IUP Women's Basketball | 2019-20

[IUPTrackMan]

[Golden89]

Gannon was thaaaat close to hosting this weekend.

[IUPalum]

Myers got some redemption but Fink... I cant watch much more of her tonight.

[IUPalum]

Fink and Myers have been atrocious tonight! That is all..,

[CALUPA69]

Though CAL U WBB has given IUP issues almost every year, that problem tends to disappear come post season. Last ten seasons VULCANS are 13-7 in the regular season with 4 Ws @IUP. Post season W @ MFH in 10-11, W @ HAMER in 15-16 and three consecutive loses, neutral site, the last three years. This year's team has zero consistent offense and shouldn't be a major threat. IMO, MBB has a better chance of pulling an upset simply based on the 3 game theory and real offensive strength IF they're on target Wednesday.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Tom got his worst-possible outcome ... Cal is their worst match-up in the entire PSAC.

A win and IUP hosts this weekend.

A loss could be devastating -- and cost Indiana two weekends of women's basketball (and money).

It's going to be quite the double-header tomorrow.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The women won by two things...
1) Alexander scores 20 but 4/17 from three. (The Dante Lombardi stat line) When does Tom pull the plug on her shooting?

2) How the heck do you not adjust on Barnes and key on her??? Horrid!!!

I think Tom took the Lombardi Method of letting Barnes go nuts but shutting everybody else down.

Edinboro got a glamorous call to send that to OT. From there, IUP was lucky to survive the first OT.

Courtney was just a hair off tonight. But, she kept chuckin'

[IUPalum]

The women won by two things...
1) Alexander scores 20 but 4/17 from three. (The Dante Lombardi stat line) When does Tom pull the plug on her shooting?

2) How the heck do you not adjust on Barnes and key on her??? Horrid!!!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Tom blows two big leads but survives in 2 OT

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Tom's the main event tonight inside the KCAC. Edinboro is one of the hottest teams in the region -- winners of 7 of 8. In the Scots' last outing, they clobbered California by 25 points.

After a slow start, Edinboro is 12-6 in the PSAC (3rd in the West) and 14-8 overall. A win tonight would give them a huge NCAA resume boost.

IUP sits at 17-1 in conference play (two games ahead of Gannon) and 22-2 overall. A home loss could wipe out any hopes of hosting the Atlantic Regional.

The Crimson Hawks won the first meeting, 66-63, in McComb Field House. IUP blew a large lead in that game and barely survived an insane 4th quarter Edinboro rally.

Edinboro is led by star guard Michaela Barnes, who is averaging 25 ppg. Fellow guard Bridgett Shafer leads the PSAC with 72 three-pointers. The Fighting Scots are third in offense (74.4 ppg) in the league and second in defense (64.5 ppg).

[CALUPA69]

I have always been a DJ fan. She reminds me, skills wise, of LANA DORAN always working as hard as possible, totally into the STROM METHOD and a joy to watch. If this team had the offense that LD played with, we would be much happier fans.

[Feedoggie]

The game absolutely was bad/awful for both teams last night. And every team has games like that. But there is a way to coach your team through those nights and come out on top. JS has that ability. Based on stats VULCANS WBB should have something close to a .500 record this year but they don't because in twelve games decided by 10 pts or less they are 10-2. They do not have reliable scorers. DJ is never someone I'd want to depend on to win a game. Based on comments after the game, JS apparently had to almost force her to take those shots. That and her demand that everyone play D all the time seems to be the secret. If in those 12 close games, CAL had a .500 mark, you'd be looking at an 11-12 also-ran not a team with an opportunity for a PSAC home game and a scary opponent in subsequent games.

[CALUPA69]

There's also another reality that the PSAC (women's) as a whole isn't real good this year. These Cal and IUP teams would be mopped up by their predecessors. My opinion. After the top 4-5 on the women's side the talent level takes a jump off a cliff.

Agreed. Hopefully CAL U issues have more to do with age/experience (9-16 FR/SO) than raw talent but they certainly would not be playing on the 14/15 to 17/18 teams.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The game absolutely was bad/awful for both teams last night. And every team has games like that. But there is a way to coach your team through those nights and come out on top. JS has that ability. Based on stats VULCANS WBB should have something close to a .500 record this year but they don't because in twelve games decided by 10 pts or less they are 10-2. They do not have reliable scorers. DJ is never someone I'd want to depend on to win a game. Based on comments after the game, JS apparently had to almost force her to take those shots. That and her demand that everyone play D all the time seems to be the secret. If in those 12 close games, CAL had a .500 mark, you'd be looking at an 11-12 also-ran not a team with an opportunity for a PSAC home game and a scary opponent in subsequent games.

There's also another reality that the PSAC (women's) as a whole isn't real good this year. These Cal and IUP teams would be mopped up by their predecessors. My opinion. After the top 4-5 on the women's side the talent level takes a jump off a cliff.

[CALUPA69]

It's hard to come up with any rationale to what Tom did last night. I mean ... any at all.

Cal does get credit. Strom does to Tom what Manchel does to Joe. Discombobulates the heck out of them on the offensive end.

That said ...

Being frank, both teams played awful.

IUP shot 39% (poor) to Cal's 28% (awful) and IUP won the glass by a huge margin 45 to 31 -- and lost. There were long stretches that neither team could hit the side of a barn -- air balls galore, etc.

The Hawks committed a horrendous 21 turnovers -- at least half of which were self-inflicted. The lineup management was the worst I've ever seen by Tom. He was just out of it or something.

Consider Mikayla Lovelace and Maria Cerro haven't played a meaningful minute in weeks (Lovelace really all season) ... and they are both on the floor together in crunch time with 2 minutes left? Really?

The point guard situation is still a mess -- and it's Feb. 13. And, if Justina Mascaro comes off the floor ... pure chaos follows. She picked up two quick fouls last night and all hell broke loose.

IUP shooting 16% from the field in the first quarter didn't help, either.

Maura D'Anna being assigned to cover D.J. Hahn was a total mismatch for Cal -- and they exploited it all night. D'Anna is a classic low-post bruiser ... she's not geared to cover a sharp-shooter on the perimeter. That was beyond odd.

Rajah Fink, who has been one of Tom's best players the past month, was literally nowhere to be found. She played just 6 minutes and was scoreless. Lovelace and Cerro played a combined 33 minutes -- and combined for basically no stats.

Had Cal even shot a modest 43% or so Tom would have been blown out of the building. How they had a chance to win that game with 40 seconds left in itself was a small miracle.

The good news is they won't have to play down there again this year. If they meet for a Round 3, it will either be in the KCAC or the Hammermill. Also, Tom's last two tough games are both at home.

The bad news is that 3-game cushion shrunk -- and they still have Gannon and Edinboro.

Put that film in the trash, regroup and move along.

The game absolutely was bad/awful for both teams last night. And every team has games like that. But there is a way to coach your team through those nights and come out on top. JS has that ability. Based on stats VULCANS WBB should have something close to a .500 record this year but they don't because in twelve games decided by 10 pts or less they are 10-2. They do not have reliable scorers. DJ is never someone I'd want to depend on to win a game. Based on comments after the game, JS apparently had to almost force her to take those shots. That and her demand that everyone play D all the time seems to be the secret. If in those 12 close games, CAL had a .500 mark, you'd be looking at an 11-12 also-ran not a team with an opportunity for a PSAC home game and a scary opponent in subsequent games.