Women's basketball tourney game on ESPN 3

[Plainosooner]

Women lead early 11-3

 

[Plainosooner]

At the first tv timeout, Sooners dominating 19-5. Quinnipiac.

They play two five player rotations. So we'll see, but the Sooners have it going on right now.

 

[Plainosooner]

37-21 with under 8:00, but the game is being very tightly called, especially when we're on defense. Williams got her second foul early and played less than 5:00. Q's rolling in a new group every two to three minutes keeps them fresh. OU is shooting lights out, but that can't continue.

Q could get back in this.

 

[humblesooner]

Williams played 2 mins, 2 fouls and 8 points.
OU up 17 at half.

 

[Plainosooner]

LOTS of foul trouble. Pierre-Louis has three and Williams barely played after scoring at will in the first four minutes. Her second foul was a phantom. But Sooners up 57-40 at half.

OUr bigs can score inside pretty much at will. But they are having to play man in the paint all the time with not much help.

I think Sherri is afraid to play zone, because Q is so good from the arc. We're up 17 and it's been double digits since the first tv timeout. But this is about as uneasy a 17-point lead as I can imagine. OU is shooting likely in the 60's from the field and great from the line too. You can't count on that. And we're not playing great defense.

 

[Plainosooner]

15:16 left and both Williams and Carter sitting with four fouls. Sooners up 15.

 

[Plainosooner]

With two minutes left, Sherri empties the bench up 28. 109-81

 

[iasooner1]

Awesome! Way to go Ladies! Thanks for the play updates Plaino; I was not getting their coverage up here...

 

[Plainosooner]

On a real computer, you can watch the games on ESPN 3 online.

The final was 111-84. They lit it up from three. Williams played six minutes and had 12 points I think. She never came back after picking up her fourth foul.

Pierre-Louis had a nice game. So did our third center McKenna Treece. Q was so interested in playing OUr three ball, that they singled our post players all but a few minutes of the game.

The key play was made by Ortiz after she'd made a really bad play. The closest Q got it in the second half was 11. I think it was 75-64. It forced Sherri to call a time out. On the next possession Ortiz was just across mid court at the edge of the circle. She dribbled the ball off her foot and it rolled to one of their players for an easy two on one, but she stole the ball and got it back to the front court. OU made a trey to go up 14 and a stop and another trey to go up 17 and I don't think the lead got under 14 after that.

Ortiz still gives up some stuff defensively but her offense in this game was stellar. I think she made four treys. I know she had 16 points. Lots of foul trouble. Way too much. But a good showing. To be on all cylinders, we need Peyton LIttle to get it going again. Her shot isn't where it was a month ago.

Looks like it might be Stanford. They've played to the first tv timeout at CS Northridge and the visitors haven't scored yet.

Q didn't play much defense, but they had some shooters. But the Sooners pace finally left them in the rear view mirror.

 

[iasooner1]

real computer... good one Plaino, no thanks I've already got one. This is the first Saturday I've seen the sun in months and was out running errands for most of the time period the game was on so didn't have the chance to more than peruse the thread and saw a live scroll on the Ladies' score, late,

This post was edited on 3/21 6:21 PM by iasooner1

 

[Sooners83]

Originally posted by iasooner1:
real computer... good one Plaino, no thanks I've already got one. This is the first Saturday I've seen the sun in months and was out running errands for most of the time period the game was on so didn't have the chance to more than peruse the thread and saw a live scroll on the Ladies' score, late,

This post was edited on 3/21 6:21 PM by iasooner1

dang iasooner, I was wondering how you actually posted that. I guess you do get out of the house every now and then,,,versus? Me?..finished painting the deck...been weeding and tilling the garden since and just now sat down for dinner. Soon?...back to the garden!

 

[iasooner1]

Yeah they let me off occasionally for good behavior I suppose (in spite of all the bad).

But by all means: WAY TO GO LADY SOONERS! Onward and upward!
This post was edited on 3/21 7:23 PM by iasooner1

 

[Plainosooner]

I only said that, because I know more than a few people post from their phones. You might be able to do ESPN3 from there too, but I don't know about that. I do know that from a desk top or a lap top, that you can watch every game of the women's tournament that doesn't show up on tv. ESPN gives no preference to OU, which played by far the most entertaining game of the day.

You can count on it. Stanford will be on. ESPN's hometown team, UConn will be shown tip to final buzzer, even when they're winning 80 something to 20 something against a 16 seed.

Notre Dame's game will usually be on. It's a circular thing. Those teams are always shown in round one, and then they recruit the best players because they are always on.

I hope South Carolina wins the thing. THey got so screwed by the stripes when they played at UConn. Maybe they'll get some fairness if they make the final four.

I wasn't trying to be insulting. Just informative.

This post was edited on 3/22 5:49 AM by Plainosooner

 

[iasooner1]

no sweat Plaino. I appreciate the info. (Honestly I figured you had caught me cussing the damn things in the past though)

 

[CTOkie]

Plaino...
UConn beat South Carolina by 25 points, 87-62, and you believe the officiating was a factor ? I saw the game from start to finish. The zebras did not cheat Carolina. UConn never let South Carolina in the game.
As for UConn playing St. Francis, a team with a losing record in the tourney: UConn didn't make the rules.....and who's to confirm that other 16 seeds with winning records were better than St Francis ? (And right now, who cares ?)
In watching other women's teams and then comparing them to UConn, it seems that the overall play (ball movement) is slower and more erratic and more careless fouls are committed. UConn simply doesn't beat itself.
You can apply your biased spin on this, like UConn being ESPN's "home team", or UConn getting preferential treatment from the zebras, or any other reason why UConn is "evil'.....you know, like you do with the Yankees and Derek Jeter, when you allow your dislike of a team to cloud your objectivity.
But here's the reality of UConn's situation:
Auriemma recruits great players....and good players who become great. He "recruits" the parents of his players and if he doesn't like what he sees from them, he stops recruiting their daughter. He goes for players who are unselfish, team-first oriented athletes....and who happen to be great.
Every year, the UConn teams of November and December are not the teams they evolve into from January-March. This year was a prime example. His teams get better from start to finish.
Auriemma is a great coach who develops and motivates players. As Rebecca Lobo (UConn's starting center on the 1995 team) said last night, his style of coaching is exactly the same as it has always been from day one. His 1995 team was not the best team in terms of overall talent and depth, but his coaching was able to trump Pat Summit's great Tennessee team that year to win it all.
When a great coach has great players who play as a team better than any other, it's an unbeatable combination. Personally, I haven't seen a coach in any sport do a better job than Auriemma....ever. He is cocky, much like Switzer was, but he gets results.
As for this tournament, I believe Notre Dame is UConn's biggest hurdle.

 

[sybarite]

UConn wins basketball games because they are trained like Navy Seals as compared to other teams that go through basic training. They are good players who learn to do it Geno's way. They don't need officials. I've seen them win when the officials were trying to help their opposition. They are good because they commit totally to doing right things right.

With all of that talent, they only play six or seven players for the most part. If you haven't learned to do it right, you'll spend a lot of time on the bench until you do learn to do it right. In one sense, it does remind me a little of Switzer. If you can't block, you won't play running back. Even his teams suffered when he forgot that. Geno doesn't forget that.

He has won half of the championships since 2001. He will win this year. Very simply, UConn is the best collection of players, and they do it right. They will be charitable if they play South Carolina and only win by twenty-five. South Carolina can't begin to match up with UConn.

Stewart is in a league of her own. If she wants to play, she can take over any game. She can shoot from anywhere. She can dribble. There isn't a player in the country who can shoot over her. She can dominate the boards. She can also bring the ball up court. LeBron James wishes he were as good in his game as she is in hers, a complete player.

They would beat South Carolina because every UConn player is better trained than her SC counterpart. The only player that might fit on UConn's team would still be on the bench, Wilson. But, she has the talent to play at UConn, if she has the discipline.

You don't hate to lose to UConn. You try to emulate them. They do what others brag about.

 

[CTOkie]

Good post, Sybarite....but this year's team is deeper than in the past, even with two walk-ons. Nurse and Williams are two freshman that have proven to be superior players from day one. Junior Moriah Jefferson from Texas may be as valuable as Stewart, especially now that she's become a scoring threat.
Auriemma treats the best player the same as the 13th best player every year. His practices are more demanding than the games and he has his players playing full out even with big leads, which trains them better for games like Notre Dame and South Carolina.
UConn plays in a weak conference (AAC) at this time, but that's not UConn's problem. As long as UConn schedules other top teams out of conference, they will stay on top.
BTW, UConn has three of the top players coming in next year with the 3rd ranked class in 2015 and a prolific transfer coming in from Georgetown next year, plus a top talent (Daingerfield) out of Tennessee in 2016. Lauren Cox (Flower Mound, Texas) may be in the mix if she doesn't go to Baylor in the 2016 class.....she's the top player in the nation.

 

[sybarite]

We are in the running for Cox. I kind of doubt that she goes to UConn, primarily because it was once suggested that she wanted to go where she could build something. Her choices thus far would appear to make that questionable since they are all established programs.

I saw Samuelson in the U-19 tournament. Good shooter who appears to have limited mobility. Not in Stewart's league.

You can find a Moriah Jefferson. You can't find 6-5 girls who can do what Stewart can do.

 

[CTOkie]

Jefferson is the best guard I have seen at UConn overall and it did not start out that way during her first year....guards Rizzotti, Bird, Hartley, Montgomery were better shooters but Jefferson's speed, quickness and court sense (passing) I have never seen by a female player before.
Stewart is on her way to being UConn's greatest player ever and she has one more season to go after this one.....and in fairness to Samuelson, not too many players are in Stewart's class.

 

[CTOkie]

I read where Auriemma visited Lauren Cox on March 11th at her home.....we'll see.

 

[sybarite]

Cox has a final nine that includes Texas, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Louisville, Kentucky, and Baylor. I can't remember the others. The one advantage that OU has other than she has driven to Norman several times to see OU play (she has also driven to Waco and Austin to watch them play) is that she has stated that she doesn't want to play post, and OU has a good friend of hers coming in as the post that year, Nancy Mulkey.

When I watched the U-19 finals in Moscow, Spain almost beat the US. They had a guard that simply destroyed the US guards, Angela Salvadores, 5-10 out of Leon, Spain. She is the best recruit this year by far. The US team consisted of players going to UConn, Louisville, etc., like Samuelson and Durr. The highly-regarded Holmes was on the US team (along with Mulkey and Dungee, another OU recruit). But, the only reason that the US won was that Spain had no answer for Cox. She dominated the boards for putbacks, just as Salvadores dominated the American guards. Cox is good. But, nobody knows where she is going. I thought SMU had a shot because it is her mother's alma mater, and it would be a building project. But, she recently cut them.

Spain ran around Samuelson like she wasn't there.

 

[Plainosooner]

CT, it wouldn't exactly be surprising that you wouldn't notice when UConn is getting every call at home. You'd be kind of like Horn fans, who think they just have it coming to them. It's your birthright.

I wasn't complaining about UConn getting the weakest first round opponent. They earned that. I was complaining that the folks at ESPN always decide that their 60 point blowout gets tip to final point coverage, while much better games get three highlights. UConn is the home team of ESPN on both sides. And the money flows to the men's and women's programs like it does from Nike at Oregon.

Geno has a program where he doesn't recruit. He selects, much like it was said of Dean Smith. He does have the best talent most seasons. He doesn't need the additional help that is so frequently provided.

 

[CTOkie]

Plaino, stick to football.
You're really struggling here.

 

[Plainosooner]

CT, I officiated two decades of high school men's and women's basketball. I know when officials are being, uh, slightly less than objective. It's worse in high school. But you don't have nearly the experience in this issue that I do. And I've seen first hand how the gender politics affect things.

So your personal accusations might not be exactly of the most objective when it comes to UConn hoops.

And I've also been marginally in journalism for twice as long. So I know when the objectivity is lacking on that side too. We hear a lot of complaining around here about ESPN frequently and they've earned it. I suspect you might have even joined in the complaint occasionally. The way that ESPN handles the NCAA women's tournament is hurting the sport generally, not helping. But it helps UConn a lot. I suspect you'd heartily approve.

 

[sybarite]

I'm not from UConn, and I don't think they get all the calls. I think Notre Dame does better. There is nothing like playing at an SEC or ACC school for getting jobbed.

 

[Plainosooner]

I didn't say they get all the calls. But I watched the South Carolina game until it got sickening. That night, they got a bunch of help which was too bad. It would have been nice to have seen a quality game. Maybe in the final four.

 

[CTOkie]

Plaino, I don't care if you invented basketball.
Implying that UConn's success is even marginally a byproduct of biased officiating is invalid.
Officiating in women's college basketball is flawed, but every team has to deal with it.....every team. Auriemma routinely comes off the bench in arguing calls.
ESPN has put women's basketball on the map over the past 20 or so years, around the time UConn started to challenge Pat Summit's great teams, when a lot fewer people gave a hoot about the women's game, including myself. When UConn stunned Summit's great Tennessee team in 1995 for the championship (on CBS), ESPN jumped on the bandwagon in hyping women's basketball.
Contrary to your opinion, I believe the UConn program does not owe any apologies for its success. It been success based on great coaching....which leads to getting great players.....which leads to getting championships....which leads to getting increased media coverage on a national level. That ESPN has covered the Huskies so much is just the way it played out, given UConn's close proximity to the ESPN studios as well as its incredible success.