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Message: [QUOTE="VAHuskyFan, post: 3079756, member: 1585"] I agree that in college basketball, you’ll often see one team get rattled or panicked or simply lackluster and, in the worst instances, quit when the game seems to get out of reach. On the other side if the coin, things can happen to increase the intensity level of a team, which has the opposite effect of them playing better/tighter defense, making faster cuts on the offensive side of things, and generally hustling more and giving 100% effort. To me, that’s more an issue of effort and intensity than “momentum.” The key to a great team and great coaching is maximizing effort and intensity across 40 minutes every game, regardless of whether the last shot dropped or not. That’s what Geno and the women have been so exceptional at. It doesn’t mean you win every game, but it means you give 100% effort every minute of every game. The team made genuine strides in this area under Hurley this year. They kept fighting, even when the other team built up a lead and were much better at not taking their foot off the gas and letting bad teams back into games. This one got away from them. Might a few breaks have forestalled that a bit? Sure. But Houston was clearly a much better team today. We needed them to get rattled and start making mistakes or playing lackadaisically and that simply wasn’t in the cards in this one. [/QUOTE]