Had a great time at the surprisingly nice McGuirk Arena last evening. It was worth the 70 min drive.
I was surprised that Tiara Murphy was not a starter (Harris, McLaughlin, Keys, Cooper and Oden got the honors.) And we looked like deer in the headlights for the first half (thoughts of last year's fiascoes at Bangor against Maine and Villanova.) We were quickly behind by double digits and NOTHING was falling. McLaughlin looked like the freshman she is and everyone else but Keys seemed off. We were stuck at 8 points for over 5 mins at the end of the lst and into the 2nd quarter. Meanwhile, the Chips were getting every loose ball and dropping 3's from all over. Behind by 11 at the quarter and 12 at the half with the Chip players obviously having a good time at our expense, my wife and I seriously considered leaving for the trip home. But Tiara finally began to make a difference getting her first "3" at just under 5 mins in to go in the half (after missing her first two.)
Were we glad we stayed! What a difference in the second half. Murphy began to bomb one 3 after another and during the 3rd quarter totally dominated play. The Boilers remembered how to play defense and physically they began to dominate. CMU looked flustered and confused. Whatever Versyp told them at half was working incredibly well and when they finally went ahead with 3:24 left in the third they never looked back. Amazing to go from 16 behind a minute into the quarter to 11 ahead by the end of the 3rd. It was an experience I will remember for a long time.
Takeaways for me (based on one half of good baskeball) -- Tiara Murphy will be the heart and soul of our offense. McLaughlin (after the first half) played like an Indiana Miss Basketball and we are so lucky she is not playing at Florida, Michigan or IU. For this being her first game I cannot imagine what she will accomplish in the next four years. But Harris certainly needs help under the basket even though her excellence at shot blocking continues (2 last night but intimidated CMU player's shots.) Hopefully we get the rest of our front court back by the B1G season. The team can play defense when it wants to. And it seems to be conditioned nicely as I felt CMU was completely gassed by the end of the game while Purdue could have kept going.
I hope this is a sign of good things to come as CMU is considered the best WBB team in the MAC.
I was surprised that Tiara Murphy was not a starter (Harris, McLaughlin, Keys, Cooper and Oden got the honors.) And we looked like deer in the headlights for the first half (thoughts of last year's fiascoes at Bangor against Maine and Villanova.) We were quickly behind by double digits and NOTHING was falling. McLaughlin looked like the freshman she is and everyone else but Keys seemed off. We were stuck at 8 points for over 5 mins at the end of the lst and into the 2nd quarter. Meanwhile, the Chips were getting every loose ball and dropping 3's from all over. Behind by 11 at the quarter and 12 at the half with the Chip players obviously having a good time at our expense, my wife and I seriously considered leaving for the trip home. But Tiara finally began to make a difference getting her first "3" at just under 5 mins in to go in the half (after missing her first two.)
Were we glad we stayed! What a difference in the second half. Murphy began to bomb one 3 after another and during the 3rd quarter totally dominated play. The Boilers remembered how to play defense and physically they began to dominate. CMU looked flustered and confused. Whatever Versyp told them at half was working incredibly well and when they finally went ahead with 3:24 left in the third they never looked back. Amazing to go from 16 behind a minute into the quarter to 11 ahead by the end of the 3rd. It was an experience I will remember for a long time.
Takeaways for me (based on one half of good baskeball) -- Tiara Murphy will be the heart and soul of our offense. McLaughlin (after the first half) played like an Indiana Miss Basketball and we are so lucky she is not playing at Florida, Michigan or IU. For this being her first game I cannot imagine what she will accomplish in the next four years. But Harris certainly needs help under the basket even though her excellence at shot blocking continues (2 last night but intimidated CMU player's shots.) Hopefully we get the rest of our front court back by the B1G season. The team can play defense when it wants to. And it seems to be conditioned nicely as I felt CMU was completely gassed by the end of the game while Purdue could have kept going.
I hope this is a sign of good things to come as CMU is considered the best WBB team in the MAC.
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