18 February 2013
Unexpected First Halves, Expected Results
At 6pm Pacific, both of "my" college teams had televised games. Washington played Oregon State, and I assumed they'd win. Connecticut played Baylor, and I assumed they'd lose.
In the first half of the Washington game, the Huskies couldn't hit the broad side of the barn. They were playing decent defense though, and went into the half only down 18-22. (At one point in the first half, Jayda Evans wrote: "Folks are probably watching the matchup between No. 1 Baylor at No. 3 UConn on ESPN than this game on the Pac-12 Networks and that’s a good thing. UW is now 2-for-18 from the field and down 13-8 because OSU is 4-of-16 shooting.")
The second half wasn't much prettier, but Washington ground it out and won 49-44.
In Connecticut, it was a very different story. UConn came out of the gate on fire. At one point in the first half they had an eleven point lead. By halftime Baylor (the "Lady" Bears -- barf) had pulled to within three, but UConn had led all the way.
The second half was a different story. It was a battle back and forth for much of it, with many lead changes and a couple ties. By the last few minutes, though, Baylor had a small lead and held it until the end, winning 76-70.
I bet the media is going to fawn all over Brittney Griner and her 25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. Which is a good stat line, don't get me wrong. But UConn's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (who is only 6', mind you, nowhere near the 6'8" of Griner) had 26 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 blocks. I'm biased, of course, but I think KML's performance was the more impressive.
Edited to add: Midway through the first half, Brittney Griner got called for a flagrant 1 foul. (Which even the announcers agreed she deserved.) As everyone was running to the other end of the court, she reached out, grabbed Stefanie Dolson's arm, and threw her to the ground. Dolson didn't have the ball. Dolson wasn't anywhere near the ball. Hence the flagrant foul. Later in the game, underneath the basket, Griner did the same thing. The announcers thought it was another flagrant 1 foul, or at least a regular foul. Nothing was called this time. My point is: I don't like Brittney Griner.
But hey, she's going to play for Phoenix next year, so I can boo her to my heart's content!
In the first half of the Washington game, the Huskies couldn't hit the broad side of the barn. They were playing decent defense though, and went into the half only down 18-22. (At one point in the first half, Jayda Evans wrote: "Folks are probably watching the matchup between No. 1 Baylor at No. 3 UConn on ESPN than this game on the Pac-12 Networks and that’s a good thing. UW is now 2-for-18 from the field and down 13-8 because OSU is 4-of-16 shooting.")
The second half wasn't much prettier, but Washington ground it out and won 49-44.
In Connecticut, it was a very different story. UConn came out of the gate on fire. At one point in the first half they had an eleven point lead. By halftime Baylor (the "Lady" Bears -- barf) had pulled to within three, but UConn had led all the way.
The second half was a different story. It was a battle back and forth for much of it, with many lead changes and a couple ties. By the last few minutes, though, Baylor had a small lead and held it until the end, winning 76-70.
I bet the media is going to fawn all over Brittney Griner and her 25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. Which is a good stat line, don't get me wrong. But UConn's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (who is only 6', mind you, nowhere near the 6'8" of Griner) had 26 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 blocks. I'm biased, of course, but I think KML's performance was the more impressive.
Edited to add: Midway through the first half, Brittney Griner got called for a flagrant 1 foul. (Which even the announcers agreed she deserved.) As everyone was running to the other end of the court, she reached out, grabbed Stefanie Dolson's arm, and threw her to the ground. Dolson didn't have the ball. Dolson wasn't anywhere near the ball. Hence the flagrant foul. Later in the game, underneath the basket, Griner did the same thing. The announcers thought it was another flagrant 1 foul, or at least a regular foul. Nothing was called this time. My point is: I don't like Brittney Griner.
But hey, she's going to play for Phoenix next year, so I can boo her to my heart's content!
Labels: college basketball, UConn basketball
# posted by mamurd @ 9:37 PM 
