Big 12 Regular Season

[Bone Dog]

Have I mentioned how I impressed I am that Iowa St recruited Audi Crooks, effectively stole her out from under everyone else's nose?

I've managed to find a couple of her games, and a bunch of highlight videos. The best game, which may still be available on Youtube, was earlier this season against Hopkins HS. It wasn't a close game, because Hopkins is loaded with talent, and Taylor Woodson and Nunu Agara are already D1 ready athletes, while Bishop Garrigan HS is just Crooks and a bunch of little kids. But even in that situation, she was unstoppable.

She's really strong of course (because her other sport is shot put) but she's also surprisingly quick with excellent footwork, she has decent handles and a very soft touch on anything inside the foul line. She also has excellent stamina. Against Hopkins she played every minute and didn't slow down at all. And against the Hopkins press, they often relied on her to break it at midcourt. A lot of teams may have passed on her not thinking she'd be able to run in the college game. But I'm very confident she'll surprise a lot of teams with just how athletic she really is.

And the biggest plus maybe that she seems to be an excellent team player. She's used to having to carry her team, but she seems to be quite generous with her teammates. I think Iowa St found an excellent player. She may turn out to be even more central to their success than Soares looked to be before the injury.

 

[undersized]

Have I mentioned how I impressed I am that Iowa St recruited Audi Crooks, effectively stole her out from under everyone else's nose?

"Stole her out from under everyone else's nose"? Not quite -- her home town is closer to Ames than any other D1 school, and she plays for an AAU program called "Cy-Select." She was leaning ISU during her entire recruitment.

 

[ISUnorth]

"Stole her out from under everyone else's nose"? Not quite -- her home town is closer to Ames than any other D1 school, and she plays for an AAU program called "Cy-Select." She was leaning ISU during her entire recruitment.

I thought she might go to Iowa. The last 8 years or so with Gustafson and Czinano has me thinking of Iowa as "Post U" while ISU is a three point shooting guard school with a star small forward (Carleton and now Joens) Throw in that Crooks is a "project' and how another "project" , Monika Czinano, developed at Iowa it seemed like a good fit to be coached by Iowa's Jan Jenson. Just me spitballing with no inside info other than living in Big Ten country.

Div 1 is going to be a whole new ball game for her. She plays on a not very good AAU team and plays in a really small school class. I think the other two 2023 "bigs' for ISU, Top 50 recruits Jalynn Bristow and Addy Brown, will have a more immediate impact.

 

[cancontent]

Thought last night's game between Baylor and Texas to be very entertaining. Baylor winning on Texas' court wasn't a guaranteed thing considering this season. Impressed with how this team has remained competitive without Blackwell and Edwards for majority of the season.

Still, Texas doesn't have too much to be upset about. Considering how their season started, and losing Moore, they're still in the hunt for a share of the Big12 title, if I heard the announcers correctly. It will be an interesting weekend of games for the end of conference play.

 

[UConnCat]

Still, Texas doesn't have too much to be upset about.

Vic Schaefer and Rori Harmon would beg to differ.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Vic Schaefer and Rori Harmon would beg to differ.

Woof…

 

[cancontent]

Vic Schaefer and Rori Harmon would beg to differ.

You've taken the first sentence of my paragraph out of context for this. My thoughts are about the season overall, not last night's game itself.

 

[visitingcock]

ou've taken the first sentence of my paragraph out of context for this. My thoughts are about the season overall, not last night's game itself.

Who you talkin' to Willis?

 

[cancontent]

Who you talkin' to Willis?

Not sure if you saw my initial post. The paragraph highlighted is what I'm referring to.

Thought last night's game between Baylor and Texas to be very entertaining. Baylor winning on Texas' court wasn't a guaranteed thing considering this season. Impressed with how this team has remained competitive without Blackwell and Edwards for majority of the season.

Still, Texas doesn't have too much to be upset about. Considering how their season started, and losing Moore, they're still in the hunt for a share of the Big12 title, if I heard the announcers correctly. It will be an interesting weekend of games for the end of conference play.

The reply I'm responding to, took my first sentence "Still, Texas doesn't have too much to be upset about." and included the twitter post talking about Schaefer's and Harmon's frustrations last night, which it wasn't in reference to.

Vic Schaefer and Rori Harmon would beg to differ.

 

[jdote33]

It seemed like just one of those games for Texas and for Baylor for that matter. Texas never really got into any rhythm and Baylor made some tough shots, particularly at the end of the shot clock. Baylor guards were able to use ball screens and really gave the Texas bigs trouble. I think Shaylee getting into foul trouble early really hurt her and the team. I also think Sonia Morris solves a lot of Texas issues on offense. But can they get to the elite 8 or beyond, especially if they are a 4 seed...that's a tough ask.

Also wanted to add I'm happy for Nicki Collen. Idk if karma, or redemptive quality is how I wanna phrase it but she seemed to take their close losses to Iowa state and Oklahoma particularly hard. Stressing that she knows she can coach. I was kinda like who is disputing that. In any event, the team has fought through injuries and we're right there in a lot of games, so beating Texas on their senior night is big time win, especially with the way her young players performed.

 

[cancontent]

It seemed like just one of those games for Texas and for Baylor for that matter. Texas never really got into any rhythm and Baylor made some tough shots, particularly at the end of the shot clock. Baylor guards were able to use ball screens and really gave the Texas bigs trouble. I think Shaylee getting into foul trouble early really hurt her and the team. I also think Sonia Morris solves a lot of Texas issues on offense. But can they get to the elite 8 or beyond, especially if they are a 4 seed...that's a tough ask.

Also wanted to add I'm happy for Nicki Collen. Idk if karma, or redemptive quality is how I wanna phrase it but she seemed to take their close losses to Iowa state and Oklahoma particularly hard. Stressing that she knows she can coach. I was kinda like who is disputing that. In any event, the team has fought through injuries and we're right there in a lot of games, so beating Texas on their senior night is big time win, especially with the way her young players performed.

I think that comes from those who look at her record with the Dream, along with the assumption she was inheriting a program that had Mulkey's imprint everywhere.

 

[southie]

Here is the tournament bracket:

 

[southie]

Post-season awards announced yesterday:

2022-23 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Women’s Basketball Awards Announced

Irving, Texas – Iowa State’s Ashley Joens was selected Big 12 Player of the Year and Texas’ Vic Schaefer was named Coach of the Year as the 2022-23 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 women’s basketball awards were unveiled. The awards were voted on by the head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.

big12sports.com

Apparently, one head coach in the Big 12 does not beleive Rori Harmon is among the 10 best players in the league.

Player of the Year: Ashley Joens, Iowa State
Defensive Player of the Year: Rori Harmon, Texas
Freshman of the Year: Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor*
Newcomer of the Year: Shaylee Gonzales, Texas
Sixth Player Award: Skylar Vann, Oklahoma
Coach of the Year: Vic Schaefer, Texas
*-unanimous selection

All-Big 12 First Team
Sarah Andrews, Baylor
Ashley Joens, Iowa State*
Zakiyah Franklin, Kansas
Taiyanna Jackson, Kansas*
Gabby Gregory, Kansas State
Madi Williams, Oklahoma*
Naomie Alnatas, Oklahoma State
DeYona Gaston, Texas
Rori Harmon, Texas
Bre’Amber Scott, Texas Tech
JJ Quinerly, West Virginia*
*-unanimous selection
A tie resulted in 11 selections on the First Team

All-Big 12 Second Team
Caitlin Bickle, Baylor
Emily Ryan, Iowa State
Ana Llanusa, Oklahoma
Taylor Robertson, Oklahoma
Shaylee Gonzales, Texas

All-Big 12 Honorable Mention:
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (Baylor), Lexi Donarski (Iowa State), Holly Kersgieter (Kansas), Serena Sundell (Kansas State), Skylar Vann (Oklahoma), Bryn Gerlich (Texas Tech), Madisen Smith (West Virginia)

Big 12 All-Defensive Team
Caitlin Bickle, Baylor
Lexi Donarski, Iowa State
Taiyanna Jackson, Kansas*
Rori Harmon, Texas*
JJ Quinerly, West Virginia
*-unanimous selection

Big 12 All-Freshman Team
Bella Fontleroy, Baylor*
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor*
Denae Fritz, Iowa State
Beatrice Culliton, Oklahoma
Amina Muhammad, Texas
Bailey Maupin, Texas Tech
A tie resulted in six selections on the All-Freshman Team
*-unanimous selection

 

[ISUnorth]

Post-season awards announced yesterday:

2022-23 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Women’s Basketball Awards Announced

Irving, Texas – Iowa State’s Ashley Joens was selected Big 12 Player of the Year and Texas’ Vic Schaefer was named Coach of the Year as the 2022-23 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 women’s basketball awards were unveiled. The awards were voted on by the head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.

big12sports.com

Apparently, one head coach in the Big 12 does not beleive Rori Harmon is among the 10 best players in the league.

Player of the Year: Ashley Joens, Iowa State
Defensive Player of the Year: Rori Harmon, Texas
Freshman of the Year: Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor*
Newcomer of the Year: Shaylee Gonzales, Texas
Sixth Player Award: Skylar Vann, Oklahoma
Coach of the Year: Vic Schaefer, Texas
*-unanimous selection

All-Big 12 First Team
Sarah Andrews, Baylor
Ashley Joens, Iowa State*
Zakiyah Franklin, Kansas
Taiyanna Jackson, Kansas*
Gabby Gregory, Kansas State
Madi Williams, Oklahoma*
Naomie Alnatas, Oklahoma State
DeYona Gaston, Texas
Rori Harmon, Texas
Bre’Amber Scott, Texas Tech
JJ Quinerly, West Virginia*
*-unanimous selection
A tie resulted in 11 selections on the First Team

All-Big 12 Second Team
Caitlin Bickle, Baylor
Emily Ryan, Iowa State
Ana Llanusa, Oklahoma
Taylor Robertson, Oklahoma
Shaylee Gonzales, Texas

All-Big 12 Honorable Mention:
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (Baylor), Lexi Donarski (Iowa State), Holly Kersgieter (Kansas), Serena Sundell (Kansas State), Skylar Vann (Oklahoma), Bryn Gerlich (Texas Tech), Madisen Smith (West Virginia)

Big 12 All-Defensive Team
Caitlin Bickle, Baylor
Lexi Donarski, Iowa State
Taiyanna Jackson, Kansas*
Rori Harmon, Texas*
JJ Quinerly, West Virginia
*-unanimous selection

Big 12 All-Freshman Team
Bella Fontleroy, Baylor*
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor*
Denae Fritz, Iowa State
Beatrice Culliton, Oklahoma
Amina Muhammad, Texas
Bailey Maupin, Texas Tech
A tie resulted in six selections on the All-Freshman Team
*-unanimous selection

Unless it was a stupid ballot mistake, that's quite a petty sub for Harmon. I can't imagine anyone being stupid enough to believe she isn't first team. How could you fill out a ballot that said "Check the box by the ten best players in the league" and not check the box for Harmon?

 

[JellyBean]

Here is the tournament bracket:

Thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to see what Kansas does and how far they can go in the Big 12 tournament. Texas should be okay but this is one wacky season and it is March...anything can happen.

 

[cancontent]

Unless it was a stupid ballot mistake, that's quite a petty sub for Harmon. I can't imagine anyone being stupid enough to believe she isn't first team. How could you fill out a ballot that said "Check the box by the ten best players in the league" and not check the box for Harmon?

Only a guess, but maybe the fact she was injured for the early portion of the season.

 

[southie]

Only a guess, but maybe the fact she was injured for the early portion of the season.

That was the beginning of the regular season where she missed the first 5 games. These awards are to be based solely on conference play (as far as I know) ,and she started all 18 conference games where she averaged more than 38 minutes a game.

 

[SECbbfan24]

I expected a tight game in the Baylor/Iowa St game. What I never saw coming was Iowa St winning the rebound margin 54-29

 

[visitingcock]

So, semi-finals are:

Texas (NET 11) vs. Okie St ( NET 47)

Iowa State (NET 14) vs Okie (NET 36)

Oklahoma is severely underhanded by the NET considering that they have a Quad Ine minus losses record of 7-5 which is the 12th best of all teams.

 

[JellyBean]

I expected a tight game in the Baylor/Iowa St game. What I never saw coming was Iowa St winning the rebound margin 54-29

For whatever reason, the ESPN+ feature on my end, was horrible. I will have to check and see if the game is on YouTube or On Demand. Shocking that Iowa State out rebounded Baylor. Yikes!

 

[DefenseBB]

Through 3 sessions, the Big 12 is averaging 4,801 fans per game, which is 5th of the 6 P6 conferences. However, that 4,801 per game average is the second highest in tournament history (2014-4,877) and significantly higher than 2022 of 4,083 and 3,365 in 2019.

So the real good news is the trend for Women's College Basketball attendance could and probably will set an all-time attendance record this year.

But before some zealots get carried away with the "see, women's sports are as worthy as men", keep in mind the 6,229 P6 session average for the P6 pales to the P6 Men's average 15,502 with all the finals and some semifinals to occur today and tomorrow which should boost those numbers. A great improvement but I am not even including the TV ratings which are also heavily skewed towards the men.

 

[visitingcock]

Through 3 sessions, the Big 12 is averaging 4,801 fans per game, which is 5th of the 6 P6 conferences. However, that 4,801 per game average is the second highest in tournament history (2014-4,877) and significantly higher than 2022 of 4,083 and 3,365 in 2019.

So the real good news is the trend for Women's College Basketball attendance could and probably will set an all-time attendance record this year.

But before some zealots get carried away with the "see, women's sports are as worthy as men", keep in mind the 6,229 P6 session average for the P6 pales to the P6 Men's average 15,502 with all the finals and some semifinals to occur today and tomorrow which should boost those numbers. A great improvement but I am not even including the TV ratings which are also heavily skewed towards the men.

TV ratings are killing last year’s across the board and looks like it will be the best in a decade - big ten and Iowa are super strong (Behind Scar and UConn ). PAC sucking wind due to timing an PAC Network issues. Big 12 has network affiliation issues as well. Not so sure Saturday games are working out well.

 

[DefenseBB]

I have been running all the tournament host sites and regional data and all the numbers are up. The midwest and West Coast are two regions that struggle with the Regional attendance and is why the NCAA is trying a two site location this year. The West Coast did extremely well with Oregon in 2019 but other than that, it has not performed well. The two big drivers are UConn and SC and whether they are close enough to their locations.

For as much as the ACC brethren likes to tout themselves as being the pre-eminent basketball region, their attendance figures for Men's and Women's are rather weak compared to the other P6 conferences. The Women are 4th of 6 while the Men are 5th of 6.

The Big East was 3rd in Women, 1st in Men; The SEC was 1st in Women and 4th in Men.

 

[BRS24]

uh oh -

 

[BRS24]

update

 

[UcMiami]

update

She played her average 26 minutes but OU went down. ISU is one of those frustrating teams that blows hot and cold depending on jump shooting. They were hot today.

 

[JellyBean]

She played her average 26 minutes but OU went down. ISU is one of those frustrating teams that blows hot and cold depending on jump shooting. They were hot today.

Well said about Iowa State. They are an interesting team.

 

[southie]

She played her average 26 minutes but OU went down. ISU is one of those frustrating teams that blows hot and cold depending on jump shooting. They were hot today.

I like that the Cyclones were hot today. Increases the probability that they won't bet hot tomorrow against Texas!

 

[TheFarmFan]

At least we can stop talking about how Oklahoma is underrated. They have two good wins total all season and they were 2- and 3-point squeakers, one in OT.

 

[visitingcock]

At least we can stop talking about how Oklahoma is underrated. They have two good wins total all season and they were 2- and 3-point squeakers, one in OT.

And yet, they were regular season co-champs with Texas and have more Quad One wins than losses. Only about 16 teams can claim the latter. At 36, they are underrated.

Not all regular season champs win their conference tournament. Right? They even lose before the championship game sometimes. Right?