Redbirds in Madtown

[MadBird]

Mrs. MadBird and I will be in attendance tonight at the Kohl Center when the Lady Redbirds take on the Lady Badgers. This is a great chance for a road win v. a Big 10+ team. The Badgers are scuffling and their new coach has yet to light a fire and turn things around. I hope it takes at least one more game. I was able to get Row 4 seats, lower bowl, for $7. If you're on the fence, get in the car and get up here!!

 

[isuquinndog]

Hope they have a good showing. Cheer loud MadBird!

 

[MadBird]

I was all set to start out my post-game message with a "you're welcome", but I forgot to get the Redbirds on board with my plan. So have to start with "I'm sorry". Final score: UW 70 - ISU 60.

The ladies looked "outclassed" today vs. Big 10+ competition, not necessarily in terms of how they played the game, but really in terms of athleticism I guess you'd call it. They don't list weight on the women's rosters, but the Badgers were solid, square-shouldered ladies for the most part, explosive, quick. They went to the glass with strength. Do the ladies get sent to the weight room? If so, we aren't working hard enough, at least not hard enough to take on Big 10+ teams. I'm not sure I've captured it, but if you were there, you couldn't miss it.

We were tied at 6 with 5 minutes left in the first quarter, then down 16-8 with 2 minutes left, and ended the quarter that way. Then 21-10 after the first two minutes of the 2nd quarter, and were down by as much as 16 before cutting the lead to 11 with a Bowers trey at the half-time horn. Played fairly even thru the 3rd quarter, lead between 8 and 12 that whole quarter. Lead grew to 17 with 1:44 left in the game, and we scored the final 7 points to cut it to 10 at the end.

Easy stat to point to was 3's - they were 10-20, we were 5-21. There's 15 points right there. Fouls weren't really a factor, in fact they had more than us. We had 12 TO's, they had 17!

JuJu was the quickest player on the court, but she just couldn't "take control", altho she was our leading scorer, tied with Deanna Wilson. I thought Wilson got used by the Badgers inside, altho, again, she got 16 points and 9 boards, so she was doing something right. Mary Crompton couldn't get her shot going, and I'm sure the size of the Badgers made a difference getting off a clean shot.

Badgers got 12 points and 9 boards from one Hallie Douglass - daughter of former Bears QB Bobby. She's tough. Brooked Schramek from Benet Academy seemed very tough inside, especially early, but only ended up with 9 points and 3 boards.

Kudos to Coach G - with a couple minutes left in the game she subbed in Chloe Van Zeeland from Appleton, Wisconsin. She had a large contingent in attendance, at least based on the applause she got when she went in. She's only played 20 minutes in 5 games, so is not part of the regular rotation. I respect Coach G for giving her a chance in her home state.

As we stood near the only open concession stand before the game, I was surprised at the number of ISU fans who passed me by without giving me the high sign, or sharing a "Go Birds" or something, anything (I was wearing an ISU hat and Redbird sweatshirt). I would guess there might have been a hundred or so ISU fans in attendance, once we got inside the arena, kind of hard to tell since both teams are red and white, but based on the logos I could see. I decided later many of the folks who passed w/o a word might have been Van Zeeland's people from Appleton, who are really Badger fans through and through, but were wearing Redbird gear in support of their girl. I don't know, seemed weird to me.

Badger pep band was sad tonight, altho one has to recognize it's finals, the volleyball team was playing in the final 4 at the same time, etc. Two trombones, one trumpet, one tuba, two drumsets. Oh well, who am I to criticize.

Anyway, that's my report. I don't know that this will end up being one of Coach G's best teams, for whatever reason. I don't see them playing together that well, the pieces aren't fitting together. Maybe things will click at some point. Hope so.

 

[isuquinndog]

Thanks for the report Madbird! Wish they could have pulled it out but like you said, there's a big difference. It's amazing the difference in levels in womans basketball.

I feel like in mens, the top 100 can at least be competitive vs any one. In womans, it's like after the top 25 there is a BIG drop off. And by the time you get to 90-100 and beyond it's not even a fair fight any more.

 

[Redbird82]

They are Big Ten but they were 2-9. Besides losing to Bradley they lost to NJIT and Chicago St. They can’t be that athletic. Something just isn’t clicking this year, after a couple pretty good years they are taking a step back.

 

[MadBird]

They are Big Ten but they were 2-9. Besides losing to Bradley they lost to NJIT and Chicago St. They can’t be that athletic. Something just isn’t clicking this year, after a couple pretty good years they are taking a step back.

Well, I sat in row 4, up close and personal, and the UW ladies were physical specimens, certainly much more "athletic" than our ladies. Trust me. The Badgers were able to get to where they wanted on the court offensively, and ISU wasn't.

I was very surprised we didn't show better. Totally agree UW's record is terrible, and not sure how to explain it. Lost to UWGB, CSU, and NJIT at home, in Madison.

I don't want to call out any player in particular, so won't get too specific. But vs. UW, ISU was 5-21 from 3 pt. range, 8 assists on 25 made baskets. They got off to a terrible start, got down and couldn't climb back into it. Couple bad streaks early and in the 4th Q did them in mostly.

 

[Redbird82]

The one thing I’ve noticed this year is teams shooting the 3 real well against us. Now any given game that can happen, but when it’s most games it’s gotta be on the defense. Which is odd because in the past D is where Gillespie has hung her hat.