Crosthwaite finally hits. But Bamberger is going to have a big game if they keep feeding her. Austin isn't big enough and Hayes doesn't have the height. At some point, might have to go to Samb if just to show her some height.

Haha Hayes with the ultimate heat check airball 3. But a really good quarter for her. She's already got 8 and has done all you can ask defending Bamberger. 20-11 Rice end of 1Q. Should add that that was probably the best defensive quarter of the season by us. Really good stuff.

Jackson and Owens-Barnett in the game at the same time. Only saw this briefly in game one.

29-14 Rice, SMC TO. The two PG lineup working to perfection so far. But the story so far is the defense. Sure, SMC has missed some decent looks and look completely out of whack. But we've generally stayed disciplined and look to know our assignments.

Bit sloppy out of the TO. One awesome set by SMC and then a defensive miscommunication, but they miss both.

(11-16-2022 11:24 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Haha Hayes with the ultimate heat check airball 3. But a really good quarter for her. She's already got 8 and has done all you can ask defending Bamberger. 20-11 Rice end of 1Q. Should add that that was probably the best defensive quarter of the season by us. Really good stuff.

Right before that, I was just thinking I had no complaints about the first quarter. Have to complain about that shot though. At least wait 'til the clock ticks down to :02 if you feel like that kind of shot.

Small thing: Ennis doing well not to force shots. We've run a couple plays with her coming off screens, SMC has defended them well, and she's passed.

Hayes picks up her second and Samb enters. Just need some positive minutes from her. Get some confidence.

Dry spell for Rice. Not a case of bad shots, just not making them. 31-17 us.

31-21 Rice, Rice TO. SMC has gone to a zone and it has us a bit flustered. Samb lasted roughly two minutes. Made a frustrating defensive play where she turned her back to the ball (she did make what I thought was a good pass from the post on the next play). Fisher struggling on the offensive end. We can get good looks against this zone, we just need to be a bit more patient.

Rice hands SMC two FTs with a stupid off-ball foul with 20 seconds to go. Really frustrating 2Q.

34-24 Rice at the half. SMC will be thrilled with that score because they've been solidly second best. Their switch to the zone really threw us off. And why I think Edmonds will be pissed off is because it wasn't that the zone was denying us good looks, it's that we weren't being patient. They switched to the zone and it's as if everybody started playing at 1.5x speed. Forcing shots, forcing drives, etc. It didn't help that Jackson sat for a lot of the 2Q (when they went zone) with foul trouble. Again, a good test for an inexperienced staff adjusting to a gimmick D mid-game. Defensively, we were excellent for the most part. It helped that SMC missed almost every good look they got. But a lot of that was the product of solid defense.

Like in the ACU game, we're the better team. The shots will start falling (I think), so all we need to do is be patient on that end and maintain our defensive focus.

One adjustment we might see is Clifton. From what I saw against ACU, she'd be really dangerous in the middle of that zone. Not afraid to shoot the quick jumper and also quick enough to get to the rim. All a case of whether Edmonds thinks she's a capable enough passer.

Fisher with two makes to start the 3Q. Good to see.

Jackson picks up her 3rd foul after 2 minutes on a really unnecessary drive and obvious charge.

Austin then very lucky not to pick up a flop technical.

Big make from Owens-Barnett after SMC had cut it to single digits. Then Hayes with an OREB off a missed FT. The small things.

Oddly enough, SMC has gone back to a man-to-man in the 3Q. Very strange considering the success they had in the zone. Two Crosthwaite FTs extend the Rice lead to 44-30.

Next step in Hayes' development is to become a good passer. She has the ability to collapse a defense, which should open up looks for shooters. But she's a bit single-minded right now, looking to score on most touches.

Back to back 3's for St. Mary's. Lead down to 7.

44-37 Rice. When we run our offense, we get good looks. When we get a bit selfish, we get worse looks. Perfect example was that last minute. Transition SMC 3 after a good defensive play, then Crosthwaite takes a really unnecessary contested 2PT early in the shot clock, and SMC hits a transition 3 after we leave the trailer.

Rice into a 1-3-1 zone and SMC immediately hits a 3. I *hate* our zones. They're consistently ineffective. I guess it's fine if you run them for a possession or two as a wrinkle, but nothing more.

And we immediately switch back to man.