WBB @ EWU

[MSU01]

It may have been ugly but the Bobcats were on the short end of the scheduling system for this one. They played Thursday and Saturday and then had to travel, whereas EWU did not play a Thursday game and then had a short trip to Idaho for their Saturday game.

Taylee came up 3 steals short of the NCAA record for one game.

I think the reason on the scheduling maybe in advance for Cat/Griz, but I could easily be wrong. All 4 MT based teams played tonight. Not sure if they do that for any other rivalries in the conference, and haven’t bothered to look at any other schedules to see.

I do agree they just looked off. They play with such a high pace, that it’s definitely possible the two day turnaround had an effect. But that is good experience, as post-season is the same way. Coach Bin said in her post game interview the they needed a game like this.

Every team in the conference plays two Monday games but the schedule is inconsistent. MSU plays both of theirs as a third game in a five day period, while NAU plays both of theirs after only having a Saturday game prior. Seems a little unfair but hey, maybe you spin it as a positive and say it's good preparation for the conference tournament when you'll need to win 3 games in 4 days.

[BelgradeBobcat]

We've seen this team lose their offense a couple of times this season. Sounds like they had a tough travel day yesterday with some delays and then two games in their legs. Also, for whatever reason, Eastern plays us tough-they had a big comeback in Bozeman too. Got to figure that out and I think they will. When you're plus 10 on turnovers you should probably win by more than 2. Lady griz got rolled in Moscow-which shows how tough it is to win that third game on a Monday on the road.

[MSU01]

We've seen this team lose their offense a couple of times this season. Sounds like they had a tough travel day yesterday with some delays and then two games in their legs. Also, for whatever reason, Eastern plays us tough-they had a big comeback in Bozeman too. Got to figure that out and I think they will. When you're plus 10 on turnovers you should probably win by more than 2. Lady griz got rolled in Moscow-which shows how tough it is to win that third game on a Monday on the road.

+10 turnovers but -22 on rebounds can't help! I guess the style of defense MSU plays will lead to more offensive rebounding opportunities for the opponents but that's a huge differential.

[BelgradeBobcat]

We've seen this team lose their offense a couple of times this season. Sounds like they had a tough travel day yesterday with some delays and then two games in their legs. Also, for whatever reason, Eastern plays us tough-they had a big comeback in Bozeman too. Got to figure that out and I think they will. When you're plus 10 on turnovers you should probably win by more than 2. Lady griz got rolled in Moscow-which shows how tough it is to win that third game on a Monday on the road.

+10 turnovers but -22 on rebounds can't help! I guess the style of defense MSU plays will lead to more offensive rebounding opportunities for the opponents but that's a huge differential.

Wow that's rough. Also, they need to transition from helter skelter on defense to under control on offense-which is really hard to do-especially for Chirrick who is all gas and no brakes.

[aucat]

It was a quick turnaround game for sure and a very ugly game. But to win an ugly game on the road is what tough teams do.
I feel very confident that the shooting will come back. Got the D going and Taylee was amazing. Now get some rest and get your shooting legs back under you. I think I'll head out to the Chophouse on Tuesday evening to see how the coaches are seeing things at this juncture. Go Cats!

[lutecat]

We've seen this team lose their offense a couple of times this season. Sounds like they had a tough travel day yesterday with some delays and then two games in their legs. Also, for whatever reason, Eastern plays us tough-they had a big comeback in Bozeman too. Got to figure that out and I think they will. When you're plus 10 on turnovers you should probably win by more than 2. Lady griz got rolled in Moscow-which shows how tough it is to win that third game on a Monday on the road.

+10 turnovers but -22 on rebounds can't help! I guess the style of defense MSU plays will lead to more offensive rebounding opportunities for the opponents but that's a huge differential.

Wow that's rough. Also, they need to transition from helter skelter on defense to under control on offense-which is really hard to do-especially for Chirrick who is all gas and no brakes.

Inwas going to say the same. Sometimes in offense she barely looks under control. Against a sharper defensive team like Eastern a couple times it ended in turnovers but she still scored some good points.

Some of the turnovers by us were ugly because they'd just be in transition where the person getting the pass just wasn't expecting it. I can rememeber one where Esme was just about to mid court and she was passed the ball, no defensive pressure yet and it wasn't from that far away. Behind her and she couldn't handle it. But on the other hand if you're tired and running on a ton of adrenaline, those are the things you have to slow yourself down and think. Stay calm.

[4KornerKat]

It may have been ugly but the Bobcats were on the short end of the scheduling system for this one. They played Thursday and Saturday and then had to travel, whereas EWU did not play a Thursday game and then had a short trip to Idaho for their Saturday game.

Taylee came up 3 steals short of the NCAA record for one game.

I think the reason on the scheduling maybe in advance for Cat/Griz, but I could easily be wrong. All 4 MT based teams played tonight. Not sure if they do that for any other rivalries in the conference, and haven’t bothered to look at any other schedules to see.

I do agree they just looked off. They play with such a high pace, that it’s definitely possible the two day turnaround had an effect. But that is good experience, as post-season is the same way. Coach Bin said in her post game interview the they needed a game like this.

Every team in the conference plays two Monday games but the schedule is inconsistent. MSU plays both of theirs as a third game in a five day period, while NAU plays both of theirs after only having a Saturday game prior. Seems a little unfair but hey, maybe you spin it as a positive and say it's good preparation for the conference tournament when you'll need to win 3 games in 4 days.

They do this for the whole conference so that we can have the Cat/Griz doubleheaders, where both Men and Women play at the same location on a single day as the only game of the weekend for each team.

[MSU01]

They do this for the whole conference so that we can have the Cat/Griz doubleheaders, where both Men and Women play at the same location on a single day as the only game of the weekend for each team.

My understanding is that the Monday games were implemented when to get a better TV slot on ESPN they moved up the conference tournament schedule to run from Saturday - Wednesday for both men and women. Having the two Monday games replace a normal Thursday/Saturday weekend allows teams to play their entire conference schedule starting in January instead of having to play one weekend in December like they have in the past. Perhaps they get the teams' input about how they want their Monday games to be scheduled, and maybe MSU and UM would rather have Cat/Griz be their only game that weekend instead of playing it on Saturday and then having a second game Monday against a different opponent. Playing Thursday/Saturday/Monday with Sunday as a travel day has to be pretty exhausting though by the time they get to that third game!

[TomCat88]

It was an incredibly poor 3-pt shooting performance by MSU. Barely 10%. That’s almost difficult to fathom. I’ve seen them play a few games and I’m amazed at how poor some of their shooting techniques are. I’m surprised that they’re at 32.3 on the season.

[MSU01]

Cats hold steady at #60 in the Net Rankings after last night's game. Ranked higher than a bunch of power conference teams. In terms of the Big Sky only NAU is #91 and Idaho is #113, then there's a big drop to Montana at #186. Definitely seems to be a three-team race so far, MSU of course has the advantage right now of being 1-0 so far against both NAU and Idaho. Those two play each other for the first time this Saturday down in Flagstaff.

[BobcatDel]

Cats hold steady at #60 in the Net Rankings after last night's game. Ranked higher than a bunch of power conference teams. In terms of the Big Sky only NAU is #91 and Idaho is #113, then there's a big drop to Montana at #186. Definitely seems to be a three-team race so far, MSU of course has the advantage right now of being 1-0 so far against both NAU and Idaho. Those two play each other for the first time this Saturday down in Flagstaff.

I had mentioned the NET ranking in an earlier thread and I see you reference it in your comment. For the NERD in some of us, here is a hi-level summary of the change to the NET that some might want to read. The best outcome for a team like MSU is that our NET rating would be high enough to draw a game at a neutral site against a more modest seed…just my opinion.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-me ... -explained

[CatRowdy]

I agree with BobcatDel regarding the NCAA tournament. Get a modest seed opponent and get a bit deeper into the bracket. However another scenario would be end up in the WNIT post season and make a deep run into the bracket. Every year I struggle with wanting to win the Big Sky Tournament but being able to go into a mid major tournament.

[MSU01]

I agree with BobcatDel regarding the NCAA tournament. Get a modest seed opponent and get a bit deeper into the bracket. However another scenario would be end up in the WNIT post season and make a deep run into the bracket. Every year I struggle with wanting to win the Big Sky Tournament but being able to go into a mid major tournament.

MSU would seem to be a lock to make the WNIT this year if they lose in Boise. I'll always prefer championships and NCAA appearances but I think it's very true that this MSU team could make a deep run in the NIT. All the freshmen and sophomores they've got playing significant roles are just going to keep improving as the season goes on.

[snarf]

I agree with BobcatDel regarding the NCAA tournament. Get a modest seed opponent and get a bit deeper into the bracket. However another scenario would be end up in the WNIT post season and make a deep run into the bracket. Every year I struggle with wanting to win the Big Sky Tournament but being able to go into a mid major tournament.

MSU would seem to be a lock to make the WNIT this year if they lose in Boise. I'll always prefer championships and NCAA appearances but I think it's very true that this MSU team could make a deep run in the NIT. All the freshmen and sophomores they've got playing significant roles are just going to keep improving as the season goes on.

For clarity, the second tier tournament for women is now the WBIT, which ran its first tournament last year. The WNIT, which is not owned by the NCAA like the the WBIT, is now the third tier tournament.