November 17th, 2019: Villanova at Fordham

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Post play fueled Villanova in their 73-66 win over Fordham. Madison Siegrist led the Wildcats with 29 points, with Mary Gedaka hot on her heels at 27 points. Bre Cavanaugh had 23 points to lead Fordham in the loss.

For unstoppable forces, a local inversion of reality, back pain, betting the dogs, a light roast, and dazed confusion, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.
One quick change and a scoot down the aisle later, your intrepid blogger is back in her accustomed perch behind the Fordham bench, as the Rams prepare to defend the A-10's honor against the Big East's Villanova Wildcats.

I don't know who this dude in the Penn State sweatshirt is, but I'm pretty sure that by wearing that he has declared himself the sworn enemy of everyone in the building, so well done there.

SHU friends and family have gathered in the corridor to greet their team. We are not over there, obviously, because right now we are Fordham fans.

I'm not sure if the stippling on Fordham's warm-up shirts is intentional or born from laundry, but it looks cool.

A dude in a Phillies cap just plopped himself down behind the Fordham bench, so this is probably going to be fun.

(Sidebar: Ms. Carangi and Ms. Siegrist were announced as “Sam” and “Maddie” respectively, but they're on Villanova's roster as Samantha and Madison, so I'll be referring to them by their full first names.)

20-14 Villanova end Q1. Madison Segrist has A) a lot of friends and family in attendance, B) 15 points. Neither of these sparks joy.

31-21 Villanova at half. Segrist has sat down, but Mary Gedaka picked up the baton with 9 of her 11 points in the second quarter. You know, I could have just had my wisdom teeth extracted.

Shout out to the dude in the student section in the A'ja Wilson jersey.

Two pregame ceremonies today, one honoring Coach Peretta on his upcoming retirement and one for Coach Gaitley's 1000th game.

48-42 Villanova end Q3. We tied it and then Nova remembered what threes are.

I'm not saying that we have issues with consistency, but if we could get maybe three players to play at or above average, we could actually win some of these games that we keep falling apart in. It's frustrating. We don't seem to have finishing ability. And when we pressed, Villanova was able to pass out to the wide open player under the basket. I'm not used to Villanova using the post so effectively and so heavily. Is this Peretta's version of a midlife crisis?

I'm also not used to Villanova not going that deep. Mackenzie Gardler came in briefly in the first half to give the guards a break, but I don't think she played in the second half. She's small but not all that quick, which is not a good combination. Brooke Mullin's first shot was a disaster, but once she got off one with her feet squared and time to set, it was worthy of her last name. She found her stroke in the second half to help Villanova pull away. Samantha Carangi came in to run point for long stretches- she was first off the bench in both halves. She was pretty solid on the intangibles.

I would not have expected an experienced senior like Bridget Herlihy to commit a stupid touch foul while leading in a two-three possession game with somethine like two minutes left to put the opponent in the penalty. She did lay some monster blocks on our guards, though. Made it hard to drive. I don't even remember Madison Segrist picking up the first two fouls, though that would be a reasonable explanation for why she was MIA in the second quarter. That kid is fast, and she's the usual Villanova match-up issue for a big- she can take you outside or inside. So she pretty much got what she wanted, whenever she wanted it, and when she didn't, she got the rebound. We did a not-terrible job of keeping Mary Gedaka off the offensive glass, but she more than made up for it with hard drives and an ability to create space for herself with excellent body control.

Cameron Onken had a really fantastic hustle play in the first quarter to break up a Fordham break. She was pretty good on defense. Raven james drove and dished effectively to set up the bigs (who also did a pretty good job of setting themselves up with dribble drives, to be fair).

I look at this and it looks like I'm short-changing the guards, but honestly, the starting guards for Villanova did not distinguish themselves well. The three-point offense mostly came from the bench or from the posts, which is either a credit to our defense or a credit to Madison Segrist, and I think I know who I'm crediting here.

Officiating made themselves heard in the second half, but we got ourselves into as much un-called trouble as we did called un-trouble. I have no right to be upset.

Clever things veteran coaches do: Bre Cavanaugh hits a deep jumper that's called a three on the floor but looks like a long two, putting Fordham within one and extending a Rams run. Peretta calls timeout. It's not just a smart move to curtail the run- I'd bet dollars to donuts he knew that call would be reversed, and made sure to call timeout so that the refs would review right then and there, taking the point off the board and messing up Fordham's momentum just that much more.

I don't know what to do with this Fordham team. It seems like if everyone could maybe get on the same page in the same game, we could make some noise. But right now we're playing like a box of puzzle pieces that's been dropped on the floor and played around with by a hyperactive six-year-old. Sometimes things fit together, but mostly they don't, no matter how hard we hammer at them.

Katie McLoughlin came on for hustle, but the biggest problem with her is that she doesn't bring anything else to the table. She fights for boards, and sometimes she even gets them, but she doesn’t score and her defense has yet to develop. I continue to wonder what's going on with Zara Jillings. Something's not right with her, and it's throwing off all our rotations, because we have very little height and if she's not contributing then we end up with Kendell Heremaia, Power Forward Extrordinaire, and I don't like that plan. Megan Jonassen was physical, but not much else.

Sarah Karpell looked really good- she's developing good defensive instincts quickly and demonstrating good court awareness. She started off the season with a bad game, but she's shaken it off in a hurry. Anna DeWolfe scored most of her points late, and I thought she looked like she was in over her head a little bit. Bre Cavanaugh looked like her old self in the second half, scoring with confidence and getting to the line. It took her a while to get going, and I worry about that still.

Have I mentioned how unenthused I am about the concept of Kendell Heremaia, Power Forward Extrordinaire? Because I love Kene, and all gods know that she tries to match up with the bigs, but she doesn't have the height and she doesn't have the quickness to get into the positions she needs to be in if she's going to make up for that. I do also need Kene to remember who her teammates are, because this is the second time in three games I've seen her take out a teammate in pursuit of a rebound. This time it was Anna. The people in the white jerseys are your friends, Kene. (Unless you're on the road.) Kaitlyn Downey was ineffective and often in foul trouble. We need her to be more consistent. I don't know what else to say.

Time and score awareness: on one possession, Sarah gets the offensive rebounds and keeps feeding Kaitlyn for three-point attempts; on the next possession, Anna gets the offensive rebound and immediately puts it back. IMO, we needed threes more than twos in that stretch, but looking back, I understand Anna's logic too.

I don't know what else to say about Fordham. There were moments when it worked, but then we couldn't execute. It feels like it was forever ago. I can't get a sense of this team and who they are yet.

Someone in the student section brought a drum. I question his reading of the rules on artificial noisemakers, but as long as he doesn't get in trouble, I'm down with it. I hope these heartbreakers don't dissuade the student section from showing up and getting loud- this team needs and deserves that kind of support at every game.

We can beat Northeastern, right? Right?

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January 27th, 2019: Villanova at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Villanova rolled most of the way in a 73-57 win over St. John's. Mary Gedaka had 23 points to lead the Wildcats. Tiana England had a team-high 18 points for St. John's.

For shaming the PSAL, bad body language, bad language in general, shooters shooting, and being Very Tired Of All This, join your intrepid and PG-rated blogger after the jump, where she uses bad words a couple of times.

Basketball never stops, or at least the Big East never stops, or at least it doesn't stop on weekends. It's time for the back end of the Eastern Seaboard pod as St. John's takes on Villanova. Since the men are playing at the Garden, we're going to have a skeleton crew and no attendance. And Villanova fans are the worst. Ugh.

It's fun to watch players animate at their favorite jams, to see Akina Wellere bouncing up and down at one track like a boxer, then Kayla Charles putting on her swagger with the next track.

Nice touch by Alisha Kebbe bringing in the midseason transfer to the huddle. I don't think we're supposed to officially know about Raven Farley yet, but when you know a 6-4 forward has left LSU, someone says she's transferred to St. John's, and suddenly there's a very tall person in sweats on the bench, it doesn't take a rocket scientist, or even an English major, to figure things out.

And already we've got two Nova fans who tried to park themselves in our student section and seem to think sitting next to the band on the home bench side is appropriate. FFS. Kick rocks with no shoes.

And now I think we've got Nova family parking in our section. Game hasn't even started yet and I am THISCLOSE to breaking the no-cussing rule.

The no-cussing rule got fully officially broken near the end of the second quarter when a group of Villanova fans started a defense chant while we were on a run. I am done with this nonsense and I will not, in fact, be letting these assholes get away with that.

Halftime features a mediocre biddy game and either a terribly sped-up/remixed version of "Empire State of Mind" or the world's worst cover thereof. Never again. It's 34-23 Nova at the half. Our defense has been soft, porous, and spongy. At least Villanova's shooting is down to 52%.

On the plus side, abandoning my usual section for the student section has led to two missed Villanova free throws. On the down side, I think I cut my palm when my clipboard came open as I used it for percussion. I may be attempting to express my seething frustration at these assholes in a more positive fashion than starting a fight with people I'm fairly certain are player family.

Seriously, there are a couple of Villanova players I might be able to like, except that I'm fairly certain the assholes I was trying to get away from are related to them. And, yes, if your progenitors prove themselves to be trash, I will assume that you are, at best, a recyclable plastic.

Honestly, if I had stayed in my regular section, this would probably have been the first non-GNoD game in a very long time. I've been itching for a fight, and this dude trying to hustle on the F train is not helping at all. No one cares whether or not you're looking for a job or what your sob story is. All of this is to say that I have spent most of the last couple of hours in a state of inchoate rage and it's very hard to pick out specific things from the actual game that don't descend into swearing or yet more kvetching about Villanova's fans. You, the few, the proud, the certifiable, the loyal or disloyal readers of this here blog, deserve better.

Brianna Herlihy got her minutes in the first half and did not impress- she made a couple of bad decisions on defense and with ballhandling that sent her back to the bench for the rest of the game. That left time and space for Emily Esposito to provide instant offense off the bench. It seemed like Villanova wasn't always happy with how quickly she was shooting, even when shots didn't go in, which actually makes sense; if you run a very specific and very regimented system that may or may not be older than the players executing it, you want to make sure a freshman, even a redshirt like Esposito, knows how to execute it, not just freelance. Harry doesn't necessarily mind a freelancer clogging the lane for the outside passes (remember Taylor Holeman? Pepperidge Farm 'members) but I don't know if that's the role he has in mind for Esposito. Raven James is small, and quick, and I think all of her fouls were a result of being in the wrong place in the wrong time. She's got no business guarding Kayla Charles. She anticipated really well on a terrible pass from Jasmine Sina to get the steal.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, or if I'm about to blow up Villanova's Sekrit Wepn or something, but Kelly Jakot shoots threes real good. She's got just enough range that she can take a step back from the arc, get separation from her defender, and still hit the deep ball. And for whatever reason, be it height blindness or Kayla Charles leaving her brain in her dorm room or the entire damn squad forgetting that Villanova likes to take threes, she kept getting really good looks. I keep forgetting about Jannah Tucker as a three-point shooter, and apparently so did we. (Apropos of Jannah Tucker and her collegiate career, shoutout to the lady in the full-on "We Back Pat" shirt behind the Nova bench.) I also do not appreciate her hitting people in the face. Adrianna Hahn seems to have regressed from her first couple of years at Villanova. You'd think a senior point guard would have a better grasp of the system, but she seemed to be going it alone early in the clock a lot more than it looked like she should have been. Her ferocity is impressive, and if she can hit, her shot is nice. But she did not take good shots.

I really like, or at least objectively admire and respect, Mary Gedaka's touch around the basket, both as a shooter and as a rebounder. She has no offensive rebounds in the box score, but her tip to (I think) Esposito is responsible for one, and she likely had other, similar plays. She's very good at that. She sliced us up inside, getting that extra step on the defense. Bridget Herlihy had a big block on Alisha Kebbe, and I think she was one of the players I successfully disconcerted at the free throw line, but other than that I don't remember the impact she had on the game.

Villanova's slowdown game becomes much more apparent when they have the lead. If they get enough of it, they'd rather take a violation if it means strangling thirty seconds off the clock, and I don't think we understood that about them. We seemed happy to let them do it.

(Different train. Different panhandler. Sir, I think part of the reason you're unsteady is the waft of alcohol following in your wake.)

I take back every complaint I had about Joe cutting Kayla Charles's minutes and I take back almost all of the nice things I've said about her. Kayla, I would like for you to be my favorite because I like post players and I rep the PSAL, but if you're going to hang your head at the end of the game, and if you're going to not rebound, and if you're going to act like defense is one of the seven dirty words, you are not going to be anyone's favorite. Get it together, Kayla. Get your head out of your ass and into the game. I know you can do it. I believe in you. I'm disappointed in Jasmine Sina's shot selection- she threw up stuff she had no reason to throw up. She's not ready for the position she's been thrust into, but we have literally no one else unless someone can scrounge up an extra year of eligibility for Tamesha Alexander. Kadaja Bailey seems to be getting the hang of the press that we don't use nearly often enough, but she was tentative enough on offense that I saw Shenneika Smith attempt to headdesk without a desk on one possession. Shoot your shot, Kadaja! You have talent! You have potential! You can do it!

Tiana England took a lot of the offense on her shoulders. I'm not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I do appreciate her being more assertive offensively and more aggressive. On the other hand, it felt like there was a lot of one-of-one play going on and not enough team play. That's not just on her, but it was more noticeable when she was doing it because she was the most successful at it. Qadashah Hoppie did not, at least, try to go one-on-four again, but it still felt like she was forcing too much on her own offensively and making terrible decisions that led to fouls defensively. Bad things are gonna happen if you have your back to the offensive player and you still body into them.

The good news is that Alisha Kebbe seems to have taken to heart my concerns about her shot being too strong and thus going long against Georgetown. The bad news is that she overcompensated in the other direction and left an awful lot of her shots short. She seemed to be taking a lot more threes than normal, which makes sense with Villanova's defense. But her outside shot is streaky, and on this day it did not streak well. I will still and forever love her hustle, and the leadership both supportive and disciplinary she's been providing on the court. (Hoo boy, when Kayla crashed into her going for a loose ball and the resulting possession went to Villanova, Alisha was extremely Not Happy.) I continue to be unsure of what we're doing with Akina Wellere on offense, and Akina herself seems to be unsure of what she's doing with herself on defense. She's not even a true tweener and she's stuck playing the tweener role, and it has ruined her game. She did a good job of getting to the line, but I think a lot of those were when Villanova was already in the penalty, and might have been fouls on the floor otherwise. Curteeona Brelove found too much inspiration in her outside jumper and not enough in her power game. She seemed to be getting a little frustrated at times, but she didn't let it take her too much out of the game.

I'm just saying that if we ran the press before the last five minutes of a game where we were down twenty, the team might have a better concept of how the whole thing works and who's supposed to be where in the trap. Kadaja and Kayla were both coming in for their share of flak in that regard.

You know you have done your job as a fan disconcerting the free throw shooter when the other team goes 2-4 from the line, someone over by your bench exclaims "JESUS!" at the ruckus, and someone on the bench gives you a sign of approval. Perching over the basket provides a better vantage to analyze the shooter's wind-up and perfectly time that moment of pure raw distraction. But it's harder to watch the whole game that way, and my left eardrum is still a little numb from being directly next to the band.

I don't like our body language at the end of that game. We got outplayed, and our response was to let the whole world know we got outplayed.

All the fouls were on Villanova in one quarter, all the fouls were on St. John's the next, and then the refs seemed to remember that they could call fouls on everyone. That was weird.

We really need the full spirit squad, our one-to-three-man student section, and basically our full attention from the school on days against Villanova, or we need the Villanova game to be assigned seating. If that means making it camp day, so be it then.

On to the next one, and the road doesn't get easier with Butler coming to town. Hey, at least we get Xavier. We should be able to beat Xavier, right?

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January 14th, 2018: Villanova at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Clutch shooting in the fourth quarter helped St. John's take down Villanova, 70-64. Maya Singleton's 16-point, 11-rebound, five-assist effort led four Johnnies in double figures. Kelly Jekot's 16 points led the Wildcats.

For an entire spectrum of Philadelphians, team effort, diplomatic negotiations, chasing loose balls, and forward momentum, join your intrepid and territorial blogger after the jump.

PSA: it is still cold. Hopefully this will extend to Villanova's shooting and not ours.

Flying solo for St. John's games is the worst- husband has to go play nice with Seton Hall, thanks to the Awkward Bowl next week.

Sky Lindsay always manages to be the suavest person in the room.

Why is it always Villanova fans who don't understand the concept of which bench is which? They're worse than Notre Dame fans and just as bad as UConn fans, I swear.

(Also, should I be weirded out that there are three second-generation players on Villanova? Dude, you might want to think outside the alumnae network.)

There's an AAU (or maybe Jr. WNBA?) team with the Stars logo, and it's kind of cute and kind of sad at the same time.

Note to self: must ask Alisha and Sox if all Philadelphians are this bad at taking hints, or if it's just these doofuses. The sad part is that the youngest person in the group is the only one with some common sense- kid settled himself center court. I applaud his enthusiasm.

Our regular PA announcer has been out the last two games. This guy doesn't have enough resonance for the job.

Oh, FFS, you don't use the home team's sign-making material to make big bright signs for the visiting team. I've already been reduced to just this side of swearing and it's still 20 minutes before tip. At least the people in front of me got the hint and moved center court. Go away, Villanova. Just... go away. If there's one thing I've internalized from one of my best friends being a UConn fan I met in 2002, it's a bone-deep loathing of Villanova.

I love my band people, but if y'all can't keep track of where you are in "The Pretender", please don't perform it.

At halftime, it's 29-25 St. John's. Miss Maya has 10 points to lead the Red Storm. Alex Louin has nine for Villanova. This crew seems overly fond of her hair dye.

Credit where credit is due: I think about half a dozen Villanova students decided to do the men's-women's weekend in New York. I complain enough about people not showing up for both teams, I suppose I shouldn't complain when they do. Personal annoyances shouldn't make me a hypocrite.

This halftime CYO game has been surprisingly good. Some really fun plays. One of these kids has some serious game, though she doesn't seem to have a jumper yet.

Great team win. We beat a good 'Nova team that, while they didn't have their big guns working, did get a lot of hustle plays from their utility players. Team effort is the best effort.

Efficient use of personnel by Villanova- send in the deep reserves at the end of the bench to absorb fouls and protect the big guns from picking up cheap fouls or fluke injuries late in the game. That seemd to be the sole role for Raven James and Cameron Onken. (I think Perretta also got Brianna Herlihy up briefly to play that role, but changed his mind at the last minute.) It's not the craziest idea in the world if you're already down. If nothing else, you can see how well the kids take direction. Bridget Herlihy got some run in the first half, and I seem to remember her hanging out down low, but she made some mistakes with the ball, and her coach did not look happy with her when she went back to the bench. In that context, I can understand why he didn't go back to her in the second half.

Grace Stant seemed to be a go-to reserve for immediate substitution in the forward area, but contributed very little. The Wildcats got excellent minutes out of Mary Gedaka, who seems to have thrown her name in the ring to join the Rebounding Rumble Royale against G'mrice, Angel, and Maya. She got phenomenal reads off missed shots, racing in from deep on the perimeter to claim offensive rebounds. She took contact and got free throws. She did a nice job cutting into the lane for shots, though I'm not sure how much of that was her first step and how much of it was our defense doing dubious work in the paint.

(As it turns out, the people who were being relentlessly clueless were her family. They did all eventually move, which is good. I don't like yelling directly in people's ears, believe it or not.)

I don't know if our defense wasn't ready for Kelly Jekot, or if we were just having collective brain farts when it came to her, or if she really is that fast and that sneaky. But she came in like a wrecking ball in the lane and we got out of the way like she had raised the staff of Moses. Her handle was shaky, though, and we were able to exploit that. We stuck close on Adrianna Hahn most of the night, and while she was able to get off some shots, creating space for herself with fancy dribbling and speed, she wasn't the dynamic offensive force I've seen her be. Alex Louin's shot continues to be extremely funky- she looks like she's trying to emulate Pennefather without remembering that Pennefather was double-jointed. She ends up with a weird hitch that wrecks her follow-through and sends the ball to the corners of the rim, where strange things happen. She's big and physical for a guard, which isn't a fun time when trying to defend her with smaller players and sort of makes me cross-eyed when trying to defend her with the most immobile player on the floor. (Sorry, Imani. But you kind of were.)

Megan Quinn was big, and slower than I remembered. She lumbered along the baseline and didn't seem to have any offensive inclination whatsoever. I seem to remember her occasionally having a three-point shot, but she showed no indication of wanting to use it. Even the things she did well went to waste- she had a great screen to open up Hahn for a three in the early going, but Hahn missed the shot. Jannah Tucker is long and smooth, and I keep saying I don't remember her being a three-point shooter, but at some point I rather think I should. But I don't think she got the angles she wanted.

Villanova was uncharacteristically sloppy today. Usually they're sound on simple fundamentals like passing and dribbling, but today they were careless with the ball. And I don't think burning their timeouts fairly early in the fourth quarter helped. I was surprised they were going with the quick-two-and-foul strategy, given how well known they are for shooting threes.

I love Tamesha Alexander as a person to itty-bitty pieces, but I was not the world's biggest fan of putting her in the game in the first half. (A lot of other people probably were- she was very popular after the game.) She wasn't able to keep up with the speed of the Villanova offense, a phrase I can't believe I actually typed, and was pulled pretty quickly. I'm still not a fan of the Andrayah-at-the-four lineup, but I've been impressed with her rebounding prowess. She plays tough. I like her better as an offensive threat, though, hitting from deep and in the lane. Akina Wellere still looks like she's getting back into the swing of things, but that's fine. At the very least, it's far more survivable than I thought it was. If we all step up together, there's nothing we can't do, at least within reasonable limits.

Qadashah Hoppie was clutch today. She hit gutsy shots in the fourth quarter, and her defense on Hahn was critical to our success. She stayed close and never really let her shake loose. That's a lot to ask from a freshman, even one as good as she is, and she answered the bell. Tiana England went out of the playbook a fair bit, judging from Joe's reactions on the bench, but this time it worked better than it did against Georgetown. She had a nice steal off a deflection in the second quarter. I hope she keeps playing with this kind of confidence. Alisha Kebbe was fierce on the glass and going after loose balls. She stepped up big to seal the deal with two buckets late in the fourth quarter.

Maya Singleton continues to do Maya things, whether it's tracking down loose balls and rebounds like she's got radar, hitting shots down low, taking and receiving contact, or, yes, dramatically exaggerating the contact to attempt to draw a foul. (Maya, dear, many Big East schools sponsor diving, but so far as I know St. John's is not one of them.) I do love her toughness. She's our double-double machine and she powers so much of what we do inside. Villanova made their big runs when she was on the bench. Imani Littleton was really stiff in this game- Gedaka was eating her lunch inside. I don't think she's ever really recovered from the torn ACL, but she's been a trooper through it. I think this highlights the problem in our recruiting- we don't have enough post players and Joe doesn't trust the ones we have. I really don't know what we're going to do next year.

This was a great team effort. Everyone stepped up and did their job. I love that kind of work from the team, when you're not sure who to single out for their game.

Officiating was reasonably balanced, which is to say both sides were screaming about calls and non-calls. Villanova should probably have had a couple of three-shot fouls given to them- we have got to be more careful about hitting people on the follow-through.

It's really hard to get noise going without the dance team. One of these off-seasons I'm going to put together play cards for the cheer squad so we can get coordinated. I really wish we could get them started sooner.

Today was another round of autographs. It went pretty quickly. I was reminded just how gosh darn likeable Sox is. Some folks are friendly, but she's especially outgoing. She wears Sky's number, and I get the feeling the two of them would get on really well.

Next up: Awkward Bowl at Walsh! Happy fun times for your intrepid blogger and her stalwart husband. Early reports are that getting there is going to be a whole new level of pain in the butt, not even considering that it's, well, Awkward Bowl.

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February 12th, 2017: Villanova at Seton Hall

Just the Facts, Ma’am: Villanova led from start to finish in an 87-52 dismantling of Seton Hall. Jordan Dillard spearheaded a strong Wildcat bench with 15 points, one of six Villanova players in double figures. Lubirdia Gordon of Seton Hall led all scorers with 18 points.

For the bad old days, a lack of effort, free food, the ridiculous to the sublime, shame, dismay, embarrassment, and sore knees, join your intrepid and disgusted blogger after the jump.


These are not the Game Notes of Doom you would have been led to expect from the Big East schedule. Someone else will have to chronicle Georgetown’s visit to St. John’s. I promised Seton Hall I’d be at Senior Day, and even after realizing the games conflicted… well, I promised. It’s Senior Day.

The weather is impressively lousy out there, a horrid combination of sleet and freezing rain that’s slippery and gross. Doesn’t seem to have depressed turnout, except for those annoying Nova fans who were at the game on Friday.

Yes, ma’am, I know it’s Senior Day. We have season tickets. You don’t think I know this? Even if I hadn’t known it coming in, the signs on the wall would have been a hint.

Oh, here we go. Here come the feelings. We’re about to get started. As always, they start off with flowers for the visiting seniors, who seem nonplussed by this sort of thing.

How many coaches grab the mic for their senior managers? How cool is that?

Nice touch for Kaity Healy to be the one carrying Kat Egan’s flowers- they were both Iona commits who chose Seton Hall after Tony moved on.

D’awwww. Lubirdia Gordon doesn’t seem to know what to do with herself. Like, she genuinely doesn’t seem to believe she’s as good as her statistics say she is.

Shoutout to band, cheer, and dance, who will get their senior honoring during timeouts. Apparently the Big East has a rule about how long pregame ceremonies can be? That explains why Tony sounded so rushed when he was speaking about his seniors, too. His speeches are usually longer.

There’s somebody behind the scorer’s table who looks a lot like Aleesha Powell. It’d be cool if Leesh decided to get into the game that way.

Wow, that is some suit that guy is wearing. Seton Hall printed all over. Think Don Cherry meets NCAA.

Y’all. Y’all bring a group in less than five minutes before tipoff, you are not thinking terribly far ahead.

Okay, Seton Hall, we need to have a talk. And it needs to be a long talk. Because I did not hike my ass out the door at 10:30, take the J out to the PATH, wait through the train delays, and haul myself on board the 31 bus to watch you puke all over Senior Day. It’s 48-22 Villanova at halftime. The only player on the floor who seems to have come to play is Bird Gordon, who is like, “This is my Senior Day and none of you are bleeping ruining it for me.”

I don’t know what happened with Shadeen Samuels, but she’s behind the bench in a gray hoodie, looming like the Ghost of Christmas Future. Deja Winters has a shoulder problem and is not dressed. (Is very not dressed. She’s wearing a t-shirt so you can see how her shoulder is taped up.) I don’t know why JaQuan Jackson and Kaela Hilaire haven’t played. All I know is that Seton Hall is serving up hot trash on a platter, and I did not make my way through three different transit authorities to accept hot trash on a platter when I could be at St. John’s.

Oooh. That kid in the biddy game just hit a sweet elbow jumper. I think it’s the first one I’ve seen all day.

There’s no defense. There’s barely any offense. No one in the history of the state of New Jersey has been able to drive with as little traffic as Villanova has seen.

You. Little girl in the Villanova shirt. What are you doing behind the SHU bench? Go away and stop it.

I’m dead-red serious, I think we’re one incident away from burning our bridges at Seton Hall. Too much nonsense has been going on here. Shenanigans, even.

Well, that could have been better. I’m sure there’s some way it could have been worse, but other than catastrophic injury and other flukes of nature, I can’t think of anything. I can’t remember the last time I saw a team give up so emphatically and so disastrously as Seton Hall did in this game. I know they’re capable of better. I know they can be better. I have no idea what happened, and I’m kind of terrified at the idea of what it could have been.

If Seton Hall hadn’t given Villanova Senior Day flowers, I would have been a lot angrier that Karlie Crispin was jacking threes when Villanova was up 30 in the waning minutes. But she’s a senior deep on the bench, and as tiny as she is she might even be/have been a walk-on, so I think I can make myself okay with this. Besides, it’s not like we played like a team to be respected. Nicolette Juliano also came in late, and I think she took a shot, but I’m not sure. Bridget Herlihy got extended fourth quarter run and played physical inside- a little too physical at times.

Mary Gedaka showed some nice moves in the paint. I’m a sucker for a girl with a hook shot, what can I say? Eventually she’ll slow down enough to fit Villanova’s system better; right now she still has the youthful freshman energy that keeps her going just a little too fast for Harry’s liking. She had a good deflection to shut down an ill-advised fast break attempt by Claire Lundberg in the fourth quarter. Kelly Jekot has a good stroke. I think I would like her if I were a Nova fan.

Jannah Tucker brought smooth moves and a quick three-point shot off the bench. She uses her length well and gets around quickly on the court. Jordan Dillard is the oddball among Villanova’s three-point shooters, the player who goes for midrange shots and paint plays (though the Wildcats were cutting inside a lot more than usual). She had herself a very good game.

This was Samantha Wilkes’s day to shine. She got off to a hot start, with eight in the first quarter. Seton Hall lost her on defense, and she took advantage. She kept setting those hard screens, too, including one that set up Adrianna Hahn for a trey. (The people around us thought it was a moving screen, but I thought Wilkes didn’t move until Kaity ran into her.) Megan Quinn showed her unexplained outside stroke late in the game, and outside shooting from the big girls was something that the Pirates just couldn’t handle. She laid a most painful block on Kaity Healy early on.

Grace Stant was quiet until near the end of the game, when she got a basket on a fast break. Her teammates were really happy for her. Alex Louin’s shot is very weird-looking; the way she winds it up, I wonder if Harry dragged out old film of Pennefather for her to study. (There’s no polite way to ask, “Are you double-jointed or something?” to a complete stranger.) She’s physical when she wants to be, but I think she likes to shoot more than she likes taking it inside. Adrianna Hahn is really tough. I like what I see out of her (well, you know, except for the part where it happens against my teams). If she were a couple of inches taller, I think she’d be a serious W prospect. Quiet game for her, but she commands the floor even when she’snot scoring.

Villanova is good at taking what the defense gives them. Today they were getting driving lanes, and they took advantage of them. They got a lot of really good looks. Once I get my hands on a box score, I want to see what their shooting percentages were, especially first/second half splits. I think it’ll be very edifying.

Jayla Jones-Pack has an enormous wrap around her left hand and wrist, and it’s really affecting her play. There were sequences where she had the ball, but couldn’t get a good grip on it, and fumbled, or couldn’t put up the shot. She’s hurt, and I think it’s worse than she wants to let on, but her team needs her. Without Shadeen, and with Deja hurt, and with Jordan Molyneaux so hurt she can’t dress, we have no post depth. We had a JaQuan Jackson sighting in the second half, and while she started quick, hitting her first two shots, I think she had too much pent-up energy to expend- she was consistently missing hard off the rim. When her shot started missing, her engagement was gone, and I think that was the death knell for Seton Hall’s chances of mounting a comeback. LaTecia Smith came off the bench in the first half and started the second half, and there seemed to be a little more cohesion when she was in the game. I think she needs to work on her clock awareness, but she’s not the only one.

Yes, Kaity, I’m looking at you. You’re supposed to be the heady floor general, right? You’re the one who was recommended by Haley D’Angelo, Tony’s quintessential faciliator from Iona, right? And you’re the one who doesn’t know time and score? Really? A player shouldn’t be able to play all forty and leave as light an impression as Kaity Healy did in this game. It shouldn’t be physically possible, and yet Kaity did nothing worth writing about. On the other hand, at least she tried to do something, even if it was miss shots or get assists. I’m looking at the box score now, and Martha Kuderer started the game and ended with the ultimate non-impact line- straight zeroes to give her seven billion. Martha’s style dovetails perfectly with Villanova’s- she should have been able to do something out there, but all she did was look scared on the floor and confused off it.

I’d really like for Claire Lundberg to figure out her offense. If she’s going to be a spot-up situational shooter in the mold of Sidney Spencer, fine. Then she needs to do a better job of getting open, and her teammates need to set her some screens. If Tony’s going to play her at the four, then she’s going to have to learn to hit shots on the inside, and she’s going to have to be a lot tougher. Right now, she’s betwixt and between, not even a true tweener. I can like the shots she hits, but they’ve been few and far between, overshadowed by the opportunities she gives away with her hesitancy inside the arc. Skyler Snider isn’t ready for the kind of minutes she got in this game- too many of her shots fell short, and she was noticeably flagging as the game wore on. I like her toughness and her heart, and I think she’ll be a great defender by the end of her college career. But she needs to be seasoned, and she needs to be a little better conditioned. (Next year, I’d love to see her versus Imani Littleton of St. John’s- I think there’s a lot they can learn from each other, intentionally or otherwise.)

The only Pirate who really seemed ready to play, really had her head in the game, really recognized the significance of the day, and left her heart on the floor, was the one senior player on the squad. Lubirdia Gordon had herself a day down low for the Pirates. She rebounded fiercely and defended reasonably well. Her teammates left her out to dry too many times, expecting her to take care of the paint by herself like she was Brittney Griner and Yolanda Griffith rolled into one. She’s a solid defender, but we don’t expect miracles here.

I can’t express enough my disgust and dismay at how little effort everyone, except Bird and to a lesser extent Skyler, showed out there. It’s Senior Day. Doesn’t that mean something to you? Instead, they went out there and laid down and died. Wide open lanes were available that should ne8 r have been available. Villanova got offensive rebound after offensive rebound. Careless, cavalier, indifferent- those are never words I should associate with Seton Hall, and those are never words that should be applied to a team’s effort and intensity on the day when they honor their seniors. It smacks of disrespect and it reeks of shenanigans.

We are currently at the post-game senior banquet, where there are delicious sandwiches and wandering players. At least Bird has a sense of humor about the ballgirl jokes. And Shadeen still seems to be welcome at the team’s table. Tony is a surprisingly good sport about the St. John’s thing.

(Okay, important life lesson learned. Do not attempt to ruffle JaQuan’s hair. Someone just did, and she looked up with quite the WTF expression.)

Tony, dear, it is customary to have the blessing given before you let everyone dig into the food. Can it still be blessed after it’s been eaten? (Also, I feel like Shadeen and I might have accidentally shared a moment of “what is this I don’t even” during the blessing.)

Tony is really, really salty about the Big East rules about pregame ceremonies. Now he’s getting to give the full speeches he had planned, and it sounds much more Tony-esque. Talking about Tara’s toughness, and Kat’s previous commitment to Iona (so, uh, Tony, did you just admit to getting a player to change her commitment to follow you), and Bird’s ability to connect to people. Awww, Deja.

They weren’t kidding about the speaker not being loud. I can barely hear the sound on the video and I’m pretty much right next to it. Background music probably could have been quieter; you can barely hear the people talking about the seniors, which is a shame, because that’s the whole point of the video. Everyone talking about Bird as the mother figure on the team, and it’s kind of adorable and a little bit weird at the same time (and also, given her nickname, replete with strange mental images).

I love how much they’re treating the senior manager the exact same way they’re treating the senior players. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, no one does Senior Day like one of Tony’s teams does. I just wish the effort on the court had been a match for it. These seniors deserved better.

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February 10th, 2017: Villanova at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Villanova started strong behind Adrianna Hahn and hit their free throws late to beat St. John's, 66-56. Adrianna Hahn had 17 points, 11 in the first quarter alone, and eight rebounds to lead Villanova. Akina Wellere had 16 points for St. John's, while Maya Singleton made the most of her first start with 13 points and 20 rebounds.

For injury reports, traveling in good company, a veritable flock of ducks, hitting shots, missing shots, and taking too much time for routine tasks, join your intrepid and hypocritical blogger after the jump.

Good evening! It’s game day at Carnesecca Arena, as the Red Storm of St. John’s host the Wildcats of Villanova.

It’s BHA night, which means my team is wearing pink and black uniforms with all the accoutrements, right down to pink shoelaces for those who have a non-pink sneaker preference. Villlanova has the pink accessories- headbands, sneakers, and Play for Kay socks with the inverted ribbon. T-shirts in a truly horrifying pink somewhere between pastel and salmon are being given away. I managed to avoid them. This is St. John’s. On Fridays we wear red.

There’s also a silent auction, but I do not think Shamachya Duncan or Kyra Dunn’s jersey would fit me. I’m not terribly certain about Mallory Jones’s, either, and I already have the white/pink from that year.

Oh, dear. Just got a dose of bad news, hot off the presses- Imani Littleton is done for the season with a torn knee ligament (I’m hearing MCL) suffered during the DePaul game (which means she played on it during the Marquette game, and if I talked trash about you during that game, Imani, I am SO SORRY right now, you have no idea). And Sandie Udobi is still bespectacled and wearing sweatpants, so I don’t think she’s active. Oh, dear Lord. St. Vincent, pray for us. St. John, pray for us. Somebody, pray for Jordan Agustus to have the same kind of revelation that Akina Wellere had last year.

D’awww. For as much as Da’Shena Stevens can register on the Summitt Scale, her smile is so sweet.

Ugh. Stupid pink jerseys mean that Nova is wearing home white on our court. THIS IS NOT OKAY.

Why do Villanova fans always seem to have such trouble figuring out where their bench is? It’s over there. *points*

Imaniiiiiii on crutches noooooo :( :( :( I haz a big sad, though Sandie at least has her laughing.

Welp. At halftime, Villanova is up 42-29. Adrianna Hahn had 11 points in the first 7 minutes of the game, and she’s at 14 right now. Maya Singleton has 10 points and 10 rebounds for St. John’s.

As much as this is the BHA game, this is also the Black History month celebration, so halftime has featured a performance of the black national anthem (or is that capitalized as Black National Anthem? Or does it have a title? I should check that when I have internet) and special dance performances by black dance groups. First quarter break also featured a celebration of a former Johnnie, Rita Haywood, to fit with the theme of the month.

And they’re taking down the net in front of the St. John’s bench again. Second game they’ve had to do this. I am confused.

Guys. Y’all. Harry Perretta has been coaching Villanova for literally longer than y’all have been alive, except for some of the coaches. He’s been doing the same damn thing for pretty much that whole time. Y’all know this. You don’t leave anyone open for three, even the center.

This dude in front of me thinks he’s got dance moves. Think someone should tell him STJ only takes on champions?

I am surrounded by college students and not hating it. It’s an odd experience.

That could have gone better. Granted, it could have gone a lot worse, but I feel like Villanova left the door open repeatedly at the end of the game, and we looked at it and said, "Well, yep, that's a door right there, sure is," and proceeded to walk repeatedly into the doorframe.

Everyone on Villanova shoots threes. This includes Megan Quinn, who is listed as a center and doesn't have a terribly pretty shot. But guess what? If you leave her open, she'll hit it. That's what she does. Mary Gedaka appears to be the heir apparent to Samantha Wilkes in the role of "person who sets the most screens". Grace Stant played in the second half and seemed to be in a little over her head- careless mistakes, and missed free throws; the latter stood out more because Nova was so consistent from the line. Kelly Jekot brought a little offensive flash off the bench, though she had a couple of moments where she looked like a freshman who was still learning the ropes.

I shouldn't have to break out "Guard the goddamn midget!" before the end of the first quarter, but Adrianna Hahn brings that out in people. "Midget" is a big of an overstatement; she's short, but she's solidly built. She uses screens and the occasional dribble to give herself the space she needs to shoot, and she likes to launch them from the general vicinity of Delaware. She's fast, and she's smart, and she doesn't get fooled, and I don't like her when she plays against my teams. Alex Louin is a stark contrast to her, taller and bigger and way more physical (she was arm-barring all night, we were not amused). But like most Villanova players, she loves her some three-pointers. I don't know why she was the player we were fouling at the end, but if that was the Red Storm's game plan, it was not a good plan. Jordan Dillard started each half off with a drive, but was mostly quiet otherwise.

As good as Hahn is, and as perimeter-oriented as Villanova's offense is, the most important player in it might be Samantha Wilkes. She's not going to be a primary offensive option, though she can score if the defense forgets about her. But the solid screens she set were the key to the Wildcats' hot shooting. I'd love to see an advanced stat that counts screens similarly to assists; I think a lot of underappreciated posts would get some recognition that way. I'm not sure what I was expecting from Jannah Tucker, but three-point shooting was not it. I think I thought she had more experience at Tennessee. She moves very smoothly.

Villanova is so frustrating because they don't care whether you slow them down. They're also frustrating because they're difficult to defend, because they move well, because they force defenses into uncomfortable situations where rim protectors are pulled out to the arc and post players are defending the ballhandler.

Jordan Agustus is not ready for prime time. This is a problem because she's literally the only forward we have left on the bench, unless Sandie gets some magic cheese on her knee or something. She doesn't seem to know where she fits in either the offense or the defense, and she's not ready for the ball when it comes to her. She's got to play closer to the basket instead of putting up ugly jumpers. Andrayah Adams wasn't ready for Villanova's defense; the confident stroke she showed in Milwaukee did not make the trip back to New York. She's improving on defense, but right now, we need her points. Crystal Simmons stuck close on defense, but she was too hesitant to shoot and awkward when she did (which is sort of a catch-22 that can only be broken by her fixing her damn shot). I really need someone to get comfortable bringing the ball up. We don't have that many games left of Aaliyah Lewis.

Look at you, Miss Maya! Maya Singleton got the start for Imani Littleton, and she came to play. It felt like every rebound in the first half was hers, and she was fighting for every single one of them. (I looked at the box score. Maya, by herself, had more than a quarter of all the rebounds in the game, by both teams.) She was rock solid, but she can't do it alone, and she can't go the whole game without some extended rest. Jade Walker spent a lot of time admiring shots that didn't go in. I like Jade's jumper, but I like when Jade rebounds her jumper too, and I thought she spent much of the early going trying too hard to be a Villanova player instead of using her strength. She stepped up inside in the fourth quarter, and that was part of what fueled the run that got us back into the game. She has such a wonderful blend of strength and finesse; I just find myself so often wishing she could manage the ratio a little bit better.

Aaliyah Lewis learned a hard lesson today, and I hope it sticks with her. Sometimes, all the fancy ballhandling in the world isn't enough to shake a defender. She tried to cross up Adrianna Hahn at least twice, and Hahn stuck with her. She tried to step up offensively, but she can't score and facilitate at the same time. Her clock awareness in the fourth quarter was sorely lacking. Really, it was the entire team's lack of urgency that irked me, but the senior point guard who's usually better than that will come in for the harshest criticism in that regard. Akina Wellere had some really solid moments driving the lane, and I like that she's adding/reintroducing that to her game instead of relying so heavily on her three-point shot, but she still seems tentative out there, and when she gets tentative, she hesitates to do the needful, whether it's shooting or fouling when Coach is screaming for the foul to be given. I love Alisha Kebbe's toughness- it seemed like either she or Maya chased down every loose ball. Her long-range jumper needs to be more consistent, but I have faith that will come with time and confidence and more familiarity with the home rims.

Y'all. If y'all are down nine with two minutes to go, and y'all shoot three pointers like y'all were in the six-on-six era, y'all do not have time to pass the ball around for fifteen seconds and drive for two. I know this and Joe knows this. You have to know time and score and manage the clock accordingly.

We got stuck with Brian Enterline. There were, unsurprisingly, plenty of missed holding calls. And I think we got the benefit of the doubt on an over and back call.

You're not going to stop a team like Nova if you let them hit shots. And you're not going to win if you can't hit shots throughout the game. We didn't do that. We fought back, and I love them for that, but Villanova is too good at what they do, and Harry is too good a coach, for us to dig a hole like this.

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March 6th, 2016: Creighton at Villanova (Big East tournament)

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Cold three-point shooting doomed Villanova in Creighton's 57-48 quarterfinal upset. MC McGrory scored 20 points to lead the Bluejays, 14 after halftime, and Sydney Lamberty put up a double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds). Samantha Wilkes had 18 points and seven rebounds to lead the Wildcats, but no one else cracked double figures for Nova.

For being out of order, unnecessary threes, setting screens, celebratory Jays, face paint, nifty hats, and riding the horse into the ground, join your intrepid and travel-wearied blogger after the jump.
Good morning, loyal readers! It's going to be a long day, but a fun one, as the Big East heads into its second day of tournament play with four games. Second seed Villanova and seventh-seeded Creighton will start things off.

Creighton's student section is rocking out to the music.

Fair number of Villanova fans have already arrived, including Papa Coyer in his custom jersey.

We're showing color solidarity with Creighton for this game. That, and they're fun to watch. That, and I like the part where Villanova loses.

If it holds throughout the day, the scoreboard operator is acknowledging high seeds and "home court advantage"- Creighton is the Bluejays, but Villanova is Nova. We'll see if it's an aberration or a habit.

We swiped a "Go Bluejays" sign from the Creighton ticket table, because, well, I like the part where Villanova loses.

There was a video tribute to Harry Perretta's 700th win before the game. That was very nice.

At halftime, Creighton is up 27-21. Pretty balanced scoring for both teams, with Jade Owens's 8 leading Creighton, and Adrianna Hahn and Samantha Wilkes each with 6 for Villanova. One thing worries me- it feels like Villanova is controlling the pace of the game, despite the Creighton lead. The Jays are running the clock down way too much and way too far.

The halftime game is amusing.

We're sitting behind the Creighton fans with the awesome (home-made, hand-knit) bluejay hats. There will be pictures.

Seton Hall is starting to trickle in. We're greeting them appropriately. Fans are trickling in for the second game too. I think Claire Lundberg brought family.

That was one heck of a finish. Villanova was ice-cold from outside today, but if you live by it, you have to die by it. Some days the system doesn't work, and this Villanova roster doesn't have the flexibility to work outside the system. Did Creighton get lucky? A little. They had good puck luck, but you don't get good puck luck without being in position to take a good shot. They came on strong late.

Lauren Works probably doesn't appreciate puns off her last name, but she really did put in work on the defensive end. She was amazing down the stretch, tough on both sides of the floor. I think I would want to smack her in the face repeatedly if she were playing my team, but when I can root for her, I will. She has that Taurasi-McCoughtry over-exuberance to her. Brianna Rollerson played less than I would have expected, but she didn't really earn more minutes. You can't be passive if you're the biggest player on the floor. You can't pass up shots in perfect lay-up position. You can't give up space to more slender players. You have to be assertive, especially when Villanova isn't an interior team. You can't pull down just 1 rebound in seven minutes.

Bailey Norby had a quiet game, though once again I call attention to her unsung work- she had a nifty pick to break Audrey Faber free for an early three. She didn't play a lot, as Creighton went small, but she was there when it counted. Sydney Lamberty owned the boards. Her shots went in odd directions, like many a Bluejay's shot, but she was fearless. Audrey Faber had foul trouble for most of the fourth quarter, and eventually Flanery rolled snake eyes and she got her fifth foul. She was tough when she was in, and she gives the Jays such versatility.

Jade Owens's shot wasn't falling quite as well as it was yesterday. She's so fun to watch, but I can see some of the flaws in her game now- she relies too heavily on that wild floater in the lane, and she gambles too much on defense. She seems to rely on luck, and as we've seen, that can go against you. Or one of your teammates can bogart all of it the way MC McGrory did. I think only one of her shots that bounced on the rim more than once bounced out. She got glass. She got the rolls. She fought through contact to score big and-1s in the second half. I wonder if she shoots better when she's got contact than when she's got space. She is so damn tough. I admire that.

Kavunaa Edwards has a very weird looking shot. It looks like it has all the mechanical flaws you tell shooters not to have, but it goes in rather more often than you think it would. She was blocking shots in the second half, too, using her length to make life difficult when Creighton penetrated. I really don't remember much about Kendall Burton's play or Jordan Dillard's play. There may have been a dumb foul or two sprinkled in there somewhere- I think Burton's third was unnecessary.

When the system works, it works. When the system doesn't work, Adrianna Hahn gets the urge to throw it up from wherever she is on the floor, whether that's somewhere in the general vicinity of Gary or into the hands of a double-team. Perretta's been hard on her whenever I've seen them- I'm not sure if that means he's giving her the keys to the car or if she's going to flee screaming to St. Francis Katherine Coyer makes a lot of good hustle plays- she rebounds well, she works the baselines well, and she has a nose for the ball. Alex Louin got open early on and made a nifty defensive play, but Creighton didn't leave her open for long after that.

Megan Quinn is another one with a really awkward looking shot, but hers wasn't going in as often as it did the last time I saw Villanova. She's one of the few players on Nova who I don't think should have the three-point green light that most Wildcats have. Samantha Wilkes had herself a day. Something tells me she wasn't on the scouting report for the Bluejays, and it showed. But here's another example of "you live by the three, you die by the three": all of Wilkes's makes came either on midrange jumpers or in the lane. All of her misses came beyond the arc, and most of them weren't all that close. She's got good height, and when she uses it, she's very effective. But when you get sucked into the system, then sometimes the system has its effects.

Right now I couldn't tell you a thing about the officiating. I vaguely recall Villanova being extremely upset about a call, but I can't remember who or when or why.

Creighton's band won pretty hard, in my opinion, but Villanova didn't have their full band. At least Villanova didn't have the audacity to perform "Mars".

The more I watch Creighton, the more I enjoy watching them play. Of course, this will have to end in the semis.

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February 12th, 2016: Villanova at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Clutch three-point shooting spurred Villanova to a 71-59 road win over St. John's. Alex Louin had 18 to lead the Wildcats, with Caroline Coyer adding 17 and Megan Quinn putting in 15. Danaejah Grant led St. John's with 22.

For mild frustration, playing into someone else's hands, defensive lapses, three-shooting, seething with rage, dance, historical facts, and choral performances, join your intrepid and hustling blogger after the jump.


Good evening! We're coming to you from Carnesecca Arena on the grounds of St. John's University, where the Red Storm play host to the Wildcats of Villanova University. It's currently halftime, and the St. John's mixed chorus is performing, which is certainly better than most of the non-dance team halftime entertainment we tend to get.

Today is the Red Storm's celebration of Black History Month, so a lot of black student groups and organizations have put in an appearance. One of them is currently doing a dance performance, which is also way better than most of the non-dance team entertainment we get. (Ah. It looks like all of them will be doing quick performances.)

One thing we noticed about some of the Villanova shooters during shootaround was how far back the shooting hand goes- it was especially noticeable with Alex Louin and Katherine Coyer. With Louin, it looks almost like an old-fashioned set shot. I think they might maybe need to examine shooting film of someone other than Shelly Pennefather (not that Pennefather wasn't an epic shooter, but she was double-jointed {I read a lot, okay?} and that's not realistic for most humans).

Everyone on Villanova shoots threes, except maybe Harry. We could maybe guard the arc a little more? Just a thought?

I try not to throw the word "hate" around lightly. It's a nasty word. It's not just the next level of dislike or distaste or loathing or disdain or any of those other words. It should be reserved for special occasions, for a given value of special. It should only come up when it genuinely affects one's judgment.

God damn, I hate Villanova. I hate the way Harry Perretta yells at everything, and I hate how their fans usually behave like Philadelphia sports fans (though today I didn't see any issues), and I hate the way they strangle the life out of the shot clock, and I hate when possessions become the Watch A Guard Dribble For Twenty Seconds Show, and I hate when they hit shots at the end of the shot clock, and most of all I hate that they usually beat us when they do it. There are very few institutions of higher learning that engage in athletic activity at the Division I level in the NCAA that cause me to shake with rage when I see their athletic teams engaged in such endeavors. Ohio State is one. Villanova is another. So I'm not sure these notes can be as fair and balanced as they should be. But I'll try.

Adrianna Hahn is tiny but fierce. Her shot has that ridiculously high arc you so often see from short players. She needs to work on her defense and positioning, though; at least that's what I gleaned from Perretta yelling at her. Jordan Dillard wanted more calls than she was going to get. Kendall Burton played briefly in the first half, as did Kavunaa Edwards. I was surprised to see so little of Edwards, but they relied so heavily on Caroline Coyer that Coyer was switching guard positions instead of coming out.

This is probably not going to surprise anyone, but I don't like Alex Louin. No, it's not just the four three-pointers. It's not even the ridiculous wind-up. She's very physical- there was one play where her arm was so thoroughly around Danaejah Grant's waist that I thought she'd have to buy her a drink afterwards. She comes off as very oddly sized- almost too bulky for the position she plays, but maybe it's just in comparison to smaller guards around her. Katherine Coyer gets the little things done, and when she's presented with an open lane, she'll certainly take advantage, but tonight was not her night offensively. She's a damn strong defender. Caroline Coyer is annoying and frustrating and really good. She takes ridiculous shots and hits them. She takes threes and hits them. She's a steady hand and a hard worker. She's the kind of player you want on your team and love to loathe if she's not. I got tired of watching her dribble, but maybe we could have fought through screens a little more to not let Villanova run away with the game from beyond the arc.

Megan Quinn sets really tough screens- she freed up Coyer more than a few times. She's convinced she can shoot threes, but I'm not so sure- her form isn't great. Samantha Wilkes went to the basket hard and came up big in the fourth quarter.

We spent entirely too much time watching guards dribble at the top of the key. It's really depressing.

Jade Walker brought offense and rebounding off the bench, but also brought a bit of her tendency to make boneheaded plays on defense. If you're going to get called for a foul, don't let it be a cheap foul. Akina Wellere lost some of her reluctance to shoot, though I don't know if this is the game I would have had her launching threes; I really don't think we should fall into the trap of playing to the other team's style.

Crystal Simmons got the start tonight, which made sense from a match-up perspective. (I think Sandie Udobi was a scratch as well, but we didn't even think about it until around the third quarter.) She brought a lot of defensive intensity, but not much else- she's got to be more assertive on both ends of the floor. Aliyyah Handford started off strong, but by the end of the game, those drives were going wild off the front or the left of the rim. I'm worried about her. She still has that phenomenal slashing ability to cut through defenses like a hot knife through butter or a bat out of hell, but she's been less accurate. Plus she's committing stupid fouls, and we all know how I feel about stupid fouls. Aaliyah Lewis was hot early, and seemed to enjoy having Hahn on her, but got stuck on a lot of bad defensive mismatches because of her size.

Danaejah Grant continues to be solid shooting- she had a few really bad defensive lapses that led to easy baskets for Villanova, though. Can't be having with that. Imani Littleton got caught off her man one too many times- she had to come out for what we like to euphemize as "teaching moments" (which is code for coming out of the game after a dumb mistake to get yelled at). She and Jade both did well recovering broken plays.

We can't fall into the trap of playing the other team's style. We're not a three-shooting team by nature. We shouldn't be a slowdown team, no matter how much of a control-freak Joe likes to be about the offense. And we need to hit our free throws. I found it unconscionable that the team taking threes also ended up with more free throws, but at the same time, 3-9 from the line is inexcusable.

I find it interesting that almost pulling a player's arm out of its socket is a jump ball. I really do expect better from Denise Brooks and Dennis DeMayo. Louin was grabbing and holding all night, with barely half the calls she earned. I am still cranky.

Tomorrow is another day. We've got to come back strong against Georgetown. There's no other option. We need to play like ourselves.

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February 20th, 2015: Villanova at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Red Storm came up with the right boards at the right time to seal a 56-51 win over visiting Villanova. Aliyyah Handford led all scorers with 25 points, adding eight rebounds. Emily Leer led Villanova with 13 points, 11 in the first half.

For pink, bid sniping, more pink, symbolic roses, even more pink, laptop cases, did I mention pink, ill-fitting jerseys, yet more pink and dear God so much pink, join your intrepid and insomniac blogger after the jump.



Good evening, fellow travelers! It's Pink Zone at Carnesecca Arena tonight, and the Red Storm have gone pink to fight breast cancer. Villanova has echoed the theme in their accessories and coaching gear However, the Red Storm's warmup shirts are a shade of pink that clashes horribly with their pink jerseys. Everything is pink. I feel like I've been dyed in Pepto-Bismol and left in a bin of Valentine's Day clearance merchandise.

We just had a little halftime ceremony with survivors standing in the shape of a pink ribbon.

There's also a silent auction going on up front, and ducks being sold to benefit the American Cancer Society. Mallory, Jillian, Bombay, Cathrine, Darkwing, Giggy, Greg, Wildwing, Joey, Jenny, Marcus, and Teemu, among others of their flock, say hello.

Anthem started off strong, but ended up all over the place. Not bad, but not great.

Villanova's up one at the half, 28-27, on the strength of a Holeman bucket with about two seconds left in the half. Emily Leer leads the way early for the Wildcats with 11. Aliyyah Handford is once again too awesome for mortal minds to comprehend, with 12 for the Johnnies.

Kyra Dunn and Crystal Simmons are both rocking pigtails. Crystal pulls it off slightly better than Kyra does, and we have thus dubbed her Sailor Madrid for this game. Kyra can't be Sailor Berkeley, though- that's already Gennifer Brandon.

Random aside: Kyra resembles Raina from “Agents of SHIELD” entirely too much for my liking. (Or, at least Raina as she was before the midseason finale; I understand she's gone spiky since then. Kyra is not spiky.)

Like any proper Villanova game, the pace was slow and painful, and both teams fell into that slow, steady trap. Villanova was obviously more comfortable than we were (well, the “we” in the stands; Joe seems pretty okay with it) but they were missing a lot of easy shots in the second half, shots that they were hitting in the first half.

I actually feel a little bad for Kendall Burton- her only purpose in the game was to commit fouls late in the second half when Nova needed to foul in a hurry to get into the one-and-one. It was clear that was why she was brought in for the first time. Kavunaa Edwards's shot was badly off all night. There's missing jumpers, and then there's missing jumpers ugly. I don't think Jordan Dillard played in the second half, and I don't recall much of anything she did in the first. Alex Louin gave some strong minutes in the second half, both inside and out- she was surprisingly physical for a guard (though this is Villanova, and guards and forwards are fluid there). Taylor Holeman played her usual starter's minutes, and actually started the second half in place of Emily Leer. She worked hard on the boards and gave Villanova a different look inside, but she missed a lot of shots, both close-in ones that she should have made and longer ones that just looked bad.

Emily Leer started the game more or less on fire, exploiting the mismatch on the perimeter- our post players were simply neither prepared nor inclined to guard her out that far. The defense improved in the second half, and she became less of a factor. I get the feeling she might be a player who needs to get off to a good start fast to have a good game- once she cools down, she's cold. Caroline Coyer, whose jersey didn't quite match her teammates', does all the big things on the floor- she had a really nifty defensive play down low in the first half. Katherine Coyer does the little things- she set screens, hustled for loose balls, and made good passes. Interesting sisterly dynamic there, huh? Lauren Burford spaced the floor with threes, as your daily reminder that everyone except maybe Harry shoots threes for the Wildcats. Samantha Wilkes took the opening tip, and she helped clump up the defense in the paint- like most teams that are competently coached, Villanova concentrated on taking away our penetration by collapsing in the lane.

What sealed the game for St. John's was as much bad decision-making and unexpected missed shots by Villanova as it was defensive pressure by St. John's. At 54-50, Caroline Coyer drove the lane for two when Nova would have been far better served for three. Blowing the lay-up was icing on the cake. Harry Perretta pulled her aside for a prolonged teaching moment after that.

Kyra Dunn was our post player off the bench. She seemed even more timid than usual, moving slowly and awkwardly. She did have a nice defensive sequence in the first half where she played with a little fire. Crystal Simmons was our guard off the bench, and she was mostly a non-factor. That's not necessarily a bad thing- if a freshman is coming in and not making mistakes, I'll take that.

Tonoia Wade did not play, but still managed to make a terrible mistake on the court. If you're going to give one of your teammates a comradely smack on the posterior, don't do it hard enough to make her turn around and give you the stink-eye. On the flip side, Selina Archer did not dress, but #54 still scored- she and Sandie Udobi both had pink jerseys made up, though they were both hurt, so those uniforms were used for the dress and dribble contest, and the girl we dubbed mini-Selina won.

Jade Walker is going to make me tear my hair out one of these days. She gets buckets, there's no denying that. And she's good at that. And sometimes she gets on the boards brilliantly. But she's constantly a step slow on defense and she loves to watch her jumper, and those are things that make me incoherently angry. But she seems to be a good kid and she gets buckets, so I can't dislike her. Danaejah Grant's shoulder is probably bothering her more than she'll admit- something looks wrong about her shot, her rebounding isn't as strong (though she pretty much saved the game with her last one), and her defense is lacking. Whatever it is, I hope she has a chance to have it taken care of over the summer. Aaliyah Lewis is so very fast. She wasn't statistically impactful, but I do love her defense and to watch her go. Amber Thompson crashed the boards, including her 1000th rebound, which is a lot of rebounds, but that's because Amber's kind of awesome. Aliyyah Handford took on the scoring responsibility, as usual, and was awesome, as usual. There really are only so many ways I can describe to you the incredible vertical and kick of Aliyyah's jumper, or the way she can slice through a defense like a hot knife through butter. Eventually, you're just going to have to see her for yourself.

Officiating was mostly unremarkable, though Amber's fourth foul was kind of weak. We thought Louin had initiated contact.

Villanova had an obnoxious habit of trying to take inbounds that they had no right to. They did it twice, and also tried to claim a wrong spot.

We needed this one. The NCAA tournament's probably out of reach, but the WNIT's not, and a team can learn a lot from the WNIT.

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January 25th, 2015: St. John's at Villanova

Just the Facts, Ma'am: 24 assists on hot 61% shooting led Villanova to a 81-69 win over St. John's. Caroline Coyer led all scorers with 28 points on 11-18 shooting (6-10 on threes). Danaejah Grant led St. John's with 20 points, while Aliyyah Handford added 19.

For fudge, wet weather, the inability to get around a screen, joy in others' success, teaching moments, batons, changing up the music, and WHY ARE YOU NOT GUARDING CAROLINE COYER, join your intrepid and backwards-facing blogger after the jump.


And here we are again at the Pavilion at Villanova, this time for the Red Storm's visit to Philadelphi.

It's "We Back Pat" day here at Villanova, with the Wildcats wearing "We Back Pat" shirts and special socks from Nike- purple with a neon orange stripe down the back. Ancillary staff are also making attempts to wear purple or purple accessories. "We Back Pat" placards are placed across from the benches to form the phrase.

The road reds are fire and I really really want those socks. Someone find me a qay to buy those socks. I don't care if they're used and washed.

Danaejah Grant has attached braids to her 'hawk. This is going to end in someone getting whiplash, I know it.

Everyone knows Harry Perretta. He's currently perched on our bench chatting with Joe Pellicane. He looks deeply wrong in a long-sleeved t-shirt.

I don't see Kyra Dunn as of yet. Sandie Udobi and Selina Archer don't surprise me, since they're injured, but Kyra could theoretically be useful.

Gospel choir sang the anthem, but not particularly gospel-like.

At halftime we have baton twirlers. I'll give Villanova credit: they don't care what body type you have if you have the talent.

Villanova is up 41-35 at the half behind 14 points, including four threes, from Caroline Coyer. Aliyyah Handford has 10 for St. John's. We need to consider maybe we should guard the arc. Tonoia Wade is having herself a first half.

Tamesha Alexander, being a Philly kid, has a bunch of family here- they're in the row behind us. Some folks from Piscataway are here for Danaejah, too.

Hey, Villanova PA guy, Lauren Hill ain't dead yet. The game at Cintas wasn't even close to her final game.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHU(^*&^&*(@()(^(*&()*(&&*(!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAGH^&*((*&*!!!!!!!!!

What do you mean I have to be coherent? I don't want to be coherent, I want to run around and swear at things and possibly hit Jade Walker upside the head with my clipboard. But you expect better of me, and I should hold myself to a higher standard, so I'll ignore the idle games open in my browser and try to be coherent.

Tamesha Alexander- or Sox, which is her nickname and much shorter and more fitting- got some time in the first half and pressured the endless dribbling of Villanova. I'd have liked to see her and the rest of the reserves late in the second half, when the game was out of reach- getting some cheap pop from Sox's Philly people might have helped, and the frosh need all the experience they can get. Tonoia Wade was the designated post reserve today, and she played well. Her jumper isn't pretty, but hey, she hit one of 'em. More importantly, she brought the defense and she crashed the boards hard. She needs to work on her positioning, but that will come with time.

Imani Littleton didn't play, but I think she ended up hearing more from Joe than anyone else on the roster. You wonder if she eventually starts tuning him out because he keeps yelling in her direction. He did turn the volume down in the second half, but still. Kvetching at people who haven't done anything wrong, and who haven't gotten a chance to do anything wrong, is counterproductive.

Jade Walker had some pretty jumpers, but at the same time, she was soft defensively- she came out of the game after giving up a couple of bad plays in a row, Joe was about ready to blow his top, and Tonoia all but catapulted off the bench. Aliyyah Handford's handle was a little sloppier than usual, and she looked like she was running out of gas- you can see where she's trying to conserve energy as she comes up and down the court. She was still somewhat active in the passing lanes, and showed her vertical trying to block Nova threes. Aaliyah Lewis had trouble seeing over taller Villanova defenders, and there was a play in (I think) the second half where St. John's almost got burned- Aliyyah was open on the baseline, but Aaliyah couldn't see her, and the play needed a couple of close passes in the paint before we got a basket out of it. She was our long-range threat, but that's not saying very much, given our overall lack of three-point shooting. (Which in turn is not to denigrate Tiny Aaliyah's threes. She looked good- it's just that we take so few threes and Villanova takes ALL the threes.) Danaejah Grant looked more comfortable than I've seen her in a while with that enormous black brace hugging her shoulder like some sort of Borg thing. She missed a lot of makeable shots, but that feels like the story of my life as a Red Storm fan.

This was the kind of game that made it look like we've fallen a step behind the top teams in the conference, and a step behind of who we once were. There were defensive breakdowns, there were a lot of missed chippies, there were lazy pases and casual ballhandling. Those aren't the mistakes you make if you want to win a conference with the history of the Big East. Those aren't the mistakes you make if you want to get into the NCAA tournament, and certainly if you want to do more than put another year on the banner.

The boxscore says that Samantha Wilkes played, but I have no memory of anything that she did, and Nova's announcer is not good at announcing substitutions. Alex Louin changed things up with her height. I like the way she holds her hands on defense- bladed, like a runner minimizing drag or a judoka about to deliver a chop. Jordan Dillard brought some speed off the bench. Of course, no discussion of the Villanova reserves is complete without Taylor Holeman, the microwave player for their offense, the one player who doesn't seem to shoot threes. She hit soft midrange jumpers and shook every defender we tried to put on her. She's scary good. She should show up in a WNBA training camp, and she should have a good career in Europe if she wants it.

I don't like Katherine Coyer. Hitting Tiny Aaliyah in the face is uncalled for and uncouth. Pick on someone your own size, Katherine. She went off for her points in one fell swoop in the second half- I think it was between the first two media timeouts. Suddenly she was cutting into the lane and hitting easy lay-ups. I don't like Caroline Coyer either, but that's exclusively because she burned us like hydrochloric acid beyond the arc. Different flavor of distaste. She has a pretty stroke, and she gets it off quick enough- not necessarily super quick, but that's where screens help. Taylor Holeman freed her up for one in the first half, either her third or fourth of the game. I don't recall Lauren Burford strongly- she brought some height, then surprised us with three-pointers. Well, surprised the Red Storm players and coaches- no one taking a three on Villanova surprises me unless it's Harry himself. Kavunaa Edwards was the starter who didn't play the starter's minutes- she scored early and was tall, but other than that was not memorable. Then again, I'm writing these notes at seven o'clock on a northbound bus. Emily Leer hit one of those pretty pretty hook shots, and generally caused chaos and consternation among the defense- again, a size mismatch, and those don't end well when your post players don't get out to the arc, because then you're asking tiny guards to defend big forwards, and that doesn't work no matter how fierce the tiny guard is.

Villanova's ball movement, when the ball moved, was very crisp. They used screens well to get the shooters free. But when they built the big lead after a spurt in the second half, then it ground to a screeching, agonizing halt as the Nova offense turned into the Let's Watch Caroline Coyer Dribble The Ball For Twenty Seconds Show. Honestly. If the refs could count, they would have dinged her for five seconds (the closely guarded variety, not the throw-in variety). Their three-point tendencies were less evident in this one, thanks to the work of Holeman and Leer down low, and Katherine Coyer cutting through the defense in the lane.

Officials can't count, film at eleven.

Squee of the day, part one: as mentioned above, Sox had family, friends, and school buddies at the game. When she got ready to check in, naturally they cheered. Tonoia looked back at the sudden sound and smiled in a way that registered as "d'awwwwww".

Squee of the day, part two: The shootout contest had a little girl, whose mission was to hit a lay-up, free throw, and three-pointer in thirty seconds. Lay-up she got on the first try, free throw on the second. The first three missed short, so she did it as a run-up the way an adult takes a halfcourt shot. Missed the next two. One shot left... it bounced around and went in at the buzzer. The crowd went wild... and then one of the refs gave her a fist bump as she came off the court.

So two out of three ain't bad. Would still rather have gotten the win over Villanova for St. John's, but all in all, a good road trip for your intrepid blogger.

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January 23rd, 2015: Seton Hall at Villanova

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Villanova could never quite overcome a strong start by Seton Hall, and the Pirates claimed a 59-56 victory at the Pavilion. Daisha Simmons led the way with 19 points and 13 rebounds, getting help on the scoreboard from Ka-Deidre Simmons (15) and Tabatha Richardson-Smith (11) and on the backboard from Janee Johnson (12 rebounds). Villanova put four in doubles in the loss, led by 15 points from Emily Leer.

For digging the long ball, road tripping with favorite allies, decorating Moooose, parenthetical asides, ride mooching, rocking out, placards, and purple hair, join your intrepid and traveling blogger after the jump.


Hey, everybody!

Your intrepid blogger has decided she doesn't like working Fridays, so we've decided to swing down to Philly for the NY metro teams' road trip to Villanova. Seton Hall is first up, on this cold-but-hey-it-could-be-worse Friday. As I tap these words out on my trusty laptop Jocelyn, we're sitting outside the Pavilion two hours before tip (we, ah, slightly miscalculated how far across campus we were going, and the bookstore's on the other side of campus, so we can't even kill time and buy tchochkes there).

(Also, Jocelyn isn't particularly trusty, but I love her anyway.)

(Ironically, we're staying right off Drexel's campus and among Penn's academic buildings, but neither of those teams is home on Saturday. But we did stop by Drexel's bookstore and buy a souvenir for Moooose.)

The Villanova men are passing us by on their way to a team expedition to a Sixers game. No, I don't know what they did to spark Jay Wright's ire either, but that's just cruel and unusual punishment there.

We mistook Nova's bus for the SHU bus, but I think the Pirates are coming now. Woo! Go Seton Hall! I should probably put gloves on. Poor Jocelyn is frozen. Literally- I think part of her screen got damaged from the cold.

Villanova's band rocks hockey jerseys, which is pretty awesome. I'm pretty sure one of them is also a Queenie. And 55 is a number high on my list. (5 is my favorite number and Vickie Johnson is one of my all-time favorites.)

The Pavilion is a fascinating blend of the old and the new- shiny video boards across from hard wooden bleachers, a slick track-cam sliding past the peculiar contours of the building's roof, retro-styled banners honoring players recent and not so recent. Not sure what to think about all the Wildcat women shown with the t-shirt jerseys, as I'm pretty sure that they weren't wearing the t-shirts in 2003.

Many of the usual suspects have come up from Jersey for this one, and there are rumors of buses yet to come. Serious business, yo.

Child in UNC shirt, you are ridiculously lost. I guess the shade of blue is right.

Good Lord. The Nova player in this ad has eyes that are Villanova blue. Either they need to lay off the filters or that is taking team colors TOO FAR.

Wonderful acappella anthem. I do love a good vocal group.

You may have noticed there were no halftime notes, and that's because your intrepid blogger needed refreshments after screaming her head off in the first half. I never thought I would see the day where Seton Hall had fans energized enough to organize a bus down to Villanova. I never thought I'd hear a group chanting and cheering and clapping the way the Seton Hall travel crew did. I never dreamed that the second time I saw a team's cheer and dance squads follow them on the road and cheer from the stands would be for Seton Hall. But Seton Hall sent a bus, and that bus had cheer and dance, and they had their signs and pom-poms, and we couldn't NOT get loud. It was exhausting and exhilarating and glorious. It's also a little harder to focus on individual performances, especially for the opponent, when you're screaming your head off like a crazy person, but I'll do what I can.

The bench didn't necessarily play a lot, and they didn't necessarily rack up the numbers, but they did their jobs and shone in brief spurts. Lubirdia Gordon saw time in the first half and had a couple of nice baskets down low. Jordan Mosley had a nifty steal and a couple of strong boards. Kathleen Egan provided a little defense down low, but when Villanova gets low, they get very rough, so she was outmassed. Tiffany Jones played the bulk of the center minutes for her more polished offensive game- she was a bit awkward defensively, and only a pass foul kept her in the game. But she came up with big shots and big boards.

I swear Daisha Simmons gets taller every time I see her. She drove the lane without fear and occasionally without sense, throwing up shots at the slightest hint of contact, whether getting the call was a realistic expectation or not. She tore it up on the boards, both at the rim and reading outside. Tabatha Richardson-Smith got hot early, then cooled down (the looooooooong three attempt that went wild was, IMO, the beginning of the end). Chizoba Ekedigwe contributed defensively, though she was a bit reluctant to come out to the arc (which you cannot be against Villanova). Janee Johnson killed it on the boards today. I'd like to see her take fewer long shots, but if they go down, I won't protest too much. Ka-Deidre Simmons took over in the latter portion of the game. She was solid throughout, but when it got tight and Villanova looked like they were ready to do that thing where they win the tight game because that's how Harry Perretta rolls, Didi decided that wasn't happening. She and Daisha made the hustle plays. She got hit in the head and kicked in the stomach on two different plays (only one of which was called a foul) and still made the right play at the right time.

There were a couple of stretches, at the end of the first half and in the middle of the second half, where it seemed like the Pirates were content to play at Villanova's pace, stalling the ball and taking jumpers. Can't let that happen.

Villanova's rotations seemed inconsistent from half to half, but I'm not sure if that's a Villanova thing, or a me not noticing thing, or a Perretta changing things up thing. I liked what I saw out of Samantha Wilkes, both on the boards and on the pretty pass to Taylor Holeman for the soft finger roll. I have a block down for Jordan Dillard, but I think I accidentally credited her with one of Katherine Coyer's plays, so I got nothing for her, or for Brandi Teague. Alex Louin is tall for a guard, and needs to pick on people her own size. Taylor Holeman brought the offense, but she always has; she makes sure that the pace doesn't fall off when the bench comes into the game. She had a stronger midrange than long-range game this time around, with some odd hitches in her shot.

Katherine Coyer crushed a big block in the first half on a corner three. Killed it. She's longer than her sister. Caroline Coyer did a little bit of everything, and thus was not easily remembered for any one thing. She hit a lot of threes. That was annoying. Kavunaa Edwards was hot very early, but we remembered to close on her eventually. We were not so clever with Emily Leer. She hit threes, she established space down low, and I wish to do unprintable things with her beautiful hook shot. (I have a thing for hook shots. Not the players who take them, per se, but the shots themselves.) Her foul trouble was helpful for us. I do not remember Lauren Burford doing anything of note.

Villanova had really nice ball movement, and they can shoot- but some of them look like they were taught to shoot the exact same way Shelley Pennefather shot the ball... except that Pennefather was double-jointed in her wrists. Doesn't quite work as well. You see some very strange exaggerated motion in their shots.

I expected nothing good out of an officiating crew that included both Maj Forsberg and Joseph Vaszily, and I was right. There were a lot of ticky-tack calls for the home team, but what really got me was when Ka-Deidre Simmons was hit in the head with no call. I was disappointed and distressed. Don't ignore headshots!

We managed to wangle a ride back to our hotel from Aleesha Powell's family (Aleesha must wonder why her dad likes the crazy people who can't shut up). So we were hanging out a little after the game. Jordan Mosley's family was there (which did neatly explain why someone was hanging out at a Nova game in Temple gear; my understanding is that that is frowned upon in that establishment). Tab still doesn't seem to like me, but y'know what? I was a Johnnie long before Tab was a Pirate, and I'll be a Johnnie long after she graduates. I like Seton Hall, and I love what they're building there, but my team is my team.

Villanova band is very solid. I prefer DePaul's arrangement of "All of the Lights", but Nova sells the song better, and they bring in the cymbals to end each phrase, in a wonderfully dramatic fashion. It took a while for the Nova crowd to get started, but I think we shamed them into it.

Their cheer team pulled off what was essentially a non-ice version of the Death Spiral, only with two female cheerleaders per dude cheerleader, and it was amazing. SHU cheer was professionally impressed.

That was an emotionally satisfying experience, and not just because we won. Being part of something bigger is always special.

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February 15th, 2014: Villanova at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Aliyyah Handford scored 17 of her 25 points in the second half to spark a second-half St. John's surge in the Red Storm's 69-56 win over Villanova. Handford's 25 led all scorers. Amber Thompson added nine points and 17 rebounds. For Villanova, Katherine Coyer had 18 points and six rebounds.

For hurried rotations, hazardous traveling conditions, a little dipsy-do to seal the deal, too much pink, and resurgence, join your intrepid and anatine blogger after the jump.


Hello from the arctic tundra of Queens! We come to you live and in stereophonic sound from Carnesecca Arena, where it's Play4Kay against Villanova.

We've already heard the usual militant insistence that all things be pink. One guy said that I had to put the shirt on over my jersey or I'd have to give it back. First of all, rude. Second of all, the pink Play4Kay shirt I'm wearing is not this year's shirt. Third of all, you go call Ann Arbor and tell Joy McCorvey you told me to take off her jersey. Fourth of all, you go call my mother and tell her I don't support breast cancer survivors. Fifth of all, send the guy with the ducks over here, we've got twenty-five bucks waiting for him, because we believe in deeds, not words and empty gestures.

Of course, the pink jersey they have up for auction was Zakiyyah Shahid-Martin's, and I have more dignity than to wear the jersey of a woman who once mocked my husband during intros. Yes, I know whose jersey was whose based on the style and era. Don't try to put one past me. If it had been Jennifer Blanding's #15, or pretty much any other post's, I'd have been on it.

I like the pink and blue sneakers that a few Johnnies are rocking better than the pink and white. I don't know if the long pigtails work for Aaliyah Lewis, though. Someone's gonna end up whipped in the face, I know it.

Where are the ducks! I need the ducks to donate the money!

As usual, Villanova fans sit wherever they want, indifferent to the normal conventions of sitting in the general vicinity of their bench. I like the pink golf shirts that the Villanova staff is wearing, though. The Villanova V is well matched to it.

At halftime, St. John's is up 27-19, having closed strong after the game was tied at 18. Watching the offense of both teams has not exactly been happy fun times.

A family of Villanova fans insisted on setting up camp in our section, but they appear to have departed. You'd think being across from the St. John's bench, next to the band, and next to members of the men's team would be a good hint that this section is not a good place to wear the V. We figured they only like to watch Villanova on offense, which makes them some kind of m

There are two utterly adorable children playing on the drum kit during halftime, while the band grabs refreshment. They're more interesting than this confounded DJ, I'll tell you that.

We're giving up too many offensive rebounds, but so is Villanova, so that all washes out, I guess. We need to hit free throws and not let Nova get to the line. Also, Eugeneia McPherson is in dire need of the halftime break. I don't think she sat down once in the first half, and Joe was too scared to put Briana Brown back in with two fouls to give her a break.

Impressed with the turnout. It's been growing steadily. I approve. It's a little squished, but I like that.

I like beating Villanova. It's about the only thing I agree with UConn fans about.

I suspect that Perretta threw in the towel relatively early. With the foul differential being what it was, I didn't see him trying to work the officials the way I might have expected him to, and he went to the very deep end of his bench earlier than I would have expected. You should have heard the roar when Jessica Wamala scored- her teammates and the Nova fans who were sitting behind their bench cheered real loud for her. Samantha Wilkes got really grabby, and the law of the court caught up to her once- she shoved Briana Brown, and Amber Thompson proceeded to briefly introduce Wilkes to her elbow brace. Do not mess with the captain. Megan Quinn was tall. Taylor Holeman seems to play longer than her height- not to the extent that a DeLisha Milton does, but she has a long reach and good ups, and she disrupts well. I think she was hobbled by the fouls and not looking as much for her shot. Caroline Coyer got a lot of open looks in the second half and took advantage of several of them.

I miss Emily Leer's hook shot. She did fire one off, but she's starting to turn into yet another Villanova player who takes threes no matter her height. She got into foul trouble and griped about it a lot. Katherine Coyer impressed me less than her sister, though that may have been a matter of timing- the player who scored more in the second half will stand out more than the player who scored more in the first half. Devon Kane showed off one of the fastest first steps I've ever seen- she left her defender far behind her two or three times as she accelerated to the basket. I don't have clear recollectiosn of Kavunaa Edwards or Lauren Burford; they didn't play a lot, in favor of the somewhat deep Villanova bench. In case you hadn't noticed, Villanova plays an odd substitution pattern, and starting for the Wildcats isn't necessarily an indicator of how important a player is to the overall success of the team.

They were more aggressive than I remember them being, which isn't exactly saying a huge amount for Villanova. Honestly, though, we ran the clock down more than they did.

I was surprised that Joe went to Mallory Jones in the first half, but the move worked out, and I guess she matches up well with their system. She managed to garner a rebound and drain an open three. Jade Walker played very briefly, but was moving slowly and uncomfortably enough that she didn't play again. She looked out of place and out of position, nothing like the force of nature she's been for the last few games. Aaliyah Lewis ran a decent offense- nothing remarkable. Keylantra Langley was physical, but didn't have her best game in terms of common sense- stupid fouls, bad position, that kind of thing. Danaejah Grant took over a lot of the offensive load, or at least being an offensive threat. She missed a lot of easy shots, though the rim did her no favors.

I think the long minutes and the season are starting to get to Eugeneia McPherson a little bit. She looked really wiped by the end of this game. She picked up her shooting right when we needed her, but she still looked like she needed a long session in the ice bath. Briana Brown picked up two fouls in the first half, then spent the rest of the half on the bench. She came up with two huge shots in the second half to extend the lead. Amber Thompson owned the boards, as she so often does. She went hard after missed shots and cleaned up even the worst of attempts. I love when she's tough like that. Sandra Udobi played her usual brief minutes and then sat down. Aliyyah Handford decided to demonstrate that she was back. Her jump shot, such as it is, hasn't developed yet, but she was slashing to the basket and putting in some incredibly acrobatic shots again, like the Aliyyah of old. Just when we need her, coming down the home stretch of the conference season with a title in our sights and dreams of a high seed, too.

The rebounding was off the charts, and strengthened in the second half. Our defense slacked off a bit- way too many open shots, not enough pressure, which goes miles towards explaining the stunning foul differential in the second half.

This is part of how I knew Villanova had thrown in the towel sometime around the beginning of the fourth quarter: St. John's wasn't called for their first foul of the half until about the three-minute mark and Harry Perretta had bupkis to say about it. Most coaches, especially ones as demonstrative as Perretta can be, would have ripped the officials several new ones by that point. I don't necessarily know whether the calls themselves were good or bad, but that kind of imbalance tends to enrage a coach.

We bought our ducks eventually. Twenty-five dollars bought thirty-two ducks. As always, I nicknamed them before hurling them to their eventual fate: Tanya, Mallory, Wildwing, Ryan, Teemu, Lamichael, Jillian, Chrishae, Cathrine, Marcus, Kevin, Drake... one of them even won us a prize pack. I don't know whether this item is a backscratcher or an ice scraper, but either way it'll come in handy. The Chris Mullin bobble-head can go live in our men's sports community on top of one bookcase. The pennant will go on the wall. That kind of thing.

The train keeps on rolling, and I have to keep believing. It's time to hit the road for a rivalry game and for a rematch somewhere in middle America. We can do this. We're going to have to if we want any respect.

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