Women's Basketball 2015-2016

[RS]

Yes there were several mistakes at the end of the game. As I mentioned earlier it was a very physical game on N. Kentucky's part.  Our 6'4 center had been shaken up earlier in what looked like a questionable call on her. She probably might not have been able to come in. However there were two big positives as I see it. We were up by 7 at halftime and fell behind by 3 in the 3rd quarter only to retake and hold on to the lead. Plus ... and this is a big plus VU won the game .... and it was a road win

[IndyValpo]

Yes there were several mistakes at the end of the game. As I mentioned earlier it was a very physical game on N. Kentucky's part.  Our 6'4 center had been shaken up earlier in what looked like a questionable call on her. She probably might not have been able to come in. However there were two big positives as I see it. We were up by 7 at halftime and fell behind by 3 in the 3rd quarter only to retake and hold on to the lead. Plus ... and this is a big plus VU won the game .... and it was a road win

Agreed regardless of anything this is a big win.

[historyman]

Another big win for the Crusader women as they dispatch the Oakland Grizzets 81-66 in a nice conference win. Probably their first real convincing win in conference in a long time. The coaching does seem to be taking hold--finally--as the Crusaders ran their offense, made shots, wore down the Grizzets defense, rebounded well, and actually listened to their coach when it was time to slow down the game. Walker, Franklin, Dean, Hamlet, Schaub, Miller, Lindfors, Thompson and Scott-Thompson all played under control and fulfilled their roles. It would have been nice without the excessive turnovers but the same was true for the dominant men's team too. 

[bbtds]

There is no mention of it here but the VU women lost to Detroit on Thursday, 72-66. They seem to get out to a decent lead that faded as the game went on and finally lost it in the 4th quarter when they were outscored by 4 after being down by 2 after the 3rd quarter. Even though they lost the Crusader women played solidly but couldn't build the big lead that they did on OU in the first quarter--16 points.

[VULB#62]

Too early to tell, but right now the HL play of our ladies is much, much tighter than in the prior few years. Maybe the corner is being turned

[valpotx]

Very good to see.  We barely lose to WSU after leading for a decent portion of the game, and the same with Detroit.  Solid wins against NKU and Oakland, and it looks promising.  Those non-D1 games really helped our ladies fine tune their shooting!

[historyman]

I'm not sure how to interpret this score but it's tough when it seemed this team was turning a corner. In the past the Green Bay women have been very dominant over the rest of the HL.

Valpo   42
UWGB  81

[jack]

Beating GB on their floor was a tall order indeed, but losing the way we did is disheartening. We shot 33% from the floor and 50% from the stripe. Not acceptable. Unfortunately, this isn't what cost us the game. First the possitives:
* We kept up with them on the boards. That's an improvement.
* Our bench outscored their bench. Something to look at.
The obvious dagger was the turnovers. Our turnovers added up to 35 points for them. Our guards are not controlling the ball, nor are they making good decisions with it. It's not just a guard or two. It's all of them. There isn't a guard I saw that looked comfortable trying to run things. Makes one appreciate the leadership and control we had last season. One of these ladies has got to step up and take charge with the ball. It all starts with that.
I think it's time to reassess this team and start putting our best 5 on the floor from the opening tip. Our starting five combined for 10 points. Ten!. This should be a huge "flag" moment for this coaching staff. Against a team like GB, you have to put yourself in the best position to be successful. It's nice to have a strong bench, but when your starting five dig a hole as they did, your asking an awful lot from your bench. Time to mix things up force your starters to compete for playing time. It might just be what they need to get on track. We will have to play much better if we hope to beat the Panthers on their home floor.

[valpotx]

I wouldn't put too much into this loss.  GB is a perennial top 25 team, and will probably be ranked before the regular season finishes.  The top 25 in women's basketball routinely kick the crap out of the other teams, similar to women's soccer.  The difference between the 'haves' and 'have nots' in these two sports is huge. 

[NativeCheesehead]

UWGB has and will continue to be the class of this conference on the women's side. But, to me, a 40 pt loss to a team within your conference is unacceptable.

[valpo4life]

Figured I'd post to say the women got back on the winning track last night beating Cleveland State 66-59. Abby played well with 16 points. Jasmyn was her typical self, finishing with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

[historyman]

Valpo women again collect a conference win by beating a tough shooting Youngstown State team, 65-60. Abby Dean had 21 while Jasmyn Walker had 18. I think the key in the conference wins has been playing good defense and getting solid play from senior Dean. The guards haven't scored a lot of points but they have been playing well by getting the ball into Dean and Walker. It is really nice to see a team that struggled for the last three years under Coach Dorow and the previous coach starting to turn a corner and win conference games when in the past they only won 2 or 3 conference games.

[StlVUFan]

Did anybody notice a vaguely familiar horizon league face on the CSU bench Thursday night?

It took me a while to place the name and school

[KL31NY]

Last time Valpo was .500 or better in Horizon League play this deep into the season was 2008-09 (5-3). Crusaders now 8-11 overall and 4-4 in conference. Playing like that, gotta find more time to watch/listen to this team and chime in on the forum!

[bbtds]

Did anybody notice a vaguely familiar horizon league face on the CSU bench Thursday night?

It took me a while to place the name and school

Beth Couture, the former Butler women's head coach, who was fired amid complaints from players about the culture of the women's program is an asst coach at CSU. She was at Butler 12 years and was fired after the season ended in April 2014. She spent one season, 2014-15, as head coach of a Div.II team in South Carolina.

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/butler/2014/04/23/butler-fires-womens-basketball-coach-beth-couture/8061039/

So now we have Keith Freeman (former Valpo head coach) at Wright State and Beth Couture (former Butler head coach) at Cleveland State. There must be something about coaching women's basketball in the Horizon League that keeps these coaches coming back.

[StlVUFan]

Beth Couture, the former Butler women's head coach

Indeed.  I think it took me the whole game to realize that's where she came from.  I forgot the story about how she got fired.

[IndyValpo]

Tough lost at home vs. UIC.

Jack's concern that we have no idea how to block out killed us down the stretch as we gave up 3-4 offensive rebounds late denying us a better chance. We are definitely better, but....

I will get killed for this but what the heck is Dorow doing in high heeled boots? I will say she has started channeling her inner Ron Hunter as she now is guarding people on the wing like Hunter does.

I always thought Freeman kind of gave up the last couple of years and just sat during games and talked with his assistant. Can't say that now if anything we are getting too much input during games as she even ventures to the baseline to "help" with out of bounds situations.

But we are definitely better.....

[historyman]

Tough lost at home vs. UIC.

Jack's concern that we have no idea how to block out killed us down the stretch as we gave up 3-4 offensive rebounds late denying us a better chance. We are definitely better, but....

I will get killed for this but what the heck is Dorow doing in high heeled boots? I will say she has started channeling her inner Ron Hunter as she now is guarding people on the wing like Hunter does.

I always thought Freeman kind of gave up the last couple of years and just sat during games and talked with his assistant. Can't say that now if anything we are getting too much input during games as she even ventures to the baseline to "help" with out of bounds situations.

But we are definitely better.....

Dorow caught the fact that the scoreboard operator took off 2 points from 44 to 42 immediately and got it corrected to 44.

What killed VU was the tough defense UIC played in the last 5 minutes. From around the 5 minute mark the Crusader women did not score, I believe. You just don't win close games when you don't score for 5 minutes especially at the end of games no matter how well you play defense.

[IndyValpo]

A few random items....

Here is an article with some nice things to say about next year's starting point guard....Maya Meredith

http://usatodayhss.com/2016/hs-girls-basketball-hotshooting-lawrence-north-too-much-for-cathedral

While waiting for the Super Bowl I happened upon some Legends Football League playoff games.  This was formerly the Lingerie Football League. Former Valpo walk-on Heather Furr appears to be a star in this league.

[historyman]

While waiting for the Super Bowl I happened upon some Legends Football League playoff games.  This was formerly the Lingerie Football League. Former Valpo walk-on Heather Furr appears to be a star in this league.

So you just happened upon this league. $5 says you bookmarked the website within 4 seconds of Happening upon it.

[IndyValpo]

While waiting for the Super Bowl I happened upon some Legends Football League playoff games.  This was formerly the Lingerie Football League. Former Valpo walk-on Heather Furr appears to be a star in this league.

So you just happened upon this league. $5 says you bookmarked the website within 4 seconds of Happening upon it.

I will PM you my address and you can send me the $5.

[historyman]

While waiting for the Super Bowl I happened upon some Legends Football League playoff games.  This was formerly the Lingerie Football League. Former Valpo walk-on Heather Furr appears to be a star in this league.

So you just happened upon this league. $5 says you bookmarked the website within 4 seconds of Happening upon it.

I will PM you my address and you can send me the $5.

Bongo Bucks okay?

[IndyValpo]

How do lose by 36 at home and our last two players only play for 2 minutes? Were we afraid we'd lose by 40?  As a former end of the bencher this always bothers me....

Should we magically win the last 3 games this staff will have in four years matched the last three Freeman years of an under 30% winning percentage. That got him fired.  Was Dorow signed for four years when we made the change?  Have we showed enough promise?

[agibson]

Sounds like the snow's interfering with travel plans, tomorrow's game at YSU is supposedly likely to be rescheduled.

(Snow day at the university. Yet the local public schools are in session, the only ones in the region. Maybe three inches so far at my house - heavy, wet stuff. Right across from a school and the plows are starting to fall behind... Ah, just got the early dismissal phone call. But elementary schools dismissing at 2:45?? Half an hour early?)

[ValpoHoops]

YSU didn't want to move games. CSU game is at Quicken Loans Arena, so can't be moved. Looks like Thursday games will move to Monday at both YSU and CSU.