Oregon just seemed outmatch most of the game. They pulled within 7 on a Rogers 3 at 59-52, and then she had a clean look at another one that would've cut it to 4 but she missed, OSU runs back down and nails a 3 and that was pretty much how the night went for Oregon. Not the best showing for Pao Pao in front of some home fans. She scored well but had a ton of turnovers and struggled finding a rhythm. The other Oregon guards struggled too. VanSlooten was brilliant. Just an absolute workhorse and great skills at 6-3. I've been trying to think of a good comparison...this isn't the best, but maybe like a part Taylor Jones in her ability to just have a knack for knowing where the basket it and being able to score, and also a bit of Nina Davis from Baylor several years back with her workhorse attitude and ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the basket. At any rate, really good player and the best freshman I've seen this season. Also found out she/McMahon/Gray are from the same area and played AAU together. Also, Chance Gray's older sister is Amber Gray who used to play for Tennessee during the Pat Summitt era (former top 5 recruit) but had severe health issues. Good family genes there.
Ohio State's stars came to play today after no-showing yesterday. Mikesell shot extremely well against her old team, Mikulasikova was a bit up and down but hit a barrage of shots in the 4th and finished with 20+. The form doesn't look textbook but it suits her pretty well and she can hit a lot of shots. Definitely a non-traditional post player but her styles fits Ohio State perfectly. Greene wasn't in the arena, Sheldon was still on crutches/boot.
First game was more entertaining down the stretch. The game was a toss up but USF came out with the W. DFM vs. Barnum was a fun matchup. DFM picked up fouls but finished the game strong. Barnum was quite good and took it at DFM a few times when she had 4 fouls. Tsineke was quite good today, played much better than yesterday's game for USF. It was pretty much a 2 woman show for USF but they got the job done. For Arkansas it just wasn't a very pretty game for them. Spencer didn't play well today and got injured, I'm not sure if she returned or not. Poffenbarger looked about the same as yesterday, a lot of hustle but not a great looking shot, Daniels scored 20 but missed a lot of shots. Langerman is a hard worker but made a couple of bonehead plays today and yesterday. Today she fouled a shooter on a 3pt shot when they were up 3 at the end of regulation, and yesterday she passed the ball to her coach relatively late in the game. I was happy to see USF pull out the win, their coach was much more composed on the sideline and actively coaching players all game. Neighbors was irate at the refs seemingly all night and borderline obnoxious with how demonstrative he is. Same with McGuff in the second game, and he picked up a T but I think it was rescinded. Good couple of days of basketball in San Diego.
