5th loss in 6 games : Marquette 60, Nova 56

[TC Romulus]

Some observations from today's upset loss:

It's kind of amazing to me that Nova only had 5 turnovers, considering the ball kept going through Nova's hands all game long. I guess if you don't have possession, it's not a turnover, but Nova fumbled the ball over and over, and fumbled many rebounding opportunities.

Why does Taylor Holeman shoot so often with her foot on the three point line? If she'd step back just a little, she'd be making three points instead of two.

Lauren Burford had 20 points in a game as recently as January 23. However, since then, she has 5 points, 4 points, 6 points, 0 points and 2 points. In the last 2 games, she has 2 points on 8 shots. What happened?

What happened to Megan Pearson's shooting touch? 0-5 versus Notre Dame, 0-5 today. How about trying to get Megan Pearson some layups underneath, instead of just shooting three-pointers?

Harry has gone to the Twin Towers defense in the last two games, a move which I supported earlier in the season, but unfortunately, opposing players seem to either just drive right by the Twin Towers or make mid-range jump shots. Is this because Sweeney and Leer are not used to being on the court at the same time?

Ever since they started telling Nova fans to stand up at the beginning of the game until Nova scores, Nova always gets outscored by 4-0 at the beginning of the game. It seems to me that asking fans to stand until Nova scores puts unnecessary pressure on Nova. Marquette went up 4-0 at the beginning and won by 4. Notre Dame started out 4-0 and won by 7.

Do you think Nova seemed overconfident coming off their 7 point loss to #2 Note Dame and Marquette's 57 point loss to #3 Connecticut?
This post was edited on 2/10 11:39 PM by TC Romulus

 

[tpenter]

TC - some good observations about the game. Some of us thought either Holman or Leer should have been in there at the end when Sweeney was gassed and we lost about five rebounds in a row, finally allowing a three ball after getting a defensive stop but unable to corral a rebound. We just seemed to wait for the balls to come to us rather than go after them. Final stats for the game - we had four offensive rebounds. They had three on that single play.

The team has usually been able to hold on to the ball pretty well, but the inability to pull in rebounds and loose balls costs us, and the inability to score for long stretches of time kind of negates that fact that we don't turn the ball over much. After scoring 38 in the first half (and giving up 36), we could only muster 18 points in the second half, hitting only six total shots and going 0-12 on threes.

Overconfidence, not a chance. I think the losses to Providence and Rutgers, and the close games with Cincinnati and Penn kind of let us know we were on the edge and could lose to anyone in unimaginable ways. If anything, I think a lack of confidence may have hurt us in the Marquette game. We were looking for people to step up in the second half and not much happened.

We commented on Holman's shooting approach also as she seems to set up outside the line but takes that little step as she hitches her shot up and we get a two instead of a three. I'm just glad she regained her shotting touch after a tough end to last year and the beginning of this year. I still expect a lot from her in the future.

The loss to Marquette in a must-win game puts the team on the ropes for the NCAA. This is a good group of mostlyh senior kids that I really would have liked to experience the NCAA, but I honestly think we need four wins in the final six games and at least one win in the BE tournament to be even considered to be on the bubble. A tough road with the schedule we have coming up. An absolute must win at Seton Hall Wednseday and then on to Georgetown on Saturday.

WIth regard to standing until the opening basket - never liked it. I have seen UConn and Tennessee play in regionals and final fours quite a few times, and on more than one occasion have seen those teams go many minutes without scoring and the fans start to get really antsy, and I am sure that the teams do feel some extra pressure the longer it goes on. It also irritates the people sitting behind those standing that would rather sit and watch the game. We actually held UConn scoreless for almost three minutes a few years ago and after a Gino time out and several stoppages of play for fouls, most of the UConn fans were sitting down.

 

[needatobaby]

Loved both obsevations. I didn't consider it an "upset" loss. Just thought it was one we could have, and should have one. We lack the killer instinct. Mostly on defense. I would like to see a few hard fouls every now and then. We also don't go to the line enough. I don't know what the stat is but I would like to know how many fouls we have a game. It is a real nice team, and I would love to see Sweeney and Roberts go to the NCAA.