Horns will face ISU Sunday after losing Nneka, who had led the team in ppg, rpg, blocks, FGs made, and FTs taken and made. Nneka, averaging a double double, will miss the rest of the season after an ACL injury suffered in the Baylor game. Texas (14-3; 3-3) will face ISU ( ), who pinned the first loss of the season on Texas. Texas has an overall 11-16 record vs ISU and 9-13 in the Big 12. ISU has won the last two games, both in Ames. Texas is 3-0 at home and 0-3 on the road in Big 12 games. ISU is 4-2 in the Big 12. They 3-0 at Ames and 1-2 on the road. Cyclones have three players averaging double figures in Big 12 play: Brynn Williamson (# 22, 5-11 Sr. G/F)at 13.7 ppg, Nicole (Kidd” Blaskosky (# 15, 5-7 Jr. G) averaging 12.0 ppg and Nikki Moody (# 4, 5-8 Sr. G) at 11.5 ppg. Three others are just off double figures: Seanna Johnson (# 12, 5-10 Soph. G),9.3 ppg and Bryanna Fernstrom (# 44, 6-5 Fr. C), 8.2 ppg. Jada Buckley (# 11, 5-8 Soph. G), who averages 8.5 ppg, has not played the past four games due to stress injury. She had previously missed three games with the injury. Moody is their leader in FGs made and attempted (26-65, 40.0%). Moody, Williamson (21-56, 37.5%), Blaskowsky (23-52, 44.2%), Johnson (18-46, 39.1%) and Fernstrom (17-45, 37.8%) are all averaging at least 7.5 shots a game. Fallon Ellis (# 32, 5-11 G/F)is the most accurate Cyclone at 50.0% (10-20). Madison Baier (# 34, 6-4 Jr. F/C) has hit 2-4 to also have a shooting percentage of 50.0%. ISU leads the conference in 3ptes made per game at 10.2 treys a game. They have taken 170 3s, 48 more than TCU who is second with 122. TCU also is second in total 3s made at 41, 20 behind ISU’s league leading 61 treys made. Williamson (16-48, 33.3%) and Blaskowsky (21-45, 46.7%) are the main threats from BTA with Blaskowsky’s 46.7% from BTA third in the league. Ten of the players that have seen action in league games have taken at least one 3. ISU is tops in the Big 12 in FT% at 84.1%. Their 90 made FTs is second in total FTs made. Emily Durr (# 3, 6-0 Fr. G) has hit 6-6 FTs while Ellis is 7-7. Moody (8-13, 61.5%) and Fernstron (12-16, 75.0%) are the only players that have seen action in all six games that are not at least 83% from the FT line. Johnson is the leading rebounder at 9.8 rpg. She is just off averaging a double double in league play as she averages 9.3 ppg as well. Williamson is second with 6.3 rpg. Moody’s 6.2 assists per game top the Cyclones and ranks second in the league. Seven others average at least one apg. ISU’s 19 steals total are last in the league. Johnson is the leader with six steals. Fernstrom has six blocks and Williamson four to top the Cyclones in that category. Williamson, Johnson, and Blaskowsky have started all six league games. Moody and Fernstrom each has five starts in their six games. Ellis has one start in six games while Nakiah Bell (# 2, 5-5 Fr. G) has one start in the five games she has played in. Durr, who has played in all six games, and Baier, who has seen action in five league games, join with the others to make up ISU’s base nine player rotation. Missing since game three is Buckley (played in first two games), Claire Ricketts (# 30, 6-3 Fr. F) and Blaire Thomas (# 42, 5-11 Fr. G). Ricketts and Thomas have yet to see action in any Big 12 games. Balskowsky (33.5 mpg), Williamson (32.7 mpg) and Johnson (31.3 mpg) are the iron women for the Cyclones. Moody and Fernstrom average 20 plus minutes per game while Durr and Ellis are in the teens. With the Horns having lost Nneka, their leader in ppg, rpg and blocks, Brady is now the leading scorer at 8.8 ppg. Brooks is second at 7.2 ppg. Nekia is the leader in FG% at 59.3% (16-27) while Imani is also at 50.0% (11-22). Brady is the leader in FGs made and attempted (18-55, 32.7%). Empress (17-54, 31.5%) and Kelsey (17-44, 38.6%) are second in FGs made. Brady (7-23, 30.4%), Brooke (5-19, 26.3%) and Krystle (2-14, 14.3%) are the most likely to take a shot from BTA. Nekia and Celina have the highest 3pt% at 50.0% but have only taken six 3s each. Brooke is the tops in FTs made with 12. She is tied with Brady with each having 14 FTs attempted. Imani at 90.9% (10-11) has the best FT%. Brady is hitting 71.4% while Brooke is at 85.7%.Kelsey is the leading rebounder at 5.5 rpg. Empress (4.7 rpg) and Imani (4.2 rpg) rank second and third, respectively. Empress has the highest apg average at 3.0. Brady (1.7 apg) and Brooke (1.5 apg) and Krystle (1.5 apg) and Celina (1.3 apg) all average over one assist per game. Brady leads with 11 steals while Krystle is second with 9. Kelsey tops the charts with six blocks while Imani adds five. The loss of Nneka for the season leaves Empress and Kelsey as the only players to start every conference game. Five players have started a game in conference play. Eight players have played in all conference games. Brianna (3) and Ariel (2) have played in all games they have been available for. Tasia has played in five games. Nine are averaging double digit minutes per game with Brady’s 30.3 mpg topping the squad. Empress (26.5 mpg), Kelsey (26.5 mpg) and Brooke (23.0 mpg) are the others topping 20 mpg. Projected starters based on the last game: [pre] Texas ISU Imani (6-7 Jr. C) Ellis (5-11 Sr. G/F) Kelsey (6-5 Soph. C) Williamson (5-11 Sr. G/F) Brady (5-11 RS Jr. G) Johnson (5-10 Soph. G) Empress (5-7 Jr. G) Blaskowsky (5-7 Jr. G) Krystle (5-4 Sr. G) Moody (5-8 Sr. G) [/pre] For Texas, the defense will focus on the three point line. ISU takes more 3pters than they do shots inside the arc. Williamson and Blaskowsky will be the focus but pretty much every perimeter player will take the three. With Nneka out, I will guess that Imani takes over that starting spot rather than the Horns going small. At this time, it looks like the main post reserves will be Nekia and Sara. Sara may be the best rebounder of the group. There is no other Big 12 team that can match the height provided by Kelsey and Imani. Imani will need to stay out of foul trouble for the Horns not go small with Nekia or one of the guards (Brady, Ariel, Brianna) dropping to the four. The big question is who will pick up the rebounding and defense that Nneka provided? Nekia, Kelsey and Imani and the other posts will need to make up the average of eight shots a game that Nneka was taking. The plan for opponents will still be to pack it inside and force the Texas guards to hit from outside. Our guards will need to start hitting a better percentage of their shots as they are averaging 32.4% from inside the arc as a group and 25.4% from BTA. Brianna at 44.4% is the only one making over 34% of her shots inside the arc. Brady continues to be the main threat from BTA, hitting on 30.4% of her treys. Brooke’s 2-2 from BTA against Baylor pushed her 3pt % to 26.3%, making her the second Horn besides Brady to be making more than 18% from BTA among players who have attempted at least 10 treys. It will be important for Imani to stay out of foul trouble and stay on the court as long as possible. Well, according to the press release on Friday, it looks like Texas will be going small as Nekia, Ariel or Brianna will get the start in place of Nneka. We have seen that lineup before during games. Well, according to the press release on Friday, it looks like Texas will be going small as Nekia, Ariel or Brianna will get the start in place of Nneka. We have seen that lineup before during games. TEAM STATISTICS Texas (3-3) ISU (4-2) -------------------------------------------------------------- SCORING.................. 350 409 Points per game........ 58.3 68.2 Scoring margin......... +0.1 +1.9 FIELD GOALS-ATT.......... 129-357 129-332 Field goal pct.......... .361 .389 FG made per game. 21.5 21.5 FG att. per game… 59.5 55.32 POINT FG-ATT,,,,,,,,,,, 109-281 68-162 2-point FG pct………....388 .420 2-pt FG made per game.. 18.2 11.3 2-pt FG att. per game…. 46.8 27.0 3 POINT FG-ATT........... 20-76 61-170 3-point FG pct.......... .263 .359 3-pt FG made per game.. 3.3 10.2 3-pt FG att. per game….. 12.7 28.3 FREE THROWS-ATT.......... 72-105 90-107 Free throw pct.......... .686 .841 F-Throws made per game. 12.0 15.0 FTs attempted per game... 17.5 17.8 REBOUNDS................. 252 229 Rebounds per game...... 42.0 38.2 Rebounding margin...... +6.5 +0.7 ASSISTS.................. 76 104 Assists per game....... 12.7 17.3 TURNOVERS................ 92 87 Turnovers per game..... 15.3 14.5 Turnover margin........ -1.2 -4.5 Assist/turnover ratio.. 0.8 1.2 STEALS................... 47 19 Steals per game........ 7.8 3.2 BLOCKS................... 25 19 Blocks per game........ 4.2 3.2 Conf. Winning Streak.......... -0- 2 Conf. Home win streak...... 3 3 Conf. Road win streak…… -0- 1 ATTENDANCE............... 9637 24984 Home games-Avg/Game.... 3-3212 3-8328 [pre] Ave. Score by Period: 1st 2nd OT Total ------------------ ---- ---- ---- ----- Texas............... 28.7 29.7 -0- 58.3 ISU....... 32.2 36.0 -0- 68.2 [/pre] Oddly enough, Texas and ISU have made the same number of FGs in six Big 12 games: 129. ISU is taking more 3pters than 2pters. They have made 61 treys and 68 2pters. That’s one way to balance your offense. ISU is hitting 35.9% of their 3s. Texas’ #1 defense against the 3 will be tested heavily in this game. While Texas has an edge in rebounding, this will be the first game without Nneka, who has led the Horns in rebounding practically the entire season up until her season ending ACL injury in the last game. Texas should still control the boards. The question is whether they will. ISU used FTs to win the game in Ames, making 8-16 while Texas was 2-4. Both made 9 3s. Texas should get to the FT line a bit more in this game. From cyclones.com: Iowa State Travels To Austin To Face No. 8 Texas From texassports.com: No. 8/9 Women's Basketball preview: Iowa State From texassports.com: ISU game FAQs From the Ames Tribute: Women’s Basketball: Moody expected to face No. 8 Texas Game time is 3:30 CST. Fox Sports 1 will carry the game with radio being on KVET 1300 / Sirius 113 / XM 119. Lots of photo opportunities available early on the north side of the FEC with Bevo, Texas Cheer, Texas Pom, Smokey the Cannon, etc. Weather is projected to be very nice. Not to mention my old service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, will be doing their once a season Texas flag unfurling this game.
I am excited to see how this game shakes out. In the last game, we used four posts and they took 28 of the 71 shots. Horns also took 23 3s, way over their normal 8 3pt attempts going into the game. ISU took what is a normal percentage for them: 27 of 54 shots were 3s. I hope that Brooke has another game like she did against Baylor and that Brady and Nekia shoot lights out like they did in the first ISU game. I look for Kelsey to provide a scoring option inside that will keep ISU doubling inside. She has gotten back more to her game in the out of conference games and she can pass well to the open teammate.
That loss was on Karen in my eyes. Why does she not play McGee-Stafford and Lang together? It seems like that would be tough to defend, especially for a very unathletic ISU interior. I fear that this team is about to nose dive...hope I'm wrong!
This was a must win game if there were any at the conference level just to stop the nose dive. It was nice to see Brooke getting the start over Empress who has yet to develop a mid-range jumper as she was 0-4 for zero points. At this point, Empress is just a defensive specialist. It was also nice to see Ariel finally getting more minutes and she produced 8 points on 4-8 shooting, most of which were outside jumpers. But for unexplained reasons, Brady continues to play the super majority of minutes and adds nothing to the game on 1-5 shooting for 3 points. I'd like to see Brady's minutes be replaced by Ariel. At this point, it's trying to find which 5 players are most reliable. And yes, like 05Longhorn posits, I'd like to see an Imani/Kelsey playing together since both players can hit the 15-foot jumper. Texas is in threat to losing hosting the first two rounds of the the NCAA. Hopefully they can turn things around and make a run at the Big 12 conference tournament.
Sadly, I agree with the last few posts. Today's loss is on Karen in my eyes. ISU is a team we should have swept. Losing in Ames is somewhat understandable. That happens to a lot of teams. Giving up a decent lead to lose at home to a team with much less all around talent hurts. I think a 4 seed in the tournament is a long shot now.
I think Brady had 4 points -- she needs to sit. No outside shot. There are 8 of us sitting together wondering why Imani and Kelsey are never on the floor at the same time. Are we afraid of having the two tallest players on the floor at the same time? And I'd love for someone to explain our substitution strategy. I've said it before -- it's the "I see you. You go in" Strategy. No rhyme or reason. And we end the game with the shortest lineup on the court. Mind boggling. I watched Imani during "The Eyes" at the end -- she was not happy. She even mouthed "I'm pissed." Don't blame her.
Discouraging to say the least. When Coach G was here, we couldn't get top recruits. Now we have some McDonald's AA players, great depth, two very tall and pretty skilled posts, and some unique talents like Nekia. We still lose, even at home. I can see trying Kelsey and Imani together, but you would be giving up a lot in speed, plus you would risk having no posts at all if both got into foul trouble, which they often would. It's all so psychological. it's weird the way we went downhill in the second half, exactly like in Ames. Thursday is scary. We will be big underdogs. Maybe that will help us.
I'm no coach, of course, but does anyone else wonder about the constant substitutions? Is it hard for players to get in to a rhythm with each other when they are shifted in and out so much? I'm just curious. And, I also don't understand why our best outside shooters don't get in the rotation at the same time (to me, that would be Ariel, Brianna and Brooke).
I agree. This one was on Karen. At the end she expected a foul so she put in free throw shooters and forgot that would leave her without a big girl if Iowa got the ball...which they did and took advantage of the size. I too am at a loss to explain the revolving door we call a line-up. I will not go back to my rants from last season about Karen. Instead I will lower my expectations and hope to be pleasantly surprised.
I don’t know what Karen was expecting that last minute when she replaced Kelsey with a guard. All I could think was the Spurs a couple of years ago pulling Duncan and going small and being unable to rebound the game clinching rebound , losing the game and eventually the series. Still it was a lack of execution on offense and defense at the end that gave ISU those two extra possessions they used to win the game. Even at that, Brooke got a decent look at the end. For those complaining about Empress and Brady, no else besides those two and Brooke seems willing to take a shot from the outside. Brady is actually shooting the ball slightly overall and from BTA than Brooke. As to why Empress and Brady get a lot of minutes, Brady is our leading scorer, second in assists, tops in steals (not mention deflections) and, with Brooke, our top 3pt threat. Empress leads in assists. Celina is probably our best shooter, but takes maybe one shot a game. Ariel is whom I think will end up as our go to scorer once she is fully healthy. Both she and Imani seem to be limited in the number of minutes they can play. I do expect Ariel to continue to get more minutes as the season goes on. Kelsey seems to be regaining her OOC form, going 11-13 in her last two games. Kelsey and Imani are our two best scoring posts with Nneka out. While I hope to see them playing in tandem, that means someone else needs to step up. Nekia is still only playing 12 mpg. We will see if that shoots up or if someone gets more minutes. My concern is why we are scoring 15+ ppg less in conference than in OOC games. I don’t full buy the “everyone knows each other” as that doesn’t seem to bother Baylor, OU, ISU (except against BU). Our offense should be flowing smoother, not sputtering. But we are finding a lot of contested shots. I’m not an X’s and O’s person so it’s hard to pinpoint what is wrong other than we are missing shots that appear to be open. I hope that we are not passing up open shots in the flow of the game to try to force the ball inside. Of course, we are not exactly setting it on fire from outside the paint. One thing I wonder about is why Nekia has not attempted a three in the last three games. Below, if the table comes out right, are the shooting stats for conference games. [pre] G/W Games FGs FGA FG% 3PT 3PTA 3PT% 2PT 2PTA 2PT% Empress 7 17 58 0.293 0 4 0.000 17 54 0.315 Celina 7 8 17 0.471 3 6 0.500 5 11 0.455 Krystle 7 5 29 0.172 3 17 0.176 2 12 0.167 Brooke 7 16 51 0.314 6 23 0.261 10 28 0.357 Brianna 4 5 13 0.385 0 0 0.000 5 13 0.385 Tasia 6 2 11 0.182 0 2 0.000 2 9 0.222 Ariel 3 6 14 0.429 0 0 0.000 6 14 0.429 Brady 7 19 60 0.317 7 25 0.280 12 35 0.343 TOTALS 7 78 253 0.308 19 77 0.247 59 176 0.335 Posts Games FGs FGA FG% 3PT 3PTA 3PT% 2PT 2PTA 2PT% Nneka 6 20 48 0.417 0 1 0.000 20 47 0.426 Kelsey 7 22 51 0.431 0 1 0.000 22 50 0.440 Nekia 7 19 33 0.576 3 6 0.500 16 27 0.593 Imani 7 13 25 0.520 0 1 0.000 13 24 0.542 Lilley 1 0 0 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0.000 Diani 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0.000 Sara 2 0 1 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 1 0.000 TOTALS 7 96 158 0.608 3 9 0.333 93 149 0.624 Per Game Ave. 24.9 58.7 0.423 3.1 12.3 0.256 21.7 46.4 0.468 [/pre]
Don't think I've ever left a game at the FEC as pissed and disappointed as I did yesterday. Still angry about that loss.
This is starting to remind of the men's season a few years back where in early to mid January we were one of the top teams in the nation....
