Details - LaSalle tried to man up Lauraa Sweeney early on with not much weak side help and Nova jumped out to a 20-4 lead, with Sweeney scoring the first six on layups. She poured in a total of 14 during the streak, punctuated by a steal and fast break layup. All of Nova's points were from the paint, the longest about an eight footer by Emily Leer.
LaSalle backed up their defense, leaving open shots from outside that Nova could not convert. LaSalle then got back in the game with a 12-0 run to close to 20-16. A big three from sub Emily Suhey got us back on track, immediately followed by a three from Lindsey Kimmel and two foul shots from Devon Kane to extend to 29-18 with two minutes to go. LaSalle closed to 28-20 and threatened to get close at the half, but a long three by Suhey at the buzzer put us ahead by 31-20 and gave us some breathing room.
LaSalle tried to close to less than eight several times in the second half but two big threes from Suhey, more inside points from Sweeney and Taylor Holeman kept them at bay. Holeman looked pretty comfortable out there today and Suhey had several nice assists for inside baskets to keep things loose.
Sweeney finished with 24 points on 10 of 12 shooting, had 11 boards and should get consideration for Big Five player of the week. Suhey finished with 12 points and three assists on 4 of 6 three point shooting. Holeman bucketed 11 points with increased PT. As a team they played pretty well, especially ball handling and passing. The assist to turnover ratio of 21-6 and six steals was pretty impressive.
However, the outside shooting was terrible. Suhey coming off the bench to stop the bleeding and keeping the defense honest for the balance of the game was key to allowing for continuing inside baskets. Sweeney is putting some pretty impressive numbers and looks like she is ready for the Big East teams coming up such as ------
The game at Providence Wednesday night is key. This is a game we should and need to win to get off to a winning start to the B/E schedule. Unlike last year, we start off with a number of winnable games this year before we hit the UConn, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Louisville part of the schedule. If we do not get off to a good start this year the chance to get 8 or more Big East wins will not be attainable and eight is probably what we would need to have a decent seeding for the B/E tournament or any consideration for an NCAA bid.
The team is now 6-2 with St. Joes at home next Saturday afternoon (come on out!) and then Temple away on the 22nd before the holiday break. Two more non-conference games the last week of December and then the full Big East schedule begins in January.
MONDAY update - Sweeney not only got Big Five player of the week but also picked up the Big East player of the week award.
This post was edited on 12/5 10:33 PM by tpenter
