After winning the MAC regular season 2 years ago, injuries knocked BG out of the MAC tourney and led to a down season last year. This year they are really good 19-2 (10-1) losing at Ball State, who is also 10-1 and drilling Toledo (9-2). To show what a tremendous history BG women have, this is the 10th time they have been 19-2 or 18-3 after 21 games, and the second time in 3 years for outstanding head coach Robin Fralick, who 5 years ago took over a team which had fallen to the bottom of the MAC. Great Coach!
Sr Elissa Brett, an Aussie, has been starring lately, but in truth they play 9 girls and take turns being the best player. So fundamentally sound and also unselfish. One of the 9, Morgan Sharps (one of the commits who left Miami when Duffy left), has missed the last 4 games with a leg injury. Also note that 5th year SR Kadie Hempfling, a 4 year starter, has been the 8th or 9th girl in their rotation all season. They are undefeated at BG this year. skin66 might want to go as the first 100 fans get a free Frieda Falcon bobblehead.
As much as I would like to start a bobblehead collection, the female falcon is something I will take a definite pass on. The game interests me though simply because I know some BG people who will be there, then I think is it worth the freezing walk The answer is obvious to me.
We are down by a dozen or so at the end of one quarter. They have one player with more points than our entire team. I am wondering if in fact we do not scout our opponents. Ugly so far.
We have 10 turnovers so far shortly into the 2nd q. We have cut the lead to 9. BG suddenly appears uninterested. I hope that continues. Wow, some of our turnovers are remarkably bad.
We were down 10 at the half and playing hard. Still playing hard and fighting but down 25 in the 4th. If there is such a word as outpeopled we are an example.
Really, all you need to know about this game is that both Sidney Watkins and Jessie Dai played 24 minutes.
We had a return of Maddie Cluse to her previous form (17 and 8). Somebody finally worked with her and got her to shoot the ball instead of just throwing it up there off her shoulder on her twisting drives, That was back to the way she had been shooting it earlier in the season. On her perimeter shooting form, that has stayed solid all season, it was just on her drives that she got off track.
BG just did a great job on both Wolf and Scott. They are both slow ( Peyton as a result of injury and wearing a brace) and BG has 2 or 3 girls who are fast and great defenders, plus they doubled Ivy when she put it on the floor. Excellent strategy and execution. We do not have enough other options to overcome them being shut down.
BG is really deep, but in this game sophomore big girl Allison Day had 27 points in 23 minutes. Also, showing their depth, only one girl played 31 minutes and they outrebounded us 41-34 with 8 different girls between 4 and 6 rebounds. They also forced us into 22 turnovers.
Katie Richardson got injured in the first quarter, left the game and never returned. I did not see what happened to her.