01-09-2015, 09:55 PM
Overview:
In another defensive slugfest in which neither side shot over 34%, we took the lead for good with 3:30 left in the game. Our offense struggled mightily in the first half, but Bonnie, Lili, and Amber each made it into double figures in the second half to scrape together a win.
Flow of the game
The first half felt much like the Utah game. As the the teams struggled to get to 20 points by half, I was left depressed at our offense but I kept marveling that our defense was keeping us in the game. Washington, after all, was not doing very much better. In that dreadful first half we figured out how to contain Kelsey Plum, the second leading scorer in the nation, by shading her to her left. She is more lopsided than Amber ever was in that regard, and it discombobulated her. To give credit, we saw Arizona State do that to her and beat Washington in their last game, so we just took a page out of their book.
Bonnie made a couple of treys and Greenfield made one, and their scoring was half our offense. Washington managed to cut off the lanes for our guards for most of the half, and Lili in particular was shut down as a result.Â
Kaylee played wonderfully in the first half in most respects, grabbing rebounds and getting in position for point blank shots, but she missed three of them and Tara sent in McCall. McCall also looked like she had her moments and blocked a shot and made a jumper. Later on, though, we saw a new lineup and for a while it seemed to work. Taylor Greefield played the 5 and Bonnie the 4, with Karlie, Lili, and Amber in. All five players were potential three point shooters, but I think Tara probably thought that Taylor would do a better job with put-backs. The half ended with Washington leading 24-22.
In the second half we started fast and got out to a 7 point lead on the strength of a Bonnie trey and Karlie and Amber jumpers. Washington's Aminah Williams, however, made us pay for focusing on the Washington guards and reeled off two jumpers and a layup. Plum got hot midway through the half and our lead slipped away. Finally Kaylee broke through on offense, with a jumper and a layup--both looking quite good, and the game tilted back and forth. Lili, who had been quiet offensively, made three baskets in the last 8 minutes. The dagger, though, came at 2:39 when Bonnie drained a trey to give us a 5 point lead. We traded a few baskets as the clock slipped down. Lili banked a three pointer off the glass with the shot clock expiring to pretty much ice it with 27 seconds left. All in all, the second half was far more satisfying half to watch than the first, but watching Stanford WBB these days is not for the faint-of-heart.
Performances:
Amber had 14 points and by the end of the game her percentage was not terrible. She went 0/3 from three point range and 6/13 everywhere else. Most important, though, she had 5 assists, a steal, and only two turnovers. In general, the team did well as far as turnovers are concerned with just 9 compared with Washington's 14--and unlike the Utah game, we did not press at all.
Bonnie was wonderful tonight, although she did go through a long cold spell. She wound up a more than respectable 4/9 from three point range, but also had 4 rebounds and 2 steals while delivering more than adequate defense.
Kaylee was back to her old ways as a dominant rebounding machine, with 14. Her offensive misses in the first half were not, on a whole, awkward or extremely difficult shots--it seemed like nervous energy was interfering with shots that were not always more difficult than those she probably made hundreds of times in high school. It was good to see her come out of her offensive funk in the second half and make a couple of shots--one of which was particularly nice.
Lili led our offense with 15 points and also had a couple of steals. Like so many others, her offense did not get on track really until the second half.Â
Karlie continues to be cold offensively. She was 0/5 from three point range and even missed a free throw. From what Tempie said last week, Karlie is just thinking about stuff too much, and eventually her slump will end once she starts having some fun playing the game.
From the bench, McPhee got some minutes in front of family, back in her home state. She was 0/2, but 2/2 free throws, with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in very limited minutes. I do not understand how this kid gets so many blocks--but she does. You have to be in the right position to get rebounds and especially to get blocks, and McPhee seems to have the knack of always being in the right place at the right time.Â
As a team, we shot poorly from everywhere, including a mere 58% free throw shooting and only 26% from three point range. We did have the edge in rebounds and turnovers. That edge, and the fact that our defense held Washington down to equally deplorable shooting at 34%, won us the game.
Looking ahead:
This was a critically important win, remembering that we lost at Washington last year with Chiney and Ruef--and this group of youngsters were able to gut out a tough win on the road. We needed to prove to ourselves that we can win in these circumstances. I think the difference between the beginning of the season when we beat UConn and our collapsing offense in recent weeks has largely been lack of confidence by our young players. Playing with confidence and enjoying the game was hard after the Tennessee trip, but winning breeds confidence with very young players, and confidence inspires better play.
Tonight C.al beat Washington State, but not by much, and Washington State will be eager to attempt to notch their first win in history over any Stanford WBB team. WSU looks like an international team, with a Kiwi, a Macedonian, a Canadian and a Romanian--oh and two of the conference's best guards in Tia Pressley and Liz Galdeira. If we can get by them and come home with two wins it will be a major accomplishment to add to Tara's miracle working. But winning in Pullman will be just as difficult as tonight.
In another defensive slugfest in which neither side shot over 34%, we took the lead for good with 3:30 left in the game. Our offense struggled mightily in the first half, but Bonnie, Lili, and Amber each made it into double figures in the second half to scrape together a win.
Flow of the game
The first half felt much like the Utah game. As the the teams struggled to get to 20 points by half, I was left depressed at our offense but I kept marveling that our defense was keeping us in the game. Washington, after all, was not doing very much better. In that dreadful first half we figured out how to contain Kelsey Plum, the second leading scorer in the nation, by shading her to her left. She is more lopsided than Amber ever was in that regard, and it discombobulated her. To give credit, we saw Arizona State do that to her and beat Washington in their last game, so we just took a page out of their book.
Bonnie made a couple of treys and Greenfield made one, and their scoring was half our offense. Washington managed to cut off the lanes for our guards for most of the half, and Lili in particular was shut down as a result.Â
Kaylee played wonderfully in the first half in most respects, grabbing rebounds and getting in position for point blank shots, but she missed three of them and Tara sent in McCall. McCall also looked like she had her moments and blocked a shot and made a jumper. Later on, though, we saw a new lineup and for a while it seemed to work. Taylor Greefield played the 5 and Bonnie the 4, with Karlie, Lili, and Amber in. All five players were potential three point shooters, but I think Tara probably thought that Taylor would do a better job with put-backs. The half ended with Washington leading 24-22.
In the second half we started fast and got out to a 7 point lead on the strength of a Bonnie trey and Karlie and Amber jumpers. Washington's Aminah Williams, however, made us pay for focusing on the Washington guards and reeled off two jumpers and a layup. Plum got hot midway through the half and our lead slipped away. Finally Kaylee broke through on offense, with a jumper and a layup--both looking quite good, and the game tilted back and forth. Lili, who had been quiet offensively, made three baskets in the last 8 minutes. The dagger, though, came at 2:39 when Bonnie drained a trey to give us a 5 point lead. We traded a few baskets as the clock slipped down. Lili banked a three pointer off the glass with the shot clock expiring to pretty much ice it with 27 seconds left. All in all, the second half was far more satisfying half to watch than the first, but watching Stanford WBB these days is not for the faint-of-heart.
Performances:
Amber had 14 points and by the end of the game her percentage was not terrible. She went 0/3 from three point range and 6/13 everywhere else. Most important, though, she had 5 assists, a steal, and only two turnovers. In general, the team did well as far as turnovers are concerned with just 9 compared with Washington's 14--and unlike the Utah game, we did not press at all.
Bonnie was wonderful tonight, although she did go through a long cold spell. She wound up a more than respectable 4/9 from three point range, but also had 4 rebounds and 2 steals while delivering more than adequate defense.
Kaylee was back to her old ways as a dominant rebounding machine, with 14. Her offensive misses in the first half were not, on a whole, awkward or extremely difficult shots--it seemed like nervous energy was interfering with shots that were not always more difficult than those she probably made hundreds of times in high school. It was good to see her come out of her offensive funk in the second half and make a couple of shots--one of which was particularly nice.
Lili led our offense with 15 points and also had a couple of steals. Like so many others, her offense did not get on track really until the second half.Â
Karlie continues to be cold offensively. She was 0/5 from three point range and even missed a free throw. From what Tempie said last week, Karlie is just thinking about stuff too much, and eventually her slump will end once she starts having some fun playing the game.
From the bench, McPhee got some minutes in front of family, back in her home state. She was 0/2, but 2/2 free throws, with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in very limited minutes. I do not understand how this kid gets so many blocks--but she does. You have to be in the right position to get rebounds and especially to get blocks, and McPhee seems to have the knack of always being in the right place at the right time.Â
As a team, we shot poorly from everywhere, including a mere 58% free throw shooting and only 26% from three point range. We did have the edge in rebounds and turnovers. That edge, and the fact that our defense held Washington down to equally deplorable shooting at 34%, won us the game.
Looking ahead:
This was a critically important win, remembering that we lost at Washington last year with Chiney and Ruef--and this group of youngsters were able to gut out a tough win on the road. We needed to prove to ourselves that we can win in these circumstances. I think the difference between the beginning of the season when we beat UConn and our collapsing offense in recent weeks has largely been lack of confidence by our young players. Playing with confidence and enjoying the game was hard after the Tennessee trip, but winning breeds confidence with very young players, and confidence inspires better play.
Tonight C.al beat Washington State, but not by much, and Washington State will be eager to attempt to notch their first win in history over any Stanford WBB team. WSU looks like an international team, with a Kiwi, a Macedonian, a Canadian and a Romanian--oh and two of the conference's best guards in Tia Pressley and Liz Galdeira. If we can get by them and come home with two wins it will be a major accomplishment to add to Tara's miracle working. But winning in Pullman will be just as difficult as tonight.
