What a great start to the season. I am already having a blast and we are just warming up. The Cats blasted Utah Valley in Orem 94-71 in their opener on Friday night, and then came home to the Fieldhouse for an excellent home-opener win over North Dakota 85-78.
Against UVU, the Cats relied on their offense to pull away after the Wolverines chiseled away MSU’s 5 point halftime lead. The key for MSU was its bench play, which gave the Cats 41 points, including a pair of big threes by Anne Phippard. Sarah Strand and Erica Perry led the Cats with 15 points apiece.
Against North Dakota, MSU got out to a 12 point lead at the half only to see North Dakota come storming back in the second half. (Déjà vu?) MSU led by as much as 21 points in the second half and UND got it down to a 1 point differential in the final minutes before MSU went on a 6-0 run to close the game for the win. The big difference in the game was at the free throw line: MSU went 27 times and converted 21. UND was 7-9. I am a big believer of what goes around comes around however, the story was the exact opposite in Grand Forks last year where UND got 30 attempts and MSU got 8. Kidding aside, UND was pretty sloppy on defense, especially inside where their star, Kierah Kimbrough was fouled out. In fact, coach Gene Roebuck called her out after the game for her defense.
What did I see this weekend? MSU’s offense will be really good. Sarah Strand is capable of shooting the ball from anywhere, freshman Katie Bussey has been in double figures in all of her games as a Bobcat (well almost, she had 9 vs UND), the Cats are getting 40 ppg from their bench through two games, and the posts are getting their buckets and capitalizing on second chance opportunities. This despite the fact that MSU’s projected leading scorer, Jenny Heringer, has yet to heat up and has been missing a ton of free throws. That won’t last long though, she will find her rhythm and look out, MSU could average high eighties, low nineties all season. There is room for improvement however. The MSU post defense was spotty at times. Against UVU, the Cat’s gave up 31 points to Robyn Fairbanks and sent her to the line 10 times. And while Julie McMurray did get a three, most of her career high 25 points around the basket. Against the Sioux, Kimbrough managed 24 points despite riding the pine in foul trouble and only playing for 14 minutes. The Cats surrendered 13 points and 9 rebounds to Whitney Ledger, a bench player who only averaged 6.3 ppg last season. This undoubtedly bugs Coach Binford, so I know she will be harping on defense in the coming weeks. MSU has the athletes to play good post defense and, with proper focus, will start shutting teams down.
Upcoming: 11/21 @ Gonzaga 7pm, 11/23 @ Washington State 3pm
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