Women's Basketball vs. SIU-E

valporun · November 12, 2011, 01:17:09 PM

For those that are interested in the women's team, they are currently playing SIU-Edwardsville. The game is available on video thru SIU-E, and the women are looking good, though they are trailing the Cougars currently. Richards and Varner are holding the team together so far.

valpotx · November 12, 2011, 02:52:21 PM

Wow, Mallory Ladd with a 3 to tie it at end of regulation!

valpotx · November 12, 2011, 03:06:41 PM

Too bad, blew it in the end. Way too many turnovers/dumb passes

valporun · November 12, 2011, 03:08:28 PM

I saw a lot of fight though. A very back-and-forth game, and hopefully a lot of good things are taken from this game.

StlVUFan · November 12, 2011, 03:11:08 PM

Wow, SIU-E is a very young D-I team (as in only a few years at that level). I couldn't watch, so I don't really know what I'm talking about, but just on the surface, this seems like a team we should be dominating. Am I wrong?

jhnmttws75 · November 12, 2011, 03:13:09 PM

Where is Jessica Carr? And could someone enlighten me why Valpo has two centers listed yet none of them are playing? Even last year there was little use. Another point, Geradot and Lange are NOT centers and Varner is NOT a guard.

I was hoping for a win I really thought they had it but that turnover at the end killed them.

valporun · November 12, 2011, 03:15:22 PM

SIU-E was a tough, physical team. Our girls couldn't get shots to fall, made mistakes with the ball in their hands, caused offensive fouls that could have been avoided. Just because SIU-E is a young D-1 team doesn't mean they don't have physical players who can do things to get the ball in the basket, and play defense that wins basketball games.

valporun · November 12, 2011, 04:19:06 PM

Quote from: jhnmttws75 on November 12, 2011, 03:13:09 PM
Where is Jessica Carr? And could someone enlighten me why Valpo has two centers listed yet none of them are playing? Even last year there was little use. Another point, Geradot and Lange are NOT centers and Varner is NOT a guard.

I was hoping for a win I really thought they had it but that turnover at the end killed them.

I don't know a real answer about Jessica Carr besides Freeman not using freshmen who aren't ready for the college floor yet. I mean today was a day where the defense had to be really strong, and Carr may not be a strong defender yet. I'll admit, I commonly rail on posters who try to say someone is ready based on what they did in high school because we only see the numbers they are coming in with, and don't always know just how college basketball ready that girl might be. I mean Carr can average 15-20pts in high school all she wants, but that doesn't mean that she played competition in high school that helped make her into a basketball player, or if she played against a lot of girls or teams that just made here look like a basketball player because they were inexperienced players.

In terms of the two listed centers, Callaway isn't very good, in my opinion. When she was used last year, she didn't develop well, and just looked to be slow and lost, which hurt on the inside. I mean height in girls basketball is no good if you can't make it an advantage in physicality for boards or getting the layups that draw fouls. She looked soft, and high school games never give a strong indicator because the opposition might not matchup at all. I believe Lang was hurt last year, so she didn't play much, and might be recovering from that injury, if I recall this correctly?

Gerardot and Lange play big and physical on the boards, which is why they often play the 4 or 5 spots. Sure, they may not be the right girls for those spots, but who else did we have last season who could play those spots with Varner being injured, and our lack of frontcourt experience? I don't know why Varner thinks she's a guard, unless it has something to do with her athletic ability to move with the ball?

Freeman will definitely make sure that the turnovers don't happen because he will drill that in practice, whether by running plays over and over in practice, or making the players run sprints.

vusupporter · November 12, 2011, 09:31:59 PM

Carr and Lang are both injured, and Adams is just returning from injury. Given that, it was a solid performance today, especially since two of our freshmen came off the bench to be our leading scorers.

KL31NY · November 12, 2011, 11:37:17 PM

Quote from: vusupporter on November 12, 2011, 09:31:59 PM
Carr and Lang are both injured, and Adams is just returning from injury. Given that, it was a solid performance today, especially since two of our freshmen came off the bench to be our leading scorers.

Timmerman injured too. Given 2.5 guards (Betsy naturally limited) and 25 giveaways, forcing a game into OT and losing by just 3 was pretty impressive. The rebounding was impressive, but the ball control needs a lot of work.

jack · November 13, 2011, 08:50:53 AM

Quote from: valporun on November 12, 2011, 04:19:06 PM
Quote from: jhnmttws75 on November 12, 2011, 03:13:09 PM
Where is Jessica Carr? And could someone enlighten me why Valpo has two centers listed yet none of them are playing? Even last year there was little use. Another point, Geradot and Lange are NOT centers and Varner is NOT a guard.

I was hoping for a win I really thought they had it but that turnover at the end killed them.

I don't know a real answer about Jessica Carr besides Freeman not using freshmen who aren't ready for the college floor yet. I mean today was a day where the defense had to be really strong, and Carr may not be a strong defender yet. I'll admit, I commonly rail on posters who try to say someone is ready based on what they did in high school because we only see the numbers they are coming in with, and don't always know just how college basketball ready that girl might be. I mean Carr can average 15-20pts in high school all she wants, but that doesn't mean that she played competition in high school that helped make her into a basketball player, or if she played against a lot of girls or teams that just made here look like a basketball player because they were inexperienced players.

In terms of the two listed centers, Callaway isn't very good, in my opinion. When she was used last year, she didn't develop well, and just looked to be slow and lost, which hurt on the inside. I mean height in girls basketball is no good if you can't make it an advantage in physicality for boards or getting the layups that draw fouls. She looked soft, and high school games never give a strong indicator because the opposition might not matchup at all. I believe Lang was hurt last year, so she didn't play much, and might be recovering from that injury, if I recall this correctly?

Gerardot and Lange play big and physical on the boards, which is why they often play the 4 or 5 spots. Sure, they may not be the right girls for those spots, but who else did we have last season who could play those spots with Varner being injured, and our lack of frontcourt experience? I don't know why Varner thinks she's a guard, unless it has something to do with her athletic ability to move with the ball?

Freeman will definitely make sure that the turnovers don't happen because he will drill that in practice, whether by running plays over and over in practice, or making the players run sprints.

You hate to see the naysayers coming out of the woodwork this early. As is appears, Carr missed the game to an injury. It didn't have anything to do with Freeman not wanting to play her, or her lack of defensive play. Actually, from what I've seen she appears to be one of our better defenders at this point. I wish her a speedy recovery, and like others have mentioned, given the fact that our ball handlers were unable to play, I felt it was a pretty good outing. Once we get Adams, Timmerman, and Carr back and healthy, I think we correct our turnover woes. Our Freshmen, as a whole seem to be on par with their development into the college ranks. Another good performance bt Ladd. She's certanly fills a void we've had.