I finally saw this game, and I have to say... I'm not really that concerned. I'm not sure what everyone else thinks, but I'm just giving my opinion on the matter.
I was more alarmed about the Marquette game. Even though we won that game, I felt the strength of Marquette. I felt like that was a team that could literally outplay us with their strengths if one thing didn't go our way. Thankfully it did.
I don't think West Virginia is quite that good. Of course they were better than us today, but I don't think they can regularly knock off top 10 teams.
I'm glad though that we've been playing some good teams lately, and we've definitely played better teams in the first 10 games this year than last year.
I felt like we've played 4 really good teams. And we're 2-2 in those games. Green Bay is very good. They have 4 losses, but all 4 to top 25 caliber teams. They're definitely a top 50 team. Marquette is strong. Stanford is even better. And West Virginia is a top 25 team, and possibly the 2nd best Big-12 team. Maybe 3rd. And I have us personally ranked #18 right now.
I think what we need to address is a few things.
Rickea is facing tougher defenders than what she's used to in high school, and they're really playing close to her, stripping a lot of her balls away and she's playing under a lot of contact - and she needs to learn how to overcome players that can fight for ball possession like West Virginia. Those turnovers they forced on her tonight was probably the difference.
Myah Taylor is actually quite solid. She was making a few plays against a physical and hard-fighting team today. She moves well, and Vic has complimented her on-ball defense, but it's too easy to block her driving lay-up sometimes and she's sometimes a no-show, like vs Stanford and Marquette. Bibby can also be a no-show which is worse. Espinoza-Hunter can slump badly. Those can be hard to overcome.
Danberry, Jackson, and Carter seems to be our best offense right now. They're getting the most physical play from the defense, but they still fight through them and can still put together a decent night against strong opposition. Danberry is definitely our best player. Her stats in the last 5 games have pointed to her being our most relied on player. Since when we've been playing good teams, it's clear that she looks the most experienced from our team.
Rickea and Jessika will hopefully get stronger and become better offensively throughout the course of the year. They can be really good and seems to have real highs at times, but other times it's evident they're young and inexperienced. We go up as these 2 go up, imo.
Right now, just hang tight. Good thing is we don't play anyone too tough until Jan 16 (LSU), and the big one in Columbia (Jan 20). If we can take care of our next 7.... featuring a few decent teams like Florida and South Florida, I'll trust we'll have our team ready for LSU, and even more importantly against South Carolina.
