Twister Sister Sunmary - ladies lose after valiant comeback

[acoustimac]

Started off with some nice offense especially from deep. Maintained a 1-2 point lead until one of our patented scoring droughts hit and OSU would take the lead 18-13. Brynn would hit a key trey to stem the bleeding, but it seemed OSU couldn't miss. They were shooting over 50% for the half. A trey by OSU stretched the lead to 25-18 w 7 left. The shooting woes continued with the sisters getting one free throw over the next four minutes. The OSU lead was 10 at 29-19.

Nothing seemed to fall for the ladies as we seemed a step slow and lazy with the ball. OSU even had a short drought but the ladies couldn't close the gap. At the half OSU was shooting 55% and led 34-21. ISU was shooting a miserable 26%.


The second half started just as the first ended. One basket in the first 4 minutes and OSU sketched the lead to 48-25. Pure ugliness. The ladies were lethargic, no energy at all. Missed a bunch of layups.


Then some life through the hands of Seanna. Two traditional three point plays before Nikki picked up a questionable third foul. 11:30 to go and the ladies had pulled within 17. Slowly but surely the ladies scratched back. Behind more aggressive moves in the middle they pulled within 13 at the 9 min mark. Nakiah and Nikki would hit shots and it was down to 9 with 7 left. The gap continued to close and eventually got down to three when the turnover bug hit. Add to that a bunch of missed layups (at least 9 on the day) and the writing was on the wall. OSU wins 67-58 hitting free throws down the stretch.


The only observation that needs to be made is playing terrible for 30 minutes. Give the ladies credit, they came back hard, but a 20+ point deficit and too little time was too much.
POG - no doubt here. Seanna was Miss Consistency again nailing another double double with 16 and 10.


Seniors - Brynn and Nikki had a good last ten minutes and both ended up in double figures with 16 and 17 respectively.


What's ahead? I'm thinking a WNIT bid. Will probably mean a game at Hilton. On the slim chance we are picked for the NCAA tourney it will undoubtedly be a very low seed.

 

[BoxsterCy]

What's ahead? I'm thinking a WNIT bid. Will probably mean a game at Hilton. On the slim chance we are picked for the NCAA tourney it will undoubtedly be a very low seed.

Will make for some suspense on selection Monday but I think we are in, bubble but in. It's a weak field and we have some quality wins and a not awful RPI. We have been bad away from Hilton but everyone outside the Top 25 sucks away from home also.

 

[Wesley]

We are ISU.

 

[acoustimac]

Good point Boxter. I go back and forth. It's an honor to play in the big dance, but I also think about the good a WNIT run could do for next years team. Of course you always pick the dance.

 

[Three4Cy]

Started off with some nice offense especially from deep. Maintained a 1-2 point lead until one of our patented scoring droughts hit and OSU would take the lead 18-13. Brynn would hit a key trey to stem the bleeding, but it seemed OSU couldn't miss. They were shooting over 50% for the half. A trey by OSU stretched the lead to 25-18 w 7 left. The shooting woes continued with the sisters getting one free throw over the next four minutes. The OSU lead was 10 at 29-19.

Nothing seemed to fall for the ladies as we seemed a step slow and lazy with the ball. OSU even had a short drought but the ladies couldn't close the gap. At the half OSU was shooting 55% and led 34-21. ISU was shooting a miserable 26%.


The second half started just as the first ended. One basket in the first 4 minutes and OSU sketched the lead to 48-25. Pure ugliness. The ladies were lethargic, no energy at all. Missed a bunch of layups.


Then some life through the hands of Seanna. Two traditional three point plays before Nikki picked up a questionable third foul. 11:30 to go and the ladies had pulled within 17. Slowly but surely the ladies scratched back. Behind more aggressive moves in the middle they pulled within 13 at the 9 min mark. Nakiah and Nikki would hit shots and it was down to 9 with 7 left. The gap continued to close and eventually got down to three when the turnover bug hit. Add to that a bunch of missed layups (at least 9 on the day) and the writing was on the wall. OSU wins 67-58 hitting free throws down the stretch.


The only observation that needs to be made is playing terrible for 30 minutes. Give the ladies credit, they came back hard, but a 20+ point deficit and too little time was too much.
POG - no doubt here. Seanna was Miss Consistency again nailing another double double with 16 and 10.


Seniors - Brynn and Nikki had a good last ten minutes and both ended up in double figures with 16 and 17 respectively.


What's ahead? I'm thinking a WNIT bid. Will probably mean a game at Hilton. On the slim chance we are picked for the NCAA tourney it will undoubtedly be a very low seed.

Creme has us comfortably in - as much as people on the ESPN boards dislike the guy, he was 63/64 in 2013, and 64/64 in 2014 in picking the field. We were 45th in the RPI this morning and lost to the 47th team in the RPI, so it is not a bad loss. As Boxster said the bubble is weak.

A WNIT bid for this team wouldn't mean much. If we had a young team, I could see the benefits, but when you are currently starting 4 of 5 who are juniors and seniors, what do they have to play for?

If this team plays like it did in the Baylor and OU win, they can beat anyone. If they play like the did in the first half today, they will be one and done. It all depends on how long the three seniors want to keep playing.

 

[acoustimac]

The story of our season...which team will show up? After looking at the RPI and what's behind us I agree... Even after ending the season 4-8 the team is probably in.

 

[ISUCubswin]

I question the motivation of this team. They build themselves up for big games but don't really care after that. How they were able beat the #3 team 3 times this year, then turn around and get swept by Kansas and give up 60+ points in one half after being up by 21...smh.

 

[geewago]

I was there to witness pathetic first half, as well as the amazing second half comeback that fell short. Post play is what is so lacking on this team. When you live by the 3-bomb you get hot ever once in a while and even sneak up on a few, but it's tough to win the trophies living by the three.

I noticed a fairly decent amount if ISU fans there. I suspect it will be difficult to hang around when the team you love is out of contention. Ya'll might as well hang around and enjoy the good weather and root for the Bears. LOL Ever since they locked up the title with a perfect 15 - 0 record they've been playing like sore footed ducks. Evidently it's very hard to keep your game on after you've took the crown and have a lot less to play for. As far as the Sisters go I really can't explain the problem. The first half of this game today looked like a team that just didn't give hoot.

 

[Tornado man]

Post play is what is so lacking on this team. When you live by the 3-bomb you get hot ever once in a while and even sneak up on a few, but it's tough to win the trophies living by the three.

Couldn't agree more. Almost half of our shots were 3 pt. attempts. It's ridiculous. We're the best shooting FT team in the league, yet go to the line just 14 times. Attack the basket instead of settling. Nicki should be driving to the hole relentlessly.
Then of course it's said "we had open looks, they just didn't fall." It's such a throwaway line.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Couldn't agree more. Almost half of our shots were 3 pt. attempts. It's ridiculous. We're the best shooting FT team in the league, yet go to the line just 14 times. Attack the basket instead of settling. Nicki should be driving to the hole relentlessly.
Then of course it's said "we had open looks, they just didn't fall." It's such a throwaway line.

It sometimes doesn't look like there is a lot of passion for the game out on the court. Williamson looked pretty emotional when she fouled out but it's hard to tell from the rest of the team whether we are up by 15 or down by 15.

Not much emotion from Bill and the staff either other than occasionally barking at the freshman. Just seems like something is "off".

 

[cyrocksmypants]

Have coach BF and ISU kind of "earned" the benefit of the doubt when tourney selection comes around these days? He and the team has been pretty consistent for quite a while now.

 

[DesMoinesCy]

Creme has us comfortably in - as much as people on the ESPN boards dislike the guy, he was 63/64 in 2013, and 64/64 in 2014 in picking the field. We were 45th in the RPI this morning and lost to the 47th team in the RPI, so it is not a bad loss. As Boxster said the bubble is weak.

ESPN'S Creme predicting us to be comfortably in the NCAA Tournament in his Bracketology is very encouraging, a RPI ranking of #46 (which is where I assume we will be at after this loss) is not. RPI is not the only thing the Tournament selection committee looks at, but that ranking could put us on the outside looking in after you factor in the teams that win their conference tournaments that have worse RPI rankings.

 

[NWICY]

I hope next years team has a bit more team spirit like the men. With the men's team this year they are happy as long as the job is getting done. This years women's team never seemed quite right even though the had some amazing wins.

 

[CycloneRulzzz]

WNIT? Really? we tie for 3rd at 9-9 in the top RPI conference in the country (last I remember it was) and got wins over the top 2 teams in the league. Not getting in would warrant an investigation.

 

[NWICY]

Acoustimac, Thanks for the great game threads much appreciated. Are you staying for the rest of the tourney? How is attendance for non ISU games?

 

[acoustimac]

I'll be headed home tonight. Normally the Baylor crowd can fill this place, but not this year. Still a good following though. After that all the other teams have small contingents. Pretty equal to ISU. The Kansas schools are much smaller. OU the second largest I think.

 

[ArgentCy]

It sometimes doesn't look like there is a lot of passion for the game out on the court. Williamson looked pretty emotional when she fouled out but it's hard to tell from the rest of the team whether we are up by 15 or down by 15.

Not much emotion from Bill and the staff either other than occasionally barking at the freshman. Just seems like something is "off".

I haven't watched many of the women's games this year but I'm going to have to agree with this. Outside of Moody it looked like the rest of the team was stuck in mud. A lot of standing around and it was honestly pretty hard to watch. I liked some of the older teams that may not have had the athleticism but they really played hard.

 

[cydney]

Why compare wbb with mbb?


Mbb has lots more talent - no comparison there.


Why try so hard to say that wbb is missing something else, like passion or work ethic — beyond talent?


Mbb finished 2nd in the conference.
Wbb finished 3rd in the conference.


Not bad given the talent differential.


Both have been frustrating. Mbb could have won the conference. Wbb beat nationally #3 ranked team twice in conference. Both teams lost to the last place team (the women more than once). Both teams have shown they can play a tremendous half of bb. Both have shown they can not show up for a half of basketball. Both have come from behind and won big games. Both have collapsed at the end and lost close games they could/should have won.


I suppose there have been posts that mbb is missing something. If they had lost a few more games, like wbb, it would probably be rampant. It’s a very fine line this year between winning and losing. Can you really judge a team when close games have gone both ways and could go either way? Are the women not motivated when they get down big and a comeback comes up short? Are the men motivated when they get down big and make a comeback?


It just comes down to execution. Both teams are motivated. Both teams have team chemistry. Both teams have great coaches. Both teams know how to prepare. But sometimes they don’t do what they can do on the floor. They don’t do what they are supposed to do. There’s no easy answer. Is something missing, well, that depends on what you’re looking for. The teams that win titles have talent and that special something. But just because a team doesn’t have that special something doesn’t mean they don’t have something special. As I’ve watched the wbb team through thick and thin this season, through fun and frustration, they have something special. It just doesn’t always get played out on the floor.

 

[Three4Cy]

ESPN'S Creme predicting us to be comfortably in the NCAA Tournament in his Bracketology is very encouraging, a RPI ranking of #46 (which is where I assume we will be at after this loss) is not. RPI is not the only thing the Tournament selection committee looks at, but that ranking could put us on the outside looking in after you factor in the teams that win their conference tournaments that have worse RPI rankings.

Based on what's left to play, here is what we can deduct:

The Power 5 Conferences will not have a bid stealer. The teams left were all going to get bids regardless of how they did in their conference tournaments.

The conferences that could produce bid stealers if the conference champ (listed below) loses:
Atlantic Sun - Florida Gulf Coast (great RPI, top 100 SOS)
Colonial - James Madison (great RPI, poor SOS)
Sun Belt - Arkansas Little Rock (great RPI, poor SOS)
Conference USA - Western Kentucky (great RPI, poor SOS)

The remaining conferences just aren't strong enough to produce multiple bids, Their biggest issue for them is strength of schedule. They don't have the wins over top 100 RPI teams, most of their wins are over teams below 100 in the RPI, and when they lose it is to teams who have a poor SOS.