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Flowers didn't start either.  Maybe some issues in practice.  Looked like they played the B team until they needed to win.  Flowers had 18 and 9 with 4 blocks and didn't play almost the whole first quarter.  When is Stewart eligible?  Midseason?

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8 hours ago, Pistol said:

I didn't see it mentioned elsewhere, but the women had a horrid first half against UT-Martin but rallied and won 56-50 in their opener.

They play at Cincinnati on Sunday at 2:00 and I think I'll be able to make it. They also play at NKU on Tuesday but I probably can't make that one work. I hadn't looked at the schedule until yesterday so I didn't realize they had a 2-game road trip here.

I was at the game. Yeah, I thought they were gonna get blown out the way the first quarter went. It was something like 16-5 bad guys and nothing was going right for the SLU women. UT Martin pressed most of the game and I think maybe that was a bit discombobulating. Especially as UTM were hitting their shots and then setting up the press. SLU couldn't get stops, then couldn't set an offense, couldn't buy a basket, and then rinse, lather, repeat.

I noticed early in the third that Harbison was on the bench and never came off it. A guy near me (there were only about 15 of us on that side of the arena) said he saw her go the locker room and thought maybe she got some kind of injury. Don't quote me, I don't know.

It was a long slog but SLU eventually took the lead and then held on late.

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2 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Flowers didn't start either.  Maybe some issues in practice.  Looked like they played the B team until they needed to win.  Flowers had 18 and 9 with 4 blocks and didn't play almost the whole first quarter.  When is Stewart eligible?  Midseason?

Hey Torch, you always seem to be tuned into things so let me ask you. Any idea why Evan Zars transferred? First of all, she is not sitting out a season, she is playing for Western Illinois and has had a couple of high rebound games, including 20 against Missouri!

And I think I read it came down to SLU and Western Ill. so maybe it was just buyer's regret and she wanted to try her second choice.

I enjoyed watching her last year and I thought we were well set for rebounds for 3 more years.

Any thoughts?

 

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1 minute ago, White Pelican said:

Hey Torch, you always seem to be tuned into things so let me ask you. Any idea why Evan Zars transferred? First of all, she is not sitting out a season, she is playing for Western Illinois and has had a couple of high rebound games, including 20 against Missouri!

And I think I read it came down to SLU and Western Ill. so maybe it was just buyer's regret and she wanted to try her second choice.

I enjoyed watching her last year and I thought we were well set for rebounds for 3 more years.

Any thoughts?

 

This was touched on a few months ago.  Small town girl, more comfortable in Macomb and was going to be a hard climb for her to play ahead of Smith Traore, Wilken , Flowers, and do well in Stone's up temp system.  She was not run off though.  Rebounding may be an issue this season and she would have helped.

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2 minutes ago, thetorch said:

This was touched on a few months ago.  Small town girl, more comfortable in Macomb and was going to be a hard climb for her to play ahead of Smith Traore, Wilken , Flowers, and do well in Stone's up temp system.  She was not run off though.  Rebounding may be an issue this season and she would have helped.

Thank you! Glad to hear she was not run off, and I really didn't think that anyway. I wish her well, but I too think she would have been a big help on the boards. Thanks.

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Huge road win over Cincy 60-50.

Smith -Traore with 18 rebounds, Flowers had 11 in just 19 minutes.  Both teams shot extremely poor.  Billikens held Cincy to 0-13 from 3.  Bearcats are not pushovers, should be good in AAC and contend for a NCAA berth.

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27 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Huge road win over Cincy 60-50.

Smith -Traore with 18 rebounds, Flowers had 11 in just 19 minutes.  Both teams shot extremely poor.  Billikens held Cincy to 0-13 from 3.  Bearcats are not pushovers, should be good in AAC and contend for a NCAA berth.

I watched the last half on line. Maybe the men should spend some time with the ladies shooting free throws. I think they might have been 9 or 10 of 10 down the stretch. Myia Clark is looking like we thought she looked after watching midnight madness. 15 points in 18 minutes including 6/6 from the line down the stretch.

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31 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Huge road win over Cincy 60-50.

Smith -Traore with 18 rebounds, Flowers had 11 in just 19 minutes.  Both teams shot extremely poor.  Billikens held Cincy to 0-13 from 3.  Bearcats are not pushovers, should be good in AAC and contend for a NCAA berth.

What is the deal with Flowers? Not starting,limited minutes. 

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I went to the game with my son.

SLU hit a few shots early and led most of the first quarter, but UC's press got to them and forced some turnovers so it was tied at 13 to end the quarter. SLU then shot well in the second quarter and put up 21 points to take a 34-27 lead into the half. It could've been more but UC made a layup and blocked a Flowers shot to end the half. SLU's shooting stats fell off in the third quarter, when they couldn't get anything going offensively and UC closed the gap again. SLU actually went down one after failing to score for the first five minutes and Rice hit a huge 3-pointer. UC kept missing layups after that, SLU strung a few makes together, and ended the quarter up 2. It was back-and-forth in the fourth quarter and UC took a one-point lead again with under 8 minutes to go but didn't score again for over 4 more minutes. Clark drew a foul and went 1-2, we made a few subs, UC missed a couple shots, and finally Kent hit a huge 3-pointer relatively early in the shot clock to put the Bills up by 6. After that, it was a matter of making FTs and they made their last 8. UC couldn't buy a bucket at the other end and that was that.

The teams looked evenly matched talent-wise. Harbison is clearly the best player on SLU and Miller was UC's dynamic guard. Clark has a tendency to disappear for stretches but she got it done from the line and hit a few baskets. Martinez is going to be good - she's well-rounded, has good size, doesn't look like a freshman. She makes some risky plays that she probably got away with in HS but led to a few turnovers yesterday. Rice is their Jimerson but really small and doesn't do much else other than roam the perimeter looking for a shot. But she catches high and releases quick. Kent made some clutch plays.

As for our bigs, Flowers is fine, for those asking. She's just raw. She's so long and lean. She doesn't necessarily get shoved around but she still has a lot to learn positionally at both ends. Wasn't in position all the time for defensive rebounds (and still had 10!) and couldn't get clean looks offensively. I didn't think our defensive rebounding was great overall, but neither was UC's - SLU had 14 offensive boards and UC had 15 - but so many of those 15 by UC should've been SLU boards that they weren't in place for. A third of UC's points came on second chances. Wilken is sound but slow and methodical. The most well-rounded of the bunch is Smith-Traore. She's new to the team this year after sitting last season after transferring from Marquette. She's got a great combination of size, athleticism, and skill. She wound up with 18 rebounds. If we have her and Flowers next to each other for 3 years, we're in great shape.

The rotation was basically 7 - Harbison, Kent, Martinez, Clark, Wilken, Smith-Traore, and Flowers. Hughes and Rice played 7 and 5 minutes, respectively, but it looks like the top 7 is pretty clearly in place.

I really appreciated the consistent, clutch FT shooting. They were shooting right at the band in the second half and looked unfazed. Almost every make was a swish and the misses were close.

The first half FG shooting was good but they turned it over too much. The second half shooting was poor but they were better with the ball and grabbed most of UC's misses, which were abundant. I give SLU's defense credit but UC was also missing wide open looks, with some of their misses bouncing around 2-3 times.

I kept waiting for UC to make their run and they really didn't. It was a tight game. Their shots just weren't falling. It's not common to run into that on the road against a quality opponent, so you take those opportunities where you can.

Great win, and we had fun.

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Just now, billikenfan05 said:

Kent went 5/6 from 3? 
 

I think Traore was probably on crutches. She fell awkwardly in the 3rd 

Thanks. Kent looks like a player early. After today she's averaging 13.7/5 while shooting .560 from the field and .600 from the 3 with 15 attempts. Also 4/4 from the line. Taller guard also at 5'11"

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SLU fell 62-50 at Vandy. The Commodores went on a 17-0 run late first half/early 2nd half to take control of the game. Both teams play a lot of underclassmen. Vandy's coach is squarely on the hot seat this season. SLU shot just 28% (Vandy 45%) and committed 23 turnovers. Kent had 17, Harbison 14. No other SLU player had more than 6. Vandy also had guard scoring but SLU had no answer for 6'5 Mariella Fasoula who finished with 17 and 10.

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15 hours ago, courtside said:

SLU fell 62-50 at Vandy. The Commodores went on a 17-0 run late first half/early 2nd half to take control of the game. Both teams play a lot of underclassmen. Vandy's coach is squarely on the hot seat this season. SLU shot just 28% (Vandy 45%) and committed 23 turnovers. Kent had 17, Harbison 14. No other SLU player had more than 6. Vandy also had guard scoring but SLU had no answer for 6'5 Mariella Fasoula who finished with 17 and 10.

  1. I watched that game on line. They had a stretch where the ball just wouldn't go in and they were getting good looks. Take away one large run and SLU is right there. Rachel Kent is certainly off to an amazing start 14.5/4.5rpg  shooting 53% from the field and blazing 54% from 3 with over five 3's a game taken. 
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13 minutes ago, slufanskip said:
  1. I watched that game on line. They had a stretch where the ball just wouldn't go in and they were getting good looks. Take away one large run and SLU is right there. Rachel Kent is certainly off to an amazing start 14.5/4.5rpg  shooting 53% from the field and blazing 54% from 3 with over five 3's a game taken. 

Yep. Vandy gets a lot from their 5 against smaller teams. Stephanie White was almost fired after last season there after a few out if the norm dreadful seasons. But they are clearly a bit better this year. They have a strong women's hoops history. SLU had strong guard play and a nice game on the boards from Myriama Smith Traore. It wasn't the prettiest of games.

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Lady Bills pick up another win over Colgate this afternoon.  Wilken led with 15 points and 9 boards.  Ciaja had 14 and 5 assists.  Billikens shot it very poorly, 36% but held Colgate to just 31% from the field.  Harbison continues to struggle from the field, 5-16.  Smith-Traore chipped in 9 points and 11 boards.  Flowers had just 11 minutes off the bench.  Like Thatch she is the mystery player for them.  Billikens a solid 5-1 thus far with with an interesting slate of local schools coming up next, @SIUC, home against SEMO, @Mizzou and at home against Illinois St.

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21 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Lady Bills pick up another win over Colgate this afternoon.  Wilken led with 15 points and 9 boards.  Ciaja had 14 and 5 assists.  Billikens shot it very poorly, 36% but held Colgate to just 31% from the field.  Harbison continues to struggle from the field, 5-16.  Smith-Traore chipped in 9 points and 11 boards.  Flowers had just 11 minutes off the bench.  Like Thatch she is the mystery player for them.  Billikens a solid 5-1 thus far with with an interesting slate of local schools coming up next, @SIUC, home against SEMO, @Mizzou and at home against Illinois St.

That looked like a good Colgate team. This women’s team feels a lot like the Majerus teams in that they don’t light the world on fire offensively but man do they shut down on defense..

side note:

Kendra Wilken bringing offensive boards below her waist, power dribbling, taking it back up and getting blocked is enough to make me walk away from the TV.

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