Welcome to another season of our beloved Twister Sisters! Lots of hype leading into this season and it feels so good to finally be here.
The game got started with Iowa State playing a fairly fast pace. The inside game got Crooks involved right away and boom, boom Tanke nailed her first two career threes. In the blink of an eye the sisters led 11-0. As expected, CSU was one and done on each offensive possession. I felt like I needed a program to know who all the new faces are by uniform number. The newcomers were hitting their shots, which is a pleasant thing to see. Hare nailed her first three. What was really fun to see was the huge smile on Tanke's face as she came off the court for substitution. At the first break the ISU lead was 16-0. Of particular note is the ball movement. Quick passes are being made and the ladies were moving around on the court on the offensive end.
I was impressed early with the quickness and aggression Williams shows. She’s bigger than I expected with a long reach. She battles for every rebound. Fennelly was doing a lot of subbing which was to be expected. Also to be expected was the hustle of Kelsey Joens. We got a glimpse early of Crooks moving away from the basket and Brown moving down into the 4/5 for a score. It was nice to see Crooks hitting her free throws. Last year was literally hit and miss at times. She was perfect so far today. Williams also has a nice soft shot. She seems very adept from six feet in. At the end of the first ISU led 29-3 as CSU flung up a trey with one second left. Quick thoughts…
The ladies came out on fire in the third. Crooks powered inside a couple of times and Brown nailed a three. Hare had a nice steal off a tapped ball, drove the court and hit another gear to drive past her defender and score. Joens nailed a trey off a Wilson assist and Wilson immediately followed with a dish to Harris for another assist. ISU led 69-24 at the media break. CSU made a pair of treys surrounding an ISU turnover. About a minute of sloppy play by ISU. ISU just reset by pounding it in to Crooks. And again, CSU scored as the clock expired and after three it was ISU 81-34. Very solid quarter for the sisters.
The fourth started with five newcomers on the court together. For the first time I can see where “chemistry” (knowing what everyone else is going to do) is a little looser. As per the rest of the game, substitutions are happening frequently. Weirdly, as soon as one veteran comes on the court the smooth flow of the ISU game just reappears. Maybe it was just a momentary lull I observed. Defensively, the ladies seemed to have stepped it up this quarter. Didn’t always result in a score by the sisters, but it was fun to see. Things slowed down for the sisters in the late going. CSU went on a 12-0 run with the newcomers on the court. Williams put an end to that streak. But CSU would tack on their 10th trey of the game to close out a 15-3 run. The closing seconds wound down and the sisters would easily win 96-56.
Observations
Ok, keep all of my comments in the context of who we played today. But…BUT…I didn’t see a single real weakness out there today. It didn’t matter who was on the court the same things kept happening. Assists. Defensive rebounds. Hustle. Great passing. Scoring. Everyone was involved and it was like Coach was able to just swap out pieces of the puzzle. 30th straight season opening win which is the longest current streak in the country.
POG -Brown. She looks physically remade from last year. She is trimmer and seems more physical. Definitely quicker. Today she looked smooooth out there. 20 points, 9 boards and 5 assists. Just about what we expect from her.
Best early impression? Williams. She rebounds. She scores. She hits free throws. She moves very well. I def like what I see. 12 points and 8 boards.
Crooks - wasn’t always as efficient as you might guess, but she just does her thing. As others have observed she misses a bunch of her first attempts. Free throw shooting today was excellent. 16 points and 4 boards. Only five baskets but 6/8 from the line.
Ryan - had a tough time shooting (2-12). Limited minutes. Fun to watch on the court. If you pay attention she is always the floor general. Talking, guiding, leading. Now in 7th place for career steals. Here's the perfect Ryan play. Steals the ball under the CSU basket. Is down on the floor, but establishes her dribble. Drives the length of the court through two defenders and scores. Played 20 min and had 9 points, 3 boards and 6 assists.
AJ - like the other sophomores, she just looks more mature and confident. Best of all she's healthy. It seems we have three ladies that can play the point and AJ is one of them. 3 points and 6 boards. Kind of a quiet day offensively.
Hansford - I had to do a double take. With her headband and build it was like seeing M&M on the court again. Very long and silky smooth in her movement. Her shot is one of the “oddest” I’ve seen in a while. But if it works…today it didn’t. Only sister that didn’t score. But her intangibles were def there.
Harris - saw some good hustle/physical plays out of her. She has a solid physique that allows her to play strong inside and out. 9 points and 2 boards.
The frosh - very impressed with Tanke's (12 points/3 boards) confidence. She and Wilson don’t play like freshmen in their first outing. They seem confident in what they are doing, don’t defer when they are open and the hustle factor is def there. Wilson (2 points/4 assists) is going to be a VERY good point guard. She's quick and aggressive.
Hare - she’s quick. She pushes the pace. She's physical. Had a few too many turnovers. 6 points/6 boards.
Joens - we get the usual hustle from her. She always seems to be in the right spot. Made a couple of nice shots, always seemed to be the first person in place for a rebound or down the court. 7 points, 4 boards and 2 assists.
Free Throws - it appears ISU is off to a good start hitting free throws. A hallmark of good ISU teams the ladies hit 26-34. Several misses down the stretch lowered the percentage (77%).
Three pointers - 10/23 for 44%.
Rebounds - out rebounded CSU 48-36.
Minute distribution - this shows the depth of this team. The distribution was 15-23 minutes for all players. This will be a fun stat to follow as the season progresses.
Assists - 25 on 30 baskets. Excellent.
Two negatives - the team gave up scores right at the end of the first three quarters. Aberration? Maybe. Allowed WAY too many three point shots. Perimeter d needs to step up there.
OK…as expected 1-0. I sure liked what I saw from the entire roster. Next up is another home game this Thursday minus a few hundred screaming kids! Enjoy!
The game got started with Iowa State playing a fairly fast pace. The inside game got Crooks involved right away and boom, boom Tanke nailed her first two career threes. In the blink of an eye the sisters led 11-0. As expected, CSU was one and done on each offensive possession. I felt like I needed a program to know who all the new faces are by uniform number. The newcomers were hitting their shots, which is a pleasant thing to see. Hare nailed her first three. What was really fun to see was the huge smile on Tanke's face as she came off the court for substitution. At the first break the ISU lead was 16-0. Of particular note is the ball movement. Quick passes are being made and the ladies were moving around on the court on the offensive end.
I was impressed early with the quickness and aggression Williams shows. She’s bigger than I expected with a long reach. She battles for every rebound. Fennelly was doing a lot of subbing which was to be expected. Also to be expected was the hustle of Kelsey Joens. We got a glimpse early of Crooks moving away from the basket and Brown moving down into the 4/5 for a score. It was nice to see Crooks hitting her free throws. Last year was literally hit and miss at times. She was perfect so far today. Williams also has a nice soft shot. She seems very adept from six feet in. At the end of the first ISU led 29-3 as CSU flung up a trey with one second left. Quick thoughts…
- There is no drop off in hustle play regardless of who is on the court.
- The ball movement is very good
- These ladies are doing a great job of blocking out for rebounds. When they get one they are aggressive with their possession.
- All 11 dressed players played during the first.
The ladies came out on fire in the third. Crooks powered inside a couple of times and Brown nailed a three. Hare had a nice steal off a tapped ball, drove the court and hit another gear to drive past her defender and score. Joens nailed a trey off a Wilson assist and Wilson immediately followed with a dish to Harris for another assist. ISU led 69-24 at the media break. CSU made a pair of treys surrounding an ISU turnover. About a minute of sloppy play by ISU. ISU just reset by pounding it in to Crooks. And again, CSU scored as the clock expired and after three it was ISU 81-34. Very solid quarter for the sisters.
The fourth started with five newcomers on the court together. For the first time I can see where “chemistry” (knowing what everyone else is going to do) is a little looser. As per the rest of the game, substitutions are happening frequently. Weirdly, as soon as one veteran comes on the court the smooth flow of the ISU game just reappears. Maybe it was just a momentary lull I observed. Defensively, the ladies seemed to have stepped it up this quarter. Didn’t always result in a score by the sisters, but it was fun to see. Things slowed down for the sisters in the late going. CSU went on a 12-0 run with the newcomers on the court. Williams put an end to that streak. But CSU would tack on their 10th trey of the game to close out a 15-3 run. The closing seconds wound down and the sisters would easily win 96-56.
Observations
Ok, keep all of my comments in the context of who we played today. But…BUT…I didn’t see a single real weakness out there today. It didn’t matter who was on the court the same things kept happening. Assists. Defensive rebounds. Hustle. Great passing. Scoring. Everyone was involved and it was like Coach was able to just swap out pieces of the puzzle. 30th straight season opening win which is the longest current streak in the country.
POG -Brown. She looks physically remade from last year. She is trimmer and seems more physical. Definitely quicker. Today she looked smooooth out there. 20 points, 9 boards and 5 assists. Just about what we expect from her.
Best early impression? Williams. She rebounds. She scores. She hits free throws. She moves very well. I def like what I see. 12 points and 8 boards.
Crooks - wasn’t always as efficient as you might guess, but she just does her thing. As others have observed she misses a bunch of her first attempts. Free throw shooting today was excellent. 16 points and 4 boards. Only five baskets but 6/8 from the line.
Ryan - had a tough time shooting (2-12). Limited minutes. Fun to watch on the court. If you pay attention she is always the floor general. Talking, guiding, leading. Now in 7th place for career steals. Here's the perfect Ryan play. Steals the ball under the CSU basket. Is down on the floor, but establishes her dribble. Drives the length of the court through two defenders and scores. Played 20 min and had 9 points, 3 boards and 6 assists.
AJ - like the other sophomores, she just looks more mature and confident. Best of all she's healthy. It seems we have three ladies that can play the point and AJ is one of them. 3 points and 6 boards. Kind of a quiet day offensively.
Hansford - I had to do a double take. With her headband and build it was like seeing M&M on the court again. Very long and silky smooth in her movement. Her shot is one of the “oddest” I’ve seen in a while. But if it works…today it didn’t. Only sister that didn’t score. But her intangibles were def there.
Harris - saw some good hustle/physical plays out of her. She has a solid physique that allows her to play strong inside and out. 9 points and 2 boards.
The frosh - very impressed with Tanke's (12 points/3 boards) confidence. She and Wilson don’t play like freshmen in their first outing. They seem confident in what they are doing, don’t defer when they are open and the hustle factor is def there. Wilson (2 points/4 assists) is going to be a VERY good point guard. She's quick and aggressive.
Hare - she’s quick. She pushes the pace. She's physical. Had a few too many turnovers. 6 points/6 boards.
Joens - we get the usual hustle from her. She always seems to be in the right spot. Made a couple of nice shots, always seemed to be the first person in place for a rebound or down the court. 7 points, 4 boards and 2 assists.
Free Throws - it appears ISU is off to a good start hitting free throws. A hallmark of good ISU teams the ladies hit 26-34. Several misses down the stretch lowered the percentage (77%).
Three pointers - 10/23 for 44%.
Rebounds - out rebounded CSU 48-36.
Minute distribution - this shows the depth of this team. The distribution was 15-23 minutes for all players. This will be a fun stat to follow as the season progresses.
Assists - 25 on 30 baskets. Excellent.
Two negatives - the team gave up scores right at the end of the first three quarters. Aberration? Maybe. Allowed WAY too many three point shots. Perimeter d needs to step up there.
OK…as expected 1-0. I sure liked what I saw from the entire roster. Next up is another home game this Thursday minus a few hundred screaming kids! Enjoy!
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