Sooner defeat SFA Ladyjacks 77-55...

[YCN]

as Maria Villarroel continues her hot streak by scoring 27, Theresa Schuknecht scores 20, and Dionnah Jackson tosses in 16.

The Ladyjacks brought the margin down almost to single digits in the second half before the Sooners ratcheted up the intensity to expand the margin to 22 at the end.

While a win is a win, I don't think that Coach Coale is going to be very pleased with the overall performance, as the Sooners has an awful 29 turnovers and only shot 46% against an outmatched team.

The Sooners are entering a stretch where they play only 5 games in the next 4 weeks, so there will be a lot of work done on ball management and shot selection.

There was a scare tonight when Jackson came down wrong on her knee, and promptly left the court for the locker room with OU's trainer for treatment. She returned to the bench shortly thereafter, and it appears that the injury - thankfully - was minor.

Lots of work for this team to do.

[This message has been edited by YCN (edited 12-05-2002).]

[schooner2]

I had to stay home for this game, but I watched it on TV and got to hear Stacey Dales-Schumann provide color on the broadcast. Was good to see her on TV and she did an excellent job.

I came away from the game with a very positive feeling about OU. This team has really surprised me. The first 12 minutes of the game were outstanding for OU as they raced out to a 28-9 lead. Everything was clicking and OU forced a very uptempo style of play. Maria was on fire. She has Caufield-esque moves to the basket and she finishes them very well. Hence her nickname "finish". I've seen her play several times and I still can't get over how fast she is. I think we've all seen athletes that are so fast they just seem to move around twice as fast as everyone else while doing it effortlessly. That is Maria. On one play, OU stole the ball but had some trouble maintaining control of it. So 3 SFA players were able to get down the court ahead of the entire OU team. While Dionnah was trying to get control of the ball, Maria took off straight for the basket. And although the SFA players had about a 20 foot jump on her while Maria was at mid-court, Maria beat them to the basket. Dionnah fed her the ball and it was an easy layup.

If OU can continue to get Maria, Dionnah, and Teresa to click like they did tonight - OU will be a very good team - I'm thinking a Top 15 team. What OU will battle all year is their youthfulness which rears its ugly head when they simply lose focus for stretches of play. Just like they did tonight when they let a 23 point lead shrink to 13 in the 2nd half. But when they needed to, they just put on the jets again and the lead ballooned back to 22.

Hopefully though, beyond these 3 players, OU can develop some consistency. It's lacking though. Still waiting for Welch to come along and really start contributing offensively. Defensively she is pretty good. Seems to take at least 1 charge every game.

No real consistency from anyone else - Simon, Andrews, Preston.

And Wadsworth didn't play at all - that I saw. I wonder what is up with that. Don't know if they are trying to bring her along slowly cuz of the injury or what. With her talent, would think she should be getting much more playing time.

I like this team a lot. They are already showing good chemistry - especially between Maria, Jackson, and Teresa.

[35TangoTango]

This is my first take on the game - my view from the stands. I'll be interested to watch my tape and see what Stacey had to say.


I thought the game was more clinical that inspired - like we have had time to think up some new schemes to cover for the loss of Caton and Erin, and were trying them out.

It is a smoke and mirrors offense: The smoke obviously being Dionnah and Maria, and the mirrors reflecting and directing light away from the weaknesses elsewhere.

What we had a week and two days ago was a balanced offense where virtually every player on the floor was an equal threat to score.

What we have today is (IMHO) the best guard combo in the conference - certainly the fastest! And other players struggling to find roles to contribute.

For all that has been said about Maria, Dionnah is the one who can absolutely take control of a game. Also the chemistry between the two of them is already beginning to look like Caufield/Dales. Very little time in the second half with both of them in the game - almost like it wasn't fair.

Chelsi's shot is still lost somewhere between Plainview and Norman, but at this point, it isn't as important as her ball handling and court sense. Things just go smoother when she's in. I did notice that when they got within 11 points (against mostly subs) in the second half, the only change we made was subbing Chelsi back in. She didn't score herself, except for free throws, but the lead went right back up to twenty.


Good to see Theresa get a double-double. We need a lot more from her. Beky remains something of a project. She needs to break some bad habits (a la Cisti as a freshman), and adjust to the speed of the college game, but it's beginning to happen.

Overall, we are going to take some lumps, particularly early. But this team could go a long way in March.

[YCN]

One thing that I came away impressed with about this team in watching the Tennesssee game was our very obvious athleticism at almost every position on the floor, some of which we lost with the two recent ACL injuries. (Gawd, I hate those things!)

I wouldn't exactly bet my paycheck on it, but it appears to me that OU may have more "talent" than we've ever had on the team, we are just seriously lacking in experience, and the judgement that goes with that.

I'm not sure what is going through Coach Coale's head right now. While I sense that she is trying to get a feel - still - for the chemistry of this team, I get worried when I only see 6-7 players getting significant minutes, as though she is worried that her team won't be seasoned enough for conference play unless she drills down some habits and positive tendencies before January.

I do hope that that Becky Preston gets valuable minutes from now until conference play, because I'm absolutely certain that we are going to need her contribution come February or March. And I have no idea what is going on with Wadsworth, what's up with her playing one minute, making one silly turnover, and then not being seen the rest of the game?

We need Antoinette's athleticism as another buffer against those off games and nights when someone, anyone needs to provide a spark. I view her lack of playing time as indicative of something I'm not privy to about her development, either as a player or as a responsible human being.

I hope I'm wrong.

[swok34]

Wadsworth has been very inconsistent in her playing, she played very, very well in the North Carolina game....don't think she played at all in the Connecticut game; and was the last one off the bench last night. She looked a lot like her first exhibition game, got beat by a defender, fouled her.....

Chaquita Maria was incredible, she and Dionnah have some really good chemistry going on...with the no-look passes....Stacey Dales wowed at those. I like the way Stephanie Simon is playing, she may not be the best athlete at the position she is playing......but she scraps for the ball, grabbed some rebounds, defended very well without fouling. OU's defense last night was very good, except they continue to let a 3-pointer shooter have a wide-open look, as they did in the UConn game.

Beky Preston, she's a freshmen frontcourt player.....and I don't think the expectation was there that she would have a breakout season, at least not until Caton and Erin got hurt...ditto, Casey Walker, who's also a post player sitting with a torn ACL from summer....offensively, I think Preston's doing a pretty good job, though needs to be stronger with the ball and learn to use her body.

What impresses me most about Jackson, Chaquita Maria and I'll throw Welch in this bunch....they know how to use their bodies around the basket to draw the foul on the defender, rather than a charging call......Erin was our most consistent 3-point shooter, and I think they are looking to Welch to maybe pick some of that up. Andrews is a pretty good 3-point shooter, though not as consistent as Erin.

My concern for this team is in mid-January, February; with the freshmen hitting a wall and running out of gas. I'm not sure that Maria has any other speed other than fast, so she may not hit a wall.....Chelsi has played year round for some time now, so she may be ok, too. Andrews and Preston are probably not as adapted to the rigors.

I really like Chelsi, and I've mentioned that before....she may not be getting the points she's accustomed to, but just her presence on the court seems to really make a difference....and, I don't know of any basketball player that shoots to miss http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif She's a good shooter, think maybe she has some mental stuff to work out in that regard.

I've only watched half of the tape of the game, but I like having Stacey doing the commentary, it gives some insight into the kind of coach Coales is and some of her points of emphasis and expectations for her teams. Stacey did a really good job, even included the "wow's and woahs" when someone passed a no-look pass.

Stacey made the comment about Maria that if she developed an outside shot, she would probably be the best college player that Stacey has seen. Maria does shoot from the outside, just not that often and is pretty consistent when she does.....she sure has a funny looking shot, though.

[This message has been edited by swok34 (edited 12-06-2002).]

[labcoatguy]

Before we continue to criticize Chelsi Welch for putting up relatively poor numbers (9 ppg, 3 or 4 rpg), recall that she also averages somewhere around 20 minutes per game. Even if she doesn't improve drastically over the season, if she gets more playing time, opponents will recognize her as a threat.

Beky Preston (from my rival high school in Albuquerque) looks jittery every time she gets in the game. She could be great if shed get into the natural rhythm of the game.

[Jennifer]

Originally posted by labcoatguy:
Before we continue to criticize Chelsi Welch for putting up relatively poor numbers (9 ppg, 3 or 4 rpg), recall that she also averages somewhere around 20 minutes per game.

Hey labcoat, I don't think she's being criticized so much as it being pointed out that her shots just aren't falling. She's shooting: FG--21-59(.356) 3pt--7-23(.304) ft--18-29(.621)in 25.4 minutes through 8 games.

Everything else she does seems to be pretty much right on from what people have said, and if she keeps shooting they'll start falling eventually.