Unless Chas has a big offensive game today, and gets some help from several others, I believe we lose. It's been a while since she's had a good night shooting the ball. The Trojans have been very shaky for much of this year, winning primarily because of their defense and, Joe Foley. DollarBill always says, that if we can keep it close until the end, we've got a chance to win it with Foley.

While the don't have Alysha Clark(thank goodness)today, evidently they're a much more balanced team than they were last year. It should be interesting. They are averaging 20 points more a game than we're giving up. Something has to give. It's been a long time since I've gone to a women's game thinking that we probably can't win it.

(02-20-2011 11:16 AM)LRTrojan Wrote:  Unless Chas has a big offensive game today, and gets some help from several others, I believe we lose. It's been a while since she's had a good night shooting the ball. The Trojans have been very shaky for much of this year, winning primarily because of their defense and, Joe Foley. DollarBill always says, that if we can keep it close until the end, we've got a chance to win it with Foley.

While the don't have Alysha Clark(thank goodness)today, evidently they're a much more balanced team than they were last year. It should be interesting. They are averaging 20 points more a game than we're giving up. Something has to give. It's been a long time since I've gone to a women's game thinking that we probably can't win it.

MTSU has a good freshman post player and of they still can hit the 3's. They still like to press, which is my concern because this season we have had trouble on occasions with breaking a press. This should be a good game. Last season tournament championship game was one of the best bball games I've seen including men and women.

(02-20-2011 11:43 AM)LR Alum Wrote:  

(02-20-2011 11:16 AM)LRTrojan Wrote:  Unless Chas has a big offensive game today, and gets some help from several others, I believe we lose. It's been a while since she's had a good night shooting the ball. The Trojans have been very shaky for much of this year, winning primarily because of their defense and, Joe Foley. DollarBill always says, that if we can keep it close until the end, we've got a chance to win it with Foley.

While the don't have Alysha Clark(thank goodness)today, evidently they're a much more balanced team than they were last year. It should be interesting. They are averaging 20 points more a game than we're giving up. Something has to give. It's been a long time since I've gone to a women's game thinking that we probably can't win it.

MTSU has a good freshman post player and of they still can hit the 3's. They still like to press, which is my concern because this season we have had trouble on occasions with breaking a press. This should be a good game. Last season tournament championship game was one of the best bball games I've seen including men and women.

In the last half of this season, sophomore Icelyn Elie has really come on, so watch for her. If the defensive focus goes all on Rowe, Elie might have a say in the outcome.

Game will be decided on three things. Asriel and Jeanette have to shoot the ball well to take pressure off Chas. Our bigs have to shut off easy inside baskets, and we have to at least rebound equally with them. If we are deficient in any of these three areas, we lose.
If we are on in all three, we probably win. Maybe.

The thing I'll be interested in seeing is which Lady Raider guards Reed.

6'1" freshman G/F Jordyn Luffman would be my bet. She has the height to match up with Reed. And she has the athletic ability and stamina to keep up with Reed all over the court.

(02-20-2011 01:12 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  Game will be decided on three things. Asriel and Jeanette have to shoot the ball well to take pressure off Chas. Our bigs have to shut off easy inside baskets, and we have to at least rebound equally with them. If we are deficient in any of these three areas, we lose.
If we are on in all three, we probably win. Maybe.

Like you, I would have never expected key to the game would be Williams getting double figures. Reed has some nice passes.

(02-20-2011 01:12 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  Game will be decided on three things. Asriel and Jeanette have to shoot the ball well to take pressure off Chas. Our bigs have to shut off easy inside baskets, and we have to at least rebound equally with them. If we are deficient in any of these three areas, we lose.If we are on in all three, we probably win. Maybe.

None of those things happened, including Chas getting her shooting touch back, but we won. Crow never tasted better for me. Shows you how much I know. Maybe losing the game Wednesday did the trick. But I will say one thing, Middle Tennessee is good, and they started one senior and the rest were sophomores and freshmen. We'll most likely have trouble handling them next year for sure. We had all the trouble we could stand today.

I said that for us to win, Chas had to have a good game, and several others had to step up. Chas didn't have a great game, but a good one overall, and other did step up, but it wasn't Asriel and Janette. It was Shanika, Marian, and Brittni Williams. She was a pleasant surprise. She played a great game, as did Shanika and Marian. The others played well, but didn't score much. Basically the best TEAM effort of the year by far, at least of the home games.

(02-20-2011 05:14 PM)LRTrojan Wrote:  

(02-20-2011 01:12 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  Game will be decided on three things. Asriel and Jeanette have to shoot the ball well to take pressure off Chas. Our bigs have to shut off easy inside baskets, and we have to at least rebound equally with them. If we are deficient in any of these three areas, we lose.If we are on in all three, we probably win. Maybe.

None of those things happened, including Chas getting her shooting touch back, but we won. Crow never tasted better for me. Shows you how much I know. Maybe losing the game Wednesday did the trick. But I will say one thing, Middle Tennessee is good, and they started one senior and the rest were sophomores and freshmen. We'll most likely have trouble handling them next year for sure. We had all the trouble we could stand today.

I said that for us to win, Chas had to have a good game, and several others had to step up. Chas didn't have a great game, but a good one overall, and other did step up, but it wasn't Asriel and Janette. It was Shanika, Marian, and Brittni Williams. She was a pleasant surprise. She played a great game, as did Shanika and Marian. The others played well, but didn't score much. Basically the best TEAM effort of the year by far, at least of the home games.

Congrats! If I'm MTSU though I'm saying how in the world did we have to go to their place three straight years.

I'd guess that Ebony Rowe may be the preseason player of the year next year. She's one of the best looking freshmen I've seen. Or at least she looked like that today. We didn't guard her very well today.

(02-20-2011 05:22 PM)bigdhl Wrote:  Congrats! If I'm MTSU though I'm saying how in the world did we have to go to their place three straight years.

Nobody I know has figured out Sun Belt scheduling.

(02-20-2011 05:14 PM)LRTrojan Wrote:  

(02-20-2011 01:12 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  Game will be decided on three things. Asriel and Jeanette have to shoot the ball well to take pressure off Chas. Our bigs have to shut off easy inside baskets, and we have to at least rebound equally with them. If we are deficient in any of these three areas, we lose.If we are on in all three, we probably win. Maybe.

None of those things happened, including Chas getting her shooting touch back, but we won. Crow never tasted better for me. Shows you how much I know. Maybe losing the game Wednesday did the trick. But I will say one thing, Middle Tennessee is good, and they started one senior and the rest were sophomores and freshmen. We'll most likely have trouble handling them next year for sure. We had all the trouble we could stand today.

I said that for us to win, Chas had to have a good game, and several others had to step up. Chas didn't have a great game, but a good one overall, and other did step up, but it wasn't Asriel and Janette. It was Shanika, Marian, and Brittni Williams. She was a pleasant surprise. She played a great game, as did Shanika and Marian. The others played well, but didn't score much. Basically the best TEAM effort of the year by far, at least of the home games.

Great game. Most of those points Brittany scored were on great passes from Chastity, one of which was an amazing no look pass. I'm surprised Brittany caught it. Chastity didn't do a lot of scoring early, but when the game was on the line, she made most of her points, and rebounded and played defense. Her last foul was a bad call. When they showed it on the screen she got all ball and didn't come near the MT player with her body, but refs make mistakes too.

Asriel and Shanika played great defense and stole the ball several times and were responsible for several turnovers. All in all, a great win for our Lady Trojans. Win the next three, and we're the league champions with an automatic bid to the WNIT should be not win the tournament. The good news. We won today. The bad news. We'll probably have to play them in the finals if we both take care of business.

We only need to win the 2 out of the next 3 to get the guarantee spot to the WNIT. We now have the tiebreaker against MTSU.

(02-20-2011 05:31 PM)LR Alum Wrote:  We only need to win the 2 out of the next 3 to get the guarantee spot to the WNIT. We now have the tiebreaker against MTSU.

+1

(02-20-2011 05:27 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  

(02-20-2011 05:14 PM)LRTrojan Wrote:  

(02-20-2011 01:12 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  Game will be decided on three things. Asriel and Jeanette have to shoot the ball well to take pressure off Chas. Our bigs have to shut off easy inside baskets, and we have to at least rebound equally with them. If we are deficient in any of these three areas, we lose.If we are on in all three, we probably win. Maybe.

None of those things happened, including Chas getting her shooting touch back, but we won. Crow never tasted better for me. Shows you how much I know. Maybe losing the game Wednesday did the trick. But I will say one thing, Middle Tennessee is good, and they started one senior and the rest were sophomores and freshmen. We'll most likely have trouble handling them next year for sure. We had all the trouble we could stand today.

I said that for us to win, Chas had to have a good game, and several others had to step up. Chas didn't have a great game, but a good one overall, and other did step up, but it wasn't Asriel and Janette. It was Shanika, Marian, and Brittni Williams. She was a pleasant surprise. She played a great game, as did Shanika and Marian. The others played well, but didn't score much. Basically the best TEAM effort of the year by far, at least of the home games.

Great game. Most of those points Brittany scored were on great passes from Chastity, one of which was an amazing no look pass. I'm surprised Brittany caught it. Chastity didn't do a lot of scoring early, but when the game was on the line, she made most of her points, and rebounded and played defense. Her last foul was a bad call. When they showed it on the screen she got all ball and didn't come near the MT player with her body, but refs make mistakes too.

Asriel and Shanika played great defense and stole the ball several times and were responsible for several turnovers. All in all, a great win for our Lady Trojans. Win the next three, and we're the league champions with an automatic bid to the WNIT should be not win the tournament.

Yes, if we win all three. And we'd probably better do it. Middle will most likely win out. And they shouldn't have but one more left. At least we have to win two out of the three. We have the tie breaker with Middle if we tie.

(02-20-2011 05:31 PM)LR Alum Wrote:  We only need to win the 2 out of the next 3 to get the guarantee spot to the WNIT. We now have the tiebreaker against MTSU.

I'll admit to not being up to speed on WNIT selection procedures. The Lady Raiders only focus on the NCAA tournament.

I understand the whole "guaranteed spot" is what you guys are talking about. But for the tie-breakers to come into play, both MT AND UALR would have to lose in the conference tournament. That isn't going to happen. Even if it did, both teams would get in the WNIT as the tournament expanded to 64 teams and the two teams have high enough RPIs to warrant inclusion.

This has become a great mid major rivalry. Middle Tennessee has a great tradition in women's basketball, deservedly so, and UALR has become their arch rival since Joe Foley took over the program. Two great coaches. Two great teams. Makes for a terrific rivalry. I don't know what will happen in the tournament. I wouldn't count Western out of the mix either. They are very athletic and have some quality players. I just hope Middle and UALR can get to the finals for another classic game. Great for our league. Wish our men were doing as well.

(02-20-2011 05:22 PM)bigdhl Wrote:  Congrats! If I'm MTSU though I'm saying how in the world did we have to go to their place three straight years.

That is certainly a point of contention for most Lady Raider fans. If that game had been played in Murfreesboro, we very well may have seen a different outcome. Oh well...

Congrats on the win. See you guys again in Hot Springs.

(02-20-2011 05:59 PM)Stephen Shirley Wrote:  I'll admit to not being up to speed on WNIT selection procedures. The Lady Raiders only focus on the NCAA tournament.

I understand the whole "guaranteed spot" is what you guys are talking about. But for the tie-breakers to come into play, both MT AND UALR would have to lose in the conference tournament. That isn't going to happen. Even if it did, both teams would get in the WNIT as the tournament expanded to 64 teams and the two teams have high enough RPIs to warrant inclusion.

Were you in Little Rock today Stephen? I would have liked to have met you. You and BigD from ASU seem to be the two most knowledgeable guys on womens basketball in the Belt, at least of ones who post on this board.

(02-20-2011 06:08 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  This has become a great mid major rivalry. Middle Tennessee has a great tradition in women's basketball, deservedly so, and UALR has become their arch rival since Joe Foley took over the program. Two great coaches. Two great teams. Makes for a terrific rivalry. I don't know what will happen in the tournament. I wouldn't count Western out of the mix either. They are very athletic and have some quality players. I just hope Middle and UALR can get to the finals for another classic game. Great for our league. Wish our men were doing as well.

I don't intend to pour cold water on your enthusiasm, but UALR isn't our arch rival. Western was, is and always will be our arch rival. You guys are just the current challenge to the title.

The real mark of the rivalry will be next year. Will you field a team that can continue your recent success? I like what Kursh and Williams did today. And I know you have a highly rated freshman coming in. But who is going to round out your top five?

(02-20-2011 06:16 PM)LRTrojan Wrote:  

(02-20-2011 05:59 PM)Stephen Shirley Wrote:  I'll admit to not being up to speed on WNIT selection procedures. The Lady Raiders only focus on the NCAA tournament.

I understand the whole "guaranteed spot" is what you guys are talking about. But for the tie-breakers to come into play, both MT AND UALR would have to lose in the conference tournament. That isn't going to happen. Even if it did, both teams would get in the WNIT as the tournament expanded to 64 teams and the two teams have high enough RPIs to warrant inclusion.

Were you in Little Rock today Stephen? I would have liked to have met you. You and BigD from ASU seem to be the two most knowledgeable guys on womens basketball in the Belt, at least of ones who post on this board.

No. I was at home in Murfreesboro listening on the radio. I'm now watching the ESPN3 replay since it was blacked out during the broadcast and I don't have CSS.

If you come to the Boro next year IF the Sun Belt deigns to send you all our way, my family and I sit on the front row of the student section hanging all the 3-point signs. I'd love to meet you.