2024-2025 WBB Team (2022-present)

[DarkCock]

Charlie Creme speculates we could possibly lose two games and remain the top overall seed. Again, not sure how much being the #1 seed means this year. But good to know.

Women's Bracketology: Who could steal Virginia Tech's at-large bid?

As Duke's chances of a 2-seed slip and Louisville makes a jump, let's talk potential bubble teams and those who could take the Hokies' spot.

www.espn.com

 

[GWMorris]

While rewatching the game today, I was focused on why LSU went away from Morrow late in the game. She didn't score in the final 7:30 seconds. I was surprised to see that it wasn't so much LSU going away from her as much as it was Ashlyn Watkins shutting her down. Her defensive play in the 4th was outstanding. We were -5 with Kitts in the game, even though she led the team in scoring. That should give you some idea of how much she was giving up on the defensive end.

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With 4 minutes left in the 1st quarter, Dawn took out Cardoso. LSU's lead ballooned to 10 in a hurry. They were up 11 and had the ball out of bounds when Cardoso returned and stole the inbound pass. I thought we were on the ropes there. But we weathered the storm.

It was a battle, though, to whittle down that lead. I understand why Dawn sat Cardoso. She didn't want her to pick up a 2nd foul in the 1st quarter. But if we play them again, she may need to play even more minutes. We might to like to admit it, but Angel Reese is a force. She was the only Tiger who had a plus rating. They were +10 with her on the floor. Cardoso really abused Del Rosario, as evidenced by Del Rosario's -20 while on the court.

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Stanford is a team that starts two low-post players, so LSU isn't the only potential physical team we could play in the tournament. These are bad matchups for Chloe. Watkins needs to stay out of foul trouble, if we face them again. Hopefully, Feagin will continue to get more playing time. Dawn is fortunate to have options.

Kitts will have matchups that are more in her favor. For instance, this weekend against Vandy, she will be matched up against Justine Pissott, who's a finesse player.

Carolina's plus-minus doesn't add up. We won by six, so the plus-minus should total 30 (30 divided by 5 equals 6). But +/- total is 33. Not sure which individual +/- is wrong. Kitts, however, would still be a minus, but it's unclear if -5 is accurate.

 

[DarkCock]

Carolina's plus-minus doesn't add up. We won by six, so the plus-minus should total 30 (30 divided by 5 equals 6). But +/- total is 33. Not sure which individual +/- is wrong. Kitts, however, would still be a minus, but it's unclear if -5 is accurate.

+/- is just the point differential when a player is on the court. I suspect Kitts went negative when Cardoso went to the bench at the end of the 1st. Watkins was -10 at the half. She finished 0, meaning she was +10 in the 2nd half playing alongside Cardoso. So there's a theme: this team is much better when Cardoso is on the floor. Maybe not so much against a team that plays 5 out, like Mizzou, but definitely against a physical team like LSU.

 

[DarkCock]

I guess we should say something about Vanderbilt. They are 4-2 in conference and both their losses went down to the final minutes. They could easily be 6-0. But, honestly, they look to be just OK at best. I would surprised if they finish over .500 in conference. You gotta hand it to Shea Ralph, though; she's getting the most out of her team. They have bought into what she's selling. I've noticed how much their bench gets into the game. They are out there competing on every play. So don't expect them to roll over tomorrow. They'll fight for the full 40 minutes.

That being said, I can't make the case we should be on upset alert. We just held the top-scoring team in the nation to 70 points, on the road. So based on Vandy's scoring in the conference, they are probably looking at around 55, 56 points tomorrow. Only UNCarolina has held us under 70. Not much more to say.

 

[winloseortie]

VANDY

My apologies for not getting something out earlier.


Let’s start with the coach Shea Ralph, UCONN just pumps through her veins.(and I mean that as a compliment) After taking over a decade long disaster and enduring an injury wrecked season last year she is turning it around.

While she doesn’t have Geno’s on court talent, you see their offense is disciplined and motion oriented. (Good prep game for playing UCONN later) She has molded an undersized, moderately talented roster into 17-3. They get little national respect, no votes in the polls. Partly this is because they are unknown and had weak OOC. They beat a good Iowa State team and played NCSU tight in their 2 toughest matchups. They just can’t beat top 20 talent, yet. They play smart and try to dictate tempo.

Now they do have talent just not enough. They are undersized but 6’2” Sascha Washington can score and rebound. Jordan Cambridge scores well, is 2nd in the country in steals and will be All SEC D, maybe even DPOY. Moore is the third double digit scorer. Pissott is a UT transfer. 5 star recruit who was not developed or even saw the court under Harper. She is 6’4” but a perimeter player. Oliver is not much of a scorer but tough defender and just solid.

Bench is very thin, Pierce, a Fr. is good and will be a double digit scorer next year. Maukarat is the only other choice off the bench. She has good size at 6’3”.

This should be a 30+ game, BUT Vandy will attempt to control pace and IF their discipline holds….. well we may not score 90 but we still win handily. Intrigued by how we will handle big game victory. LSU hangover?? Business as usual? I predict the latter.

 

[winloseortie]

Schadenfreude over our competition

Unnoticed on Thursday was a tater beat down by NCSU. Tillman tech plays Wake today with the loser gaining bragging rights as cellar dweller.

ND slapped UCONN with Hannah Hidalgo,
clearly on speed(I jest) putting up 34 points 10 rebounds and 6 assists.

Bad week for the top 10

#2 UCLA lost to Utah
#3 Colorado lost to Oregon state
#7 NCSU got smoked by Duke
#8 UCONN lost to ND
#9 LSU need I say more
#10 Texas lost to Oklahoma

 

[YankeeRooster]

Schadenfreude over our competition

Unnoticed on Thursday was a tater beat down by NCSU. Tillman tech plays Wake today with the loser gaining bragging rights as cellar dweller.

ND slapped UCONN with Hannah Hidalgo,
clearly on speed(I jest) putting up 34 points 10 rebounds and 6 assists.

Bad week for the top 10

#2 UCLA lost to Utah
#3 Colorado lost to Oregon state
#7 NCSU got smoked by Duke
#8 UCONN lost to ND
#9 LSU need I say more
#10 Texas lost to Oklahoma

except NCSU smoked Duke…….

 

[winloseortie]

except NCSU smoked Duke…….

Well dang it’s either stupidity, wishful thinking or my dyslexia creeping in. Thanks for the correction

 

[YankeeRooster]

VANDY

My apologies for not getting something out earlier.


Let’s start with the coach Shea Ralph, UCONN just pumps through her veins.(and I mean that as a compliment) After taking over a decade long disaster and enduring an injury wrecked season last year she is turning it around.

While she doesn’t have Geno’s on court talent, you see their offense is disciplined and motion oriented. (Good prep game for playing UCONN later) She has molded an undersized, moderately talented roster into 17-3. They get little national respect, no votes in the polls. Partly this is because they are unknown and had weak OOC. They beat a good Iowa State team and played NCSU tight in their 2 toughest matchups. They just can’t beat top 20 talent, yet. They play smart and try to dictate tempo.

Now they do have talent just not enough. They are undersized but 6’2” Sascha Washington can score and rebound. Jordan Cambridge scores well, is 2nd in the country in steals and will be All SEC D, maybe even DPOY. Moore is the third double digit scorer. Pissott is a UT transfer. 5 star recruit who was not developed or even saw the court under Harper. She is 6’4” but a perimeter player. Oliver is not much of a scorer but tough defender and just solid.

Bench is very thin, Pierce, a Fr. is good and will be a double digit scorer next year. Maukarat is the only other choice off the bench. She has good size at 6’3”.

This should be a 30+ game, BUT Vandy will attempt to control pace and IF their discipline holds….. well we may not score 90 but we still win handily. Intrigued by how we will handle big game victory. LSU hangover?? Business as usual? I predict the latter.

Good post…thx

 

[YankeeRooster]

Looking fwd to the home game at CLA. I expect Fulwiley to get extended minutes in this game, time to start increasing her minutes in preparation for the second half of the season. I’d like for Feagin to get some more minutes as well, she has been very productive per minutes played….Important to keep developing the bench.

@LSU was a great test, and the team held up well in an extremely pressure packed environment, good prep for the tourney games ahead. After watching the UConn game last night I am more confident that if Cardoso is absent we will be just fine. Watkins and Feagin can split time guarding Edwards and a front court of Kitts, Watkins and Feagin will be hard for UConn to handle.

Paige plays the 4 spot now for UConn, ND guarded her with Citron who did a very good job on her. Not sure who we will assign defensive duties to her but Hall seems right, though they are playing basically 4 guards in their lineup now so it’s possible we try Kitts on her some. Muhl, Shade and Arnold are all true guard types……

 

[Gamekem]

 

[winloseortie]

The picks for today and Monday
I was 4-0 on Thursday but other than our game they were all mismatches. Today’s and tomorrow’s games are going either muddy up or clarify the race for the double byes.

Gamecocks vs Vandy

see above

A&M @ UF
A&M is the better TEAM but Correa and Martharu might be the two best players on the court. I believe UF gets 6’6” Kyle back today I think. Even though it’s in Gainesville I’m picking A&M.

UT @ OM
Possibly best game of the day. Winner has a big leg up on 3rd place. I just am not impressed by UT but they keep winning. Coach Yo called out the fan base for lack of support this week. Attendance today will be a litmus test about whether Yo stays. I want to pick OM…..but UT has just a little more

Ark @ Mizzou
Who knows? Does good or bad Arky show up? Does good or bad Mizzou show up? Tossing the coin ….. It’s tails Mizzou wins.

UK vs Bama
Nobody thought UK would have 2 wins at this point. They are that bad. Nobody thought Bama would have only 2 wins. Disappointing. Bama gets back on track


Monday
UGA @ Aub
UGA Preseason pick to make the NCAAs. Auburn was picked next to last. Auburn is improving UGA is not.

LSU @ MISS ST
VERY INTRIGUING. LSU needs a bounce back performance. STATE needs a big win to be in the top 4 in the conference race. Need it also for NCAA hopes. I said I would pick against LSU all season on gener principles But LSU wins

 

[Gamekem]

 

[DarkCock]

Certain posters need to take this class

 

[ConwayGamecock]

This game today may classify as the classic "trap" game, with the Gamecocks coming off of a tough Thursday road game win at LSU - they haven't had much time for rest or preparation for the Commodores, while Vanderbilt hasn't played since last Sunday, so they have ample supply of both. Plus Vandy is much better this season than they have been in past seasons.

The Gamecocks take a slim 18-17 lead after the 1st Period.....

 

[ConwayGamecock]

The Gamecocks did improve for the 2nd quarter, out-scoring Vanderbilt 24-13 to take a 42-30 lead into the halftime break. The Gamecocks shot 10-19 (.526) overall and 3-7 (.429) from the three that period, while holding Vanderbilt to 4-16 (.250) and 2-8 (.250) respectively. Kamilla leads the Gamecocks with 10 pts, but 8 of those were scored in the 1st Period on 3-3 shooting, while she's shot 1-6 since. Aga Makurat leads the Commodores with 10 pts as well......

 

[ConwayGamecock]

Vanderbilt opened the 2nd half jumping on the Gamecocks and pulling within 4 pts, but the Gamecocks withstood the charge and rebuilt the lead back up, and they lead the Commodores 67-49 at the end of the 3rd Quarter.....

 

[KingWard]

The hangover from LSU has been evident, no disrespect to Vanderbilt.

 

[BftCocks09]

This has been an atrocious game defensively.

 

[ConwayGamecock]

Gamecocks win 91-74 to improve to 19-0 and 7-0 in the SEC. Kamilla led the team with 23 pts and added 6 rebounds and 2 blocks...

 

[DeutschRock]

The hangover from LSU has been evident, no disrespect to Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt shot very well and are better than you think.

 

[Gamekem]

Vandy is real solid. Shea has taken the UConn formula to the SEC. She still needs the players, but fundamentally they are one of the best.

 

[DeutschRock]

This has been an atrocious game defensively.

Only 4th time we've given up more than 70. Vandy scored 74. Not as atrocious as you think.

 

[Gamekem]

Looks like Vandy Coach already has competition with Dawn for her own daughter in recruiting.

 

[KingWard]

Vanderbilt shot very well and are better than you think.

Might be, but I suspect they caught us at the perfect time. We were slow to the mark on defense a number of times.

 

[DarkCock]

This has been an atrocious game defensively.

We held them to 40% shooting. No great by our standards, but not atrocious. The more concerning issue is once again rebounding, particularly defensive. Vandy had 15 offensive rebounds and they are one of the worst in the conference in that category. We only had 2 more rebounds total than Vandy. Vandy! At home!

 

[TN-Gamecock]

Before watching the Notre Dame-UCONN matchup, I was concerned about us potentially losing to UCONN as I thought they would be the most talented team we play this season. Now after seeing the game, I think we'll go undefeated into the NCAA tournament.

The tournament in Greenville will be home games for us. Then we will get to host in Columbia the first round games in the NCAA tournament. The only teams that may be a threat in the NCAA tournament are UCLA, IOWA, and Stanford. K-State might be interesting too but Lee and Cardoso would cancel each other out and K-State does not have the supporting cast for Lee.

 

[winloseortie]

Might be, but I suspect they caught us at the perfect time. We were slow to the mark on defense a number of times.

We were slow because Vandy ran great motion offense and set the best screens I have seen all year. We try like hell to fight over or through screens. They forced us to switch, which set in motion help rotations. This is a team where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

 

[winloseortie]

We held them to 40% shooting. No great by our standards, but not atrocious. The more concerning issue is once again rebounding, particularly defensive. Vandy had 15 offensive rebounds and they are one of the worst in the conference in that category. We only had 2 more rebounds total than Vandy. Vandy! At home!

Gee, I wonder if anyone has previously stated worries about our rebounding

 

[KingWard]

This guy wants the Vols to pursue Dawn.

https://atozsports.com/nashville/tennessee-vols-ad-danny-white-lady-harper-staley-lsu/

 

[Orion]

So is Aliyah Boston just hanging with the team or working out? Saw her at the men’s UK game, at LSU, and now at home today against Vandy. I know she is working some with the BigTen

 

[PFUNK Cock]

This guy wants the Vols to pursue Dawn.

https://atozsports.com/nashville/tennessee-vols-ad-danny-white-lady-harper-staley-lsu/

Delusional, coach Dawn Staley is not leaving her baby to go to Rocky Top. They don’t have a statue of her favorite player with more to come. She is a legend and Loves her job as she grows Women’s Basketball Nationally. Why would she go where they already have an iconic figure.

 

[Gamekem]

Another week and another coach giving Dawn and the program their highest of praises.

 

[Gamekem]

 

[KingWard]

Delusional, coach Dawn Staley is not leaving her baby to go to Rocky Top. They don’t have a statue of her favorite player with more to come. She is a legend and Loves her job as she grows Women’s Basketball Nationally. Why would she go where they already have an iconic figure.

I quite agree. Tennessee is like UCLA post-Wooden. They might be in for several decades in the Wilderness.

 

[TN-Gamecock]

UT should go after the Louisville Coach. I don't see Dawn at UT, it's a super conservative fan base and Dawn tends to be outspoken. Might not be a good fit for Dawn here on Rocky Top.

I think she stays at Carolina for her entire career. Why would she leave? She has family in SC and Columbia is a pretty liberal city.

 

[germangamecock]

It's also our third 12 week streak at #1. If it wasn't for that preseason poll, this would have been the tie for the record.

What an amazing program Dawn Staley has built!

 

[DarkCock]

So is Aliyah Boston just hanging with the team or working out? Saw her at the men’s UK game, at LSU, and now at home today against Vandy. I know she is working some with the BigTen

 

[Gamecock Lincoln]

Time to add her to some official role with the team (in her off season). Kinda like what Howard does wih FLA. Aliyah would be perfect.

 

[The Coast is Clear]

Another week and another coach giving Dawn and the program their highest of praises.

Shea Ralph was very genuine in her comments about our coach. You could tell she meant it.

Never heard her speak. Never watched her coach until yesterday. IMHO, with her Vandy will be on the rise in WBB.