Pack let one slip away last night. Led that game for the majority of the 2nd half and then Chavez caught fire for a stretch that really turned the game.
Even still I thought State had a couple of poor possessions in the final 2 minutes. Up by 3 with the ball I thought Zoe had a bad shot. She over dribbled and backed into the lane and tried a fader that was highly contested and missed (maybe deflected i cant recall now) but led to a semi transition situation for OU and 2 points the other way. That was a huge possession, get a good shot there and potentially take a 5 point lead with 2 minutes remaining and you feel pretty good. Instead it's a bad shot where you don't even make the defense move and then they get 2 points the other way and now its a 1 point game and the crowd is rocking.
Right after that, State went to Pierre which is totally fine. But again, it was a situation where she got the ball and it stuck, the defense didn't have to move and she settled for a one footed fader that rims out. I just didn't really like the offense ran either time there.
Then, as noted on this thread, the end of game situation was terrible. Zoe had a run out with 8 seconds and Wes called a time out. I would have let it play out, it wasn't a clear fast break, but I like Zoe in the open floor in a transition situation with even numbers. That's her game. Out of the time out State had Zoe inbounding and Zam was being doubled. It was like they didn't consider that as a possibility and no one came to help, they force a pass into her and she gets tied up immediately. Another time out, a better inbounds but a wild sequence that results in a miss. Another time out where I think Wes thought State would be inbounding baseline and drew up a play for that when the ball actually was inbounded sideline. They looked confused and didn't get anything reasonable there either. Just a disaster.
All of that said - allow me to vent with my red tinted glasses. 3 seconds is apparently not in the rule book for Beers, she camped out down there a couple times. In a game that went to OT, the obvious double dribble from Chavez leading to a basket looms large. And Tilda's 4th and 5th fouls were super weak IMO, especially considering the physicality of Beers.
But - there are missed calls in every game and I'm sure OU fans could find some that went in State's favor that I'm overlooking. Overall this was a step in the right direction for the Pack. I really think the 4 of Tilda, Zoe, Zam, and Pierre are good enough to play with anyone. State has got to get something out of the 3 spot. Samuels played 29 minutes and didn't score and had 3 rebounds. That won't cut it. On the season Samuels is shooting it 28%, 25% from 3. State doesn't need the 3 position to do much, that player doesn't have to score in double figures, but they do need to knock down open 3's and jumpers because they will get them with the attention others draw. They needs that player to be really good at something...defense, rebounding or 3 point shooting. Right now that is lacking. Quigley had 5 points off the bench, maybe it's time for her to get extended minutes and see what she can offer.