Virginian Tech play UNC at Cassell on Thursday Jan 24 at 7 PM.
The game is on ACC NE and VT/IMG radio network
UNC is 10-9 overall and 1-4 ACC with a win against Wake Forest at home and losses to FSU at home and Louisville, Syracuse and Miami on the road.
Season Stats:
Stats I think are interesting are highlighted in yellow.
Starters:
#5 Stephanie Watts G 5-11 R-Jr. Shoots well overall(41.6%) and from 3(36.9%). Avg 15.6 ppg.
#1 Taylor Koenen G 6-2 Jr. Shoots 39.5% overall; 32.1% from 3 and 86% FT. Avg 10.2 pts and 7.1 rebounds
#44 Janelle Bailey C 6-4 So. Shoots 47.5% overall; 27.6% from 3 and 75.3% FT. Avg 16.2 pts and 8.6 rebounds
#0 Shayla Bennett G 5-9 Jr. Shoots 37.6% overall; 29.4% from 3 and 76.7% FT. 10.9 points/game.
#22 Paris Kea G 5-9 R-Sr. 42.2% overall; 27.9% from 3 and 79.2% FT. 14 points/game.
Others who have started:
#4 Jocelyn Jones G 6-0 R-So. Started 5 games. 53.4% overall; 66.7% from 3 and 45% FT.
#20 Leah Church G 5-8 So. Started 1 game. 33.3% overall; 34.9% from 3 and 92.3% FT.
30 Jaelynn Murray F 6-2 So. Started 1 game. 43.5% overall; 12.5% from 3 and 63.6% FT.
Random Comments:
UNC will have a height advantage on the Hokies; but this should still be a good chance to get our first ACC win. Good defense on Watts will be key; she has been playing very well against ACC teams.
Some causes for concern:
UNC staged a furious 4th quarter comeback against Miami(16-4. 4-1) last time out that fell just short. They had fallen way behind when Bailey(2018 Freshman of the year) sat out the first half. With Tech's tendency to fade in the second half, we could have real problems.
In their previous game(their only win against WF, 9-9, 0-5), they ran away in the first half and coasted to an easy win. In this game they shot 44.4% from 3 and 45.5% overall. You could argue Wake is not very good; but UNC still played very well.
The Hokies have demonstrated that they can play with anyone for short periods and sometimes for a complete game; but they just don't seem to maintain their concentration at critical times. They have 2 OT losses to ranked teams. And two come from ahead losses, where they gave up a lead late in the game. Let's hope Coach Brooks can convince them to play a full game Thursday.
The Ladies will need to shoot well from outside to open up the lane for Magarity and Baptiste. UNC's height inside will be problem if we can't be efficient. Careless passes and off-balance shots will be costly.
Comments
Were up by 10 at half, got run off the court in the second half. Yikes
Terrible. They can't even beat the bad teams in the conference.
6th straight loss to open up ACC play...I'm no longer impressed by Brooks.
Soft non conference schedules the last two years had me believing they would be competitive in the ACC. I've been fooled twice now.
TIL: if you're tied at the start of the 4th, you can't score 8 to their 20 and win the game. Are you taking notes coach brooks?
VT has a problem, Coaching problem, lack of sound coaching. Plus this team is Not in shape or Strong to handle the ACC teams. I have never seen such a Offense that plays No one Low or in the paint area. Lost on his three point Offense.. Live Or Die by Threes is Not going to win the ACC Games.
I think I'm still willing to give Coach Brooks some time. However, I am very concerned about this team. They seem to fall apart at times during the game.
Good teams know how to get the ball in bounds from under their own basket, especially coming out of a time out. Good teams know how to get the ball up court against a press. Good teams don't make really bad passes on offense. I don't know what kind of offense they are supposed to be running; but it seams to me there is not enough movement; it seems like the players are standing around waiting for something to happen.
There are a lot of good players on this team and a really good recruiting class coming in. I still have hope that they can be competitive in the ACC; but I'm beginning to think this is another NIT team not an NCAA team.