Women's Team

[jack]

Though attention Sunday certainly belonged to the men's team, the women's team faced a test in their game against #12 ranked Louisville. The team was apprehensive at the beginning. In fact, before the game our players were heard commenting in awe on the size of the Louisville players. In appearance, the lack of size and speed in our players when contrasted with those on the Louisville team made it seem almost as if a middle school team were playing against a university team. Nevertheless, the women played with grit and gave full effort throughout. The start of the game saw Valpo hanging tough with Louisville, trailing only 7-6 after the first 5 minutes. However, by halftime the gap had grown to 48-24. Yet, rather than give up, the women played well and only lost the second half by a margin of 38-35.

Valpo shot 44% for the game, but the size of Louisville (especially with Sharon sidelined with a foot injury) caused a 48-30 difference in rebounds, and their speed led to 13 steals by Louisville. In the post-game conference, Coach Dorow and the players justifiably maintained their confidence and even seemed heartened by the performance against such elite competition.

A couple of things of note: To only get outrebounded by 18 against that team, in my opinion, was a victory in that respect. Having 8 players at 6ft + against our ladies, they should have doubled up on the boards. Having said that, we still struggled with the bunnies. That can not happen in league play, period. It's about concentration. We have to get that under control. And finally, the turnovers. We made their numbers look good with our sloppy passing. The passes were slow, telegraphed, and all of them high. I don't know what it is, but women's teams never seem to want to bounce pass. We have a few players that are pretty decent at it, but for the most part, the rest treat it as a foreign concept. Bounce passing is critical, especially against a long armed team such as Louisville.
All and all, I'd say we showed a lot of grit in this contest. We need to keep working hard and correcting the missed bunnies and turnovers. Next up; Miami. These guys are struggling this season. They are 1 - 3, and took it on the chin vs Oakland. This should be a winnable contest for us. Go Lady Crusaiders.

[IndyValpo]

The women will have one fewer player the rest of the season as Faith Miller has left the team.

Sorry to see her go but her PT was going to be much, much less than last year.  As a walk-on last year she may played a lot of minutes last year.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Tex--like the East German women's olympians?!?

I would have liked to have seen Sharon in there against them (as would all)...I bet that would have made it a little more even.

(Not saying we would have won, just...)

[covufan]

If Franklin and Walker are any indication of the type of recruits we've already got lined up for next year, the WBB program is improving.

[valpotx]

Tex--like the East German women's olympians?!?

I would have liked to have seen Sharon in there against them (as would all)...I bet that would have made it a little more even.

(Not saying we would have won, just...)

Yes, this player: http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/emmonnie_henderson_861524.html

She would have pushed Sharon around like a rag doll...

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Yikes probably.

(I know it's good grammar, but the period on the end of your sentence renders the link useless ; )

[valpotx]

I actually put a space before the period, but it still lumped it all together.  I blame the Forum .

[valpopal]

I have uploaded a set of 20 photos from Sunday's game against Louisville at the following link: enjoy! https://www.flickr.com/photos/96208998@N05/sets/72157649516715476/

[valporun]

After 20 minutes of play, the Lady Crusaders have a 40-39 lead against the RedHawks of Miami of Ohio. Wiedemann has 9pts and 2 boards, Dean with 7pts, 2 boards, and 4 assists. Karungi also has 6pts and 4 boards. Has Wiedemann become more of a role player, than a #1 or 2 look to score points for this team?

[valporun]

Came out of the locker room to start the second half FLAT...Dani Franklin not on the floor to start the second half due to an undisclosed injury. We're down 52-42 with 17:09 to play. Have given up 21 points to Hannah McCue so far. We need to break their press. We just don't seem to have the legs to break the RedHawk press right now, leading to turnovers and mistakes in traffic.

[valporun]

We need a deeper bench philosophy. The main 8-9 players are just getting worn thin by playing time and the defenses they aren't quick enough to beat to the rim. We make too many mistakes because we don't seem to be playing with fundamental ball handling, control, or basketball IQ. We haven't been in the game at all in the second half. It is real discouraging to see this team play a good/great first half, then come out of the second half FLAT. What does Coach Dorow do during halftime? Feed the women cookies and milk? We came out lacking energy and are making the same mistakes with no adjustments or benching of players who are making too many of the mistakes with the ball, like not paying attention to the shot clock. Hamlet just turned it over on a 30-second violation off a throw-in with 3 seconds left. We have ZERO basketball IQ during the game action apparently. This needs to be fixed, or we'll be showing Coach Dorow the door out of the ARC and NW Indiana after this season.

[valporun]

Final score: Miami(OH) 82, Valpo 57. We were FLAT!!! Also, looking at the stats, we had 10 assists and 10 turnovers!! How do you expect to score when you turn the ball over as equally as you get the ball to a teammate to make a basket? A 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio is not good. Yes, Miami came out of the locker room with intensity, but where were we coming out of the break? We didn't have anything to match the intensity, experience or not, this is something we should  be able to adjust to, even if it has to be cranked up after the first media timeout. Do we have a TRUE floor leader on this roster that can put this on her shoulders and get this team tougher and active at all times? Sure, we have Jessica and Abby who can bring the ball downcourt to start things, but are they really the two players that we should be expecting to get the rest of the team going?

[valpotx]

Well, that's unfortunate, an 82-59 loss after leading at halftime. 

[covufan]

Well, that's unfortunate, an 82-59 loss after leading at halftime. 

Ouch, was thinking the same thing.

[FWalum]

Well, that's unfortunate, an 82-59 loss after leading at halftime. 

This was almost like the men's Murray State game.... in reverse.

[valporun]

We came out FLAT, and the girls didn't adjust their play to keep themselves in the game. Even if the coaching staff says things were good, I pin this loss on those who played the game, not the ones making the decisions from the bench.

[jack]

That was a team loss, not a player loss. The players struggled with aspects of the game they shouldn't have. For one, when a team is pressing full court, why do we not have an outlet player center court? They were able to trap use by just waiting to see which side of the floor we dribbled up, and then pounce. We don't put an outlet player center court to counter this. Is that the players fault? And it's not like it happened just once. We never adjusted. I'm not sure what game film we broke down for this one, but in the second half it appeared we were playing a team we had never seen before. We never adjusted to their outside shooters. It certainly appeared that Miami did their homework on us.
We could breakdown all aspects of this game and see where it got away from us, but at the end of the day, we just weren't prepared physically, or mentally, to come out in the second half and play with a lead. That is very disheartening. As I said, this was a team loss, not just a player loss.   

[valpo4life]

I bet the film on Miami showed that they were a very poor 3 point shooting team entering the game. They had made 15 3's all season and then come out and hit 14 against us. And our press break work pretty well in my opinion against Louisville, so you would think they would have been very prepared for this game. Who knows, it was just one of those games. Like how people mentioned earlier the men's game against Murray State. Are we 35 points better than them? No. Just hit a lot of shots in the second half while they did not. I'd call that 2nd half from the women's team more of a fluke than anything. Right now the team is 3-4 which is right about where you would expect them given the schedule they had. Maybe even better.

[jack]

Miami has struggled from 3 so far this season, but it was a given this wasn't going to continue for ever. Even with that, we never made any adjustments to what they were having success with. It's like we go into a game with a plan with no counter plan if things aren't working. We have to be able to adjust what we are doing both offensively and defensively to get the opponent out of rhythm. We didn't seem to be trying anything different. And when you're down 15, 17, 20+ in the second half, the clock is not your friend. We repeatedly worked the clock down on our offensive possessions. We played like we had the lead. Another telling issue - We have the ball, coming in off of a timeout, 3 seconds to shoot, and we get a clock violation. We weren't even looking to put it up. Wouldn't that be the last thing the coaches tell the players before they come out on the floor? That one truly baffled me.
As for the press break, it did work well against Louisville. Miami saw this too and knew what they needed to do create issues. Our outlet players were out of position most of the game. Another adjustment that didn't take place.
We have the talent to be competitive in the HL this season. We just need to shore up our plan.

[jack]

Like a broken record. This coaching staff has no clue how to adjust to the game they faced in the first half. Exactly the same outcome as Miami. We didn't step out on the 3s, and we didn't crash the boards. Good night Valpo. Thanks for playing.

[valpo4life]

This is a matter of the girls' executing. I guarantee the coaches were preaching those things to the girls. All you have to do is watch the bench reaction before a shot is even taken. They are yelling before the pass even goes to the shooter. This was 5 point game half way through the 2nd half. And that is when we subbed back in Abby, and I hate calling anyone specifically out, but she was awful yesterday. After that substitution the lead went to 14 like a snap of a finger. She is arguably our best player, and best defender. When she doesn't show up it doesn't bode well going against a team like Tulsa they way they shot the ball.

This game was closer than the score says. Much like the men's game last night, we were down by double figures and started to panic taking bad shots.

[valpopal]

The Tulsa game was a disappointment, as Coach Dorow made clear in the post-game press conference. The main difference in the game came at the 3-point line, where Tulsa made 15 and Valpo only made 4. However, despite the loss I see a lot of promise in the players who will determine the team's future, especially Walker, Franklin, Thompson, Miller. Though Dean, Hamlet, and Hamilton had a poor shooting game, they also are displaying some development for down the line. This team is only scheduled to lose two seniors next year: Carr and Karungi (who hasn't played much this season because of her injury). Plus, three players currently injured may be healthy: Donchetz, Wiedemann, and Godwin. We will need to add a rebounder next year to replace Karungi; however, I compare this year's team to the football team in that I see a turnaround beginning to occur.


I have posted a gallery with the photo below and 25 others from the Tulsa game at the following link for all to check out:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/96208998@N05/sets/72157649234803619/

[jack]

This is a matter of the girls' executing. I guarantee the coaches were preaching those things to the girls. All you have to do is watch the bench reaction before a shot is even taken. They are yelling before the pass even goes to the shooter. This was 5 point game half way through the 2nd half. And that is when we subbed back in Abby, and I hate calling anyone specifically out, but she was awful yesterday. After that substitution the lead went to 14 like a snap of a finger. She is arguably our best player, and best defender. When she doesn't show up it doesn't bode well going against a team like Tulsa they way they shot the ball.

This game was closer than the score says. Much like the men's game last night, we were down by double figures and started to panic taking bad shots.

Execution was only a part of the problem. There is an issue with the philosophy, and what target areas they need to concentrate on as well, in my opinion. We are rarely in position to block out, and we don't rotate to step out on their shooters. We have no one slashing into the lanes to the basket on offense. We are too vanilla and easy to defend.
We you get beat exactly the same way, by the same margin, 2 games in a row, something needs to change. When your point guard is the second leading rebounder in a contest, something needs to change. We have a lot of talent with this group, they just need more direction. Tulsa will not be the last team we face this season that can rain 3s. Look at the tape if you have access and see how many of their shots were uncontested.
You are right, execution has been an issue, but it certainly isn't the only issue.   

[valpo4life]

I take the rebound numbers by position with a grain of salt when the past two games have been 3 point shooting fests. Longer shots lead to longer rebounds hence why the guards are grabbing about the same amount of rebounds as our posts are. And overall the rebound numbers were skewed from the Tulsa game because we missed more shots than they did. They only had one more offense rebound (11) than us (10) which lead to only 4 second chance points from them. I'll take that any day of the week. Also, when a girl from Tulsa comes in having scored a total of 14 points all year and puts up 16, that's something you cannot prepare for.

As far as my execution comment, that includes rotation on defense. The girls have to be able to get out to the shooters and were continually caught too far in help side and were not able to recover. And regarding players slashing into the lane, not every offense is suited for that. This team's isn't, same goes for our men's team. In our women's offense a random player making a cut will either add a defender to the lane to clog it up for our posts or will hinder a guard making a move towards the lane off of the ball screen.

[IndyValpo]

Here are next year's recruits....only our crack staff can make an announcement with no indication of size or points scored last year. My favorite comment:

Coach Dorow on Schofield: "Allison is a knock-down three-point shooter. Nobody gets up more shots than her. She's used to winning, she's a fiery competitor, and epitomizes a team player. Allison committed early because she loves Valpo."

Based on this comment I would assume she must have averaged 20-25 points per game.  Unfortunately, I think it was somewhere around 6. Doesn't mean she isn't good as Heritage has 6-7 D1 potential players. Still the comment implies a scorer.


http://www.valpoathletics.com/wbasketball/news/2014-15/14188/crusader-women-sign-four-to-nli/#.VIdh_bl0y2w