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View Full Version : BU women step up to Hofstra


Scamp
11-12-2006, 07:50 AM
Limited to just one hour of practice on the day between games, there was only so much that Baylor coach Kim Mulkey could do for today’s 2 p.m. matchup against Hofstra.

“What you have to understand is that this is a new coach,” Mulkey said of first-year Hofstra coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey. “So you don’t know if they’re going to do anything that the old coach did. I do know they have most of their players back, and you can look at that. But then you go out there and find out that they don’t even play the same style anymore.”

While the 19th-ranked Lady Bears are coming off an 84-47 trouncing of North Texas, the Pride’s all-senior starting lineup pulled off a 79-72 win on the road at Wichita State to advance to the second round of the Preseason WNIT.

“Our primary focus is to guard them and what they do,” said Mulkey, who was hoping to get a Webcast copy of Hofstra’s first-round game. “Here’s what this kid does. Here’s how we’re going to guard them. Here’s our game plan. And then turn your attention to what we’ve got to do better. But I can’t do all that (on Saturday).”

One glaring problem in the Lady Bears’ season-opening win was free-throw shooting. They were a dismal 19-of-36 (52.8 percent) from the line, including a combined 1-of-12 by Jhasmin Player, Rachel Allison, Jessica Morrow and Haylee Abbe.

“Eventually, throughout the year, we’re going to just start shooting free throws over and over until we get better at it,” said junior point guard Angela Tisdale.

After struggling out of the gates, Baylor shot 50 percent from the field (32-of-60). Bernice Mosby had her 18th career double-double and first in a Baylor uniform with 15 points and 14 rebounds, while freshman post Danielle Wilson had 14 points, eight rebounds and five blocks.

“It’s kind of like when you tell somebody you struggled on offense and you scored 100 points,” Mulkey said. “They may laugh at you. But we really did struggle. We were trying to force things and do things too quickly instead of just relaxing and letting the game come to them. We were doing everything in fast-forward.”

Hofstra is led by 6-3 senior post Vanessa Gidden, who had 22 points and eight rebounds in the win over Wichita State. Forwards Lizanne Murphy and Lana Harshaw both posted double-doubles, combining for 34 points and 20 rebounds.

If Baylor wins today, the Lady Bears will host a semifinal game at 7 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Monday’s game between No. 4 Stanford and No. 24 BYU.

http://www.wacotrib.com/sports/content/sports/college/2006/11/12/11122006wacladybearadv.htmlHere's a link to Hofstra's pre-game notes/media guide: http://www.hofstra.edu/PDF/sports_wbb_0607notesgametwo.pdf

Scamp
11-12-2006, 04:06 PM
Bernice Mosby had a double-double...in the first half. Does anyone still question the wisdom of Kim Mulkey's recruiting her from Florida?

Baylor was ahead by 31 at one point. Then Hofstra woke up and made a game of it. The youth of the Lady Bears shows under pressure. Playing in the WNIT should be a great learning experience. Tickets for Thursday's game go on sale Monday morning. :cool:

spooky
11-12-2006, 04:32 PM
The first 25 minutes were great, the last 15...not so much. The collapse seemed to be equal parts bad play and lack of intensity on our part, and great shooting and continued hustle from Hofstra. they shot in the mid 20% range in the first half, and over 50% in the 2nd, including 10 of their last 14
I believe.

Positives are Bernice Mosby with 20 pts/17 rebounds, another double-digit block day for the team with 10, including 4 for Danielle Wilson, and free throw shooting was very good down the stretch.

This was a good microcosm of what this early season could be. The first half shows how good this team, and especially the younguns can be if their playing together and inspired, but the team that showed up in the second half could lose to anybody and look bad doing it. I'm betting the first half team will show up a majority of the time.

Scamp
11-13-2006, 06:31 AM
#19 Lady Bears hold off Hofstra

... “I was very pleased with the excitement and enthusiasm we came out with,” said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey. “Our aggressiveness on the boards really set a tone. As good as that was, it was that bad the last seven or eight minutes of the game. A lot of it is focus, fatigue and substitution patterns. We’re playing a lot of people and they need to learn to play together.”

... “They did what they had to do to get back in the game — press, gamble and shoot threes,” Mulkey said. “When you have five seniors, they’re not going to go away — and Hofstra didn’t go away. We’ve got to learn to put teams away. This might have been ugly the last seven or eight minutes, but there’s no such thing as a bad win.”

http://www.wacotrib.com/sports/content/sports/college/2006/11/13/11132006wacladybears.htmlIMHO, I'd like to see Jhasmin Player pass off now and then to another player. She went a mere 1-for-6 yesterday.