Posted by xAC  1/24/2022 11:19 am | #1 |
Following an underwhelming performance this past weekend, GW welcomes the Davidson Wildcats to the Smith Center for a midweek tilt. This starts a stretch of games where GW could potentially get its first A10 win of the season, and the first of Coach McCombs’ GW tenure.
Although the Wildcats are 11-6 overall and had an impressive OOC start at 9-3, their RPI strength of schedule (SOS) during the OOC was ranked at 171 (GW finished the OOC with the 81st ranked SOS). At 2-3 in the A10, Davidson is 9th in the current A10 standings. Davidson beat St. Bonaventure and Duquesne to open the A10 season but come into the GW game on a three game losing streak (VCU, Fordham, and Rhode Island). GW (7-10 overall and 0-4 in the A10) sits at 13th in the A10, ahead of only George Mason, who has started the A10 season at 0-5.
The Wildcats feature a balanced attack, led by 6’3” Sophomore Elle Sutphin, who averages 13.1 ppg and 4.9 rpg, while coming off the bench. She shoots a robust 53.4% from the field (34.8% from 3-point range). 5’10” Junior guard Suzi-Rose Deegan comes in at 12.8 ppg and 5.4 rpg on 47.6% shooting (35.3% from distance). Four other Wildcats average 7.5 ppg or more, so keying our defense on their main scorers could prove misguided. As a team, Davidson scores 63.7 ppg while allowing 61.1. They shoot 41.7% from the field and 31.1% from beyond the arc.
After Saturday’s dismal 5-29 3-point shooting performance, our percentages have dropped to 33.8% overall and 28.3% on 3-pointers. Shooting has to improve if we want to be competitive, so shot selection is critical. We were able to shoot a lot of good looks against UMASS that didn’t drop, but our bad shots usually led to easy baskets in transition for the Minutewomen, so we have to minimize those mistakes. On the defensive side (in the Moore-less era), we are going to be challenged by Sutphin on the inside, so a team effort is necessary to make it difficult for her to get her points. At the same time, with their balance, we can’t leave their perimeter players open for easy shots.
With Ty Moore no longer an option, the team is moving to a new phase. Knowing that, we need to mentally adjust and begin to entrust more minutes to our younger players, especially Ojo (who has been absent of late), Haydon, and Engel. Although winning games is important, it will be equally important for individuals to continue to improve and develop consistency in their games. Our lack of height will continue to challenge us for the remainder of the season, making it difficult to win a lot of games. Despite that, we shouldn’t lose sight of the long-term plan, which is to improve in all aspects of our game until the reinforcements arrive (hopefully next season), to help fill the gaps in our current rotation.
Last edited by xAC (1/27/2022 9:23 am)
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Posted by MG14 1/26/2022 8:59 pm | #2 |
Women only end up scoring 37 points on 22% shooting (5.9% from 3)....I'm not even sure how a D1 team can do that. Davidson shot 56.5%
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Posted by xAC 1/26/2022 10:11 pm | #3 |
Not much to say here if you saw the game. Worst exhibition of shooting I can remember, but that wasn't the worst part. We gave up on defense and let them drive at will without putting much effort into stopping them.
We have no inside game, either on offense or defense, so the remainder of the season is not going to be pretty. Interesting to see what the coaching staff can do to salvage any positive gains from this year.
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Posted by xAC 2/21/2022 8:36 pm | #4 |
GW versus Davidson – Round 2
After taking a sound beating in Philly, GW travels to Davidson on Wednesday (2-23) for our second regular season encounter with the Wildcats.
Almost everyone on the team seems to be shooting out of rhythm either because the offense is out of sync or because we’re rushing our shots, especially after we get an offensive board under the class. Having Frames could help with the former, but it’ll take time to fix our problems with the latter. Can you imagine losing to St. Joe’s by 23 points after seeing that we had only 5 TOs and 25 offensive rebounds in the game. 25 OBs and only 11 points to show for them because we rushed so many put back attempts that didn’t draw iron. Essence Brown was the only one shooting in rhythm, but she didn’t take a lot of shots. Laureano, Lok, Gingras, Taylor, and Engel were 6-44 (13.6%), so no wonder so many offensive rebounding opportunities presented themselves.
Our first matchup with Davidson turned out a lot like the St. Joe’s game, when we turned in an equally atrocious shooting night. Davidson will present problems because of their offensive balance and ability to hit open shots. The one thing you can say about our team lately is that they can surprise (both good and bad), and they’ll put out maximum effort and hustle for the full 40 minutes. That being said, if we don’t solve our shooting problems, we’ll be in for another long night.
Last edited by xAC (2/21/2022 10:39 pm)
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Posted by xAC 2/23/2022 9:26 pm | #5 |
GW takes a tough loss on the road 51-46.
This was a competitive game that we should have won. In the end, our offense and especially poor 4-15 at the free throw line sent us to our 10th A10 loss. With Gingras in the starting lineup, it looked like another game without Frames, but she did come into the game in the 1st quarter, and you could immediately see the difference in the team. We missed some open shots at the back end of the second quarter and let the Wildcats back into the game, but we still led 28-26 at halftime.
Our defense continued to be outstanding as the second half progressed, but too many opportunities after good defensive stands went unrealized. In the final moments of the 4th quarter, with the score 49-46 in favor of Davidson, we had three consecutive stops and chances to cut the lead or tie the game, but we failed to even get a good shot off on each occasion. We had to foul, which gave them have a 5 point lead and the game was over. Davidson was 14-16 on FTs. Once again, Taiwo stood out with another double-double (15 points and 11 rebounds), and also had 4 steals and 2 assists. Frames (11 points) and Webster (10 points) also had double figures. Others, whose scoring we needed, just couldn’t come through. Brown, Lok, and Laureano were scoreless, and Engle (5 points on 2-5 shooting) was in foul trouble for most of the game. As we have on several other occasions, we outplayed our opponent in most phases of the game, but game out on the short end of the score.
Back home on Saturday for our final regular season game with LaSalle and to bid our Seniors a fond farewell.
Last edited by xAC (2/23/2022 9:28 pm)
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Posted by BC 2/23/2022 10:45 pm | #6 |
shoot 4-15 FTs and you deserve to lose.
