WBB at Maui Invitational

[Bobcat4Ever]

I think maybe I’ll swing by the South Kihei Community Park gymnasium and catch some of today’s game.

Should be able to get a seat. Give us a few live reports?

I’m not exactly an expert on the game (I was a wrestler). But yep, good seats. Sitting with most of the parents that made the trip.
In my uneducated opinion, the Cats are just a bit cold on the shooting right now. Look more athletic than UNR for sure. Didn’t do a very good job on the defensive boards, giving UNR too many second chances. Nice little momentum run to end the half. Up 25-23

Thanks! Wrestling skills could come in handy. Your take is what I’m getting watching from Nevada (expat Bobcat). Some good shots that won’t drop. Nevada looks reasonably quick for their size, seem to be cutting off some of our passing lanes and running us off the 3-point line pretty well. A good test for us.

[MSU01]

Lost by 40 to Stanford last year; we lose by 40 to LSU this year. SO last year we were the Big Sky champs and this year we are the preseason pick to win the Big Sky. It just shows the Grand Canyon of a gap between the talent level of the Big Sky and top programs from other power conferences. I wish there was some kind of "mid level" division that we could play in, like we do in FCS football. Win the Big Sky, men or women, and what is your reward? Go to the NCAA for a 40 point beatdown.

In football when we win a conference title there is great fun and anticipation of going to the FCS playoffs. In basketball it's a sentence to a flogging.

To some extent I agree, but then you see the magical stories like Butler making the national championship game two years in a row, George Mason in the Final 4, UMBC taking down #1 Virginia, St. Peter's last year beating Kentucky and then going all the way to the Elite 8. Of course, those are all from the men's tournament - I feel like the gap in talent between the handful of power programs and the rest of the field is a lot wider in the women's game than it is with the men's game.

[nevadacat]

Great win for the Cats! Second half was much better and ball movement opened up some good shots. 64-43 win. Now, they get a loooong rest.

[4Mare]

[BelgradeBobcat]

Big 64-43 win against Nevada. Another win over a Mountain West team-always a good thing. I think we had a 7 point lead going into the 4th quarter. They didn't try to sit on that lead. They stayed aggressive and ran away from them. Defense was really impressive. Great trip for the team-hope they can get away and have some fun before coming back.

[MSU01]

Nice win heading into conference play! The Big Sky looks really good this year, it's going to be a fun season to watch (hooray for ESPN+ from here on out). No easy start for MSU with Idaho and EWU on the road the first weekend.

[BobcatDel]

Lost by 40 to Stanford last year; we lose by 40 to LSU this year. SO last year we were the Big Sky champs and this year we are the preseason pick to win the Big Sky. It just shows the Grand Canyon of a gap between the talent level of the Big Sky and top programs from other power conferences. I wish there was some kind of "mid level" division that we could play in, like we do in FCS football. Win the Big Sky, men or women, and what is your reward? Go to the NCAA for a 40 point beatdown.

In football when we win a conference title there is great fun and anticipation of going to the FCS playoffs. In basketball it's a sentence to a flogging.

To some extent I agree, but then you see the magical stories like Butler making the national championship game two years in a row, George Mason in the Final 4, UMBC taking down #1 Virginia, St. Peter's last year beating Kentucky and then going all the way to the Elite 8. Of course, those are all from the men's tournament - I feel like the gap in talent between the handful of power programs and the rest of the field is a lot wider in the women's game than it is with the men's game.

Then you have South Dakota going to the Sweet 16 and South Dakota State winning the WNIT for women last year. There are Cinderella stories out there just not every year.

[BobcatDel]

Big 64-43 win against Nevada. Another win over a Mountain West team-always a good thing. I think we had a 7 point lead going into the 4th quarter. They didn't try to sit on that lead. They stayed aggressive and ran away from them. Defense was really impressive. Great trip for the team-hope they can get away and have some fun before coming back.

Boy a long way to go though if we want to be an upper echelon club. Yes a 19 point win but should have been 30. We still don’t have anyone who wants to control the boards and the middle although second half was better. And 22 turnovers just doesn’t cut it….really looked sloppy at times.

Fun trip for the kids. They deserve trips like this. They work hard and playing more up level teams helps build confidence and skill.

[Catlady]

I like the attitude of this team! Great win!

[BobcatDel]

Watching the last few games, I sure like the “burst of energy” we seem to infuse into the game when we put Deden, Jackson and Beasley into the game. Phillips sure is good as a freshman on D, she just needs to settle in on O and that will come as the game slows down for her. Others have commented on that in other threads but I have just finally been able to see a few games in a row and guess I am concurring!

[tdub]

It was obvious there that the Lady Cats depth and athleticism eventually overwhelmed UNR once a few shots started falling. I’m really glad I went to the game. They were fun to watch. It happened to be a really rainy day here and I’m not sure I would’ve convinced anybody to leave the beach if the weather was nice.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Nevada hung with Oregon State for a long time last night, losing 96-84. Both teams were a little out of gas tonight, but our depth was superior — and kudos to our defense for holding Nevada to 43 points!!

[Bobcat4Ever]

It was obvious there that the Lady Cats depth and athleticism eventually overwhelmed UNR once a few shots started falling. I’m really glad I went to the game. They were fun to watch. It happened to be a really rainy day here and I’m not sure I would’ve convinced anybody to leave the beach if the weather was nice.

Thanks, again. Glad you were able to get there and enjoyed our team. They are a great bunch of kids and the talent level just gets better every year.

[arvcat2]

Watching the last few games, I sure like the “burst of energy” we seem to infuse into the game when we put Deden, Jackson and Beasley into the game. Phillips sure is good as a freshman on D, she just needs to settle in on O and that will come as the game slows down for her. Others have commented on that in other threads but I have just finally been able to see a few games in a row and guess I am concurring!

Her name is spelled Philip, and she’s got to be the fastest player on the team.

Your girl Grace was named to the all-tournament team. Very impressive, especially considering the competition and she’s not a starter:

https://twitter.com/MSUBobcatsWBB/statu ... uTlsUsAAAA

[nevadacat]

Watching the last few games, I sure like the “burst of energy” we seem to infuse into the game when we put Deden, Jackson and Beasley into the game. Phillips sure is good as a freshman on D, she just needs to settle in on O and that will come as the game slows down for her. Others have commented on that in other threads but I have just finally been able to see a few games in a row and guess I am concurring!

Her name is spelled Philip, and she’s got to be the fastest player on the team.

Your girl Grace was named to the all-tournament team. Very impressive, especially considering the competition and she’s not a starter:

https://twitter.com/MSUBobcatsWBB/statu ... uTlsUsAAAA

I’d like to see Philip in a race with Jackson. There was a fast break where a UNR player was just about at about half court with a good two step lead on Madison Jackson, but Jackson had her cut off by the free throw line.

[tetoncat]

Lost by 40 to Stanford last year; we lose by 40 to LSU this year. SO last year we were the Big Sky champs and this year we are the preseason pick to win the Big Sky. It just shows the Grand Canyon of a gap between the talent level of the Big Sky and top programs from other power conferences. I wish there was some kind of "mid level" division that we could play in, like we do in FCS football. Win the Big Sky, men or women, and what is your reward? Go to the NCAA for a 40 point beatdown.

In football when we win a conference title there is great fun and anticipation of going to the FCS playoffs. In basketball it's a sentence to a flogging.

To some extent I agree, but then you see the magical stories like Butler making the national championship game two years in a row, George Mason in the Final 4, UMBC taking down #1 Virginia, St. Peter's last year beating Kentucky and then going all the way to the Elite 8. Of course, those are all from the men's tournament - I feel like the gap in talent between the handful of power programs and the rest of the field is a lot wider in the women's game than it is with the men's game.

Womens game seems like there is a top 8, another 10 that can sneak into that occasionally and everyone else. Much larger gap than The men's. But if you look at LSU scores this year, goodness. Thay avg 94.75 and give up 50.75. So we did better on both. They have played a pretty easy schedule, but beat Oregon State yesterday 87-55. They were 7-3 coming in losing to ranked Iowa, Oregon, and unranked Duke.

[BobcatDel]

Watching the last few games, I sure like the “burst of energy” we seem to infuse into the game when we put Deden, Jackson and Beasley into the game. Phillips sure is good as a freshman on D, she just needs to settle in on O and that will come as the game slows down for her. Others have commented on that in other threads but I have just finally been able to see a few games in a row and guess I am concurring!

Her name is spelled Philip, and she’s got to be the fastest player on the team.

Your girl Grace was named to the all-tournament team. Very impressive, especially considering the competition and she’s not a starter:

https://twitter.com/MSUBobcatsWBB/statu ... uTlsUsAAAA

Yep…missed that on Dylan spelling.

Well I can’t claim anything on Gracie other than what I saw and the potential. But as you noted coming in off the bench she is a real contributor. A real burst of energy on both D and O and fearless against any competition. For those who may not have noticed in her role coming off the bench, she leads the team in FG % at 49% (just looking at those who have shot more than 40 times, she is shooting at 37.5% from the arc, she is 3rd in scoring and steals, she is shooting 87% from the free throw line, 4th in rebounds and 2nd in assist.

Now Gracie’s biggest problem to date is she plays a bit out of control at times which results in too many turnovers and makes some unnecessary fouls. But just to remind you this is her first time playing in game situations in nearly TWO years. She transferred to Washington in 2020 and redshirted with an injury so did not compete in the 20-21 season, she did not play in the 21-22 season after transferring to MSU and then starting school in January 22. So I only see more upside with her as she melds with the team and she matures on the court.

And I still say this is the best defensive and offensive guard group I have seen….in White, Beattie, Beasley, and Limardo.

Edit: and before someone jumps on me…yes I know Limardo is “technically” a forward. Just on D they put her out front at times because of her length and defensive attributes…so I pool her in the group because of their overall defensive strength. I think KJ leads the team in steals too or is very close behind Darian. I’ll need to check that. And one could argue about inserting Dylan into the defensive group but I’ll wait until I see more of her.

[BelgradeBobcat]

Now Gracie’s biggest problem to date is she plays a bit out of control at times which results in too many turnovers and makes some unnecessary fouls. But just to remind you this is her first time playing in game situations in nearly TWO years. She transferred to Washington in 2020 and redshirted with an injury so did not compete in the 20-21 season, she did not play in the 21-22 season after transferring to MSU and then starting school in January 22. So I only see more upside with her as she melds with the team and she matures on the court.

That is a great observation. I think we're starting to see the rust wear off. She's a heck of a player. Beasley and White in together at crunch time has been a thing and it's starting to work very well.

[aucat]

Lost by 40 to Stanford last year; we lose by 40 to LSU this year. SO last year we were the Big Sky champs and this year we are the preseason pick to win the Big Sky. It just shows the Grand Canyon of a gap between the talent level of the Big Sky and top programs from other power conferences. I wish there was some kind of "mid level" division that we could play in, like we do in FCS football. Win the Big Sky, men or women, and what is your reward? Go to the NCAA for a 40 point beatdown.

In football when we win a conference title there is great fun and anticipation of going to the FCS playoffs. In basketball it's a sentence to a flogging.

To some extent I agree, but then you see the magical stories like Butler making the national championship game two years in a row, George Mason in the Final 4, UMBC taking down #1 Virginia, St. Peter's last year beating Kentucky and then going all the way to the Elite 8. Of course, those are all from the men's tournament - I feel like the gap in talent between the handful of power programs and the rest of the field is a lot wider in the women's game than it is with the men's game.

Then you have South Dakota going to the Sweet 16 and South Dakota State winning the WNIT for women last year. There are Cinderella stories out there just not every year.

Last year I sort of expected Stanford to beat our women like they did, because I knew they had so much strength in the post compared to the Lady Cats; but I have to say that I was shocked that our men's team was so noncompetitive against Texas Tech. We lost 97-62. I agree that we do indeed have cinderella stories in the NCAA (though rarely with the women) but it has been quite some time since the Big Sky has done anything. I recall Weber having a really good team several years ago, and then of course if we go back far enough our team across the hill made a few splashes. But in recent years it's been tough.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

Lost by 40 to Stanford last year; we lose by 40 to LSU this year. SO last year we were the Big Sky champs and this year we are the preseason pick to win the Big Sky. It just shows the Grand Canyon of a gap between the talent level of the Big Sky and top programs from other power conferences. I wish there was some kind of "mid level" division that we could play in, like we do in FCS football. Win the Big Sky, men or women, and what is your reward? Go to the NCAA for a 40 point beatdown.

In football when we win a conference title there is great fun and anticipation of going to the FCS playoffs. In basketball it's a sentence to a flogging.

To some extent I agree, but then you see the magical stories like Butler making the national championship game two years in a row, George Mason in the Final 4, UMBC taking down #1 Virginia, St. Peter's last year beating Kentucky and then going all the way to the Elite 8. Of course, those are all from the men's tournament - I feel like the gap in talent between the handful of power programs and the rest of the field is a lot wider in the women's game than it is with the men's game.

Womens game seems like there is a top 8, another 10 that can sneak into that occasionally and everyone else. Much larger gap than The men's. But if you look at LSU scores this year, goodness. Thay avg 94.75 and give up 50.75. So we did better on both. They have played a pretty easy schedule, but beat Oregon State yesterday 87-55. They were 7-3 coming in losing to ranked Iowa, Oregon, and unranked Duke.

I read an article some years ago that said WBB players self-sort to a much greater degree than the men do. The best recruits all tend to go to the top program to play for the best coaches. In MBB players are somewhat more likely to be swayed to go to a lower tier team with the promise of early playing time or because the coach was the first to recognize his talent. As a result, talent tends to concentrate at the top of the WBB rankings, and the top teams have more blowout wins and fewer upset losses.

I don't know if that's still the case, but it sounds like it.