The Nova women opened the season in fine fashion at the Minnesota Best Buy Tournament today by putting up lots of points and denying the Jackrabbits many good scoring opportunities.
Nova came out strong in the first eight minutes, putting up 19 points, but after a three ball at the 12:30 mark by SDU, we only led by 19-15. From there it was a total wipeout, with the Wildcats outscoring the opposition by a 29-8 margin to take a 44-25 margin into the lockerroom. Scoring came from threes, inside feeds a even a couple of fast breaks (really!). The defense completely stifled SDU for the last 12 minutes of the half. Sweeney had 16 by halftime and finished with 23 I think.
The second half started a little sloppy for Nova with a few poor passes, missed shots and poor shot selection for the first seven minutes. After letting SDU get the lead down to 13, a few quick buckets built the lead back up to 20 and Harry was able to get everyone in the game by the end. Sweeney led all scorers and looks fully recovered from her broken hand.
Harry went with a complete new five after the first media timeout, including the first action for Caroline Coyer and Kauvanna Edwards. Coyer saw quite a bit of action and scored her first career points in the first half, Edwards got hers as the game wound down. Harry has redshirted Coyer's sister Katherine, Kendell Burton and Brandi Teague.
Almost 100 friends and family of Heather Vulin attended and led the Nova cheering section, just about equalling the number of fans that SDU brought in. Minnesota struggled to beat a poor Washington team in the first game, taking three overtimes to do so. Hopefully they are good and tired for the 1 p.m. CST start tomorrow for the championship. There was about 4,500 in the house for the first game so the Nova fans will be outnumbered in that one.
I believe we outrebounded them (really!) and had a number of blocked shots. Probably a bit more turnovers than Harry would have liked. More info to come as soon as boxscore becomes available.
Added Notes -
SDU had won 19 straight season openers prior to their loss today. They have made the NCAA tournament all four years since fully becoming Division 1 status.
Sweeney scored 24 on 10 of 13 shooting and cleared 6 boards. Nova won the rebound battle by 2. Kane hit 3 of 5 threes to finish with 13 points (5 of 7 overall). Taylor Holeman had four boards and 3 blocks in only 13 minutes. Leer had 7 points and two blocks in 14 minutes. Team had 19 assists and 11 turnovers with 6 total blocks and 12 steals. The defense caused 18 turnovers and limited SDU to 34% shooting.
In the opening game, Minnesota really looked sluggish and could not put Washington away. Almost all of their scoring came from two players - the sophomore guard who was Big 10 frosh of the year last year (34 points) and a forward with 29 points. If we can shut them down we should be able to come home with another tournament championship.
This post was edited on 11/10 10:27 PM by tpenter
This post was edited on 11/10 10:28 PM by tpenter
Nova came out strong in the first eight minutes, putting up 19 points, but after a three ball at the 12:30 mark by SDU, we only led by 19-15. From there it was a total wipeout, with the Wildcats outscoring the opposition by a 29-8 margin to take a 44-25 margin into the lockerroom. Scoring came from threes, inside feeds a even a couple of fast breaks (really!). The defense completely stifled SDU for the last 12 minutes of the half. Sweeney had 16 by halftime and finished with 23 I think.
The second half started a little sloppy for Nova with a few poor passes, missed shots and poor shot selection for the first seven minutes. After letting SDU get the lead down to 13, a few quick buckets built the lead back up to 20 and Harry was able to get everyone in the game by the end. Sweeney led all scorers and looks fully recovered from her broken hand.
Harry went with a complete new five after the first media timeout, including the first action for Caroline Coyer and Kauvanna Edwards. Coyer saw quite a bit of action and scored her first career points in the first half, Edwards got hers as the game wound down. Harry has redshirted Coyer's sister Katherine, Kendell Burton and Brandi Teague.
Almost 100 friends and family of Heather Vulin attended and led the Nova cheering section, just about equalling the number of fans that SDU brought in. Minnesota struggled to beat a poor Washington team in the first game, taking three overtimes to do so. Hopefully they are good and tired for the 1 p.m. CST start tomorrow for the championship. There was about 4,500 in the house for the first game so the Nova fans will be outnumbered in that one.
I believe we outrebounded them (really!) and had a number of blocked shots. Probably a bit more turnovers than Harry would have liked. More info to come as soon as boxscore becomes available.
Added Notes -
SDU had won 19 straight season openers prior to their loss today. They have made the NCAA tournament all four years since fully becoming Division 1 status.
Sweeney scored 24 on 10 of 13 shooting and cleared 6 boards. Nova won the rebound battle by 2. Kane hit 3 of 5 threes to finish with 13 points (5 of 7 overall). Taylor Holeman had four boards and 3 blocks in only 13 minutes. Leer had 7 points and two blocks in 14 minutes. Team had 19 assists and 11 turnovers with 6 total blocks and 12 steals. The defense caused 18 turnovers and limited SDU to 34% shooting.
In the opening game, Minnesota really looked sluggish and could not put Washington away. Almost all of their scoring came from two players - the sophomore guard who was Big 10 frosh of the year last year (34 points) and a forward with 29 points. If we can shut them down we should be able to come home with another tournament championship.
This post was edited on 11/10 10:27 PM by tpenter
This post was edited on 11/10 10:28 PM by tpenter