Game can be watched on ESPN+. This game and the Dayton game are our two best opportunities to win games pre MAC. Everybody else looks to have a strong season going. We did lose to X in Oxford last year 87-69 ( before Peyton Scott was playing) as they went 7-3 nonleague, then a disasterous 0-20 in the Big East.
So far this year they are 0-5 nonleague, so they probably have a 25 game losing streak. We are 0-3. Here are their results:
L at Youngstown State 55-41
L Home James Madison 81-54
L Home BGSU 73-64
L at Old Dominion 55-43
L Home Kent State 64-57
Preseason BG and Kent were picked for 3rd and 4th in the MAC, so judging from that we would probably be a small underdog in this game.
They have 4 girls who have started all 5 games
6-2 Gr S Nyla Blackford who played 4 years at Kent State transferred to X last year and sat out the season with an injury. She was a starter at Kent and one of the top 2 or 3 rebounders in the MAC. This year she is averaging 11.6 points and 10.6 rebounds. She is a poor outside shooter and ft shooter, but good around the bucket.
5-10 SR Mackayla Scarlott She is averaging 14.4 points and 2.2 assists Leading scorer.
Sr Taeâlor Purvis 6.2 points
6.0 JR Kaysia Woods 8.8 points.
Stop Blackford and Scarlett. As a team, X is shooting a poor 22% on threes and is averaging a poor 19.6 toâs per game.
Coach Box says every spot is up for grabs and he may not know who is starting until he fills out the lineup card. He wants to see the girls earn it in practice this week. I would guess the one girl who has earned a spot is 6-2 SR Jadyn Scott who leads Miami with 14.6ppg and with 6.7 rpg. She is also 2nd on the team is assists with 2 per game.
I congratulated Coach Box immediately after the victory. Victory #1 in his Miami career! That being said, I watched this entire game, and simply put, this team is not good. I know Dick probably watched this game as well, and may have a different perspective than I. But here were five takeaways I had:
Defensive rebounding is terrible. Well truthfully, rebounding in general is not good. This isnât a situation like the men where the girls are undersized. They had as much size as Xavier if not more. This was an effort and positioning issue.
Spacing. Offensive spacing is bad. Truthfully, so is the passing. But spacing really stood out, or lack thereof.
FT shooting last night was terrible. This game never should have gone into overtime had Miami made even 70% of its FT.
I didnât understand Jadyn Scott sitting for long stretches in the 3rd and 4th quarters. I am sure Coach Box has his reasons (and I will ask him) but I couldnât understand it. She wasnât in foul trouble and she is by far our best player. Besides Jadyn, right now I see us as having one other dependable players, and that is Katey Richason. I think Tretter and Edwards have shown flashes and they may get there, but they are works in progress. We need Jadyn on the floor as much as possible.
Someone needs to teach Lard to keep her non dribbling elbow down. She was called for at least 3 fouls doing the same damn thing.
Anyway, it was nice to get a win in the books. Upcoming schedule is really tough with games against Dayton, Michigan, Michigan State, among others coming up.
It was Jada Scott who only played 9 minutes. Jadyn played 35 minutes. Are we good right now? No, but itâs a work in progress. Coach is playing many different lineup combinations and sometimes we have four freshmen on the floor at the same time. The rebound deficit was only three, much better than the -11 we had been averaging. Patience.
Honestly, I was shocked it finished up with only three as the rebound differential. Xavier had multiple possessions of multiple shots because Miami didnât defensively rebound. And yes, I know the difference between the 2 Scotts and I was specifically referencing Jadyn.
Watched the game where I watch all home games, at center court with @DICK. You referenced Jadyn as sitting long stretches. She played 35 of 45 minutes. I didnât get the sense she sat for long stretches. Katie also played 35 minutes. I thought Tretter, who played 21 minutes, sat for too long.
Coach Box has said all along we will be better by February. I trust his process will get us there.
Well since I just arrived back in STL from Oxford at 1030am on Monday morning, having left Oxford at 522am, (422am STL time) it was not likely I was going to be back courtside Monday night! I should get credit just for being awake to watch the game.
At that point you should have stayed and joined us for the pregame meal at Mac âN Joeâs and enjoyed the game with us. Another stat worth mentioning, we held them to 32% shooting. Pretty good defense.
I watched it at home and I thought the 5 for 13 or thereabouts FT percentage was what could have killed our chances. That needs to be a point of emphasis.
I donât know what stats you were looking at, but FG % was our best stat last night; we shot 51%, bolstered by getting more layup from our bigs ( âQueensâ) than usual. Now our really bad stat was 26 turnovers ( Xavier pressed the entire game.)
Lakresha EdwardsâŚFreshman shooting guard from British ColumbiaâŚShe was the big news Monday night. Preseason I was sure from her high school stats and her videos that she would be our best outside scoring threat and one of our best players. However, she played very little in the first 3 games, just a total of 17 minutes with 5 points and 1 rebound.
Coach Box had said after the horrible second half vs Western Kentucky that he was going to put every starting position up for grabs and evidently he did. He started 4 freshmen, including Edwards getting her first start. She actually looked like what I thought she would be from her videos, and contributed14 points, 7 rebounds, and played 42 minutes. We have not had much scoring at all from the guard spots in the first 3 games, and Lakresha made a big difference.
One other move I thought was very helpful. Coach Box did not start Katey Richason. She has been in quick foul trouble in all 3 of our previous games. This time he brought her in at the 5 minute mark and she ended up with 4 fouls but was able to play most of the rest of the game. She ended up with a double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
We still had a big problem with the 3rd quarter, as we have had in all 4 games. We went from 9 up to 4 down in the first 7 minutes of the second half. They came out with a full court press and it rattled usâŚEverything else I could say about the game Bluesman already covered.
A great big high 5 for Coach Box and the girls on getting the first big win, and it wasnât over until the ball rimmed out on a potential game winning three by Xavier at the OT buzzer.