I was only able to watch about the first 3 quarters but some observations.
The two frosh who played, Burkhall and Carleton, are the real deal. Both BIG girls and both athletic as all get out. Burkhall had a couple nice drives to the basket and also had a couple nice turnaround jump shots from the free throw line. That will be tough to defend if she hits it consistently. I liked the way Burkhall ran the floor too. She reminded me at times of Chelsea Poppens, only maybe a better shooter. She finished with 14 points and 7 boards.
Carleton's long-range shot was off most of the night, but that didn't stop her from leading all scorers with 19 points, mostly on drives to the basket, but she showed a nice mid-range jumper too. She played the most of anybody (36 minutes). None of the other players had more than 26 minutes. She handles the ball well for someone of her size.
They played quite a bit with Buckley sitting on the bench. I guess maybe they didn't want to risk injury to her in an exhibition game. Seanna Johnson was actually running the point some when Buckley sat. I guess it was more of a point guard by committee, but Johnson brought the ball up the floor.
The other player I was really impressed with was Claire Ricketts. I didn't expect to be impressed at all, based on the little bit we saw of her last year. But she's tall and athletic too, ran the floor well, hustled her butt off, scored a bucket and got some rebounds, and looked to be having a blast with a big grin on her face most of the time. She's one of those girls whose contribution might not be as noticeable in the scorebook, but you leave the game thinking she played a big role, both defensively and on the boards (six rebounds in 20 minutes).
Two players never dressed. Tee Tee Starks suffered a slight concussion in practice and didn't suit up. May not for the next exhibition either. Fernstrom never dressed either. Didn't catch what was wrong with her. Kind of disappointed not to get a look at Tee Tee.
The threes weren't falling tonight (4-18) and we got off to a slow start (only led 32-24 at half and it was much closer than that most of the half), but we clamped down on defense in the second half, holding them to just 12 points in the half and won going away 79-36.
The new rules suck. No more one-and-ones. Four 10-minute quarters instead of two 20-minute halves and on the 5th foul of each quarter, two shots are awarded. The fouls reset after each quarter. I think the part that sucks most is no more 1 and 1s. That was a good way to come back in a game you were losing.
The two frosh who played, Burkhall and Carleton, are the real deal. Both BIG girls and both athletic as all get out. Burkhall had a couple nice drives to the basket and also had a couple nice turnaround jump shots from the free throw line. That will be tough to defend if she hits it consistently. I liked the way Burkhall ran the floor too. She reminded me at times of Chelsea Poppens, only maybe a better shooter. She finished with 14 points and 7 boards.
Carleton's long-range shot was off most of the night, but that didn't stop her from leading all scorers with 19 points, mostly on drives to the basket, but she showed a nice mid-range jumper too. She played the most of anybody (36 minutes). None of the other players had more than 26 minutes. She handles the ball well for someone of her size.
They played quite a bit with Buckley sitting on the bench. I guess maybe they didn't want to risk injury to her in an exhibition game. Seanna Johnson was actually running the point some when Buckley sat. I guess it was more of a point guard by committee, but Johnson brought the ball up the floor.
The other player I was really impressed with was Claire Ricketts. I didn't expect to be impressed at all, based on the little bit we saw of her last year. But she's tall and athletic too, ran the floor well, hustled her butt off, scored a bucket and got some rebounds, and looked to be having a blast with a big grin on her face most of the time. She's one of those girls whose contribution might not be as noticeable in the scorebook, but you leave the game thinking she played a big role, both defensively and on the boards (six rebounds in 20 minutes).
Two players never dressed. Tee Tee Starks suffered a slight concussion in practice and didn't suit up. May not for the next exhibition either. Fernstrom never dressed either. Didn't catch what was wrong with her. Kind of disappointed not to get a look at Tee Tee.
The threes weren't falling tonight (4-18) and we got off to a slow start (only led 32-24 at half and it was much closer than that most of the half), but we clamped down on defense in the second half, holding them to just 12 points in the half and won going away 79-36.
The new rules suck. No more one-and-ones. Four 10-minute quarters instead of two 20-minute halves and on the 5th foul of each quarter, two shots are awarded. The fouls reset after each quarter. I think the part that sucks most is no more 1 and 1s. That was a good way to come back in a game you were losing.
