No better way to close down University Hall than with a win! It took us 14 years to get that win, but it felt good to leave the arena last night with a win. The game basically followed our trends from the last few road games. Go down early, rally back to take a halftime lead, then give the halftime lead back, keep it close, do down with 4 minutes to go, call on Crystal to tie the game, play solid defense and then go to OT and take the wind out of their sails. We are now 16-2 on the year, 3-1 in the ACC and 2-0 on the road in the ACC (both at tough places to play). The best part is that we are winning games that last year we probably would have lost. It's nice to have so many weapons at our disposal.
Game Story | Box Score
Positives
Crystal. When it mattered most, Crystal wanted the ball and took over the game in the final minutes and in overtime. Plus she showed enthusiasm, which is something we don't always see out of her.
Harper. I wish she would take people to the hole more often, but she was effective last night in controlling the glass and blocking shots. The boxscore says only 3 but I think she had more and changed the way virginia attacked the lane.
Coleman. She looked hesistant to start, but then she got rolling and showed flashes over her earlier work. She hit the three was necessary, but also drove to the bucket and dished to the open person.
Passing. The first half we did a great job of making that extra pass to get Ashleigh or Marissa an open look.
Defense. Wasn't great the whole game, but when we needed it, the team buckled down and got the stops we needed. Virginia thought they had the game in regulation, our defense told them they were wrong.
Youth. Don't know how many people noticed it, but the 5 players on the court for most of the final 15 minutes were Toliver (FR), Coleman (FR), Harper (basically a FR), Newman (limited playing time SO) and Langhorne (SO). That's very little experience on the court in crunch time and they did what was asked of them.
Negatives
Shay. Her head isn't there right now. She's scared to shoot and is trying to force the action or draw a foul to make an impact on the team. She needs to play within herself and not think too much. We are going to need her to break out of this funk soon.
Fast break. I counted at least 5 missed opportunities on the fast break. 3 of which were settling for quick jumpers with no help and two were off of bad passes. Those should be 10 easy points and with them we don't play overtime.
Toliver's shoot happiness. She's a great shooter and all, but a few times she was throwing up shots early in the possession when it was unnecessary. Maybe it was to please all her fans in attendance.
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