Posted by xAC  1/03/2022 10:02 am | #1 |
Postponement of the St. Louis game last on Saturday changed our A10 opening opponent to Richmond, who is scheduled to come into the Smith Center on Wednesday (as of this moment). They beat Duquesne 82-76 in their A10 opener on Saturday in a game they led comfortably for most of the way.
Richmond was picked to finish 7th in the A10 this year. They finished their OOC at 9-4 against a so-so schedule with only Virginia, whom they beat, as a common opponent. After reviewing their roster and performance so far, I was surprised to see their low preseason ranking, but it highlights just what a challenge it will be for GW to climb up to the middle of the A10 pack this year.
Richmond is tall, experienced, and talented, usually starting 4 players 6’ or taller. They are led by sophomore Addie Budnik, a 6’2” forward averaging 13.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 3 blks/game, and Kate Klimkiewicz, a 6’ senior guard averaging 12.5 ppg and 5.7 rpg. There are also two other 6 footers (Squires and Ryan) in their rotation who average double figures in scoring. As a team, Richmond shoots 46.1% from the field (35.5% from 3-point range), and scores 75.4 ppg while giving up 64.6 ppg. Indicative of their height, they have also blocked an astounding 90 shots. By contrast GW has blocked 27 shots so far this year.
The postponement of the St. Louis game has given GW some extra time to get completely healthy and regroup. Hopefully, we’ll see a rotation with everyone healthy, and that competes well against a solid, balanced Richmond squad. Tallish teams that are extremely efficient offensively have taken advantage of our inability to score and overcome our strong defense. It will be critical for the offense to be cohesive and eliminate unforced errors, so the game doesn’t get out of hand.
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Posted by gwstudent2024 1/05/2022 12:06 pm | #2 |
It does not look like Caroline McCombs is on the bench for today's game. Gabe Lazo and Adam Call are on the bench with Lazo taking on primary coaching responsibilities.
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Posted by GW0509 1/05/2022 1:12 pm | #3 |
Very impressed with the play of Nya Lok so far today.
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Posted by gwstudent2024 1/05/2022 1:52 pm | #4 |
Richmond hits a buzzer beater to win 66-63. That's a shitty way to lose but they showed impressive fight, especially since they were missing their head coach.
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Posted by xAC 1/05/2022 2:12 pm | #5 |
Klimkiewicz nails a 3 pointer as time expires.
I have to keep reminding myself about baby steps, but these close losses are disappointing nonetheless.
It was hard to see the bench, but it looked like Coach McCombs may not be the only one in Covid protocol. Laureano wasn’t dressed, and I didn’t see Bell, although she may have been there. I think we saw what our A10 rotation is going to look like (with Laureano, too), and it’s pretty obvious our overall offensive game is improving. It’s nice to see we can get scoring from a number of players, especially Brown, who seems to be getting more offensive minded. When Lok, Moore, and Frames take good shots, the offense seems to flow pretty well.
We still had some droughts. Both the 1st and 2nd quarters started off badly, mostly due to missed layups and some bad shot selection. It was great we were able to comeback from those deficits and make a game of it. In the fourth period (between 4 minutes to 2 minutes left), we made consecutive unforced errors that let them get up by 7 points. We were still able to tie the game up with 16.4 seconds left before Klimkiewicz hit the 3.
The game could have gone sideways several times for GW, but thanks to the defense and some timely offense, we made it a game. I love to see the improvement, but it would be nice to get the W once in a while. A really tough one coming up at Dayton this weekend.
Last edited by xAC (1/05/2022 2:14 pm)
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Posted by dmvpiranha 1/05/2022 5:30 pm | #6 |
Tough way to lose, but given the circumstances we played well and went head-to-head against a hot Spiders team that has won 7 in a row. Coach Lazo and Coach Call did a great job handling the coaching duties today. Had Sheslanie not been hurt, I think she could have been the difference in such a close game. Hitting 63 points is definitely a step in the right direction (and scoring 10+ points in all four quarters). Is Maxine also hurt? She's played well when she's seen action.
We don't seem to fare well against teams that are strong from 3 like Richmond and Lehigh. I thought the defensive effort was fantastic today (turning Richmond over 19 times, and executing the fast break much better in the second half). The only real issue I saw was that we didn't really fight to get around the screens set by Richmond. I saw a similar problem against Lehigh, and that is something that GW MBB has also struggled with this season despite the men's team being good at running teams off the three point line. Both teams go underneath the screen too often and get punished as the other team knocks down threes.
We needed to make enough shots inside and at the line to counter the expected advantage Richmond had from distance, and I think we probably did enough had the layups and foul shots gone down in the first half. We did a much better job attacking the rim after halftime although I wish we had taken advantage of the foul disparity in the final quarter a bit more. That's where someone like Sierra Bell was missed, as she has been pretty good at drawing fouls and converting at the FT line. The 13 offensive rebounds were really big for us, given Richmond was taller (although all their players seem more content with hanging on the perimeter than banging inside).
When Nya is more aggressive, the team plays better offensively (and good things happen in general). I feel like the past few games she hasn't been a consistent presence on offense which has hurt some. She really made a difference after halftime with some aggressive takes to the hoop. We need to find her more often for three.
Aurea had a career high 5 assists, and some of the passes she made in the game used to be turnovers in the past so she's definitely grown as a player this year. I get nervous every time she pulls up for a jumper though. She's a pretty good FT shooter so hopefully she attacks the rim more and doesn't settle as much for jump shots.
Essence is a much better player on offense than she gets credit for. She's one of the few players where i feel confident the shot will fall if she's wide open. Brown also pulled down some big boards during the game. She also has good instincts cutting to the basket on the fast break.
Ty shot a lot more in rhythm today which is a very good sign (now that she's healthier she looks more like the Ty we saw against American the past two games than the one that missed some easy shots in other games). Moore is the best on the team at getting her own shot and generally takes good shots. It's nice to see them finally fall.
Great to see Mayowa back. She made some really big plays down the stretch rebounding down low and finishing in traffic. The fact that she split the free throws at the end actually makes the three at the end hurt a bit less since we didn't technically lose the lead.
Kyara is a good shooter when she shoots in rhythm. I don't think of GW as a team that should probably look to push too much, but as a change of pace option she does a good job of moving things on offense.
Dayton will be tough, but I think this team will continue to have a chance because of their defense. Realistically, GW WBB is probably a couple shooters away from being a true competitor in the A10, but the team is definitely on its way (encouraging compared to MBB).
