With the victory over St Peter's this afternoon (81-65), Tony Bozzella's team finishes undefeated at home in the non-conference schedule for three straight years. It was not quite a trap game against a dangerous opponent, but it was a workmanlike kind of game where it took a quarter and a half for the team to get out of bed and dressed for battle (noon-time games are like that).
Jordan Molyneaux had earned the first sub into the game through hard work and success so far, but she got two quick fouls and did not get fully into the game the rest of the way.
Very solid bench work from Jordan Mosley and Latecia Smith in particular gave the starters the oomph needed. Additional solid minutes came from Taylor Byrne. Martha Kuderer earned a chance to come in earlier, but was not much of a factor - although she did something I passionately adore - closely followed the easy runout that was MISSED, rebounded and got fouled and drained both free throws.
It seemed like a short bench was the order of the day today, I would have to defer to coach for what the reasons were for keeping the starters working (perhaps it's the drop and give me fifty pushups for not showing up to the game kind of theory).
St Peter's had a lot of shorter but very stocky players who undercut, elbowed and pushed non-stop - it got a bit dirty under the rim rather regularly. This seemed to cause a disadvantage to our bigs, so Tony run a number of three-guard sets (Kena, Aleesha and TT), which seemed to mitigate this unusual advantage.
Kena Richardson was off at first but clawed her way back with a solid game. Aleesha put the team on her back for stretches. Flashes of really strong play from Tab and Tiff helped build up a decent buffer for the win. Bird played her average - losing some balls and gaining some through grit.
The standout "extra spark" of the game for me was TT Smith - in the third and fourth quarters, her legs had huge spring in them and she was flying around and past everyone on the floor. Solid hands, solid court vision, she will blossom tremendously for us.
A bonus for me was spending time with Kena Richardson's mom at halftime - a terrific lady and we both share the same view on what is important for these women playing this game - that they become leaders in what they do in life.
Jordan Molyneaux had earned the first sub into the game through hard work and success so far, but she got two quick fouls and did not get fully into the game the rest of the way.
Very solid bench work from Jordan Mosley and Latecia Smith in particular gave the starters the oomph needed. Additional solid minutes came from Taylor Byrne. Martha Kuderer earned a chance to come in earlier, but was not much of a factor - although she did something I passionately adore - closely followed the easy runout that was MISSED, rebounded and got fouled and drained both free throws.
It seemed like a short bench was the order of the day today, I would have to defer to coach for what the reasons were for keeping the starters working (perhaps it's the drop and give me fifty pushups for not showing up to the game kind of theory).
St Peter's had a lot of shorter but very stocky players who undercut, elbowed and pushed non-stop - it got a bit dirty under the rim rather regularly. This seemed to cause a disadvantage to our bigs, so Tony run a number of three-guard sets (Kena, Aleesha and TT), which seemed to mitigate this unusual advantage.
Kena Richardson was off at first but clawed her way back with a solid game. Aleesha put the team on her back for stretches. Flashes of really strong play from Tab and Tiff helped build up a decent buffer for the win. Bird played her average - losing some balls and gaining some through grit.
The standout "extra spark" of the game for me was TT Smith - in the third and fourth quarters, her legs had huge spring in them and she was flying around and past everyone on the floor. Solid hands, solid court vision, she will blossom tremendously for us.
A bonus for me was spending time with Kena Richardson's mom at halftime - a terrific lady and we both share the same view on what is important for these women playing this game - that they become leaders in what they do in life.
