OU vs. WVU - Maddie Injured?

[j2d2]

I'm not so high on T'Ona. She seems to turn the ball over as much as she contributes and she still persists on going to the basket among the trees which invariably results in a blocked shot and turnover.She also favors passes into the center which get picked off and the same with her bounce passes.

 

[womenssports]

T'ona made a major difference in the game with her hustle and defense. Several turnovers and several OU defensive rebounds were caused by her tipping the ball out of the hands of WV and picked up by us. She also had a great assist to Gabbi to put us in the lead. Stats do not show the impact she had on the game.
It was a baaaad start; lack of focus, lack of energy, and lack of any rhythm. But you certainly appreciate the effort and the win from the 2nd half (and late second quarter) comeback.

Agree. I just watched the game for the first time at soonersports. They had the video up soon after the game for subscribers. I listened to the game in real time but seeing it made a big difference. Stats don't tell it all. T'ona was in place for rebounds and tipping the ball or getting ball after someone else tipped it. Gioya also played some great defense. Drawing a charge, 5 steals and some tipped balls, one or two which T'ona grabbed. Gioya had 4 fouls but two looked like good fouls to make, can't remember the other two.
Excited to see them both play so well.

 

[womenssports]

It is interesting what the stats keeper saw. I think he gave some of T'Ona's steals to Gioya, and some of Gioya's turnovers to T'Ona. Edwards and Peyton were the keys to our coming back. Gioya helped. But, it was Tiny's defense, and Peyton's timely shooting. It seemed that Tiny must have tipped ten or fifteen balls of which we recovered seven or eight that gave us the opportunity for a comeback.

When you remember what happened against Washington and TCU, it would appear that T'Ona needs to be on the floor when we mount a comeback.

We played WV's game in the first half. We dictated the game in the second. Last year, we let them define the game in Morgantown, but we defined the games in Norman and OKC. Team in control wins.

I only saw two turnovers by Gioya and one was after she stole the ball, which is not unusual for a player and then there was a bad lob pass into the post which she definitely should not have tried She also got five steals plus some tipped balls which T'ona was usually there to grab and get the steal. I think T'ona had a good game and Peyton was huge, but not sure we would have had the opportunity to win without Gioya. She played well at both ends of the court and Sherri said she was the one in the huddle encouraging the other players.

 

[scrybe]

I love Edwards' defensive play and high energy. The kid played a huge role in our second half comeback last night.

But TT is a total liability with the ball in her hands when Sherri is trying to kill the clock late in the game. Edwards, for all her great defensive play prior to the last few minutes of the game minutes, almost singlehandedly allowed the Mountaineers to come back and win the game late. If you DVR'ed the game, go back and watch the last three minutes and you'll see what I mean.

With Maddie unable to play, any dribbling along the top of the key should, in my opinion, have been done by Gabbi.

Still, a great win, and almost every Sooner contributed in one way or another.

 

[sybarite]

If Maddie had not been injured, I doubt that T'Ona would have been in the game with a couple of minutes left and a lead. Behind--yes, ahead--no. T''Ona is not a good free-throw shooter, and she isn't consistent on handling the ball in that type of situation. She is short enough to be easy to trap. She can't throw over it.

In the past two years, we really haven't lost a lead late, like we had the previous two. The last two minutes (or about five with a lead) are Maddie/Peyton time. How many games have we brought Maddie in with a lead, and she has brought the ball up court in the waning moments? She can dribble past the defense, and she can see over a trap if they collapse on her. Usually, she gets fouled. She makes her free throws. We see games in which she has ten or eleven points, seven or eight from the free throw line in the last five minutes. If it isn't Maddie at the line, it is Peyton. Maddie wasn't there last night. So, it was up to T'Ona. That isn't her forte.

Compare this to our Big Twelve tournament game last year. Halftime: WV 32-OU 20. Last year, OU 34-WV 20. Similar? The difference is that WV, with a reputation for coming back, having come back against Tech who had a lead the night before, had Maddie and Peyton handling the press during the second half. I don't think they got within eight. It was ten to fifteen the entire half. No comeback.

 

[scrybe]

If Maddie had not been injured, I doubt that T'Ona would have been in the game with a couple of minutes left and a lead.

Maddie wasn't there last night. So, it was up to T'Ona.

We're in "almost" complete agreement, syb. Only difference, I say it should not have been up to Edwards. I believe Gabbi should have been the one handling the ball late.

 

[tycat947]

We're in "almost" complete agreement, syb. Only difference, I say it should not have been up to Edwards. I believe Gabbi should have been the one handling the ball late.

It seemed to me that T'Ona was in charge of running offense and bringing the ball up the court more than Gabbi last night, and both of them started the game. They both played the same minutes so I'm not sure if that was because of opponent or if Sherri and staff thought that T'Ona had been more successful in last few games. T'Ona seems to make more things happen, a bit more, but also with a price (turnovers - I think she gets playing too fast). I don't really know that Gabbi would have handled the ball better late in the game. They've both had issues at times. I was surprised at basically stalling the ball the last few minutes. It definitely reminded me of what Lon has been doing a little in games lately.

 

[OKUman]

Back from the game with random thoughts:

Those Native American dancers at halftime really put the hex on WVA

We played defense at 33 1/3 rpm in the first half; 78 rpm in the second

Carter is what we needed - a player that could create off the dribble and make the mid-range jumper. Then Stu started channeling her in the third quarter.

I thought we made a tactical error down the stretch trying to run down the clock with ball in Edwards' hands. She'd start to make a move with 9 seconds left, but defense knew she couldn't score herself. I don't think we got any points off that.

I was thinking "Speed kills, and we don't have any". Then came the second half!

I agree on a every point. What a dumb thing to do, try to stall out the last 2:24 of the game. Almost cost them. Glad they held on, lose after al, the hat work would have been a killer.