Women play Ashland at 1pm, men play Hillsdale at 3:30. I'm gonna try and make it to the 2nd half of the women's game & 1st half of the men's.

It looks like Hillsdale should be a good test - from the UT website:

Quote: The [Hillsdale] Chargers nearly pulled out a win at Valparaiso last Saturday but ended up on the short end of a 69-60 decision. Hillsdale led the Crusaders by a 34-29 margin at the half...

I thiink Ashlnd ws National Champ in their division last year.

(11-03-2013 07:23 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  I thiink Ashlnd ws National Champ in their division last year.

Yes, Ashland went 37-1 last season on their way to the Division II national title. As a team, they shot 39% from 3 point land.

They did graduate 3 starters, including the Div II player of the year who averaged 22 points and nearly 14 boards a game, so they have a lot to replace. They are ranked 15th in the Div II pre-season poll. They appear to be a pretty small team, and so may not test Toledo's lack of depth in the post, but should still be a good test overall for the Rockets.

Report that Carson, Jones, de Alfredo & Braun are all out today, which by my count leaves the Lady Rockets with only 8 players dressed today ... unless we have any walk-ons I don't know about.

UT starting lineup: Ana, Steph, Inma, Dola, Janelle

Looks like a decent crowd for an exhibition

Monakana playing with a brace on 1 leg and a full wrap on the other ... still drove right by an Ashland player like she was standing still. Nice.

Rockets up 8-4.

Free stream from the MAC website. http://www.mac-sports.com/Schools/Toledo...aming.aspx

11-7 Rockets, Ana leading with 7 points. Janice has several boards already.

Inma and Dola 0-for the game so far.

Braun is in the game, so I guess the pre-game report was wrong. Baker is not dressed.

Rockets hitting stride now, up 25-9 after a couple 3s. Dominating the boards.

Rockets up 40-18 at the half

Very impressed with the speed and quickness of Monakana. Ana being much more aggressive on offense and played with her back to the basket at times. Dominated the boards against a much smaller team.

The freshman got lost on D more than a few times, but all three played hard. Reecher is a big body, but her footwork looked a bit lacking at times. Overall the team didn't shoot well at all missing probably 5-7 open jumpers, or the score wouldn't be this close.

Rockets up 55-22. Dola and Ana have both taken really hard charges this half. We don't need anymore injuries...

Rockets getting some practice with a 2-3 zone D.

Final Score 83-38.

Ashland clearly did not look like a national championship team, and so didn't provide the test I had hoped for. The AU assistant coaches looked shell-shocked and seemed to be sitting there shaking their heads every time they showed the Ashland bench. Rockets clearly still have some things to work on, but overall it looked encouraging. I'm not sure we missed a free throw other than 2 that Reecher missed in the first half. How impressive that was.

Inma ... just wow. She looked sooooo good. She is gonna surprise the rest of the MAC this year I think.

Ana looked ready for a breakout year. Able to bang on the inside and then step out and hit the 3 pointer. Negative was that I think she had 3 offensive fouls ... gonna need to stay in control.

Monakana looked very impressive to me. Handles the ball well, played good D ... very fast. Made some good drives to the hoop and one end-to-end rush. I think she is gonna contribute right away.

Reecher showed some promise on the inside, but is gonna need help. We are gonna need a healthy Krunch to compete with the teams that are gonna be bigger and stronger than us.

Braun showed some good offensive skills in the 2nd half. Kinda lost on D though, so that's probably gonna hold her back from contributing early on.

I expect the tough early schedule is gonna be very difficult. I hope we can steal a win or two against some of the really good teams we will face like Purdue and Drexel, but I don't expect it. It will give this young team some much needed experience though that should benefit heading into the MAC. If we can get good contributions from de Alfredo, and Krunch is healthy, I am very optimistic for a good season and a challenge for the MAC west.

Mens game underway. UT up 21-16. UT D looking suspect right now, with HU getting a number of layups in the half court offense.

Hillsdale takes the lead 32-31 on a 3-pointer. Well coached team with some talent. Getting to the basket often (have missed several bunnies) and getting open 3s.

Wow, Hillsdale takes the lead into the locker room 40-36 on a last second 3 pointer. Looks like it might have been a bad call, as the player looked to come in from out of bounds and not establish before catching the pass. Coach K was livid ... thought for sure they would T him up for that.

Offense didn't look bad, but it seemed to be mostly Juice and Boothe. I don't think Juice had an assist in the half. Smith didn't seem to see the floor very much.