Posted by xAC  11/17/2023 8:10 am | #1 |
Next up: University on Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Hawks
Conference: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)
Time: November 18, 2023; 2 PM ET
Venue: Hytche Arena - Princess Anne, MD
2022-23 Record: 10-20 (5-9 in MEAC – 5th Place)
2024 Projection: 5th
Current Record: 1-3
Common Opponents: Towson, VCU, Coppin State, Howard
Last Time Out: 65-50 loss to GW in 2022-23 (at GW)
Broadcast: Delmarva Sports Network
Opponent Summary: The UMES Hawks host the Revolutionaries in Princess Anne, MD. on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks have faced a tough OCC schedule to date, losing to Georgetown, UVA, and Stony Brook. They are led by their two leading scorers from last season, Zamara Haynes, a preseason 1st Team All-MEAC selection, and 5th year point guard Mya Thomas. After 4 games, Thomas leads the Hawks at 12.8 ppg and Haynes is at 9.5 ppg. Jala Bannerman comes off the bench to contribute 9.8 ppg. As a team, the Hawks shoot 35.7% from the field and 31.8% from distance.
About the game: GW won their third consecutive game on Wednesday against AU in a hard fought come-from-behind battle. The lady hoopsters continued to struggle in their half court offensive sets, especially to open games. Teams have been packing the middle and clogging up the driving lanes, inviting outside shots that have not dropped. The offense seems to improve when the pace is more frenetic, alas a result of playing from behind. This has forced opponents’ defenses to spread out in transition and opened up driving lanes for cleaner shots at the basket or kick-out passes to the corners. Lok, Brown, and Robertson all did a good job of taking advantage of this in the second half of the AU contest, as did Durant on the inside. Brown (11.3 ppg on 56.8% shooting) has been our most consistent player. We need to get others to step up to this level of efficiency.
UMES is 0-3 in Division I games this season. They are a guard-oriented team that pose less of an inside threat than our prior opponents. Against some tougher DI opponents (including 2 P5/P6 schools), UMES has managed to score 55 ppg, so they have the ability to keep pace with GW, who is allowing 55.3 ppg. They also throw up over 21 3-pointers a game, so perimeter defense will be critical.
Hopefully, this game will provide an opportunity to work on our set offenses, especially on the inside, before the holiday visit to Puerto Rico and our only P5 contest of the regular season.
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Posted by BC 11/18/2023 4:15 pm | #2 |
Not sure McCombs should have been extended. GW loses 59-82 to 2-3 UMES. The women can hit FTs. While the men must be shooting close to 80% for the year.
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Posted by dmvpiranha 11/18/2023 4:45 pm | #3 |
Not having Essence hurt, but nothing today made me feel better about thinking WBB could contend for a double bye spot. Ball movement was slightly better (somewhat of a low bar) but from the parts of the game I watched UMES ran a better offense than GW did. Seeing Nya winded at the end was a concerning moment as well.
It's early, but it's evident how much Mia brought to the team offensively (and even then the offense was somewhat below average). WBB's defense was also not particularly good today, but the lack of offense effectively makes such days end with a loss. If the other team hits 60, this team isn't likely to have enough offense to overcome that. That's not a lot of points, so it's definitely concerning. That's with all the pushing the team does to get transition opportunities. The execution just isn't there.
From what I saw, Taylor has had some good moments, Monica Marsh hit some nice threes off good ball movement, and Sara Lewis has potential. Otherwise it definitely seems like the team talent is just less than last year.
McCombs said on this morning's show that they don't talk about offense, but maybe they should be doing so more...
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Posted by xAC 11/18/2023 4:49 pm | #4 |
Final Result: GW loses a tough one 62-59.
Pregame update: Brown and Innis (GW) did not make the trip with the team today (no explanation) and Buford started for Brown. The game was a little ragged for both teams to start, but UMES had trouble putting the ball in the basket. GW led 17-5 at the end of the 1st. A lot of players rotated in the game for GW and created some discontinuity on offense. UMES started to hit some baskets in the 2nd quarter, and continued liberal substitution by GW stymied the offensive flow, resulting in a reversal of the 1st quarter and allowing UMES to get back in the game. UMES only shot 25% for the half, but made 9-13 free throws to trim the lead to 28-25 going into the break. Marsh, Sims, Engel, Blethen, Lewis and Webster all got minutes in the half. Robertson led all scorers with 12 points at that point, but was only 1-7 from distance. Lok chipped in 7 points. Lok got her 3rd foul early in the 2nd half and was replaced by Lewis. When Roberston went to the bench for a rest, she was replaced by Marsh, so a significant part of the 3rd quarter was played with an all-freshman backcourt. With both Lok and Lewis in foul trouble, an inexperienced line-up had to play a lot of minutes, but they scrapped hard and helped the Revs maintain a 46-42 lead going into the final period. UMES maintained the pressure on offense by continuing to drive to the basket in the fourth quarter, making layups or drawing fouls. They finished the game with 27 trips to the FT line. The GW effort was not quite enough and UMES came away with a victory. Robertson had 21 points, followed by Lok’s 10, and 6 points each from frosh guards Lewis and Marsh. The frosh represented themselves well for the most part (particularly Marsh and Lewis), but had some difficulties on defense, where on several occasions, the Hawk guards blew by them and scored or drew fouls.
Going into the holiday shootout, the availability of Brown and Innis looms large. Today, with Buford starting, the rotation had to rely heavily on freshmen backcourt players for long stretches of the game. It was great to have more players get some serious game experience, but getting positive outcomes in Puerto Rico will require all-hands on deck, so hopefully we’ll see Brown and Innis ready to go.
Last edited by xAC (11/19/2023 12:31 pm)
