary to keep pouring it on, considering we had enough offense in the first half to win the game without scoring a point in the second. But it's from Bison to Buffalo on Saturday. Let's see if we can keep building.