Just got home from Texas and went immediately to the TIVO to watch the game. I wasn't disappointed at all. Glad to see Doty back on the floor and playing her role as the team's leader. Loved absolutely loved the Heather today...she came to play, wasn't lost and was effective doing what she does well...rebounding and picking her shots, not forcing anything...even scored a 15 footer...not bad. Expectations on KML are running high...the kid had 7 pts and 7 rebounds in her opening debut...yeah she went 0 for 6 from three but at least three of them were in and out hitting two rims...all her shots were good shots in the flow of the game...she will more often be 4 for 6 than she will be 0 for 6. Tiffany was a quiet leader out there tonight...she was hustling taking the ball to the hole...sure she missed a few lay-ups but it was the first game. In fact I chalk up a lot of things to the fact that this was only the first game of the season and that we have a lot of young players being expected to do a lot of things...these players will mature together as the out of conference portion of the season progresses and I suspect they will be playing better by the start of the Big East Conference play and by March they are going to be a lot better.
Stefanie played well but she needs more touches on the inside and I suspect she is going to get those touches against tougher opponents as Geno will insist that the guards get the ball to Stef. She played solid...going 6 for 6 and grabbing 7 or 8 rebounds. Not her most agressive game but I'll take it as an season opener. Kiah...hey she is young, she scored and she rebounded...she will get better. Michala only got 5 minutes as did Lauren Engeln. I thought both Michala and Engeln both played well on limited minutes. Michala not remarkably well but she didn't make mistakes...Lauren on the other hand...really played pretty well...got a couple of rebounds a steal and scored. I like her ball handling, her passes were sharp...I hope to see Lauren get some more minutes as I think she can help this team. Bria Hartley...hey this kid can play, she made some mistakes today, threw the ball away a few times but didn't I mention that it was the first game of the season...not too worried about Bria. Bria is a big game player I think we are going to see some great games from Bria this season. She is also a streak shooter. We will see some games when Bria goes off and if it happens to be on the same night that KML, Tiff and Caroline are hitting threes it is going to be a nightmare for opponents. Kelly didn't have her best game but then again it was the season opener...we all know that Kelly is a consistent hard-nosed player...she will be fine. Brianna played like a freshman tonight but that's okay...I didn't see any examples of that blinding speed that I have heard so much about but that just means that better days are ahead...and we haven't seen what she is capable of yet...
All in all I am very excited about this season...there is much to learn about this team and this team has a lot to learn about themselves. With Stanford only a week away it doesn't give us too much time...but then again Stanford has lost both Poulen and Pedersen...so, I put them pretty much in the same boat as us having lost Maya. They have to worry about facing UConn at home in less than a week with a lot of questions and young players trying to find their identity as well. We as fans are really in for a treat because we are going to watch this team grow together and when they finally put it together we will have shared in the process. Next year is going to be off the charts ridiculous so we might as well buckle up and enjoy this year's intrique and uncertainty. No reason to get negative over this game, no reason to worry if we drop 2 or 3 games as I expect we probably will. Bottom line we are going to be tough to beat in March.
