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I'm making this picture of Logan the lucky charm for UConn!!!
It will be at the top of the blog all season.
GO UCONN!!!!!
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Saylor Poffenbarger's mother, Amy, told @JoshuaR_Smith of the Frederick News-Post re: her decision to transfer:
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) November 16, 2021
“It’s been a conversation, and it’s not all basketball/ The academic [side] wasn’t super-engaging.. (cont.)https://t.co/xuhLVQCk2q
“It’s been a conversation, and it’s not all basketball,” Amy Poffenbarger said regarding Saylor’s decision. “The academic [side] wasn’t super-engaging, there wasn’t much to the campus life, and there wasn’t the ability to get out and meet a lot of people. Unfortunately that part of college life ... that part wasn’t happening for her.”
Yes, that is Saylor's mother with that quote. It's not directly from Saylor. Now, I understand that she probably said something like that to her mother. But it's a weird statement in my mind.
First of all, the lack of Campus life? Well, let's see....when was she there? IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC!! Of course there wasn't much campus life. And even if there was, that is the life in a high profile major college basketball program. Especially the UConn program under Geno. Their schedules are pretty much defined. Lots of practice and doing their class assignments because of all the travel this team does. I'm sure Saylor understood that.
Secondly, she was an academic freshman. I know she is a really smart young lady so maybe the classes weren't challenging, but that is dependant on the class load. Drop and add different classes if you are not happy.
So basically, I would give my undeducated guess on her reasons for leaving.
No playing time available due to more talented players in front of her this year. Caroline Duchame is directly in front of her. 80%
Didn't like the social life. 10%
Classes weren't engaging 10%.
She loves basketball, she wants to play, and she wasn't going to get many minutes at UConn. I sincerly hope she finds what she is looking for. And it's always a good thing to make your mother happy.
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Can you believe I found this JPEG?? Too funny!
I watched much of this game so I thought I'd give you my impression of the No. 1 team in the country and possibly UConn's opponent on Monday if both teams get to the final of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
At halftime the game was much closer than I expected. It was 27-17 South Carolina ahead of Clemson.
They really looked like crap. Couldn't shoot, turning the ball over, fouling like crazy. Their defense was solid.
They were very Tennessee-ish.
They really looked like crap. Couldn't shoot, turning the ball over, fouling like crazy. Their defense was solid.
They were very Tennessee-ish.
The second half was a different story. They his several threes and scored 18 points in the first 4 minutes of the third quarter. The Gamecocks looked like world beaters.
Of course they couldn't keep up that crazy pace and came back down to earth. Over the last 6 minutes they scored 9 points.
South Carolina ran away with it in the fourth quarter to win 76-45. They did clear the bench.
I really don't know what to make of this team. Clemson is a terrible team.
The Gamecocks looked alot like last years team. And that is a final four contender. Cardoso, the 6'7" Syracuse transfer really hasn't added that much to the team. She had only 6 points and 3 rebounds. She did have 3 blocks but hardly the scary monster that was the talk of the message boards.
Their starting guards shot the hell out of the ball going 7-11 from beyond the arc. Most of that in the 4 minutes 18 point run. I really like Amihere. She is a player. Long and quick, she can get to the rim.
Boston hasn't exactly set the world on fire with her play and this game was similar to her first outing. I'm sure she will start playing to her POY level soon enough.
I do hope they meet UConn in the finals of that Bahama tournament! I will be a heck of a game!
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No. 8 Iowa won their game 87-67 but the story of the game is Caitlin Clark. The talented sophomore had another triple double. She had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. She had some weird offensive stats.
Clark was 2-9 from the field and 1-6 on threes. But she was 11-12 from the free throw line to get to her 16 points.
I'm sure it's not her last triple double. She is so fun to watch.
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Funny Quotes from Vol Nation
It's something I do to amuse myself, visit Volnation.com and read what those wild and crazy Tennessee fans have to say. I'll share some quotes and then make a comment. I hope you are as entertained ready these as I have making fun of them.
"The only players that I have confidence in taking any threes right now are Horston, Darby, and Puckett. "
Really? Horston is 1-9, Darby is 2-11 and Puckett is 2-7. I suppose since they had 5 of the 6 TOTAL three pointers made in their 3 games, it makes sense. But it's kinda funny, no?
From the same poster -
"Say we were making five more free throws and instead of threes were trying to take shots in the paint. The total of the two alone add 11 points to our average per game."
And if my Aunt had balls, she'd be my Uncle. Please.....and if you hit 100 percent of your shots, you would score 200 points.
"Their best offense with the current personnel is to take the short jumper in the paint and crash the boards for the inevitable miss for (hopefully) an easy putback or a trip to the FT line."
This one is not funny, but just a sad and accurate look at the Tennessee offense. They can't shoot even the short jumpers in the paint. Teams really don't have to defend out to the 3 point line so shots in the paint are tough to get as well. A trip to the free throw line is like one of Chevy Chase's vacation movies, so I don't know how good a strategy that is.
This may become a regular feature. There are funny quotes there every day!
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Once again, a slate of games that look like there will be an UGGY candidate. There is only one ranked team playing against a team not from a mid or low major conference and that is SC vs Clemson. However, a closer look at Clemson tells me this was no surprise the game would be a 30-40 point win for the Gamecocks. Clemson was 1-1 coming in and their loss was to an Ivy League team, Columiba. They were 12-15 last season.
No. 1 South Carolina vs Clemson
South Carolina - Destanni Henderson 16 points 3-5 on 3's
No. 8 Iowa 87 Southern 67
Iowa - Caitlin Clark 16 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists
No. 10 Louisville 62 UT Martin 30
Louisville - Emily Engstler 20 points
No. 12 Texas 88 Southeast Missouri State 47
Texas - Lauren Ebo 11 points 10 rebounds
Texas - Joanne Allen-Taylor 13 points
No. 15 Oregon State vs California Baptist - LATE GAME
No. 18 Georgia Tech 65 East Tennessee State 42
Georgia Tech - Nerea Hermosa 20 points 10 rebounds
No. 21 Ohio State 94 Bowling Green 63
Ohio State - Rebeka Mikulaskove 19 points
No. 25 Virginia Tech 85 Coppin State 32
Virginia Tech - Aisha Sheppard 17 points
Virginia Tech - Kayana Traylor 15 points
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More of the same Wednesday night. Top 25 teams taking on really weak teams. That usually produces a couple of UGGY nominees.
Here they are!
Louisville beat up on University Tennessee-Martin 62-30. Scoring 30 points is a good start. They shot 27% from the field, 2-16 on threes and 18 turnovers.
Coppin State lost to Virginia Tech 85-32. They scored 2 more points than UTM but maybe they deserve the UGGY based on shooting percentage. They were 19.5% from the field and 2-15 on threes.
It's too close to call, so both get the honor.
Congrats to UTM and Coppin State for their well deserved UGGY award!!!
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By David in Naples
I'm just leaving this here for whenever David feels like sending me something.
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By Phil
Head Coach Debut
I came up with 55 coaches serving as a head coach at a new institution this season. 15 of those coaches are not new D1 head coaches but are new to the institution such as Kim Mulkey. The remaining 38 are in the first head coaching position at a D1 school.
These coaches were victorious in 30 of the 55 first games. That’s a little better than I had expected. On any given day, exactly half the coaches will win, and half will lose, so that almost sounds like being in your debut game is better than average. That seems surprising, but remember schools have control over their schedule, and many like to start their schedule with a beatable team. I haven’t checked the ratings in all these games, but I do note that in seven cases, the first opponent was a D2, D3 or AIAI team. One might argue that I should start with the first D1 opponent, but for this analysis I simply looked at the first game on their schedule. As an example, Octavia Blue is the new head coach of Kennesaw State, and her team opened against AIAI Thomas University. Each of those seven games was a win.
My selection criteria may be open to argument. I thought it would be quite straightforward but there were several issues I had to consider. For example, Melissa Hodgdon at Hartford, Vonn Read at Syracuse, LaTanya Collins at Detroit Mercy and Kelly Rae Finley at Florida all are new to the position, but they are technically labeled as interim head coaches. The schools might name them as the permanent head coach has not done so yet. I counted each of them. In contrast, Timothy Eatman is the acting head coach at Rutgers while CVS steps away due to Covid concerns and I did not count him.
I did count Ruth Sinn, the head coach of the St. Thomas Tommies, a name out that is new to many of you. She’s a longtime head coach of the program, which converted from D3 to D1 this year. Interestingly, her “debut” as a D1 head coach was against Marissa Moseley, also coaching in her debut at Wisconsin. (Wisconsin won.) I did count Ruth because I’m sure she will remember this game as her first is a D1 head coach, but I can understand why some might not include her.
Quite a few coaches in their debut D1 game have prior head coaching experience, many of the D2 level, but one, Nikki Collen, came to Baylor from the WNBA.
Here is the full list of debut results:
Result Coach Team
1 Loss Melissa Hodgdon (interim) Hartford Hawks
2 Win Ashley Langford Stony Brook Seawolves
3 Loss Denise King UMass Lowell River Hawks
4 Win Katrina Merriweather Memphis Tigers
5 Win Toyelle Wilson SMU Mustangs
6 Win Angie Nelp Tulsa Golden Hurricane
7 Win Greg Todd Eastern Kentucky Colonels
8 Win Octavia Blue Kennesaw State Owls
9 Win Vanessa Blair-Lewis George Mason Patriots
10 Win Caroline McCombs George Washington Colonials
11 Win Vonn Read (interim) Syracuse Orange
12 Win Jennie Baranczyk Oklahoma Sooners
13 Win Nicki Collen Baylor Bears
14 Loss Joddie Gleason Eastern Washington Eagles
15 Loss Kristen Mattio Northern Colorado Bears
16 Win Chelsey Gregg Portland State Vikings
17 Loss Mark Campbell Sacramento State Hornets
18 Loss Clarisse Garcia Charleston Southern Buccaneers
19 Win Marisa Moseley Wisconsin Badgers
20 Win Katie Gearlds Purdue Boilermakers
21 Win Bridgette Mitchell Northeastern Huskies
22 Loss Karen Aston UTSA Roadrunners
23 Win Jennifer Sullivan Florida Atlantic Owls
24 Win Lindsay Edmonds Rice Owls
25 Win Maria Marchesano Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons
26 Loss LaTanya Collins (interim) Detroit Mercy Titans
27 Loss Kari Hoffman Wright State Raiders
28 Loss Adrienne Shibles Dartmouth Big Green
29 Loss Jim Jabir Siena Saints
30 Loss Sahar Nusseibeh Canisius Golden Griffins
31 Loss Ginny Boggess Monmouth Hawks
32 Loss E.C. Hill Delaware State Hornets
33 Win Allison Pohlman Drake Bulldogs
34 Win Robyn Scherr-Wells Evansville Purple Aces
35 Win Chad Killinger Indiana State Sycamores
36 Loss Antoine White Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers
37 Win Terrell Coburn Wagner Seahawks
38 Loss Brittany Young Austin Peay Lady Govs
39 Loss Cayla Petree Morehead State Eagles
40 Loss Samantha Quigley Smith SIU Edwardsville Cougars
41 Win Lindsay Gottlieb USC Trojans
42 Win Tina Langley Washington Huskies
43 Loss Danielle O'Banion Loyola Greyhounds
44 Loss Missy Traversi Army Black Knights
45 Win Melissa Graves Boston University Terriers
46 Loss Ganiyat Adeduntan Colgate Raiders
47 Win Kim Mulkey LSU Lady Tigers
48 Loss Johnnie Harris Auburn Tigers
49 Win Kelly Rae Finley (interim) Florida Gators
50 Win Shea Ralph Vanderbilt Commodores
51 Loss Simon Harris East Tennessee State Buccaneers
52 Win Lynn Kennedy McNeese State Cowgirls
53 Win Janell Crayton Bethune–Cookman Wildcats
54 Loss Ruth Sinn St. Thomas Tommies
55 Loss Aarika Hughes Loyola Marymount Lions
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