Twister Sister Summary - ladies win last non-con

[acoustimac]

I'll keep this one brief and to the point. What a tale of halves. Complete domination in the first half. Turnovers limited? Check. Make your free throws? Check. Rebound? Check. Score gobs of points? Check. Hold your opponent to single digit points in the first and second quarters? Check.

And then they had to come out and play a second half. A half so ugly it's mother might not claim it. Turnovers? One more in the third quarter than the entire first half. Free throws? Clunk, rattle, and ugh. The night ended up looking like a men's line score on this stat. Rebound? Let's just say there were lots of opportunities. Scoring. Missed shot after missed shot. Even an air ball from Jadda on a three attempt.

The ladies third quarter play included seven steals by Sacred Heart. The effort for boards seemed lackadaisical. The threes were bouncing everywhere but in. Defense was hit and miss. This wasn't what you would expect for the last non-conference tuneup.

What's happening? Two sloppy games in a row. The ladies are putting up points but this is against second tier teams. You're supposed to do that. It's the messy play that concerns me. If you offer any Big 12 team a quarter or half like we did in the second the result won't be good. No, it will be ugly.

Perhaps the dominating first half led the ladies to let down and relax. Good teams don't do that. When you are up by 26 at the half you try to be up 35 by the end of the third and let the subs finish it off.

Observations
Rebounding. Mere may not score much, but she grabbed a bunch of boards tonight. TeeTee fell in the same category.

There is an echo in the room. Best player on the court was Seanna. She led the team in scoring and ended up with a double double. Only downside were a couple of missed free throws. That's picking nits.

Tough stat? 16 assists but 17 turnovers (most in the second half)

Coach played a variety of lineups. I again was mildly impressed with Camber.

Next up? Things get serious. We start on the road at OSU and then come home against a very tough Texas team. OSU is 10-0 with a schedule even weaker than Iowa State's. One comparable is both teams played UNI. OSU beat them 81-57 while the sisters won 76-68. The ladies had best be ready. The fun is about to start.

 

[psyclone51]

Thanks AC for another game breakdown. I too am getting concerned about the letdowns against lessor teams. I agree with you that good teams don't do this; it does not prove the team's ability to play a full game start to finish - which is what they absolutely must do against B12 competition.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Stillwater will be more interesting and a challenge. Their big center Kaylee Jensen kinda owned us last year and is back. OSU is playing right now in the Play4Kay in Las Vegas against #25 Oregon State and down 5 at halftime.

NCAA RPI has OSU at 8 and ISU at 97. Depending on where you look our SOS is pushing 200 and OSU is around 100 or a little less. OSU is playing their third game in three days so the ratings are obviously bouncing around some. Yeah, yeah, early numbers are a little bit BS but the Big 12 still includes them in their releases.

We are 1-4 in the five games in Stillwater since the Big 12 school changes and we play everybody twice a year for 18 conferences games.

Followed a link at OSU to what looks like a live YouTube feed for the game. Not sure if subscription or free but here's the linky:

 

[geewago]

OSU has played some easy teams up until tonight. They meet there 1st top team and lose by 19 points. They are just about the same caliber team as ISU. They are always tough to beat at home.
Texas on the other hand is the best 4 loss team in the nation. Those 4 losses were all top 10 teams. I went down and watched their game against Tennessee. They are still a work in progress but it is coming together. Lang has improved in the post. And Joyner their rookie is a raw talent that will have game take over ability as soon as she is polished up. The girls will have to play 4 full qtrs. like they did for 3 1/2 qtrs. against Miss. ST to beat them.

 

[runbikeswim]

I think it is hard for any player to stay motivated when up by 20+ against a "sisters of the poor" type team, especially with all the holiday musings this game had.

We start 4 returning starters, and our 1st two off the bench are a Junior and a 5-year senior.

Big 12 type play should not be a surprise.

On paper we should have a really really good team. Of course it appears our 10 player rotation has dwindled to 7. So who knows?

We have arguably 3 of the best players in program history on the court in Jadda, Seanna, and Bridget. I really really hope for Seanna's sake this team makes the tourney.

 

[Buster28]

I kinda felt like the refs were trying to officiate a game of CalvinBall, sometimes just making things up as they went. Not that they had any significant impact on this game, but it was odd watching what they would blow a whistle for, then what they would ignore.

Anyway, fun first half, tedious second half (to watch). Now, **** gets real. First at OSU, then the lucky Longhorns get to spend New Year's Eve in Ames.

 

[BoxsterCy]

I kinda felt like the refs were trying to officiate a game of CalvinBall, sometimes just making things up as they went. Not that they had any significant impact on this game, but it was odd watching what they would blow a whistle for, then what they would ignore.

Anyway, fun first half, tedious second half (to watch). Now, **** gets real. First at OSU, then the lucky Longhorns get to spend New Year's Eve in Ames.

Calvin Ball! Would rep if we still had that feature.