Going into this game we knew that OU had some offensive threats. We needed to play solid defense to pull this one out. In the end, OU had just enough offense and there were too many defensive breakdowns for the sisters to pull the game out.
We are all on pins and needles here waiting to hear the news about Soares' knee. She went down two minutes into the game, but seemed to be moving well later. Never re-entered. When she went down you knew this was going to be a VERY different game than any of us imagined.
I thought things were getting off to a good start with a Joens 3 right out of the gate. Add to that, there were two quick fouls on OUs post. But then lightning struck. Soares goes down and it looked painful. What a game changer this would be.
OU would hit a trey during the 4 on 5 and follows with another immediately after. Our offense seems scattered with Soares out. It took quite some time to find our footing. Three point struggles continue. I kept reminding myself to remember this team was a sweet 16 team last year. They are still good. But the missing piece - Jordao - would come back to haunt us.
Along with the offensive struggles, the defensive effort wasis lacking. Ashley is trying too hard to take over and forgetting the rest of the team. This doesn't help offensive flow at all. Slowly, but surely things started to get going. The inside and outside games were starting to work. Ashley just has to look for pass offs more often as she is getting caught in no-man's land underneath too often. OU leads 19-18 after one.
The second started off with me feeling a bit frustrating watching Joens regress (my word). She seems to be trying too much 1 on 5 and it’s hurting at times. Yes, she’s scoring but there are turnovers as well. Kane is in foul trouble so Zingaro is in. Officials aren’t calling anything consistently. After some missed offensive opportunities, Donarski hits a three to stem the bleeding (10-2 OU run). Yet, the defense looks a step slow. Getting beat inside left and right. Part of this is the lack of effective post play. With Kane in trouble and Zingaro being too slow we are being riddled. On the offensive side, our three point shooting is still tepid. Despite all of this the ladies are hanging tough. There are still too many turnovers (statistically or otherwise). Three straight that help OU out.
Towards the end of the half the defense picked up as has defensive rebounding. It wasn't perfect, but much better. With Ashely taking over the offense, she is getting fouled and making a living at the line. It still makes me nervous that the other players are being left out of the offensive flow.
At the end of the half, Ryan holds the ball for the last shot and no one moves to open up anything. Another missed opportunity as the sisters lead at the half 36-35.
Looking at the first half, OU is getting scoring from everyone as we’ve held Robertson in check. ISU is Joens and that’s about it. We are getting beat on the boards especially with OU grabbing 7 offensive that typically resulted in points. Fritz was scoreless. Ryan with only 1. That won’t do it. Post play? Non-existent.
The third quarter was just like what we've seen too many times so far this year. Complete and absolute offensive futility, fouls and turnovers. The sisters had noo points for over four minutes as OU started to build a lead and mid-way through the quarter it was 45-38 OU. The defense was getting beat to the hole time and time again. We were really missing any kind of post presence period. The ladies were totally getting owned in the boards as well.
With 2 min left in the 3rd OU has made EIGHT more shots slightly countered by our free throws. We didn't have an answer offensively so far. Ryan and Fritz MIA and Joens has yet to score this quarter with 2 min left. At the end of the quarter Ryan turned the ball over while holding for the last shot on an errant pass. OU scores and its 59-48 end of three. The way the ladies looked I thought it would take a miracle to pull this one out. Joens had ONE point that quarter. Fritz zip for the game and Ryan had more turnovers than assists. OU won the third 24-12.
The 4th started nicely with two straight ISU scores. But of course OU hit another trey to cancel it all out. Donarski is our second half savior so far. She was the only effective scorer in the third and her drives in the lane were things of beauty. Ryan hit a three and then the defense broke down again allowing OU to get an easy answer. The OU lead was six with 7 left.
Donarski hit a three which really got all of us ISU faithful to sit up in our chairs...and then fouls on a three point shot on the other end to cancel it out. Frustrating.
But then things started to get interesting. Diew answered with another 3 after some great ball movement. The D started stepping up Joens hits a pair of free throws and it’s a one point game with 5 left. From here on out it would be a nail bitter. One critical thing that influenced the defensive end, and the game, mightily occurred. Ryan pick up her 4th foul. She then followed it up with a bad pass to give OU an easy layup. For a couple of possessions the offense fell apart not taking advantage of some nice opportunities to take the lead.
Fritz finally scores a trey (her first points of the game) and the ladies have the lead 70-69 with 3 left. Nothing was easy and the last couple of minutes were a definite struggle with some missed shots, but with some scrappy defense. All of this may sound gloom and doom, but ISU had come back from 11 down and this was anyone's game the rest of the way.
Donarski 2 FT to give ISU the lead with just over a minute remaining. Then OU makes a highly contested three to retake the lead, but Joens answered with a conventional three point play. The lack of any post play and Ryan's four fouls allowed OU to drive for an easy two. Once Ryan picked up her 4th it seemed like she was victimized a few times on defense as she had to back off. OU took advantage. With :35 left OU leads by 1 and the sisters have the ball. Ashley scores and OU answers back way too easily. The sisters would get the last shot with plenty of time (about 7 seconds). Coach called timeout to move the ball up to half court and off we go. You'd like to think the officials would make calls at the end of a game, but you can't depend on it. In this case I felt Joens was fouled moving to the basket. Instead she turns the ball over trying to go up for a shot and that’s the game. OU wins 82-79.
Observations
Player of the game - Lexi Donarski. Without her stellar play in the second and third quarters this wouldn't have been a game. She also did a great job shutting down whoever she guarded.
Joens - there was good and bad here. She is a tremendous talent. We likely wouldn't have been in this game without her grit. BUT...too many times she went into double and triple teams with no out. Did a great job getting to the line and hitting them. 27 and 9.
Ryan - Offense was non-existent for much of the game and while she had 5 assists in the first half that dropped to 3 in the second...all in the fourth quarter. Grabbed 8 boards and ended up with 8 points...most late. We need more from her offensively.
Fritz - man, she's gritty and tough. But is definitely a liability on offense right now. I like her. One of my favorites mainly due to her toughness. But having a starter not be any kind of a scoring threat hurts. Hit a key 3 pointer late, but that was it.
Diew - came off the bench and did some yeoman's work. Made some big buckets and grabbed some big rebounds. 14 and 9 is a GREAT day for her.
The posts - with Soares out our game plan changed quickly. Then Kane became a non-factor as she got into foul trouble. Zingaro wasn't the answer. Too slow. That's it. No more posts. This was a critical factor as we got six points and 1 rebound out of our post position.
The bench - outside of Diew...nada.
Free throws - this kept the ladies in the game. 23 for 26 attempts. Darned good. OU obviously has a much deeper bench than we do as they kept subbing in as players fouled and never slowed them down.
Rebounding - that lack of post play? One rebound there. OU won this stat 38-34 and had TWELVE offensive boards. As mentioned, many of those led to baskets. KEY STAT - OU took SEVENTEEN more shots than we did and made SEVEN more baskets.
Three point shooting - 10 of 28. Much better. Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you see it) many of those happened late.
So, now we hold our breath and wait. What is the prognosis for Stephanie Soares? We can hope it's minor and we get her back. If we don't this team changes from a Top 15 contender to a scrappy edge Top 25 at best. Especially with the lack of post depth AND the lack of depth from the bench. We have a huge home game against a nasty KSU team this Wednesday. If we are without Soares it could be VERY tough. KSU (without their all conference center this year) is a much more guard oriented team and FAST. That will be a tough match up for the sisters. Their guards will be like crows picking at our slow posts and will move aggressively to the basket. Strangely, this scrappy bunch was annihilated by Texas, barely beat OSU at home and lost at home to WVU. That makes me scratch my head. What's it going to take without Soares? Our guards have to score. Sounds easy doesn't it? But having an off quarter just has to stop happening.
We are all on pins and needles here waiting to hear the news about Soares' knee. She went down two minutes into the game, but seemed to be moving well later. Never re-entered. When she went down you knew this was going to be a VERY different game than any of us imagined.
I thought things were getting off to a good start with a Joens 3 right out of the gate. Add to that, there were two quick fouls on OUs post. But then lightning struck. Soares goes down and it looked painful. What a game changer this would be.
OU would hit a trey during the 4 on 5 and follows with another immediately after. Our offense seems scattered with Soares out. It took quite some time to find our footing. Three point struggles continue. I kept reminding myself to remember this team was a sweet 16 team last year. They are still good. But the missing piece - Jordao - would come back to haunt us.
Along with the offensive struggles, the defensive effort wasis lacking. Ashley is trying too hard to take over and forgetting the rest of the team. This doesn't help offensive flow at all. Slowly, but surely things started to get going. The inside and outside games were starting to work. Ashley just has to look for pass offs more often as she is getting caught in no-man's land underneath too often. OU leads 19-18 after one.
The second started off with me feeling a bit frustrating watching Joens regress (my word). She seems to be trying too much 1 on 5 and it’s hurting at times. Yes, she’s scoring but there are turnovers as well. Kane is in foul trouble so Zingaro is in. Officials aren’t calling anything consistently. After some missed offensive opportunities, Donarski hits a three to stem the bleeding (10-2 OU run). Yet, the defense looks a step slow. Getting beat inside left and right. Part of this is the lack of effective post play. With Kane in trouble and Zingaro being too slow we are being riddled. On the offensive side, our three point shooting is still tepid. Despite all of this the ladies are hanging tough. There are still too many turnovers (statistically or otherwise). Three straight that help OU out.
Towards the end of the half the defense picked up as has defensive rebounding. It wasn't perfect, but much better. With Ashely taking over the offense, she is getting fouled and making a living at the line. It still makes me nervous that the other players are being left out of the offensive flow.
At the end of the half, Ryan holds the ball for the last shot and no one moves to open up anything. Another missed opportunity as the sisters lead at the half 36-35.
Looking at the first half, OU is getting scoring from everyone as we’ve held Robertson in check. ISU is Joens and that’s about it. We are getting beat on the boards especially with OU grabbing 7 offensive that typically resulted in points. Fritz was scoreless. Ryan with only 1. That won’t do it. Post play? Non-existent.
The third quarter was just like what we've seen too many times so far this year. Complete and absolute offensive futility, fouls and turnovers. The sisters had noo points for over four minutes as OU started to build a lead and mid-way through the quarter it was 45-38 OU. The defense was getting beat to the hole time and time again. We were really missing any kind of post presence period. The ladies were totally getting owned in the boards as well.
With 2 min left in the 3rd OU has made EIGHT more shots slightly countered by our free throws. We didn't have an answer offensively so far. Ryan and Fritz MIA and Joens has yet to score this quarter with 2 min left. At the end of the quarter Ryan turned the ball over while holding for the last shot on an errant pass. OU scores and its 59-48 end of three. The way the ladies looked I thought it would take a miracle to pull this one out. Joens had ONE point that quarter. Fritz zip for the game and Ryan had more turnovers than assists. OU won the third 24-12.
The 4th started nicely with two straight ISU scores. But of course OU hit another trey to cancel it all out. Donarski is our second half savior so far. She was the only effective scorer in the third and her drives in the lane were things of beauty. Ryan hit a three and then the defense broke down again allowing OU to get an easy answer. The OU lead was six with 7 left.
Donarski hit a three which really got all of us ISU faithful to sit up in our chairs...and then fouls on a three point shot on the other end to cancel it out. Frustrating.
But then things started to get interesting. Diew answered with another 3 after some great ball movement. The D started stepping up Joens hits a pair of free throws and it’s a one point game with 5 left. From here on out it would be a nail bitter. One critical thing that influenced the defensive end, and the game, mightily occurred. Ryan pick up her 4th foul. She then followed it up with a bad pass to give OU an easy layup. For a couple of possessions the offense fell apart not taking advantage of some nice opportunities to take the lead.
Fritz finally scores a trey (her first points of the game) and the ladies have the lead 70-69 with 3 left. Nothing was easy and the last couple of minutes were a definite struggle with some missed shots, but with some scrappy defense. All of this may sound gloom and doom, but ISU had come back from 11 down and this was anyone's game the rest of the way.
Donarski 2 FT to give ISU the lead with just over a minute remaining. Then OU makes a highly contested three to retake the lead, but Joens answered with a conventional three point play. The lack of any post play and Ryan's four fouls allowed OU to drive for an easy two. Once Ryan picked up her 4th it seemed like she was victimized a few times on defense as she had to back off. OU took advantage. With :35 left OU leads by 1 and the sisters have the ball. Ashley scores and OU answers back way too easily. The sisters would get the last shot with plenty of time (about 7 seconds). Coach called timeout to move the ball up to half court and off we go. You'd like to think the officials would make calls at the end of a game, but you can't depend on it. In this case I felt Joens was fouled moving to the basket. Instead she turns the ball over trying to go up for a shot and that’s the game. OU wins 82-79.
Observations
Player of the game - Lexi Donarski. Without her stellar play in the second and third quarters this wouldn't have been a game. She also did a great job shutting down whoever she guarded.
Joens - there was good and bad here. She is a tremendous talent. We likely wouldn't have been in this game without her grit. BUT...too many times she went into double and triple teams with no out. Did a great job getting to the line and hitting them. 27 and 9.
Ryan - Offense was non-existent for much of the game and while she had 5 assists in the first half that dropped to 3 in the second...all in the fourth quarter. Grabbed 8 boards and ended up with 8 points...most late. We need more from her offensively.
Fritz - man, she's gritty and tough. But is definitely a liability on offense right now. I like her. One of my favorites mainly due to her toughness. But having a starter not be any kind of a scoring threat hurts. Hit a key 3 pointer late, but that was it.
Diew - came off the bench and did some yeoman's work. Made some big buckets and grabbed some big rebounds. 14 and 9 is a GREAT day for her.
The posts - with Soares out our game plan changed quickly. Then Kane became a non-factor as she got into foul trouble. Zingaro wasn't the answer. Too slow. That's it. No more posts. This was a critical factor as we got six points and 1 rebound out of our post position.
The bench - outside of Diew...nada.
Free throws - this kept the ladies in the game. 23 for 26 attempts. Darned good. OU obviously has a much deeper bench than we do as they kept subbing in as players fouled and never slowed them down.
Rebounding - that lack of post play? One rebound there. OU won this stat 38-34 and had TWELVE offensive boards. As mentioned, many of those led to baskets. KEY STAT - OU took SEVENTEEN more shots than we did and made SEVEN more baskets.
Three point shooting - 10 of 28. Much better. Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you see it) many of those happened late.
So, now we hold our breath and wait. What is the prognosis for Stephanie Soares? We can hope it's minor and we get her back. If we don't this team changes from a Top 15 contender to a scrappy edge Top 25 at best. Especially with the lack of post depth AND the lack of depth from the bench. We have a huge home game against a nasty KSU team this Wednesday. If we are without Soares it could be VERY tough. KSU (without their all conference center this year) is a much more guard oriented team and FAST. That will be a tough match up for the sisters. Their guards will be like crows picking at our slow posts and will move aggressively to the basket. Strangely, this scrappy bunch was annihilated by Texas, barely beat OSU at home and lost at home to WVU. That makes me scratch my head. What's it going to take without Soares? Our guards have to score. Sounds easy doesn't it? But having an off quarter just has to stop happening.
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