04-01-2014, 09:02 PM
Overview:
This was the most exhilarating sporting event I have attended in my life, with Maples nearly packed with ardent fans of this team, all of us knowing this was the last game in Maples for Chiney, Mikaela, and Sara. Mikaela played the game of her life and won the MVP award for the tournament. UNC shot the lights out in the first half from three point range and put our hopes in serious jeopardy, but the fans seemed to will the team on, roaring deliriously with every steal, block, defensive stop, and made shot. Finally we pulled ahead deep in the second half, only to lose the lead again temporarily, and then finally to regain it and assure a trip to the final four.
I was very much afraid that the weekday night and the early start would diminish attendance, but it seemed to me that there were only a smattering of empty seats--which could have been purchased by South Carolina or Penn State fans. The house was effectively full. Even better, people were prepared to make noise. They applauded and yelled profusely at every opportunity, including when we were down. I have never seen a WBB crowd behave like this. The fans clearly knew that something special was in the air--that our team really seemed to need our help to get over this hump--and that there would never be another opportunity to let Chiney, Mikaela, Sara, and Toni know our appreciation.
Flow of the Game
UNC has been famous for its tenacious man defense this year, with lots of steals, but they seem to have caught Tara by surprise in the first half with a man that clogged the paint and denied the entry passes in to Chiney, and a much more liberal sprinkling of zone than is normal for them. This should not have taken us by surprise, since they did show some zone against South Carolina. But I got the feeling that they were doing to us exactly what we did to Florida State--caught us completely unprepared for their surprise defense.
But it was not all their doing. It was only after the second or third blown referee call that I actually noticed that the referee looked a lot like Missy Barlow. OMG. It was Missy Barlow. Chiney was almost completely stymied in the first half, because even when she got the ball the UNC posts simply pushed her with their bodies. It was exactly what UCLA did to her in the Pac 12 tournament final last year. I had a clear view of several of the most egregious non-calls. So long as Chiney did not have the ball it was sumo wrestling. When she did have the ball they could do anything they pleased without their arms. Even worse, when Chiney drove on the basket she got called for charging when the UNC players were clearly moving. I was seriously thinking of what kind of write-up I would post here if we lost. I decided the whole write up would be as follows: "We played our hearts out. Missy refereed. We lost."
But while we were stymied on offense, UNC got extremely hot from three point range. In fact, they hit 5 consecutive three point jumpers without a miss in less than three minutes. Allisha Gray proved to be every bit the perimeter threat I feared--she really outclassed Diamond DeShields as a pure shooter. With every UNC shot seemingly on a string and with UNC shutting down Chiney with an assist from Missy, things were looking bleak. About 10 minutes into the game we were down by 13 and did not seem to have any capacity to catch up. Only Amber was keeping some offense going--she made three 2s and two 3s in the first half.
Even at our low ebb the crowd was cheering, trying to rejuvenate the team's energy. A key moment came when Mikaela Ruef hit a three point jumper. Prior to that she was 2/13 for the season--almost always on desperation shots with the shot clock about to expire. She went on to hit two more treys in the game, and each one broke another vertebrae in the NC back. With some more help from Amber and finally a layup from Chiney, we managed to close the gap to six points at the half, and all of us were praying that Tara could make some defensive AND offensive adjustments.
After halftime, Ruef quickly made another trey, as did Lili, but UNC also got a couple of quick baskets. It did not seem as if our defense was doing any better, although we started off in a zone defense. As much as we liked Mikaela's three pointer, all of us knew that we would never win the game by relying on Ruef treys. But then Ruef hit a third trey--and in one game exceeded her total for the rest of the year. I think those three shots did not win the game on their own, but they sent a powerful message to the rest of the team. If Mikeaela was going do something so extraordinary, almost as if she were willing the team to victory, then everyone else could certainly pick it up a notch or two to honor her efforts. And sure enough, everyone did.
Chiney reeled off three straight layups, one assisted by Amber, one assisted by Mikaela, and one assisted by Lili. She finally seemed to be getting position and getting behind the UNC defense. Those three layups gave us the lead, and by the time Bonnie hit her next trey we were up 6. We traded jumpers but UNC made a small run keyed by some questionable fouls and took a 1 point lead with 4 minutes left after a three point jumper by a bench player.
The next four minutes went by in a delirium. Lili made two key jumpers, in each case the ball hit the front of the rim and barely rolled over and went down. Chiney made a beautiful layup after a bullet feed from Ruef that brought the crowd to its feet--to stay there for the rest of the game. Bonnie and Chiney made free throws and Amber turned a Diamond DeShields turnover into a nifty layup-and-one, and the game ended in a 9 point win. That margin was grossly deceptive about the rigor of the struggle that was required to obtain this victory.
This was the most exhilarating sporting event I have attended in my life, with Maples nearly packed with ardent fans of this team, all of us knowing this was the last game in Maples for Chiney, Mikaela, and Sara. Mikaela played the game of her life and won the MVP award for the tournament. UNC shot the lights out in the first half from three point range and put our hopes in serious jeopardy, but the fans seemed to will the team on, roaring deliriously with every steal, block, defensive stop, and made shot. Finally we pulled ahead deep in the second half, only to lose the lead again temporarily, and then finally to regain it and assure a trip to the final four.
I was very much afraid that the weekday night and the early start would diminish attendance, but it seemed to me that there were only a smattering of empty seats--which could have been purchased by South Carolina or Penn State fans. The house was effectively full. Even better, people were prepared to make noise. They applauded and yelled profusely at every opportunity, including when we were down. I have never seen a WBB crowd behave like this. The fans clearly knew that something special was in the air--that our team really seemed to need our help to get over this hump--and that there would never be another opportunity to let Chiney, Mikaela, Sara, and Toni know our appreciation.
Flow of the Game
UNC has been famous for its tenacious man defense this year, with lots of steals, but they seem to have caught Tara by surprise in the first half with a man that clogged the paint and denied the entry passes in to Chiney, and a much more liberal sprinkling of zone than is normal for them. This should not have taken us by surprise, since they did show some zone against South Carolina. But I got the feeling that they were doing to us exactly what we did to Florida State--caught us completely unprepared for their surprise defense.
But it was not all their doing. It was only after the second or third blown referee call that I actually noticed that the referee looked a lot like Missy Barlow. OMG. It was Missy Barlow. Chiney was almost completely stymied in the first half, because even when she got the ball the UNC posts simply pushed her with their bodies. It was exactly what UCLA did to her in the Pac 12 tournament final last year. I had a clear view of several of the most egregious non-calls. So long as Chiney did not have the ball it was sumo wrestling. When she did have the ball they could do anything they pleased without their arms. Even worse, when Chiney drove on the basket she got called for charging when the UNC players were clearly moving. I was seriously thinking of what kind of write-up I would post here if we lost. I decided the whole write up would be as follows: "We played our hearts out. Missy refereed. We lost."
But while we were stymied on offense, UNC got extremely hot from three point range. In fact, they hit 5 consecutive three point jumpers without a miss in less than three minutes. Allisha Gray proved to be every bit the perimeter threat I feared--she really outclassed Diamond DeShields as a pure shooter. With every UNC shot seemingly on a string and with UNC shutting down Chiney with an assist from Missy, things were looking bleak. About 10 minutes into the game we were down by 13 and did not seem to have any capacity to catch up. Only Amber was keeping some offense going--she made three 2s and two 3s in the first half.
Even at our low ebb the crowd was cheering, trying to rejuvenate the team's energy. A key moment came when Mikaela Ruef hit a three point jumper. Prior to that she was 2/13 for the season--almost always on desperation shots with the shot clock about to expire. She went on to hit two more treys in the game, and each one broke another vertebrae in the NC back. With some more help from Amber and finally a layup from Chiney, we managed to close the gap to six points at the half, and all of us were praying that Tara could make some defensive AND offensive adjustments.
After halftime, Ruef quickly made another trey, as did Lili, but UNC also got a couple of quick baskets. It did not seem as if our defense was doing any better, although we started off in a zone defense. As much as we liked Mikaela's three pointer, all of us knew that we would never win the game by relying on Ruef treys. But then Ruef hit a third trey--and in one game exceeded her total for the rest of the year. I think those three shots did not win the game on their own, but they sent a powerful message to the rest of the team. If Mikeaela was going do something so extraordinary, almost as if she were willing the team to victory, then everyone else could certainly pick it up a notch or two to honor her efforts. And sure enough, everyone did.
Chiney reeled off three straight layups, one assisted by Amber, one assisted by Mikaela, and one assisted by Lili. She finally seemed to be getting position and getting behind the UNC defense. Those three layups gave us the lead, and by the time Bonnie hit her next trey we were up 6. We traded jumpers but UNC made a small run keyed by some questionable fouls and took a 1 point lead with 4 minutes left after a three point jumper by a bench player.
The next four minutes went by in a delirium. Lili made two key jumpers, in each case the ball hit the front of the rim and barely rolled over and went down. Chiney made a beautiful layup after a bullet feed from Ruef that brought the crowd to its feet--to stay there for the rest of the game. Bonnie and Chiney made free throws and Amber turned a Diamond DeShields turnover into a nifty layup-and-one, and the game ended in a 9 point win. That margin was grossly deceptive about the rigor of the struggle that was required to obtain this victory.
