CU vs. UNK

[kate dawg]

Interesting....
UNK came out tough and it was even game....until an 18-2 CU run.
Notables:
Tera Bjorklund is better than advertised. This kid is going to be great. Amber Metoyer is going to be the first freshman since I think Sabrina Scott to see legitimate minutes. I had heard about how impressive she is physically, but words don't do it justice. Randie Wirt continues to be solid off the bench. She backed up Bjorklund for the most part, as well as Scott, who herself had 11 assists and no turnovers. Not bad for a starting power forward. Linda Lappe started. Her numbers don't really reflect her importance to that team. Syreeta Stafford was very good shooting-wise, which isn't really how she's been advertised. Cecily Jones blocked two shots and it was like the ball was shot out of a cannon back towards the floor.

Not so notable: 18 turnovers. They just don't flow through that triangle like they used to. But as they got more comfortable in it, it did get better. Bjorklund gives them a much more aggressive player in the post than she has been. But Ceal has to get better, more confident play out of their guards. And she will...

[mc6821]

I thought that Johns-Richardson and Spencer played well, too. CU definitely has the potential for a great 10 player rotation. Definitely looking forward to the Rice game!

UNK deserves a tip of the hat for playing hard the entire 40 minutes. I wonder how they will fare against UNL next week?

Was a little disappointed with the turnout. Seemed a bit light to me. I hope they post the official attendance number (didn't see it on the initial box score).

[Buffsfan22]

Seems everyone noticed Metoyer's athleticism.

I thought Randi Wirt, Tera and Di stood out.

Wasn't concerned about the guards coming into last nights game. I'm even less concerned now.

Do love watching Sy play D and VJR take it to the hole.

Sy and VJR a combined 7-8 shooting, including 3-3 from deep was a pleasant surprise.

Sabrina had a quiet great game finding Tera.

The to's,, were indeed too many, even for a first game. Also way too many open looks for Nebraska-Kearney.

Mainly though, just stoked basketball is back.

[ChipperF1]

"UNK deserves a tip of the hat for playing hard the entire 40 minutes. I wonder how they will fare against UNL next week?"

Simple. UNK will LOSE

http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/nu.gif Womens Basketball
No whining. No quitting. No BS. Just Basketball.

[unkiemark]

Okay -- I was at the game as well, but I must say that I am not as optimistic as the other posters or Ceal Barry. As has been pointed out in the papers, the defense has a long way to go. Stafford, Johns-Richardson and Amber Metoyer all struggled -- they were getting picked off frequently, thus giving up points.

The other major concern I have at this time is leadership from the point guards. After watching this game as well as one practice it looks like the Buffs are lacking leadership in terms of ball handling and decision making. Although Stafford and VJ scored more than many anticipated, they weren't doing the job in leading the team. Buff fans should be concerned that Barry is shuffling players in and out at the point.

Having pointed out my concerns, I would also say there were some intriguing positives. Metoyer is better than I thought after watching her play at Fairview I was wondering how she would fit in at CU. In HS she was a got to player who, to be honest, seemed to be out of control much of the time. But she seems to be working well in Barry's system. And with Lappe unable to play a lot of minutes, the Buffs need Metoyer at small forward.

One of the most interesting experiments of the night was the teaming of Lappe and freshman Melissa Hobbs in the backcourt. They seemed to mesh okay on offense. Hobbs saw all her minutes in the backcourt last night. It makes me wonder if Ceal is still trying to figure out who is going to step up and backup Kate Fagan.

It appears that the Buffs would be really helped if Lappe were able to play most of her minutes on the backcourt, but with all her injuries it seems that getting more than a few minutes at a time there is unrealistic.



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MarkW