Week 14 - Feb 3 to 9

[Cornell Lt]

KSt with a huge win over TCU, without Ayoka.

USC with an unimpressive game against a not-very-good Wisconsin, before pulling away in the 4th Q.

I didn't catch the game, I checked the box score and JuJu's stats were well below her normal performance. Was she injured ? Foul trouble ?

 

[Bjbod]

UCLA over Ohio St 30-24 at the half.
Ugly game: Bruins with 14 turnovers, OSU 8-34 on FG's. Ugh.

 

[Vowelguy]

Not watching (no bird network) but seems like Buckeyes not folding. Have closed to 42-40 late in 3rd.

 

[packwrap]

KSt with a huge win over TCU, without Ayoka.

USC with an unimpressive game against a not-very-good Wisconsin, before pulling away in the 4th Q.

Los Angeles kids just unfocused on midwest road trip. Busy googling wind chill factor, ticking off states on their never visited before list, and packing up their signed Caitlyn Clark gear.

They will get focused quick though with OSU and UCLA looming.

On the serious side, the rotation players and freshmen are getting more involved. This can only help them in March.

 

[Stagnant]

Interesting to see this kind of performance from ucla.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Interesting to see this kind of performance from ucla.

On the flip side, maybe Ohio St. was looking past their game on Sunday in anticipation of this one, because they did not look remotely like a Top 10 team.

 

[Vowelguy]

Wow. OhioSt tied it up at 44 and then UCLA put the hammer down -- 14-1 run.
balanced too: 6 from Kiki, 4 from Jaquez, 2 each from Betts and Barker

 

[Vowelguy]

Now 17-1. This is the response you want from your team in crunch time.

One of UCLA's biggest vulnerabilities for the NCAAs is that they have no experience -- lost in sweet 16 last 2 years. How do you respond to the pressure if you get down and your season could end? SoCar and ND aint gonna choke it away.

 

[Vowelguy]

From 9:30 to 2:12 in 4th qtr, UCLA goes on 19-1 run to break a tie and ends Buckeyes' comeback.
OhioSt scores 7 of last 9 to pull it back to a more respectable 65-52 final.

 

[Vowelguy]

Just realized: OhioSt is in LA but USC is in Wisconsin. So the Buckeyes go all the way to LA and only play 1 game?? Seems inefficient.

After checking -- so USC is coming back west and they'll play in south central on Saturday.

 

[packwrap]

Ohio State did a lot of good things in that game: won turnover, rebounding, free throws, and shots attempts battle.

They even shut down 'point Betts' limiting her to 1 assist, after her recent 11 assists game v Minn.

Still a team shooting line of 29% 17% 56% can undo everything. Somehow OSU shooting in decisive Q4 was even worse!

Magic Betts was not dropping dimes, but she did contribute in the conventional manner with 19 pts and 14 rebounds. Barker and Gardiner were also strong off the bench.

UCLA can win many different ways.

 

[CBus13]

Yeah, a lot of the missed shots for OSU were the right shots and not super pressured by UCLA. Just wouldn’t drop. OSU also is a horrible FT shooting team, which will be their undoing in the tournament.

Sadly, Chance’s outside shooting has dropped off the last few games. Reminds me a bit of a slump by Taylor Mikesell in maybe 2023? Hopefully it’ll come back for her. The lack of a solid third scorer hurts OSU lately.

The coaches seemed committed to Petty and Lemïlla splitting the quarters, probably for fitness reasons of having to battle against Betts. However, I think Lemïlla was better suited for this matchup and did contribute, but just overall is a freshmen after a year off of an ACL injury going against a really polished, strong, and smart post.

Positive of keeping UCLA off their scoring average and to their lowest scoring of the season (by one point). I feel they competed much better against their size for 3 quarters than I expected.

Excited about the future of Jaloni, Lemïlla, and Watson for four years. But UCLA is just more seasoned and deeper.

 

[Stagnant]

Juju only had 14? I do think juju has been better this year than last year. But I don’t really think she is in the player of the year race. Hidalgo is comfortably ahead of her.