Girls high school basketball has been big in Iowa for decades.
I pull for USC teams who compete well and represent the school well, which Dawn's teams do.
2024-2025 WBB Team (2022-present)
- Thread starter TN-Gamecock
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I pull for USC teams who compete well and represent the school well, which Dawn's teams do.
We are 3-6 all time against the Heels. Seven games at a neutral site, Myrtle Beach 2-5 and two in NCAA 1-1
That is what scares me about possibly playing Iowa St in elite 8. They are smaller and shoot lights out. If Cooke and Henderson cant get things going by then, we will lose because you cant trade 3's for 2's.
We played ISU last season there and were up by 28 late in the 3rd. DS pulled starters and we won by 18. Ashley Joens torched us for 32, but almost half came after we had the big lead.
We held the rest of the team in check, especially PG Ryan. They are a dedicated man to man D without a true post. Do they abandon D principles to go zone is my question?
Agreed. So much of ISU's success at shooting the 3 is Joens drawing double teams and then rotating the ball to find the open shooter. We don't double team. Thus, everyone is forced to create their own shot. Joens got her points, but the rest of the team was kept in check like you say.
And I think we're better defensively this year because DS has more options. With Cardoso as the backup center, she's free to play Amihere on Joens without concerns about foul trouble. Saxton mostly guarded Joens last season.
It should be noted we hit 13 3's in that game. IF we play the Cyclones again (got to beat UNC first), I expect a much closer game unless we find our outside shooting touch again. We can do this the hard way, but I sure prefer the easy way.
Looking at UNC, I watched their two tournament games. My biggest takeaway was how bad Arizona was. Yikes. They were a mess. Stephen F Austin actually lead NC in the 4th quarter. I also checked out a couple of their games in the regular season. They are well coached, play hard and excel on defense. They only play 6 players regularly; their coach seems reluctant to go deeper into the bench unless necessary. Amazingly, foul trouble was not a big issue in the games I watched. Staying out of foul trouble will be a big issue for them tomorrow.
On offense, Deja Kelly is my biggest concern. She's a bigger guard who will have a height advantage on Zia. If Zia is struggling tomorrow and can't match Kelly's offense, I don't think coach will hesitate to go with other options and match up defensively. Hall, Rivers (if she plays) or Lele can guard her. Coach could also play Lele or Amihere at the 3 and have Brea defend Kelly. The other UNC players are all capable of scoring, but I think we matchup well against them.
On defense, UNCarolina will undoubtedly put multiple players in the paint. Dawn was stressing in her press conference about not being afraid to shoot. She even said a miss could lead to a rebound. True! No doubt keeping Carolina off the boards is a big point of emphasis for the Heels. I hope we're physical and force the officials to make calls.
It would be great if we can hit some open shots and I can breathe easy, but I expect a tough defensive battle that we pull out in the 2nd half.
Was looking at UNcarolina roster, am I missing something? Kelly is listed at 5’8” making Zia actually taller.
I would assume Boston guards Poole. The matchup I think is key is Ustby and Saxton. They are both relentless on the boards. Ustby is a better scorer. If Saxton negates her, I believe we own the inside and turn them into a rather one dimensional team.
I think it is also key to get an early lead. They are front runners. Get ahead and squeeze. They will pop.
Well, if Zia is taller than Kelly, good news then. I like Ustby a lot. A nice player and only a sophomore. She needs to score for them and rebound. Not an easy task against our front court.
Gamecocks lead 39-31 at the half. Zia Cooke leads the way with 15 pts on 6-10 shooting, 3-5 from the 3-pt. line. Destanni Henderson added 11 pts on 4-9 shooting, and 3-6 from the 3. Boston has 9 pts on 3-7 shooting, and 10 rebounds in short minutes in the 1st half - the team shouldn't have any issues with being distracted with Boston getting another double-double in the 2nd half, with only 1 more point needed.....
Gamecocks extend their lead to 56-45 after 3 periods of play. Victaria Saxton ties her career high of 13 rebounds through 3 quarters and added 6 pts to that. The Gamecocks have out-rebounded the Tarheels 36 - 25 thus far. UNC is in some foul trouble....
Should have had a comfortable double digit lead but we have a few players who just make terrible decisions. Terrible shot selections, out of control drives, and poor passing.
Gamecocks win 69-61 and advance to the Elite Eight. Aliyah Boston led the Gamecocks with 28 pts on 8-13 shooting, and 22 rebounds. Zia Cooke scored 15 pts - all in the 1st half - and Destanni Henderson added 13 pts. Victaria had 6 pts and a new career high of 14 rebounds.
The Tarheels were led by Deja Kelly with 23 pts and 5 rebounds. Alexandra Zelaya added 10 pts....
Overall, our offense was not good. Too many missed layups, the bane of a Dawn Staley-coached team. Don't think it will change any time soon, if at all. Good thing our rebounding and defense helps to make up for that....
The Tarheels were led by Deja Kelly with 23 pts and 5 rebounds. Alexandra Zelaya added 10 pts....
Overall, our offense was not good. Too many missed layups, the bane of a Dawn Staley-coached team. Don't think it will change any time soon, if at all. Good thing our rebounding and defense helps to make up for that....
Aliyah Boston.
That's it.
That's my post.
That's it.
That's my post.
A great and exciting game. I was really nervous for this game and UNC proved it. They're a real solid team and I was sensing a Kentucky SEC championship type game in the final quarter. But Boston really stepped up this time when it counted, especially on the free throw line.
Saxton again showing her worth to the team. She made a lot of key rebounds against a pretty good rebounding team. I thought Dawn was really showing her coaching ability as well. How she changed our defense from the 2nd quarter forward to keep this from being high scoring game was key for this win. Overall a good win and if our guards can play 40 minutes of basketball we could really separate ourselves from the field. I think it's safe to say any question on the NPOY debate was ended tonight.
Saxton again showing her worth to the team. She made a lot of key rebounds against a pretty good rebounding team. I thought Dawn was really showing her coaching ability as well. How she changed our defense from the 2nd quarter forward to keep this from being high scoring game was key for this win. Overall a good win and if our guards can play 40 minutes of basketball we could really separate ourselves from the field. I think it's safe to say any question on the NPOY debate was ended tonight.
Getting behind the 1st Q by that much killed Maryland. The other Q's were fairly close and Maryland killed them in the 4th. Too little, too late. Stanford is playing very well but have a much harder road to the finals (as of today) than us.
Final
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MD | 10 | 13 | 13 | 30 | 66 |
| STAN | 22 | 17 | 20 | 13 | 72 |
Stanford pummeled them throughout all the game I kept up with. Maryland will always be an ACC team to me. I love seeing them get throttled, which they mostly were while I was engaged in the game.
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I understand completely. But I'm sophisticated enough to make the most of a basically trivial (relatively speaking) situation, whichever way the mop flops. Maryland was never going to win that game unless it went five quarters - and maybe not then. One team came out ready while the other didn't.
I've been on the driving range. I see that State won it. For me, that would have been a choice between sewage and vomit. Sewage stinks worse. That would have been State.
Creighton (23-9, 15-5) comes in today with the 22nd-ranked Scoring Offense (74.8 ppg), having played the #32 NET, #36 RPI, and #55 Strength of Schedule (SOS). They will face South Carolina (32-2, 15-1) who brings the #3 Scoring Defense (50.5 ppg allowed) accumulated against the #1 NET, #1 RPI, and #1 SOS schedule.
Further, Creighton brings the #12 FG Percentage and the #10 3-pt. FG % against South Carolina's #1 FG % Defense and #18 3-pt. FG % Defense. This will truly be a battle of one team's offense versus another team's defense.
The Gamecocks aren't exactly poor in offense themselves, although they are often streaky and mercurial, and struggle with completing layups. They bring the #59 Scoring Offense (70.8 ppg) against Creighton's #184 Scoring Defense (63.9 ppg allowed). South Carolina brings the #76 FG Percentage and #171 3-pt. FG % against Creighton's #257 FG % Defense and #300 3-pt. FG % Defense.
South Carolina is led by 6-5 Aliyah Boston and 6-2 Victaria Saxton, and have 6-7 Kamilla Cardoso-Silva and 6-4 Leaticia Amihere as primary reserves. Creighton starts 6-1 Emma Ronsiek and 6-0 Carly Bachelor, with 6-1 Morgan Maly and 6-0 Mallory Brake as their tallest reserves. The Gamecocks are #2 in Rebounds Per Game and #1 in Rebound Margin, while the Bluejays are #190 in Rebounds Per Game and #85 in Rebound Margin.
In summary, whatever offensive deficiencies the Gamecocks have shown thus far, should be assisted to a degree by Creighton's defensive deficiencies, while Creighton will not find such generosity from the Gamecocks in their own offensive efforts.
The rebounding should be substantially in South Carolina's favor - I would think that Boston and the other bigs should be wary of picking up the extra odd foul from the perception of being too bullish against the smaller Bluejays in the paint, and would think that we may see some theatrical presentations from the Bluejays throughout the game in order to elicit expressions of empathy from the officiating crew.
Should Boston and other bigs get into foul trouble, that could turn the tide away from decidedly being in the Gamecocks' camp, defensively speaking.....
Further, Creighton brings the #12 FG Percentage and the #10 3-pt. FG % against South Carolina's #1 FG % Defense and #18 3-pt. FG % Defense. This will truly be a battle of one team's offense versus another team's defense.
The Gamecocks aren't exactly poor in offense themselves, although they are often streaky and mercurial, and struggle with completing layups. They bring the #59 Scoring Offense (70.8 ppg) against Creighton's #184 Scoring Defense (63.9 ppg allowed). South Carolina brings the #76 FG Percentage and #171 3-pt. FG % against Creighton's #257 FG % Defense and #300 3-pt. FG % Defense.
South Carolina is led by 6-5 Aliyah Boston and 6-2 Victaria Saxton, and have 6-7 Kamilla Cardoso-Silva and 6-4 Leaticia Amihere as primary reserves. Creighton starts 6-1 Emma Ronsiek and 6-0 Carly Bachelor, with 6-1 Morgan Maly and 6-0 Mallory Brake as their tallest reserves. The Gamecocks are #2 in Rebounds Per Game and #1 in Rebound Margin, while the Bluejays are #190 in Rebounds Per Game and #85 in Rebound Margin.
In summary, whatever offensive deficiencies the Gamecocks have shown thus far, should be assisted to a degree by Creighton's defensive deficiencies, while Creighton will not find such generosity from the Gamecocks in their own offensive efforts.
The rebounding should be substantially in South Carolina's favor - I would think that Boston and the other bigs should be wary of picking up the extra odd foul from the perception of being too bullish against the smaller Bluejays in the paint, and would think that we may see some theatrical presentations from the Bluejays throughout the game in order to elicit expressions of empathy from the officiating crew.
Should Boston and other bigs get into foul trouble, that could turn the tide away from decidedly being in the Gamecocks' camp, defensively speaking.....
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Gamecocks lead 23-16 after 1st Quarter. Gamecocks are shooting 10-17 (.588) thus far in the game, so their offense looks to be cooking right now. But they have a history of turning it off in later periods, so we need to keep watch.....
Be interesting to see if the intensity is maintained. We don't need this to go the way Stanford's game with Maryland went the other night. I don't consider likely.
Creighton came out for the period looking to get back into the game, and got the deficit down to 17 pts, but the Gamecocks withstood it - don't know if the Bluejays have another run in them, but a strong 3-pt. shooting team like them can always shoot themselves back into it. We can't relax in the 4th......