Prior to this game I said there were a few key things we had to do. First and foremost our guards had to be on. We knew Audi would get lots of attention in an attempt to slow her down. Second, we had to do our usual on the rebounding end of things. So....
This was a tale of two halves. Two VERY different halves. In the first quarter we quickly found out what was going to happen for Maryland. For Maryland it was all about outside shooting. Strangely this isn't their normal game. They averaged just over five treys per game. Tonight they would far exceed that in the first half alone. How? A bench player who normally wouldn't put up any treys or maybe make one in a blue moon. Kubek would be Maryland's first half savior as she came out smoking hot. While ISU struggled to get the ball inside to Crooks early and couldn't hit an outside shot if their life depended on it, Kubek would light up the nets. She had drilled three treys in a row before ISU even knew what had happened. The first quarter was incredibly reminiscent of the Texas championship game. By the end of one the sisters were down 33-20. It wasn't like the ladies were shooting bad. The sisters were hitting about 50%, but Maryland was out of its mind hitting over 80% from deep and 70% overall. It was a blitzkrieg. To make matters worse, Maryland was dominating the boards on both ends of the court.
The second quarter was only slightly better as the ladies started to get the Crooks train running. But everytime the sisters would do something good there was a breakdown on the other end and Maryland would counter. But one thing that wasn't apparent was that Maryland was starting to come down to earth. The stats for the quarter were nearly even across the board. After Maryland worked out to a 20 point lead, the sisters started to make a little dent in it. Personally, my frustration over the mistakes and how hot Maryland was overshadowed the subtlety of how the Cyclone offense was starting to click. When the smoke had cleared after a missed trey attempt by ISU the lead was 52-36...just a 16 point lead. All of a sudden things felt like the game was within reach.
According to Crooks, the halftime speech was essentially "you get to choose how you go out." Well, the ladies decided they weren't going out yet. Right out of the gate we saw one thing change - how our guards were shooting. A Belanger trey opened things up. Initially, Maryland would match some of our effort, but cracks started to appear in their armor. Misses started to add up and the lead would come crashing down quickly with trey after trey filled in with feeds to Crooks. It was a recipe for success and by the end of the third - one of complete dominance by the sisters - the score was 66 all. Yes, that was a 30-14 quarter by the sisters as they shot over 60% from the field and nailed four treys. Both teams were looking tired, but you could see the additional energy in the sisters' huddle. They were feeling it.
Sellars for Maryland would pick up her fourth foul and one would think that would be advantage Cyclones. Frese took a gamble and didn't have her on the bench long. She couldn't. And Sellars would show why she was an All Big Ten selection. She literally willed Maryland to stay in this game. The outside shooting had died off (20% in the 3rd and 16% in the 4th) and it was Sellar's work inside that helped Maryland try to keep up. But she was fighting an uphill battle all the way. Crooks was showing she was completely unstoppable no matter what Maryland threw at her. The only thing that kept her from scoring was an errant pass. Add to that our bench really made a difference. Diew had perhaps the best game she's had since mid-season and Joens...well...she was just Joens. The ladies could have iced the game earlier than they did, but they struggled at the free throw line. Brown and Ryan both missed one and Crooks missed several. A couple of makes here and there would have made the lead insurmountable. But in the end it was Ryan who salted it away at the line making it impossible for Maryland to stage any kind of comeback. The ladies had mounted the second largest comeback in NCAA tournament history (20 points) winning 93-86. The ladies outscored Maryland 57-34 in the second half.
Observations
POG - have to start here. The unstoppable force - Audi Crooks - ate Maryland for lunch. She netted 40 points on 18-20 shooting and pulled down 12 boards. Many of those rebounds were in the second half. She even fed the ball for a couple of assists. Truly a monster game. One of the best things was a tweet from Aliyah Boston where she said, "This tweet is simply an Audi Crooks appreciation tweet pure dominance this game." That sums it all up.
Ryan - the announcers talked about her being a coach. Well, she showed why she is the leader of this team. Yes, there were times she seemed to dribble too much. I put that on other players as much as her. Sometimes there just wasn't any movement...especially in the first half. Ryan had an excellent well rounded game shooting 50% from the floor overall and a perfect 3-3 from deep. Then she added in a measly (ha!) 14 assists. Those started in the second quarter and exploded in the second half.
Belanger - she played like the iron lady tonight. She took a beating and just kept going. Actually, she looked like she was just more and more determined each time she took a blow. Each one of her three treys were daggers.
Brown - our frosh had another rough outing offensively. Yes, she pulled down 7 boards and had 6 assists, but toss in 4 turnovers (a few of which were real head scratchers) and 2-8 shooting (o for from deep). She never quits, but I hope she finds her shot for the next game.
AJ - Didn't play as much as I thought she would in this one. Perhaps it was the size disadvantage. Three boards and a foul were all she had to show in the stat line. Don't expect that to be the norm.
Joens - what can you say about her. She is flying around the court all the time. She plays defense. She can hit the big shot. She rebounds. Just an energizer bunny who is also cool as a cucumber out there. Ten points, three boards and two assists on 22 minutes of play. Her play dictated getting all of those minutes.
Bristow - this was a strange one for her. Seemed out of sync on the court and this limited her playing time. Six minutes with one turnover. Just seemed flustered.
Natabou - It became clear early that she wasn't going to be the answer and Crooks had to be in there for ISU to mount a threat. Only two minutes in this one. When the train is running you don't stop it.
Diew - I saved her for last for a reason. She's really had a rough time in the second half of the season. Today was her best game in a long time. She started hitting some shots. Had a nice steal for a lay in. Seven points, 2 boards and 3 assists. Very nicely done. Then add in she was scrappy on defense.
Free throws - normally this is a sister's forte. We know they've struggled some this year. But 16 of 24 (66%) is just bad. Those missed shots could have iced the game or cost it. That needs cleared up. Especially when the other team is hitting over 80% of their attempts.
Rebounds - I mentioned this one earlier. At the half we were down 16-14 (after a 4-10 first). The second half saw the sisters dominate the boards 22-9. Key stat for ISU success all year.
Treys - What a tale of halves. The first half was just ugly from deep as the ladies clanked their way to a 2-10 mark. The second half? Completely different. These were quick daggers that changed the entire game. The ladies hit 7-12. That's some home cooking there.
Assists - here we go with another key stat. Twenty-Six assists on 34 made shots. Holy cow. As usual, Ryan led the way, but Brown also does a stupendous job of distributing the ball.
Food for thought. At one point Maryland led 50-30. That's huge for nearly any team. But as we've seen before this team DOES NOT GIVE UP. If you've paid attention to their game opening video the last words are "never give up." This team doesn't. Not to anyone. Maryland led for 67% of the game. Didn't matter. What does matter is this group believes in each other. They credit each other for success. They love playing together and they love the game of basketball. That by itself makes it worth watching this team. Next up....
This was a tale of two halves. Two VERY different halves. In the first quarter we quickly found out what was going to happen for Maryland. For Maryland it was all about outside shooting. Strangely this isn't their normal game. They averaged just over five treys per game. Tonight they would far exceed that in the first half alone. How? A bench player who normally wouldn't put up any treys or maybe make one in a blue moon. Kubek would be Maryland's first half savior as she came out smoking hot. While ISU struggled to get the ball inside to Crooks early and couldn't hit an outside shot if their life depended on it, Kubek would light up the nets. She had drilled three treys in a row before ISU even knew what had happened. The first quarter was incredibly reminiscent of the Texas championship game. By the end of one the sisters were down 33-20. It wasn't like the ladies were shooting bad. The sisters were hitting about 50%, but Maryland was out of its mind hitting over 80% from deep and 70% overall. It was a blitzkrieg. To make matters worse, Maryland was dominating the boards on both ends of the court.
The second quarter was only slightly better as the ladies started to get the Crooks train running. But everytime the sisters would do something good there was a breakdown on the other end and Maryland would counter. But one thing that wasn't apparent was that Maryland was starting to come down to earth. The stats for the quarter were nearly even across the board. After Maryland worked out to a 20 point lead, the sisters started to make a little dent in it. Personally, my frustration over the mistakes and how hot Maryland was overshadowed the subtlety of how the Cyclone offense was starting to click. When the smoke had cleared after a missed trey attempt by ISU the lead was 52-36...just a 16 point lead. All of a sudden things felt like the game was within reach.
According to Crooks, the halftime speech was essentially "you get to choose how you go out." Well, the ladies decided they weren't going out yet. Right out of the gate we saw one thing change - how our guards were shooting. A Belanger trey opened things up. Initially, Maryland would match some of our effort, but cracks started to appear in their armor. Misses started to add up and the lead would come crashing down quickly with trey after trey filled in with feeds to Crooks. It was a recipe for success and by the end of the third - one of complete dominance by the sisters - the score was 66 all. Yes, that was a 30-14 quarter by the sisters as they shot over 60% from the field and nailed four treys. Both teams were looking tired, but you could see the additional energy in the sisters' huddle. They were feeling it.
Sellars for Maryland would pick up her fourth foul and one would think that would be advantage Cyclones. Frese took a gamble and didn't have her on the bench long. She couldn't. And Sellars would show why she was an All Big Ten selection. She literally willed Maryland to stay in this game. The outside shooting had died off (20% in the 3rd and 16% in the 4th) and it was Sellar's work inside that helped Maryland try to keep up. But she was fighting an uphill battle all the way. Crooks was showing she was completely unstoppable no matter what Maryland threw at her. The only thing that kept her from scoring was an errant pass. Add to that our bench really made a difference. Diew had perhaps the best game she's had since mid-season and Joens...well...she was just Joens. The ladies could have iced the game earlier than they did, but they struggled at the free throw line. Brown and Ryan both missed one and Crooks missed several. A couple of makes here and there would have made the lead insurmountable. But in the end it was Ryan who salted it away at the line making it impossible for Maryland to stage any kind of comeback. The ladies had mounted the second largest comeback in NCAA tournament history (20 points) winning 93-86. The ladies outscored Maryland 57-34 in the second half.
Observations
POG - have to start here. The unstoppable force - Audi Crooks - ate Maryland for lunch. She netted 40 points on 18-20 shooting and pulled down 12 boards. Many of those rebounds were in the second half. She even fed the ball for a couple of assists. Truly a monster game. One of the best things was a tweet from Aliyah Boston where she said, "This tweet is simply an Audi Crooks appreciation tweet pure dominance this game." That sums it all up.
Ryan - the announcers talked about her being a coach. Well, she showed why she is the leader of this team. Yes, there were times she seemed to dribble too much. I put that on other players as much as her. Sometimes there just wasn't any movement...especially in the first half. Ryan had an excellent well rounded game shooting 50% from the floor overall and a perfect 3-3 from deep. Then she added in a measly (ha!) 14 assists. Those started in the second quarter and exploded in the second half.
Belanger - she played like the iron lady tonight. She took a beating and just kept going. Actually, she looked like she was just more and more determined each time she took a blow. Each one of her three treys were daggers.
Brown - our frosh had another rough outing offensively. Yes, she pulled down 7 boards and had 6 assists, but toss in 4 turnovers (a few of which were real head scratchers) and 2-8 shooting (o for from deep). She never quits, but I hope she finds her shot for the next game.
AJ - Didn't play as much as I thought she would in this one. Perhaps it was the size disadvantage. Three boards and a foul were all she had to show in the stat line. Don't expect that to be the norm.
Joens - what can you say about her. She is flying around the court all the time. She plays defense. She can hit the big shot. She rebounds. Just an energizer bunny who is also cool as a cucumber out there. Ten points, three boards and two assists on 22 minutes of play. Her play dictated getting all of those minutes.
Bristow - this was a strange one for her. Seemed out of sync on the court and this limited her playing time. Six minutes with one turnover. Just seemed flustered.
Natabou - It became clear early that she wasn't going to be the answer and Crooks had to be in there for ISU to mount a threat. Only two minutes in this one. When the train is running you don't stop it.
Diew - I saved her for last for a reason. She's really had a rough time in the second half of the season. Today was her best game in a long time. She started hitting some shots. Had a nice steal for a lay in. Seven points, 2 boards and 3 assists. Very nicely done. Then add in she was scrappy on defense.
Free throws - normally this is a sister's forte. We know they've struggled some this year. But 16 of 24 (66%) is just bad. Those missed shots could have iced the game or cost it. That needs cleared up. Especially when the other team is hitting over 80% of their attempts.
Rebounds - I mentioned this one earlier. At the half we were down 16-14 (after a 4-10 first). The second half saw the sisters dominate the boards 22-9. Key stat for ISU success all year.
Treys - What a tale of halves. The first half was just ugly from deep as the ladies clanked their way to a 2-10 mark. The second half? Completely different. These were quick daggers that changed the entire game. The ladies hit 7-12. That's some home cooking there.
Assists - here we go with another key stat. Twenty-Six assists on 34 made shots. Holy cow. As usual, Ryan led the way, but Brown also does a stupendous job of distributing the ball.
Food for thought. At one point Maryland led 50-30. That's huge for nearly any team. But as we've seen before this team DOES NOT GIVE UP. If you've paid attention to their game opening video the last words are "never give up." This team doesn't. Not to anyone. Maryland led for 67% of the game. Didn't matter. What does matter is this group believes in each other. They credit each other for success. They love playing together and they love the game of basketball. That by itself makes it worth watching this team. Next up....
