There are 4 women’s makeup game Monday night. Miami 6-8 ( 2-3) is at Ball State. The Cardinals are 10-7 ( 3-4) and have won 3 in a row vs Miami. Saturday they beat CMU 57-45. The last 3 games they have played without their leading scorer, RS Jr Anna Clephane ( 16.7ppg) and I think she will be out for awhile longer. They have good depth and have maintained their level of play without her. Their starting lineup is:
6-0 Sr Thelma Agustsdottir, a 4 year starter from Iceland ( 3 point shooter)
6-3 Jr Annie Rauch
6-0 Grad student Chyna Latimer (transfer from Delaware)
5-8 Fr Allie Bekki
5-8 Jr Sydney Freeman ( 3 point shooter)
For Miami this is game 4 of a 6 games in 13 day stretch. We have been following the pattern of a slow start, falling behind, then rallying in the 4th quarter. Hopefully they will work to start faster.
21-17 Ball State at the end of 1. We started with no big girls and came out pressing. Guess Coach was trying to change up on our horrible starts lately. Cluse picked up 2 early fouls, Scott got hurt, went to the locker room, but came back and is playing again. We had 9 turnovers in the first 9 minutes. Just forcing passes where it is not open, plus girls are not working to create passing lanes.
39-24 at the half. Hard to imagine we could play much worse. Our 3 big girls have all been completely and totally useless in this game. They mostly just stand their, and if they touch the ball something bad happens. They are not rebounding either. Ball State has missed a lot of open shots, but they get open shots every possession. We are really struggling to get an open shot and are piling up turnovers at a season high rate. Maybe 4 games in 8 days is more than this young squad can handle. We have no recognition of Ball State’s shooters, we give them open looks. It is like there was no scouting report at all, or in a one day turnaround nobody bothered to study it. Wolf has a ton of turnovers, but she has nobody to pass it to as most of the other girls are just going to a spot and standing. Move to an open spot where the dribbler can see you!! Create a passing lane!! 15 first half turnovers.
I have chosen not to watch, and reading these takes by Dick I feel as if my decision is correct. I just tested positive for Covid and I have enough discomfort without viewing turnover city
We got down 18, cut it to 12, still down 14 at the end of 3, 51-37. Coach Hendrix agrees with my opinion of our big girls tonight, as none of them touched the court in the third quarter.
Thanks guys, more worried about giving it to my wife. Right now it’s just like a bad cold. Probably picked it playing pickleball. Masked on the sidelines but not while playing. I am fully vaccinated and hope that keeps me on the mild side. Oh well.
In the 4th quarter, a hallmark for this team, we fought back. We cut it from 14 to 9, then back to 12, then with 3 minutes to go, down to 5, then back to 8, then got it all the way down to 3 with 2 seconds to go and ended up losing by 3. Scott just could not get any good shots out of our half court offense but we pressed most of the second half and she got some open court in transition and wound up with 21. Battle and Cluse also seem to play their best in that type of a game. Watkins, who played her first game last week, is very tough defensively in the pressure game. It should be noted that Ball State only had 8 girls suited up, as Sydney Freeman, their point guard was out with Covid protocol.
Another quick turnaround as the team will get back tonight to Oxford, then drive up to Mt. Pleasant tomorrow and play again on Wednesday. This is a tough time for these first and second year players to keep up with their classes and their preparation for Central. That will be game 5 in 9 days.