WBB: Northwest Conference

d3wbbfan · January 04, 2015, 02:57:44 PM

Thanks to both NWC live streaming and on-demand, I was able to watch all three of the Saturday, 1/3/15 contests where video was offered, even though the games were all happening at the same time. (Which I much prefer to dissecting box scores; I need to see teams play with my own eyes.) Here are the recaps, with the home team asterisked:

-*George Fox 77, Puget Sound 55: SR F Lauren Codling continued her sterling overall play of late, posting her second straight double-double (20 rebounds; 10 points), while also stuffing the stat sheet with 7 assists, 5 blocks and 3 steals, in leading the Bruins to a convincing win over the Loggers, in a battle of previously undefeated teams. SR G Jami Morris (18 points) and SR F/6th-man Dacia Heckendorf (11 points) each hit a trio of 3-pointers, while SO G Kylie Dummer added 11, to round out the high scorers for George Fox (11-0, 2-0 NWC). SR C Katy Ainslie was the lone player in double-figures for Puget Sound (9-1, 0-1 NWC). Fox led from the very start, with a jumper by SO G Kimberly Frost providing their first double-digit lead less than 8 minutes in, at 22-12. After a jumper by Logger FR G Katie Vold made it 35-25 Fox with 7:58 to go, the Bruins strung together a 10-0 run over the next 5:00, capped by a 3-pointer by SO F Kaycee Creech, pushing the Bruin advantage out to 20. It was 47-28 at halftime. One of the deepest teams in DIII, 11 different Bruins saw minutes in the first half. A 10-2 Bruin run to begin the 2nd half, capped by two Heckendorf FTs, extended the Fox lead to 57-30 with 17:56 to go, basically deciding things. GFU connected for 10 3's total, and had a 49-34 advantage on the glass.

-Whitworth 52, *Lewis & Clark 35: The Pirates (11-0, 2-0 NWC) survived shooting just 31% to remain unbeaten. The Bucs both began and ended the half with 7-0 runs, managing to work around all the missed FGs by connecting on 12-13 at the FT line early, to grab a comfortable 33-14 halftime lead. And although the Pirates and Willamette lead the league in total 3-ptrs made, rookie Pio coach Asha Jordan decided to roll the dice, gambling that Whitworth's frigid shooting would continue, and switched to a 2-3 zone that could better exploit her team's size advantage, and is something that the undersized, normally-sharpshooting Bucs rarely see. The ploy worked for LC. Whitworth did remain cold from deep, making just two 2nd half 3's, while also now finding the going inside the paint to be quite congested. They got to the FT line just 5 times (making all 5) and scored only 4 2-pt hoops, for a total of 19 2nd half points. The downside for the Pios (3-8, 0-2 NWC) was that they could muster just 21 points themselves, making no real dent in their deficit. SR F Katara Belton-Sharp led WU with 16, while JR G KC McConnell tallied 15. SO F Ayisat Afolabi posted 18 off the bench for the Pios, while FR F Lauren Wood added 10. In an unusual stat, none of the other four LC starters scored even a single point, going 0-9 in total, and 0-7 from 3.

-Whitman 71, *Willamette 40: The Missionaries got the early jump on the Bearcats, scoring the game's first 11 points inside of the first 4:00, and cruised to the road win. Willamette shot just 5-30 (16.7%) in the opening stanza, contributing mightily to their 29-14 halftime deficit. In the second, Whitman (7-4, 2-0 NWC) was able up to double up the score 3 different times, at 50-25, 60-30, and 66-33. SR G Heather Johns led the Missionaries with 16, while also holding Bearcat SR G JoJo DeLong to just 4 points (more than 10 pts below her 14.5ppg season avg.) JR F Hailey Ann Maeda added 14, while SR F Hallie Buse chipped in with 11, including 3 3's, in by far her best scoring effort this season. Both scoring leaders for Willamette (5-6, 0-2 NWC) were FR off the bench: G Ashley Evans with 11, and C Marisa Hamilton with 10.

-Pacific 76, *Linfield 54: (no video available; from the Box Score:) The hot-shooting Boxers (6-5, 2-0 NWC) shot 55% on the afternoon, to sweep their conference-opening road trip. After surrendering the game's first 4 points, a jumper by Pacific JR G Kyla Siri completed a 17-1 Boxer run, posting coach Sharon Rissmiller's team to an early 12-point lead. Later, a 3-ball by SR G Nani Ostrom with 2:09 to go in the half pushed the Pacific lead up to 20, at 37-17, before Linfield (6-5, 0-2 NWC) scored the final 5 before halftime. The Wildcats again scored the half's first 4 points, with a layup by FR G Paige Graham bringing Linfield back to within 11, at 37-26. But Linfield would get no closer, as over the next 3 minutes, another Ostrom triple capped an 11-2 Pacific run, restoring her club's 20-point bulge, at 48-28. SO F Sarah Curl lead all scorers with 22, including 4 3's. Ostrom finished with 18, while SR G Olivia Cook and SR F Abby Jones posted 11 each for Pacific. RS FR G Amantha Hood led Linfield with 12.

Only one game is on the NWC docket before next weekend. It'll be the "Battle Of The Whits, Part 1" on Tuesday, 1/6/15, as Whitworth hosts Whitman. Tip-off is at 6PM PST. And just so you have it handy, here's next weekend's NWC games:

Friday, 1/9/15: Pacific Lutheran at George Fox
Linfield at Whitworth
Willamette at Puget Sound
Lewis & Clark at Pacific
IDLE: Whitman

Saturday, 1/10/15: George Fox at Willamette
Pacific (OR) at Puget Sound
Linfield at Whitman
Pacific Lutheran at Lewis & Clark
IDLE: Whitworth

d3wbbfan · January 07, 2015, 12:35:25 AM

Tonight in Spokane, the first Whitman/Whitworth matchup in conference play could be described one of two ways: either as an intense defensive struggle, or as a turnover-fest for both teams. Somewhere between those two descriptions is probably most accurate, with the Pirates (12-0, 3-0 NWC) managing to stay unbeaten, 59-52. Tonight's win now ties Whitworth WBB's best previous start in school history, which came back in 2004-05.

The Missionaries turned the ball over a whopping 26 times, while the Bucs were guilty of 20 themselves. I'd say about 75% of them occurred "between the circles" - in the middle of the floor - as pass after pass was intercepted by the other club, after numerous attempts to navigate up the floor, via dribble, found pick-pocketers aplenty to foil those plans as well. Yes, it was 40 minutes of ugly, but quality swarming defense from both teams (which it was) will often make for that type of game. Always an intense rivalry, the fact that both teams have gone to the NCAAs each of the past two years, that Whitworth was the team going in undefeated this year (as opposed to the Missionaries, who started off 26-0 last year, before the Bucs knocked the M's off in the NWC final), and are again both harboring expectations for yet another NCAA bid, the intensity of this contest was simply off the charts, from start to finish. And with both teams still adjusting to playing some new "prime time personnel" (after each lost 3 starters from a year ago), each of the Whits have been hanging their hat on defense. It looked like both teams thought their best chance to score on the other was to employ dribble penetration, down the lane, and the tactic was employed early and often tonight, with good success. Whitman has been especially vulnerable to slashers all season long, with graduated 6-footers Sarah Anderegg and Meghan White no longer there to provide length and help defense. Whitworth has been undersized for some time now, and while their defenders are all very solid one-on-one, a defender can't stop everything, so if/when they do find themselves a step behind their man off the dribble, a big body down low just isn't there to save the day. So it's among their opponents' best chances to generate some points.

The difference tonight was fiery Pirate SR F Jessica Kramer. She posted 19 points, 13 rebounds, and she just seemed to be the one Buc who spent the entire game making one big play after another to help her team win. Much of the same could be also said about Whitman JR F Hailey Ann Maeda. A player with a history of playing well in big games, Maeda finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and a way-above-her-average 5-6 conversion rate at the FT line. Both players were absolute warriors for their teams in the paint, as that was surprisingly where most of the points came from tonight. After a 3-pointer by Whitman SR F Hallie Buse in the opening minutes, the teams would then combine to miss their next 22 attempts from deep (0-11 each), until just 3:27 remained in the game. Coming out of a Whitworth time out, with the Pirates leading by 1, 49-48, the Bucs ran a play to see of they could finally get their best long range sharpshooter, SR Katara Belton-Sharp, an open look. As I recall, it was only the second time all game that Whitman had momentarily lost track of her. Top of the key. Wide open. Belton-Sharp drains it, and it's 52-48 Whitworth. The teams then trade baskets, and it's 54-50 Bucs with 1:32 left. Belton-Sharp again spots some daylight, this time from the far right corner, and she connects again, for three more of her 12 total points, extending her team's lead to 7, at 57-50. A late Maeda layup and two FTs by SR G Kendra Knutson accounted for the 59-52 final score.

Whitman SR Heather Johns added 16 for Whitman (7-5, 2-1 NWC), who shot 20-50 from the field as a team (40%), grabbed one more rebound than Whitworth (34-33), and shot 11-14 from the charity stripe. Whitworth went to the line over twice as often as the Missionaries did tonight, canning 21 of 30, while shooting 18-47 from the field, for 38%.

d3wbbfan · January 11, 2015, 10:20:50 PM

No surprises in the second weekend of NWC play (home team is asterisked:)

Friday:
*Whitworth 77, Linfield 37: The homestanding Bucs tripled up the Wildcats early, at 27-9 just 11 minutes in, and coasted to the easy win. JR F KC McConnell led the Pirates with 23 pts, while JR G Lexie Zappone chipped in with 11. JR F Hannah Depew led Linfield with 12, while SO G Riley Graham scored 11. Whitworth dominated the glass, with a 50-29 advantage.

*George Fox 89, Pacific Lutheran 36: A 20-4 Bruin run in the game's first 7 minutes decided this one early in Newberg. SR G Jami Morris had 16, JR F Justine Benner had 15, JR G Sammy Naluai had 14 in 17 minutes off the bench, while SO G Kylie Dummer added 11. JR F Jori Hall led the Lutes with 13.

*Puget Sound 68, Willamette 43: A 10-0 Logger run midway through the second half broke open a close game, as Puget Sound ouscored the Bearcats 38-16 during the 2nd half, to pull away in Tacoma. SR C Katy Ainslie and SR F Amanda Forshay shared game-high honors with 15 each, while JR G Emily Sheldon scored 10. SR G Katie Kalugin led Willamette with 11, while RS FR Katie Towry hit 3 triples for 9.

Lewis & Clark 57, *Pacific (OR) 55 (OT): A 3-ptr by JR G Kaitllin Mathewson with 1:19 in the OT provided the margin of victory for the Pios. FR G Cianna Ochoco made 1-of-2 FTs to extend the LC lead to two with :13 to go, but a missed shot, an offensive rebound and two Boxer timeouts called in the waning seconds couldn't generate the equalizer. FR G Miyah Leith led Pio scorers with 11, while SR F Casey Zinn added 10 in the win, while SR G Nani Ostrom continued her run of great play with 14 points, with SR F Abby Jones contributing 12 for Pacific.

Saturday:
George Fox 78, *Willamette 54: The Bruins shot a blistering 56% from the field, while placing 5 in double-figures (Benner 21; SR F Lauren Codling 14; JR G Nicole Blizzard 13; Morris 12; Naluai 10), as Fox won going away in Salem, OR. Kalugin again led the Bearcats with 17, Towry added 5 more 3's for 15, while FR C Marisa Hamilton hit for a dozen.

*Puget Sound 71, Pacific (OR) 64: The Loggers trailed at home by as many as 8 early, before managing to pull even late in the opening half. But the Boxers fought back in the second, to reclaim a 9-point lead (52-43) on a Nani Ostrom 3 with 13:09 left. But a 10-1 UPS run over the next 4 minutes brought the home team back even at 53, on a layup by JR F Allie Wyszynski. But Puget Sound wasn't done. The run continued to 21-4, as Wyszynski added two more of her team-high 15 points, making the score 64-56 Loggers with 6:08 left, basically deciding the outcome. Forshay had 12, and Ainslie added 10. Five Boxers reached double figures in the loss: Ostrom 19; SR F Olivia Cook 13; SO F Sarah Carl & JR G Kyla Siri 11; SR G Kaila Johnson 10.

*Whitman 85, Linfield 61: SR All-America G Heather Johns scored a season-high 34 points, leading the Missionaries in Walla Walla. FR C Emily Rommel added 13, while SR F Hallie Buse continued the best run of consistent play in her 4-year career with 10 points. Depew again led the Wildcats with 21 on 9-18 shooting, with SR G Taylor Solomon tallying 11. Whitman vaulted to a 42-29 halftime lead, and grew their margin throughout half #2.

*Lewis & Clark 67, Pacific Lutheran 60: The Pios charged back from a 7-point halftime deficit to outscore the visiting Lutes by 14 in the second stanza, to claim the 7-point win in Portland. SO F Ayisat Afolabi led LC with 15, while JR F Sarah Anderson scored the majority of her 14 points in the 2nd half, to fuel the late Pio comeback. Leith added 10, and Mathewson 10. PLU was again led by Hall with 20, while JR G Megan Abdo chipped in with 11.

The upcoming week's NWC games are:

Tuesday: Willamette (5-8; 0-4) at Lewis & Clark (5-8; 2-2)

Friday: Whitman (8-5; 3-1) at George Fox (13-0; 4-0)
Whitworth (13-0; 4-0) at Pacific (OR) (6-7; 2-2)
Lewis & Clark at Puget Sound (11-1; 2-1)
Linfield (6-7; 0-3) at Pacific Lutheran (3-9; 0-3)
IDLE: Willamette

Saturday: Whitworth at George Fox
Linfield at Puget Sound
Whitman at Pacific (OR)
Willamette at Pacific Lutheran
IDLE: Lewis & Clark

d3wbbfan · January 13, 2015, 07:27:13 PM

I believe in dwelling on the positive about DIII women's hoops. And I have been both aware and very impressed by NYU coach Lauren Hall-Gregory for years now, from back when she was an assistant. I knew she would quickly restore the Violets to their former status as annual NCAA participants. And she has. I have watched them three times so far this season. Can someone please educate me as to how NYU has been ranked higher (#8) than both George Fox (#10) and Whitworth (#15) all season? I'm not a betting man at all, but if Vegas had a line on an imaginary NYU vs. Bruins or Bucs game, I'd give 15 points to the Violets, even if the game was played in NYC, and it would be the easiest money I ever made.

I remember late last season, when the #1 team must've lost 5 weeks in a row, and the #2 team from LW was always moved up. But it wasn't until Whitman went from #2 to #1 (was it the very last week of the regular season?), when the D3 poll voters started splitting votes, with some clearly feeling the Missionaries were undeserving. Based on what, exactly? In the end, I'd say Whitman acquitted themselves fairly well in the NCAAs. Better than the 5 teams who were at #1 before them, who were all elevated without a peep of dissent...

I ask this in all sincerely, and not at all as a wise guy. Did someone in the NWC murder family members within the D3 poll voting community? Whitworth is *the* lowest ranked undefeated D3 WBB team in the nation. Why? And George Fox is two spots below NYU. Why? Both these clubs have played *far* more difficult schedules than have the Violets, and the NWC clearly has more quality teams/recent NCAA success as a league than has the UAA, with all due respect to Nancy Fahey/Wash U. By *any* rational metric, how is NYU better than either top NWC team? Here's NYU's 14-15 schedule so far: One UAA game (at Brandeis: W). Eight of their other 11 games have been at home (Plattsburg St/Staten Island/Emmanuel/Farmingdale St/Swarthmore/Wm Smith/Hunter), with only one opponent having a winning record: Western CT (9-3). Their three NC road victories were at St. Joseph's (LI) (4-9), and at Springfield and Brooklyn (each 8-5). And only the Pride (upset tourney champs) and Emmanuel (frequent league champs, but are down this year) made the NCAA's last year, IIRC.

I know the SID's often do the voting. And I know it can be difficult to gauge relative strength. My only point is that, in some instances, it is pretty darn obvious who's better than who, and to me, this is one time where that is the case. I clearly smell politics and self-interest present somewhere in the voting block. But I'm a realist, and I know that such "aromas" are found in most everything these days. I just wanted to make the point. Thanks to the D3hoops forum for giving me a place to do so. I feel better. Carry on!

Pat Coleman · January 14, 2015, 01:26:32 PM

I think you are way overthinking it.

Half of Whitworth's schedule to date has been against non-Division III teams. That isn't going to do much for your Division III ranking. I'm pretty satisfied with where they are.

Something to keep in mind is that voters have to split their votes among three NWC teams, while there are really only two UAA teams getting a significant amount of voters' attention. Voters don't know who the best team in either conference is and won't until they start playing each other.

Similarly last year, Whitman played the majority of its non-conference schedule against non-Division III teams. Our voters are pretty evenly split between SIDs, coaches and media, but outside of our NWC voter, nobody is going to know whether Walla Walla or Eastern Oregon or Concordia-Portland or Corban College are any good because those schools don't play other Division III teams.

Last five NCAA tournaments: UAA 28-13. NWC 23-13. I don't believe that stands up to "clearly" more tournament success. Pretty even.

gordonmann · January 14, 2015, 02:49:26 PM

Yep, and that proximity holds up across the last 10 years, too. Per the conference guidebook...

UAA: 64-31 (.674)
NWC: 40-19 (.678)

Pat Coleman · January 14, 2015, 02:53:20 PM

That's what I pulled the data from.

Cruz · January 14, 2015, 03:04:27 PM

I don't think the UAA has played many Tournament games against their own conference. The Northwest Conference every year is placed into the same pool. Last year the NCAA placed three of the Northwest Conference teams into the same opening round group of four. So the winning percentage numbers are not very telling as the Northwest Conference knocks out their own each year while the UAA rarely plays against their own until late in the tournament.

Pat Coleman · January 14, 2015, 03:30:23 PM

Quote from: Cruz on January 14, 2015, 03:04:27 PM
I don't think the UAA has played many Tournament games against their own conference. The Northwest Conference every year is placed into the same pool. Last year the NCAA placed three of the Northwest Conference teams into the same opening round group of four. So the winning percentage numbers are not very telling as the Northwest Conference knocks out their own each year while the UAA rarely plays against their own until late in the tournament.

I'm fully aware. That's why I characterized the two groups, each with 13 losses, as "pretty even."

BruinFan · January 17, 2015, 12:00:05 PM

National Game of the Week is in the NWC today.
#10 George Fox (14-0) hosting #15 Whitworth (14-0) at 7 PM EST.
The winner deserves to be in the top 5 next week.

#14 Calvin (13-0) at #11 Hope (14-1) is also a big game.

mkt · January 18, 2015, 07:49:38 PM

I went to both of George Fox's games against the Whits. D3wbbfan has already given so much detailed and incisive analysis that there's little to add, plus the scores speak for themselves. So I have just a few miscellaneous observations.

Kimberly Frost looked like the fastest player to me. However this seemed to be only when she dribbled with her right hand; I'd like to see how fast she can go using her left hand (and how well she can control the ball with her left hand).

Benner's excellence and her big game against Whitman were not surprises. But somehow I had remained ignorant of the fact that Codling led the team in every other major category: rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals per game.

Hailey McDonald didn't play for Whitman ... I think she was hobbling around with a cast on her foot?

Since I was going to both the Friday and Saturday games, I stayed in a nearby motel Friday night. It turns out that's where Whitman and Whitworth stayed also; I didn't actually see Whitman but Whitworth had driven in on Friday so Saturday morning the motel was awash with Whitworth players and families (women's team only, I don't know if the men's team was staying there too).

And though it goes without saying, yeah George Fox is not just good, but deep. They might have 8 or 9 players who could start for a lot of D3 teams. Heckendorf literally was a starter, Naluai looked even better, and I was impressed with Frost. Less so with Creech, but she comes off the bench before Frost does so Meek might value her contributions more. For that matter, Miner and Jamieson looked good too, but in limited garbage minutes so I can't really evaluate.

These are pretty strong statement games. Granted, George Fox still has to go play the Whits on the road (and UPS), but this looks like a team that will advance deep into the NCAA tournament. I would venture, as d3wbbfan does, that they're underrated at #10. But I have literally not seen any of the other 9 teams play (except for FDU-Florham in the finals last year) so I can't say for sure.

Whitworth and Whitman still look like strong teams, just not so much when compared to George Fox. George Fox did some full-court pressing, and it did cause some problems for both teams, with some steals and 10-second violations, but one of the reasons why the NWC impresses me is that the players and teams have basketball skills and knowledge and can handle fullcourt pressure, double-teams, and traps. (The one exception was the very first NWC game that I saw, when George Fox used their press to take control of the game against Lewis and Clark in their first meeting of the 2011-12 season -- but by the time they met again, Lewis and Clark handled it much better, although they ended up losing to the Bruins four times that season. Yep, due to the familiar pattern of NWC teams being forced to play against each other in the early rounds of the NCAA tournament.)

Whitworth still goes out there with pretty much every player between 5'7" and 5'9" tall (except for 5'5" starter Kendra Knutsen, and 6 footer Faith Emerson gives them some height off the bench). Same ferocious ball-hawking defense -- even though the George Fox game was a blowout in terms of the score, the turnovers were almost even 17-16 because even George Fox's players sometimes found themselves getting the ball stripped or tied up by aggressive quick-handed Whitworth defenders. Alexis McLeod had a nightmarish game: just 8 minutes, but 5 turnovers plus 0-1 shooting in those 8 minutes. She seems to be the first or second player off the bench and was not such a high turnover player last year, so this must have been an aberration.

For Whitman, Maeda continued her run of strong play. Ketner's shooting less than 30% so far this season, but she also looked good against George Fox, to my eyes a continuation of her promising play as a freshman last year. This is also a team that could win some games in the NCAA tournament, if they get an invite.

gordonmann · January 23, 2015, 06:31:27 PM

Very nice article recognizing Scott Rueck's work at Oregon State:

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12215329/oregon-state-beavers-oregon-ducks-put-state-oregon-back-hoops-map

d3wbbfan · January 24, 2015, 07:51:23 AM

Had the pleasure of watching both games involving Top 25 teams tonight: The top 2 in the UAA-unbeatens Wash U at NYU (won by the Violets), followed by the NWC's #3 Puget Sound (13-1) at #2 Whitworth (14-1) battle. I'm already on record about which '14-15 league my eyes tell me plays at a clearly higher level than the other, and Friday's viewings did nothing but re-re-confirm my opinion, so I will not belabor the point.

Man, was it ever a heavyweight battle in Spokane. Both teams acquitted themselves extremely well. I haven't seen a game all year where both teams made clutch shot after clutch shot, with in-position defenders right up on them. That's the NWC's "secret sauce" - they have three teams that can score against very high-quality D. To boot, I've never seen the league better, from top to bottom. I underestimated teams like Pacific (OR) and Lewis And Clark, based on limited, early non-conf glimpses. And Willamette, who beat two quality teams in Hawaii, and looked so solid I thought they could challenge for 5th, is still winless in conference! All credit goes to the hard-working players and coaches. Whitworth's recent drubbing at George Fox hasn't caused me to lose one bit of confidence in the Bucs, going forward. They also lost at George Fox last year during NWC play, and got smoked at home the first time they played Whitman. Against top teams, Helen Higgs saves most of her best stuff for the March games. Last weekend, GFU had payback on their minds vs the Pirates, and they got it in a big way. Even at "full throttle", Higgs & Co. may not have enough to topple the 14-15 Bruins, who've obviously looked great so far. But Whitworth did beat Fox the last three times a year ago, and she's especially tough in a winner-take-all game. They have four truly clutch players in McConnell/Zappone/Belton-Sharp/Kramer. And that's more than enough to beat anybody, on a given night. So I'm gonna reserve judgement, for now, on March NWC tourney/NCAA results.

Back to UPS at Whitworth. The Loggers have size, and Whitworth never does, so Higgs started 5'8" JR Alexis McLeod tonight, in place of SR G Kendra Knutsen. An addition to size, McLeod also scores more. After a trey by SR Amanda Forshay (23 pts) began the scoring, Whitworth scored the next nine. The Buc first-half lead then varied between 4 and its first-half high-water mark of 14, at 41-27, on a Belton-Sharp layup with 4:00 left. But two early fouls each on Zappone, Kramer and McLeod forced Higgs into playing top sub Faith Emerson, Knutsen and seeing-more-minutes-of-late Jessica Thoens, a SO G, more than she would have normally. Although Whitworth shot 60% for the half, most of that came early, with the starters in, so having to sit them later in the half hurt the Bucs, as Puget Sound trimmed the deficit to 8 by halftime, at 47-39.

Forshay only took 3 shots in the half, but they were all 3's, they all connected, and they were all important to keep Loree Payne's team in touch. They shot 48.3% for the half, with JR Emily Sheldon balancing out the 3's by providing 11 early, inside the paint points. The veteran poise and the quality depth of Puget Sound was a major plus for them all game. They start 3 experienced SR's (Forshay, C Katy Ainslie and PG Ashley Agcaoili), a JR (Sheldon) and a SO (Alexis Noren), but only George Fox can match UPS' quality depth in the NWC. With SRs Erin Stumbaugh, Hannah Lekson and 3-pt sharpshooter Olivia Roberts teaming with JR Allie Wyszynski, this team truly doesn't miss a beat when they are called upon. They've all been there, done that, and all four always see double-digit minutes. So much so, Roberts often replaces the pure PG Agcaoili in crunch time. For all these reasons, UPS was able to run their offensive sets more effectively, and with less total turnovers, than most other teams manage to against Whitworth's ballhawking pressure and always-stout team defense.

In the second half, Whitworth would stretch the lead out to nine. Then Puget Sound would cut it to three. Rinse. Repeat. Then, with just 3:30 to go, and the Pirates up 76-75, a rarity. 4 of the 7 total missed FTs in the game happened. Right in a row. Forshay had two chances to give the Loggers their first lead since 3-2, but she missed both. But then deadeye FT shooter Katara Belton-Sharp misses 2 in a row for Whitworth, before a Forshay FT line jumper finds the range, giving the Loggers both their final points and their lone 2nd-half lead, at 77-76, with 1:21 to go. Next, the play of the game. With the shot clock down to :05, Zappone sees no one open. Although well guarded herself, she manages to create enough space to launch her only 3-pt attempt of the game. Left side, top of the key. Although she's just 30% from beyond the arc all year, I swear, Lexie's gotta be 90% when the Bucs absolutely have to have it. Swish. 79-77 Whitworth. :56 to go. Forshay then drives the left side of the lane, intending to feed the open shooter in the corner for 3. But then she thought maybe she should shoot it herself, and try to tie it back up. But she obviously travelled, trying to process it all. I felt bad for her. She played a heck of a game. Coach Payne went for the steal, but they couldn't get it, so they then had to foul Whitworth in the last minute. Which is the kiss of death. Of course, Zappone hits 2 of 2 (despite being iced by a TO) with :25 to go, and McConnell then drills 2 of 2 with :10 to go. 83-77 final. McConnell 28; SR Jessica Kramer hits another career high, 20, and has come out of nowhere this year to string together one great all-around game after another; Belton-Sharp 10. Besides Forshay's 23, Sheldon finished with 19. Ainslie played 24 foul-plagued minutes, but she was solid: 9 points, 7 rebounds. She has a nice mid-range touch, with an unorthodox, one hand push shot. All I know is that the shot's been going in against NWC teams for 4 years now. Roberts added 3 treys for the Loggers, for 9 also.

In other Fri. NWC games: Whitman 90, Pacific Lutheran 56; Linfield 66, Lewis And Clark 55; Pacific (OR) 60, Willamette 39.

On tap Sat: George Fox at Lewis & Clark; Pacific Lutheran at Whitworth; Puget Sound at Whitman; Linfield at Willamette

BruinFan · January 24, 2015, 12:03:31 PM

Quote from: gordonmann on January 23, 2015, 06:31:27 PM
Very nice article recognizing Scott Rueck's work at Oregon State:

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12215329/oregon-state-beavers-oregon-ducks-put-state-oregon-back-hoops-map

Gordon, you beat my good intensions and posted the story - thank you. Scott spoke plainly about what he doing at OSU which is to replicate the philosophy he used at George Fox. He is now in his 5th season, but the connection remains strong between Coach Rueck and the George Fox community. We like to cheer for the Bruins, Beavers, and Blazers!

mkt · January 25, 2015, 08:09:34 AM

I went to the George Fox @ Lewis & Clark game. The first half was very close; the Lewis & Clark game recap says it's only the second time this season that George Fox has failed to end the first half with a lead.

But even at the time, I thought that Coach Meek was not quite putting the pedal all the way to the metal, playing his subs more than usual. Even with George Fox's huge depth, there's still a bit of a drop-off from the starters.

The evidence for this strategy is that the Bruin bench collectively played 34 minutes in the first half. And only 27 minutes in the second half, with some of those minutes being garbage time bench-clearing.

So I figured the second half would be the more telling of the two halves. Indeed it was; although the George Fox offense was not super-impressive, they cranked up their defense several notches and the Pios had no answer. New Pio coach Asha Jordan went through just about every guard on her bench trying to find players who could cope with the Bruins' defensive pressure, to no avail. It was reminiscent of the very first NWC game that I saw three seasons ago, when George Fox's full-court pressure totally derailed the Lewis & Clark offense.

The Bruins' most effective presses seemed to be of two varieties: they had initial success with a defense that was basically man to man rather than relying upon double-teams and traps. So if a Pio player picked up her dribble or just in general was trying to pass out of the pressure, she found all of the potential receivers tightly guarded.

One solution to that problem is to dribble out of it, since there's only one defender guarding the ball-handler (although this defense did feature opportunities for the defenders to give help or double-team). But after the Pios started doing that , the Bruins switched to a press where the inbounder was completely unguarded, and the fifth defender helped out on the two would-be ballhandlers who were trying to catch the inbounds pass.

So forget about 10-second violations, the Bruins forced the Pios into a few 5-second violations -- they couldn't even get the ball inbounds.

I do expect that we will see Lewis and Clark react the same way they did three seasons ago: devote practice time to learning how to break a full-court press, and handle it much better in the next game. The Pios have a young roster; in Saturday's game the players with the most minutes were one senior (Zinn), one junior (Sarah Anderson, feisty like Katie Anderson but no relation AFAIK), one sophomore (Afolabi, who I think is the best of the Pios who returned this year) ... and four freshmen. So I think we can expect to see a better performance against the press later this season.

I was surprised to see in the box score that the Pios committed more turnovers in the first half than in the second half, 14 to 13. Because it was in the second half that we really saw the full-court pressure disrupt their offense, and the score become lopsided.

Of the freshmen, I was most impressed by Miyah Leith. In a game in which Lewis & Clark was so disrupted that Afolabi (who's been their leader in per game scoring, rebounding, and steals this season) played only 7 minutes in the second half, Leith played the most minutes of any Pio, tied for the team lead in scoring, and just in general was one of the few Pios who was effective at both offense and defense. She did good work against the press; it looks like her primary role is to be a shooting guard or wing, but I wonder if she has the ability to play point guard.

In addition to Asha Jordan, the Pios have a new assistant coach, Ashley Corral. Corral had had a brilliant high school career in neighboring Vancouver WA, and an all-conference career at the Univ of Southern California. She didn't quite make it into the WNBA, so she may be making a career switch to coaching. I was living in LA during her USC days; I still remember the first time I saw her enter a game as a freshmen; unlike many freshmen who will play deferentially and pass the ball, she came out firing especially from long range -- and is the current leader in career 3-pointers at USC.

George Fox actually shot very poorly this game (except for Benner) but still soundly beat their opponent. But against top-level opponents, I think offense will prove to be their weak point. Or perhaps rebounding. The Bruins are out-rebounding their opponents, but not thrashing them the way they are with their defense.

Oh, I can provide an answer to a question that d3wbbfan had asked about Morris's offensive repertoire in particular her ability to drive. When I first saw her play (as Jami Roos), she was a freshman and the backup PG to Hayley Cusick. But she was much more shot-oriented than Cusick ever was, coming off the bench and driving relentlessly into the lane as well as firing up 3-pointers. Quite reminiscent of Lewis and Clark's Katie Anderson. But the next year, she shot less frequently and drove less frequently, I wonder if this may have reflected Coach Meek emphasizing a team approach. But at any rate her game has been more subdued since then.