Huge upset over 7-0 in the Belt USA. My audio was down, so I bascially casually followed it until the last 10 minutes of gametime. When we were still in it at that point, I really paid attention.

I'm assuming our resident WBB expert was there. How'd we look?

Very good game for SS and the team. Good for morale & confidence.

According to a quote in DRC - the team followed the game plan. There was a time during the 2nd half that I thought they were going to "fall", but they persevered through the adversity. It was a good home win, considering they let 1 go with A-State last weekend.

Torru (as I've mentioned previously) is one of those players that does whatever it takes to win. She makes the extra pass, steps in for a charge, can play good defense and moves well without the ball. She is very team oriented and tries to help when her teammates get in trouble. Her confidence is building as she is starting to knock down shots and finding her "role" within the team.

USA didn't have an answer for Godbolt. USA runs 4 guards and a post (I'm sure that's why Burwell & Timms didn't get on the floor), so it was a good "pound for pound" matchup. No one on their team was bigger than 6'1" and no one on their team had the brute strength of Godbolt. She killed them on the boards and if officiating had been called a little tighter - the team would have a lot more fouls our way with all of the undercuts/low bridges that were going on - on the box-outs.

Hughes had 1 of her better games. 9 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and 2 steals with only 1 turnover. Very solid. Kellum - same thing. 9 points, 6 boards, 1 assist and a block - NO Turnovers. Hudson, although "on" the past few outings, turned the ball over alot (5) and just didn't look like she could get a good rhythm.

As a team they shot 53% from the field in the 2nd half and made 65% of their free throws. Free throws still have room for improvement, but since they only had 16 turnovers for the game and hit double digits in assists (10), the machine was functioning properly.

With this win, I hope they have built some confidence. They have WKU (1/27) and MTSU (1/30) on the road. I think if they can trust SS (as they did last night), execute the game plan (as they did last night), plus the other things that I say over and over and over (take care of the ball, make free throws, share the ball).... anything is possible. They don't seem to play well on the road... now would be a good time for a turn around in that column.

Inconsistency on behalf of all the players is preventing them from dominating - night in & out. Some of it is youth, some is experience (JUCO's played college ball, but it's still not D1 ball), and also, for the coach - knowing and identifying immediately who's showed up to play tonight. There is no "kobe" on the team. There are no all-americans on this team. They have to play as a TEAM to win.

I was watching a college game on TV a couple nights ago. It was an Big Ten game and as a BCS conference, always attract all-american players. There are only so many to go around... so what happens when you are in the bottom half of those conferences and you don't have that "go to" player? You can't "quit". You can't "forfeit". You try to win. If you work as a team and you beat the all-americans... It happens all the time. You can't live off of what the polls say or what journalists write as to what "should happen"... if that were the case, we wouldn't play the games. When the UNT women buy into that - they can beat anyone (or at least be very competitive against the all american calibur teams).

Confidence is key.

Also, maybe this new assistant is giving good feedback to SS when it's time to address the team. Assistants are critical because they have to see the things the head coach doesn't. Making adjustments from time out to time out & during half time can make/break a game.

Just a thought.... too early in his tenure for me to know for sure. I'll pay better attention (instead of watching Scrappy do the YMCA), next time out.

Interesting comment from the USA Coach (4th paragraph in)
blog.al.com/press-register-sports/2010/0...ens_basketbal_1.html

I believe this was the best game of SS' career which was surprising to me following the ASU game which I thought was one of the sloppiest games I have seen. A great game by James, maybe the best of her career. Godbolt and Turro also had probably their best games. James is having a super year and Godbolt could be one the best in the league this year and three years to come. The biggest surprise to me is Turro, who continues to get better. Hughes also showed hints of being the player that she was supposed to be this year. Hopefully this is the start of a big turnaround for the team. They definitely showed that they are capable of being a good team.