Twister Sister Summary - North Dakota no match for the Clones

Just got home from Ames and what a beautiful day it was! The women picked up where the football team left off last night by dominating an overmatched North Dakota team 73-34. The score wouldn’t have been that close if it weren’t for a inordinate number of turnovers and ND getting several baskets in the last few minutes against the deepest parts of our bench.

The first half was something different for this season. Coach had challenged the ladies to come out faster and harder. The previous games we had seen illustrated a team that was slow to catch fire. Not this time. Moody was back managing the reins and I have to say…something seems different about her. She wasn’t a big scorer and she definitely had some crazy passes. But, there was this intangible maturity about her. I can’t even tell you what made me feel this way, but watching her you could tell she wasn’t the raw freshman of last year. There was a sense of calm to her I think. The team was playing hard at both ends holding North Dakota (did you know they don’t have a mascot?) scoreless for the first five minutes of the game while stretching the lead easily to double digits. The ladies continued the onslaught throughout by playing stifling defense and scoring often enough. Pop struggled a little bit on the offensive side, but everyone else picked up the slack. The big problem? Turnovers. 16 at the half. That’s more than Coach Fennelly wants in a game. Can imagine that was a hot topic at half time. Sometimes those turnovers were from our young guards pushing too hard and sometimes it was a result of ND’s quickness. I have to give them credit…they were pesky on defense. Their little guards were fast and did a pretty fair job of going after balls. Another plus for the lady clones was their inside dominance. We had a decided height advantage that led to a 3-1 rebound advantage at the half. The result of this outpouring of team ball was a 41-15 halftime lead. If only we hadn’t been so generous with all those turnovers. Even more encouraging was that Pop spent most of the half on the bench with 2 fouls (no the fouls weren’t encouraging). Our inside game didn’t even blink as Prins and Hal played lights out on the offensive end. You’ll read about Williamson’s contributions later. The closing play of the half is worth mentioning. ND had the ball and a chance to get one of their few baskets. Our defense clamped down and forced a shot clock violation at the buzzer. Very nicely done ladies!

The second half was more of the same as the lead continued to stretch. We were able to see many of the other players come in and gain playing time in a wide variety of lineups. You can see the ladies in red are beginning to get used to each other’s gifts and talents. It didn’t matter who was leading the team at the point…Moody, Emiah, or others…they moved the ball well and found the open player. Perhaps the best overall play of the second half was when the ball was passed in to a waiting Anna Prins who quickly…very quickly fed the ball back out to the top of the key to Williamson who just as quickly found Emiah on the side for an open 3 pointer. Unselfish ball played the way its supposed to be. The last five minutes of the game slowed down considerably as our reserves struggled with ball control and overall it was just plain messy on both sides.

So who did what? I have to start off with my player of the game – Brynn Williamson. She had, as Coach Fennelly described, her best game in a Cyclone uniform. She was perfect in five attempts from deep. Add to that seven boards and five assists. Fantastic game. Stats only say so much. She was hustling her butt off to grab those rebounds. Her three pointers weren’t just set shots. She was moving and picking her spot to put it up. And as described above, she was finding open teammates. My observation of Brynn is that she is trimmer this year. She is moving better. She reminds me of a cat out there. She exudes confidence in her shot.

In a close runner up position was Anna Prins. She was diving to the floor after balls. She was hitting the shots she was supposed to hit as she hit 5-6 shots in the key. This is the type of offense we want to see from her. Jump shots, lay ins, and hook shots. She was having fun and I hope it continues.

Moody was having a tough night as she had only one basket but added 8 assists but committed 6 turnovers. Some of the passes were the right idea, but executed with a little too much added to them. Fortunately it appears we have someone who can not only spell her, but do it quite well. Emiah shifted to the “two” position which means scoring is the order of the day. She filled that roll quite well hitting for 16 points. When Moody was on the bench getting rested, Emiah did a great job of leading the team although she committed 4 of those nasty turnovers. EVERYONE on the team committed a turnover except Hagedorn. Not a good thing to share ladies!

There can’t be a write-up without mentioning Pop. The heart and soul of our team. She was held (by the coaches) to a 20 minute appearance and put in a workmanlike 8 points and 8 boards. What I enjoyed the most were a couple of her rebounds. When you contest a rebound playing against Pop…especially if you try to reach in for a ball she has possession of…you are risking having an arm removed. She is ready to take whatever part of you that gets close to the ball and make you wish you hadn’t tried. Always brings a smile to my face. We have one other player who does the same thing – Ellis. In limited minutes she pulled in a couple of boards that could have physically altered her opponent.

Finally, there was Hal. She is playing a tough 4 position and made some great moves to the hoop today. Many of her points were at point blank range simply because she hustled to the hoop and one of our guards would find her for a quick two. She also gets credit for the best move to the hoop today (Emiah was a close second). She twisted underneath to avoid a defender for a nice lay-in. Only video could show the beauty of her move.

After the game Coach Fennelly called it a weirdly fun game. Lots of good play by our ladies, lots of hustle plays, lots of bodies on the ground flying after loose balls, lots of excitement. The turnovers need to be cleaned up and in a hurry. There is a trip to the Bahamas coming up this week with a much higher level of competition. My wish for the week is that Brynn and Anna continue where they left off. Moody had a nice handful of assists that could have been much higher without a few errant passes. Considering (as Coach Fennelly described this as her “exhibition” game) this was her first game out, she played quite well. Pop will be Pop and Hal will continue to use her speed inside. The ride is quickly becoming rather enjoyable. Hopefully everyone will hop on and join us next home game against Drake.

You can call North Dakota the Fighting Sioux, just don't let the NCAA know........

Cous,

Thanks for the great write up. I was thrilled to see Brynn's shooting (and defensive) performance. Boy, would it be GREAT to be able to count on her 3-point shooting in every game (reminded me of Kelsy Bolte. Although Moody had too many turnovers, I, too, saw some maturity over last year. And, Bingley - I'm hoping what we've seen is only a glimpse of things unseen - it's been a while since we've had a guard that can drive to the hole - yes, she's been/ended up in some out of controls situations, but I've seen improvement game by game.

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Originally Posted by CycloneBob

Cous,

Thanks for the great write up. I was thrilled to see Brynn's shooting (and defensive) performance. Boy, would it be GREAT to be able to count on her 3-point shooting in every game (reminded me of Kelsy Bolte. Although Moody had too many turnovers, I, too, saw some maturity over last year. And, Bingley - I'm hoping what we've seen is only a glimpse of things unseen - it's been a while since we've had a guard that can drive to the hole - yes, she's been/ended up in some out of controls situations, but I've seen improvement game by game.

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One diff I see between Brynn and Kelsey...Brynn moves better. Until her senior year Bolt was a spot shooter. Brynn is already beyond that.

Good write-up, although I think a lot more credit needs to go to Emiah. I was really impressed by the progess she made with her drives to the basket this game. Last game, she was picking up her dribble too soon, and getting stuck under the basket with no where to go. Today, she finished those drives 4 or 5 times and got the buckets.

Brynn was on fire. Great shooting from the outside and great energy.

One additional comment...Baier...big body, moves ok...but has to work on her hands and strength. Clearly reminds me of Prins when she arrived on the scene. Nice to see her get minutes, but there is work to be done. Looking forward to see her develop.

Nice write up.

I was happy to see Baier get playing time. It was an interesting game to watch. Can't wait to see this team against good competition. I thought they improved greatly on defense from the previous games. They started the game playing hard defense which allowed them to get off to a good start. They still need to improve, but they definitely have talent.

I, unfortunately, wasn't able to make it to the game today, but it sounds like I missed a fun one.

Prins was very smooth today. I have never seen Brin play so well, if she continues improving in this way throughout her career, she could be a mighty fine player. In general, the team was really good. They took really good defensive pressure in the beginning and acted very mature in overcoming it. We have much to be excited about at ISU.

Just got done watching the replay of today's game. I counted 21 times an Iowa State player hit the floor going after the ball. Also, I totally agree with acoustic. Poppens always seems to have such impressive rebounds. Two different times in the game she was fighting for a rebound with a North Dakota player and they ended up on the ground. She just never gives up. I also saw a similar rebound by Kidd later in the game. In fact, Molly said, "I thought she ripped it away Chelsea Poppens style."

It was a fun game to watch. While there's always so much to improve on, there's also some great things coming from this team.

Just like there are sometimes "good" fouls that come from hustle plays, a few of the turnovers might be called "good" in this game. Of course, there were too many, and some were just bad passes and mistakes. But, some were also the result of an offense trying to do some creative things. This was the perfect game to experiment a little. The guards are quick, they can pass, and the bigs are willing to run the floor. A great combination for some additional scoring this year!

Concise summary for those who like concise: average Big 12 team whips terrible low major team.

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Originally Posted by cydney

Just like there are sometimes "good" fouls that come from hustle plays, a few of the turnovers might be called "good" in this game. Of course, there were too many, and some were just bad passes and mistakes. But, some were also the result of an offense trying to do some creative things. This was the perfect game to experiment a little. The guards are quick, they can pass, and the bigs are willing to run the floor. A great combination for some additional scoring this year!

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anyone else catch that Anna had the lead on a breakaway for a layup? Definitely impressed with her improved form. It was so cool. Too bad they called that hand checking foul on the ND guard.

She is already playing better than she has in past years. Very nice to see. She appears physically fit and actually seems trimmed down a bit...perhaps lean muscle?