JayBee
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Post by JayBee on Dec 3, 2008 21:45:53 GMT -5
I agree Maxell, Smalley should get a metal for the last 2 games! She has carried a load of playing center without having a sub to give her a much needed break. I wonder when is DeBlanc coming back. She is dressing, but not playing! I guess she's not a 100% yet. I think this would have been a different game if she had been able to play!
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Maxell
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Post by Maxell on Dec 3, 2008 22:04:45 GMT -5
The only thing that separated us from them was that they had more athletes. They weren't better basketball players, just more athletes in their first 8 players. I was surprised how fast top to bottom that first eight were. We shot 48% from the field, 75% from the line, balanced scoring. They were just too fast to pressure. The pace in the first half was crazy.
Again, superior effort ladies!
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Maxell
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Post by Maxell on Dec 3, 2008 22:11:47 GMT -5
It's games like this that makes me ask, "What happened to 6-2 Lonise Coulter from last year's team?" She and Smalley used to tag team the boards and she was only a sophomore.
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Post by Aggie One on Dec 3, 2008 22:23:33 GMT -5
We'll get there in due course. Just keep recruiting hard and dominating the mid major opponents and the break through post players will eventually come here sooner than you think.
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Maxell
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Post by Maxell on Dec 3, 2008 23:16:29 GMT -5
auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/120308aaa.htmlAUBURN - Senior DeWanna Bonner picked up her second double-double of the season as the No. 13 Auburn Tigers (8-0) rolled to a 95-74 victory over the North Carolina A&T Aggies (3-3). In all, four Tigers finished the game in double figures as Bonner was followed by seniors Trevesha Jackson and Sherell Hobbs with 16 each and Whitney Boddie with 10. In all, ten of the 11 Tigers chipped in points for the win. "We knew it was going to be a good game," said Auburn head coach Nell Fortner. "We knew North Carolina A&T was a good team, they shot the ball so well, but luckily so did we. "We couldn't guard them in the first half. They had a hot hand and I don't know that we have come up against a team in a long time that shot the ball that well." North Carolina A&M jumped to a quick 10-3 lead just 1:24 into the first half and held the lead until the 12:42 mark when a jumper from Bonner tied the game at 18-18. The Tigers battled out the remainder of a first half that saw the score tied on five occasions with three lead changes. With 2:50 left in the first half, a three-point play on a layup and a free throw from Bonner put Auburn ahead for good, making the score 39-37. The Tigers took a 45-42 lead into the locker room on 19-of-36 from the field and 17 points from Bonner. In the first half, the Aggies were 17-of-31 from the field and 4-of-8 from behind the arc. After the break, Auburn opened up a quick 11-point lead and never allowed the Aggies back within eight. As the half wore on, so grew an Auburn lead that peaked at the 1:48 mark with a 24-point Auburn advantage. The Tigers converted eight second-half Aggie turnovers into 16 points. "We played a lot more zone in the second half than we did in the first half," said Bonner. "We used our endurance and wore them down. I think that they got tired in the second half and they lost a lot of their power, so we contested their shots a little bit more and took it from there." The Aggies, who forced an average of 25 turnovers per game coming into Wednesday night's meeting, only managed a total of seven from Auburn. The seven turnovers committed was a season-low for the Tigers. "I thought that was a key stat, only committing seven turnovers," said Fortner. "I was very pleased with that because in practice we talked about the importance of taking care of the ball and we have to get better at that every time we step on the court." The hot shooting the Aggies displayed in the first half wore off in the second as N.C. A&T shot 11-of-27 from the field, a 14 percent drop in efficiency from the opening period. "I give Auburn credit," said North Carolina A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. "They did a good job and didn't get away from the game plan. We did a great job in the first half, all we had to do was keep doing what we were doing, but we kind of got away from some things." Four Aggies scored in double-digits led by senior Brittanie Taylor-James with 18 points and nine rebounds. North Carolina A&T finished the game 28-of-58 from the field, 5-of-13 from three-point range and 13-of-17 from the line. Auburn's 95 points marked the fourth time this season the Tigers have passed the 90-point mark, a feat that hasn't happened since the 2003-04 season. Bonner's double-double was her second of the season and the 33rd of her career. The Tigers shot 48.6 percent from the field, knocking down 35-of-72 attempts. Auburn was also 5-of-7 from three-point land with Hobbs and Alli Smalley knocking down two each. AU went to the line 24 times in the game, making good on 20 attempts for an 83.3 three-throw percentage. Auburn improves to 8-0 with the win, marking the 14th time in the team's history it has moved to 8-0 and the second season in a row after the Tigers starting off 9-0 in the 2007-08 season.
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Post by aggiejazz on Dec 4, 2008 8:44:08 GMT -5
One thing I have noticed in all of our programs is our strength and conditioning programs are inferior to a lot of the Division 1 schools.
The Lady Aggies played the same amount of minutes as the Auburn players but the Aggies got tired a lot sooner then the Auburn Tigers as the Auburn player stated in the article. These top programs not only have more talented players - except last night Auburn had just one player the Aggies couldn't matchup - but they are stronger in strength and endurance.
A better strength and conditioning program could definitely propel the women's basketball program into a top 50 program in a couple of years. They are right there at the door as a top 100 program and this season has the potential of making the Aggies a member of the top 100 club.
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Post by thefriscotxaggie on Dec 4, 2008 8:53:05 GMT -5
Aggiejazz I agree but a tough match-up wears you down. it takes alot out of you to bang with some one who is 2-4 inches taller. ECU had a height advantage but they were slow of foot. Auburn had a height advantage and they matched us in quickness. The 6"4 gurad they have is extremely rare in womens b-ball. I watched the game last night and was in awe. Her skills reminded me of Scott Pippen; fortunaly she does not look like him!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by aggiejazz on Dec 4, 2008 9:10:24 GMT -5
We agree but one player shouldn't tire out a whole team or not so soon in the second half. Auburn won the game because they had one player we could not defend one-on-one but the 21-point spread was due to the Aggies wearing down, not due to talent but due to conditioning. Otherwise the Aggies would have lost by 10 points. The Aggies hit a brickwall with about 12 minutes to go in the game.
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Maxell
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Post by Maxell on Dec 4, 2008 10:44:52 GMT -5
The first minute or so of the second half changed the momentum of the game. Auburn went from a three point lead to a nine point lead.
2nd PERIOD Play-by-Play (Page 1) HOME TEAM: Auburn TIME SCORE MAR VISITORS: North Carolina A&T ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 19:38 TURNOVR by COOK,Ta'Wuana GOOD! 3 PTR by Hobbs, Sherell 19:09 48-42 H 6 ASSIST by Boddie, Whitney 19:04 REBOUND (DEF) by Bonner, DeWanna 18:57 MISSED JUMPER by TAYLOR-JAMES,Brittan GOOD! 3 PTR by Bonner, DeWanna 18:47 51-42 H 9
Tweet made a good pass underneath for a sure layup that would have cut the margin to one point, but it was fumbled out of bounds. Auburn answered with a 3-pointer. Taylor-James came down and took a quick three and missed it. Auburn answered again with a 3-pointer. That pushed the margin to nine. The Auburn lead stayed in 7-10 point range until as Aggiejazz mentioned about the 12 minute mark and the ladies hit the wall.
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Post by thefriscotxaggie on Dec 4, 2008 10:55:07 GMT -5
Yea good points that missed lay up change the course of the game. and to think it went from what should have been a 1 point game to a 9 point lead in less than two mintes
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Post by captaggie on Dec 4, 2008 11:34:32 GMT -5
A strategic perspective.
We've played 4 SEC schools (Georgia, SC, Old Miss, AU) in the last 2 years. Generally speaking, their coaches respected us and players didn't. After the first half of all the games, our players "earned" their respect. The SEC schools adjusted by increasing their intensity (after getting chewed out by their coaches).
Our trend is that our second half has never been close to matching the first. To the best of my memory, he haven't had a decent run in the second half of any of these games. As others have mentioned, conditioning, athleticism (competing with opponent's bench depth & quality) game management (conserve energy) coupled with "battlefield respect" seems to be our weakness when playing teams at this level.
All that said, I'm very proud of last night's performance. It exceeded my expectations and I wish I could have been there to support them. I'm also proud that the ladies' program continues to improve.
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Post by Bornthrilla on Dec 4, 2008 11:45:50 GMT -5
Nobody is gonna want to face this team come tournament time.
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Post by captaggie on Dec 4, 2008 11:53:33 GMT -5
I agree Thrilla with one concern. The gains made by playing at this level are difficult to sustain over the course of MEAC conference play. Our ladies played a good game at ECU and immediately followed up with probably the program's best half game performance against a nationally ranked team. Once Jan hits, the competition level is going to drop off significantly.
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Maxell
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Post by Maxell on Dec 4, 2008 12:02:01 GMT -5
Once Jan hits, the competition level is going to drop off significantly. It will drop off in two days. Let's see how they handle it.
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Post by captaggie on Dec 4, 2008 12:07:09 GMT -5
Good point. How they handle it is a test of the program's quality.
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