Section9_RowD
Starter
Liberty is 6-2 and beat GMU 74-73 last Sunday. To keep hope of at large big possibilities alive, need to rebound strongly from the Fairfield beating last week. Spiders 75-68.
Game thread - @ Liberty Sat 12/13 2pm ESPN+
- Thread starter Section9_RowD
- Start date
Sounds like this one is going to come down to rebounding and post play which means contributions needed from unfamiliar spots. Need a big game from Simon and Dewey I think.
Spider17
Starter
I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that this game plays a pivotal role in setting the tone and aspirations for the rest of the season.
At 7-3 record with this game and Penn State coming up, going in with 4 losses against Penn State and potentially going into conference play with 5 OOC losses may put us on the outside looking in, in terms of at large. If we beat Liberty, there’s the mindset that a win vs. Penn State will put us in a great position for an at large. Thankfully, A10 WBB has improved this year so there will be more opportunities for marquee wins if we don’t beat Liberty and/or Penn State, but on the flip side that can mean more losses too.
At 7-3 record with this game and Penn State coming up, going in with 4 losses against Penn State and potentially going into conference play with 5 OOC losses may put us on the outside looking in, in terms of at large. If we beat Liberty, there’s the mindset that a win vs. Penn State will put us in a great position for an at large. Thankfully, A10 WBB has improved this year so there will be more opportunities for marquee wins if we don’t beat Liberty and/or Penn State, but on the flip side that can mean more losses too.
PhillySpider
Bench player
Yeah - - - we have basically used up close to all our wiggle room on our at-large chances. No, we don't have to go undefeated the rest of the way, but I feel like maybe we do have to go undefeated in the rest of OOC. Also think we probably need to win regular season A-10 because the Net to get in at-large sits probably right around 40 (maybe even higher) to even be in the convo if you are not a Power 5 school. We are already behind Fairfield in both Net and resume so we already need them to win their auto-bid. 6 losses (plus one in the A-10 tourney) with 3 league losses (4 with a tourney loss) and a first place reg season finish I'd feel like we are in good shape but that feeling goes down a good bit with any more losses than that. Losing to both Liberty and Penn State would be a disaster and pretty much make us auto-bid or bust I think (absent the undefeated conf slate through to finals and then lose).
Didn't get to follow the game live, and it looks like maybe nobody else did either?
Anyway, Spiders win 76–61. Opened up a bit of a lead in the second quarter. Liberty trimmed the lead to a bucket midway through the third, but the Spiders pretty much steadily pulled away after that.
Doogan was the triple leader with 24, 7, and 7, plus 3 steals, a block, and only 2 turnovers. Sweeney with 15 including 3-for-4 beyond the arc, and Persichetti added 10. Off shooting day for Ullstrom, who finished with 6 points but pitched in in other ways with 5 boards and 3 steals.
Only four offensive rebounds for the Spiders as Liberty dominated the boards. But the Spiders shot better from inside the arc and forced 17 turnovers while only committing 9 of their own.
Anyway, Spiders win 76–61. Opened up a bit of a lead in the second quarter. Liberty trimmed the lead to a bucket midway through the third, but the Spiders pretty much steadily pulled away after that.
Doogan was the triple leader with 24, 7, and 7, plus 3 steals, a block, and only 2 turnovers. Sweeney with 15 including 3-for-4 beyond the arc, and Persichetti added 10. Off shooting day for Ullstrom, who finished with 6 points but pitched in in other ways with 5 boards and 3 steals.
Only four offensive rebounds for the Spiders as Liberty dominated the boards. But the Spiders shot better from inside the arc and forced 17 turnovers while only committing 9 of their own.
PhillySpider
Bench player
Solid game for the ladies today. In control the whole way.
We still have some issues and some stuff to clean up. Right now, I don't think Coach has a personnel group of 5 that he knows he wants on the floor at the biggest times etc. The Big 3 are fine, but the offense runs best with Dewey and Persichetti as the other two and the defense runs better with Simon and Newell (and add Wright in for Ally at the same time to get our best defensive grouping). But I sense a little coaching frustration over not being able to just trust one group. We make mistakes on defense and he runs the defensive groupings out there and then we struggle to get the right shots in the right places for folks and he runs the offensive groupings back out there. Our identity is our offense so I think he wants that group to emerge and Dewey and Ava are seeing more minutes, but we played some bad defense for some stretches with that group today (and they got the hook because of it several times ). That included Rachel today who just seemed a little off focus wise today. I know she isnt shooting it as well as she would like to overall, but she needs to be sure the frustration over that doesn't creep into her overall game. I think Coach saw some of that today and he was quick to sit her down and seemed to get on her a good bit, which isn't common for him from the game day bench.
Add rebounding to our "to-do" list as well. I think that's just going to be something we have to really stay focused on and we are going to have to really be a squad where everyone on the floor is contributing to rebounding because we just don't really have a group that has a lot of rebounding "chops". Maggie is solid but she is just extremely focused and extremely high basketball IQ - - she isn't so much a natural rebounder (which we don't have one of outside of maybe Simon). I think this is another reason he likes Ava - - she rebounds a lot from the guard spot and simply seems to have a great feel for where to go when a shot goes up!
But we showed today that we can beat a good team on the road without really playing our best. Need to really stay focused through the rest of OOC.
We still have some issues and some stuff to clean up. Right now, I don't think Coach has a personnel group of 5 that he knows he wants on the floor at the biggest times etc. The Big 3 are fine, but the offense runs best with Dewey and Persichetti as the other two and the defense runs better with Simon and Newell (and add Wright in for Ally at the same time to get our best defensive grouping). But I sense a little coaching frustration over not being able to just trust one group. We make mistakes on defense and he runs the defensive groupings out there and then we struggle to get the right shots in the right places for folks and he runs the offensive groupings back out there. Our identity is our offense so I think he wants that group to emerge and Dewey and Ava are seeing more minutes, but we played some bad defense for some stretches with that group today (and they got the hook because of it several times ). That included Rachel today who just seemed a little off focus wise today. I know she isnt shooting it as well as she would like to overall, but she needs to be sure the frustration over that doesn't creep into her overall game. I think Coach saw some of that today and he was quick to sit her down and seemed to get on her a good bit, which isn't common for him from the game day bench.
Add rebounding to our "to-do" list as well. I think that's just going to be something we have to really stay focused on and we are going to have to really be a squad where everyone on the floor is contributing to rebounding because we just don't really have a group that has a lot of rebounding "chops". Maggie is solid but she is just extremely focused and extremely high basketball IQ - - she isn't so much a natural rebounder (which we don't have one of outside of maybe Simon). I think this is another reason he likes Ava - - she rebounds a lot from the guard spot and simply seems to have a great feel for where to go when a shot goes up!
But we showed today that we can beat a good team on the road without really playing our best. Need to really stay focused through the rest of OOC.
Sections 204and5
Walk-on
Philly - well stated summary IMO. Think about what Budnik provided last year. She was an all league defensive player and offfensively a much better shooter/scorer than either Simon or Dewey. She really was a “best of both worlds “ player. We’re not getting that from the Simon/Dewey combo.
I’m pretty high on Persichetti and really like her scrappiness and energy. I find her rebounding to be a pleasant surprise, but even more so the percentage of her scoring which comes right at the basket. There’s a certain craftiness about her game that’s at a higher level than the typical freshman.
I’m pretty high on Persichetti and really like her scrappiness and energy. I find her rebounding to be a pleasant surprise, but even more so the percentage of her scoring which comes right at the basket. There’s a certain craftiness about her game that’s at a higher level than the typical freshman.
Sections 204and5
Walk-on
Spiders up 5 spots in the NET to number 44 after the Liberty win. Davidson barely ahead of us at 43.
Shows importance of the win
Watched the game on demand and the game was never in doubt. Started off a bit rough on offense, but really got it together in the second half. Were lapses in defense at times, but kept making their shots and didn’t allow Liberty to get any runs going. I am sure Roussell was happy with the low number of turnovers and then forcing a decent number by the Flames. A good game after a break due to exams.
