Week 16 - Feb 19 to 25 (games, conf standings, NET)

[nwhoopfan]

Okay, I've been harping on Indiana for quite a while. They finally got a good win, so kudos to them.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Hmm, UCLA taking another opponent out with an elbow. This is getting to be a regular thing.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Wow, lots of blood coming from the back of Jenna Johnson's head. Utes have absolutely nobody who can guard Betts now.

 

[bballnut90]

Big win for Indiana and good recovery game after their horrible loss to Illinois. They showed up tonight on both ends and the game was never in question. Clark looked rattled much of the night and was due for a bad game after the 49 point showing. She's put up some big stat lines on Indiana but Indiana in particular makes her work harder than any team I've seen. It always looks difficult for her playing against IU and she couldn't find any rhythm in the second. IU is always extremely physical, puts a lot of size on her and they're feisty squad as well and seemed to get into her head tonight.

Holmes was the star tonight and looked like an All American. She absolutely dominated Stuelke in their head to head match up on both ends. Scalia/Garzon are weapons too. Massive win for them which should help off set their Illinois loss for seeding purposes.

 

[Plebe]

They said Pili is maybe 5-11. Does she actually have a future in the WNBA? You can get away w/ being an undersized post in college, but that rarely works as a pro. Or does she have the skills to be a really big wing/2 guard?

She can for sure have a pro career, even if it's not in the W. She can shoot the 3 and that's something she'll have to rely more on. Her prospects are a lot greater than Nina Davis, who never really developed a viable jump shot.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I was hoping Arkansas could knock Texas A&M off the bubble, but they surrendered a lead and didn't get it done. Darn you Mike Neighbors!

 

[GoChips20]

Iowa at Indiana was one of the chippiest games I’ve seen this season. IU was fired up from tipoff and you could tell how badly they wanted it. Clark had 20 in the first half but vanished in the second. Indiana played the best defense I’ve seen anyone play on her this year, but really an awful game by her standards. 24 points on 26 shots although she nearly had a triple-double. To me she looked disengaged and disinterested in the second half even as Iowa was being run off the floor at times. This was a must-win for Iowa to stay in the Big Ten title race so the nonchalance was a surprise but Assembly Hall is a tough place to play and was especially so tonight. If chalk holds we’ll probably see these two face off one more time because they’re probably the 2- and 3-seeds in the conference tourney unless Ohio State nosedives against Michigan or Maryland.

 

[triaddukefan]

In SoCon action. Tough night for the NC schools. My Catamounts of Western Carolina fell a bit short in what would have been the upset of the Mid Major year.. falling 60-56 to a tough UT-C squad. My Spartans of UNC-G fell on the road 54-51 to East Tennessee.

@triaddukefan congrats on squeezing the Orange tonight

When I was forecasting the rest of the season back in January, I penciled this one as a loss. Glad I was wrong.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Eastern Washington is blowing the doors off Northern Arizona. Currently tied for 1st in the Big Sky, but the Eags will surge ahead.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Utah was trying to hang in there, but lost another starter (McQueen), getting blown out now.

 

[Plebe]

LSU hung on to beat Auburn by 5 but wow what a mess of a game. Auburn just has a feisty playing style that bothers LSU.

Reese with 25 and 20, really carried LSU. Morrow struggled a lot against a team that matched her physicality. Mikaylah Williams was just bad. It was a weird game.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Total beat down by UCLA, 78-45 nearing the merciful end.

 

[Plebe]

I was hoping Arkansas could knock Texas A&M off the bubble, but they surrendered a lead and didn't get it done. Darn you Mike Neighbors!

Arkansas is a bubble team as well, just about half the SEC is.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Arkansas is a bubble team as well, just about half the SEC is.

Yeah, I think most of their bubble teams don't deserve a bid, but past history tells me all of them will make the cut.

 

[MSGRET]

Yeah, I think most of their bubble teams don't deserve a bid, but past history tells me all of them will make the cut.

I believe that you should not make the tournament if you have a losing record in conference play, unless you win the conference tournament. There are teams that may go 15-0 in non-conference play against cup cakes and then go 7-10 in conference play and get in. There are other teams in some mid-major's that might be better or they were the regular season champs, but didn't win the tournament and get left out because of the committee favoring the P-5 conferences.

 

[The deacon]

You got me. Was trying not to bad juju/mojo on @triaddukefan.

If you though Wake Forest was gonna go 0-18 in the conference this year... think again..

Wake 65 the mighty Panthers of Pitt 50 @The deacon

View attachment 96777

Reminds me how bad the Deacs are when a really bad Pittsburgh squad losing to anyone could be considered an upset. Thanks for the props, Triad, and congrats on Duke's considerably more impressive 'W' tonight.

That said, I'm sure the players who constitute the Wake team are very fine young women, so I'm glad they figured out how to win a league game.

 

[Blueballer]

LSU hung on to beat Auburn by 5 but wow what a mess of a game. Auburn just has a feisty playing style that bothers LSU.

Reese with 25 and 20, really carried LSU. Morrow struggled a lot against a team that matched her physicality. Mikaylah Williams was just bad. It was a weird game.

I haven't been impressed by LSU this year. They look very beatable.

 

[WLT1717]

Big win for Indiana and good recovery game after their horrible loss to Illinois. They showed up tonight on both ends and the game was never in question. Clark looked rattled much of the night and was due for a bad game after the 49 point showing. She's put up some big stat lines on Indiana but Indiana in particular makes her work harder than any team I've seen. It always looks difficult for her playing against IU and she couldn't find any rhythm in the second. IU is always extremely physical, puts a lot of size on her and they're feisty squad as well and seemed to get into her head tonight.

Holmes was the star tonight and looked like an All American. She absolutely dominated Stuelke in their head to head match up on both ends. Scalia/Garzon are weapons too. Massive win for them which should help off set their Illinois loss for seeding purposes.

Mac always gets the better of Hannah, who continues to improve - and IU is a different team when Scalia and/or Parrish drain 3s. The solid team D also serves them well against Clark. Can’t wait for them to meet again!

 

[visitingcock]

I haven't been impressed by LSU this year. They look very beatable.

They can’t defend a PG with a hot hand. They don’t wanna see Auburn in the SEC tourney.

 

[BRS24]

Well well well. Here we are at 7 losses for top 25 teams, and a minimum of 3 more, with 3 days to go. Duke got it done. Iowa did not, and shot 18% from 3PT. Ouch. I probably should have taped the LSU/AU game. Congrats to @triaddukefan. The ACC and Pac12 are still a bit mosh pit-y with the top 4 slots, and the SEC has a clear line of demarcation as of now.

A quiet tonight with 3 late games. Heads up, tomorrow's Creighton/Nova and OK/OK St games now showing on FOX.

 

[LETTERL]

It may come down to the last day of the regular season before we know who the #2, 3 and 4 teams are in the ACC. With both Syracuse and NC State stubbing their toes Thursday night, the regular season crown will belong to Virginia Tech...but now 6 teams have either 4 or 5 losses between places 2 through 8. Duke's win and Miami's loss now creates a very sharp line of demarcation between 8th-place Duke and 9th-place Miami. Almost looks like the Pac-12!

Either NC State or Syracuse are guaranteed to take another loss, as they meet in the penultimate game of the regular season. With the unbalanced scheduling, trying to figure out the tie-breakers for all the teams would take time...but NC State owns tiebreakers with Louisville, Florida State and Notre Dame.

If they run the table, they'll be assured of a top-4 slot. Take another loss...then tiebreakers come into play. Take 2 losses...then it gets really messy to figure out and I imagine there would be a few scenarios with NC State falling out of the top 4.

 

[TN-Gamecock]

What's going on with NCSU? They are starting to lose games that they should win. LETTERL I feel your pain, as my Gamecock mens team lost to UGA and LSU at home. We were not supposed to lose to either of those. 

 

[Geew1992]

They can’t defend a PG with a hot hand. They don’t wanna see Auburn in the SEC tourney.

They also don’t have a point guard.

 

[LETTERL]

What's going on with NCSU? They are starting to lose games that they should win. LETTERL I feel your pain, as my Gamecock mens team lost to UGA and LSU at home. We were not supposed to lose to either of those. 

I think the grind of the regular season, and relying so much on just 6 players, is finally taking a physical, and mental, toll. After holding Notre Dame to 43 points last Thursday, we have now given up 80 or more points in the last two games...and both GT and UNC shot more than 50% from the field; for the season, teams have been shooting around 35% against us. That shows lack of energy and effort on defense.

Georgia Tech made some incredible shots last Sunday...and you can understand a team having a night when everything falls for them. UNC also had one of those nights; there was a desperation heave by Deja Kelly at a shot-clock horn that somehow found its way into the basket...just like that mid-court left-handed bank shot Kara Dunn hit in Raleigh in the final minute of OT Sunday.

There was also a lot more one-on-one ball last night instead of team ball as the players tried to take it upon themselves (unsuccessfully most of the time) to shoot us back into the game...when they were actually shooting us out of the game. Going 3 of 21 from the field last night in 2Q was killer...but on top of not shooting well after a hot start, we left Donarski and Zelaya wide open for THREEs, which they nailed with ease.

It was exactly the nightmare scenario I considered, and feared: UNC finally has a good shooting night when NC State was cold. NC State started 6 of 9 from the field and ended the first half making only 5 of its next 28 shots. 14 missed layups. More turnovers than assists.

NC State looked so good early in the season, when everyone was fresh but doesn't look anything like the early version now. Despite what @Plebe thinks about our conference, it is a tough grind game-after-game and sometimes, even your best effort won't be good enough, because almost every team can beat you if they get hot.

I'm hoping the ladies can regroup once the regular season wraps and they get a few days rest before the ACCT...but based on their play the last two games, I would no longer be afraid of NC State if I am one of the other 15 teams in their region in the upcoming NCAAT bracket; that would be one of my early picks for an upset loss.

Gee...this makes it sound like the sky is falling and that the sun may never shine again. Sometimes, we fans lose perspective, and I think I'm a victim of that now. I mean, geez...State has only lost 4 games in a season when noone except the players probably thought this kind of great season was possible, and it has been exciting. I hate to see what could be a special season get ruined and tarnished but all I can do is support the ladies and wish them the best.

 

[cancontent]

Iowa at Indiana was one of the chippiest games I’ve seen this season. IU was fired up from tipoff and you could tell how badly they wanted it. Clark had 20 in the first half but vanished in the second. Indiana played the best defense I’ve seen anyone play on her this year, but really an awful game by her standards. 24 points on 26 shots although she nearly had a triple-double. To me she looked disengaged and disinterested in the second half even as Iowa was being run off the floor at times. This was a must-win for Iowa to stay in the Big Ten title race so the nonchalance was a surprise but Assembly Hall is a tough place to play and was especially so tonight. If chalk holds we’ll probably see these two face off one more time because they’re probably the 2- and 3-seeds in the conference tourney unless Ohio State nosedives against Michigan or Maryland.

They wanted it and their defence was much better than when they last played them. Was impressed at how they were able to cut off the pick and roll to Stuelke leaving Clark stuck several times during the game. Normally, it's almost automatic. While they may not have won the rebound battle, their effort to get on the class was much improved as well.