PeteD
Masters Student
Posts: 602
Loc: California
Reg: 03-13-07
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12-08-24 07:43 PM - Post#375344
The women played a good Richmond team (defending A-10 champs) close for three quarters... the Lions were down 58-56 late in the 3rd Qtr, but a 10-0 run early in the 4th gave the Spiders full control of the game and they went on to win 85-76.
Kitty led the Lions with 21.
Richmond's offense was virtually unstoppable... they shot 12 of 18 from deep and 34 of 52 from the floor (65%).
But one thing is clear after seeing this game (and the previous two)... the Lions are a much better team on both ends when Mia Broom is on the floor. I'm curious to know what her +/- differential was today.
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cc66
Postdoc
Posts: 2267
Reg: 10-09-09
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12-08-24 08:16 PM - Post#375345
In response to PeteD
I had a somewhat different take. After 11 games, I think this is the weakest team that MG has fielded in the last three seasons. Sure, it is good enough to beat mediocre teams (the bottom 4 of the IL), and I agree with you that Mia Broom has a Henderson-like toughness, but the problem is that we just don't have any interior defense, or enough offense to compensate for what we give up inside.
Maybe the team will improve in the next month or so. But based on what I have seen so far, I don't think that the women are going to have an especially outstanding season.
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PeteD
Masters Student
Posts: 602
Loc: California
Reg: 03-13-07
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12-08-24 11:47 PM - Post#375355
In response to cc66
I wasn’t implying this team is better than the Lion teams of the recent past. The 22/23 team that finished runner-up to Kansas in the WNIT was special… KD, Abbey, Jaida Patrick, Kitty, and Hannah Pratt… two WNBA draft picks!
I was just saying the current team is much better with Broom on the floor.
In today’s game, Broom played 22 mins. She was a +12… Columbia 48, Richmond 36. In the 18 mins while she was on the bench, Richmond rolled to a 49-28 advantage.
I understand plus/minus stats can be misleading, but if you watched today’s game, it was very obvious that she made the team better on both ends of the floor. One thing the box score doesn’t show is her tenacity, aggressiveness, and IQ in defense.
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CM
Masters Student
Posts: 530
Reg: 10-11-18
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12-09-24 07:56 AM - Post#375360
In response to cc66
This was an interesting game because Richmond basically plays one guard and 4 wings and literally all 5 on the court are threats from 3 at all times. Four of their 5 starters are over 6' tall and this created mismatches all over the place with the Lions.
Some good adjustments saw the ball moving a lot more after the first quarter and that's how the game remained competitive. But you're never going to beat a team that shoots 66% from the floor.
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PeteD
Masters Student
Posts: 602
Loc: California
Reg: 03-13-07
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12-09-24 02:35 PM - Post#375417
In response to CM
Agreed, Richmond was tough to defend because of the threats in the paint and beyond the arc from all five players. Columbia’s best version of that type of attack is Kitty, Collins, Weiss, Broom, and Page… all five are threats from beyond the arc. And all five are threats with the dribble/drive.
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Columbia 37P6
Postdoc
Posts: 2267
Reg: 02-14-06
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12-10-24 02:33 PM - Post#375546
In response to PeteD
Richmond is an outstanding basketball team with an excellent coach. Their outside shooting was incredible. That being said, it is obvious that this year's Lion team is a work in progress that needs to improve considerably in order to compete successfully for the Ivy League championship. How that improvement is to come about is unclear because of the surprising lack of information that has been provided to fans of the Columbia Women's Basketball Team. Unless I am wrong, neither Coach G nor anyone else has informed fans of the status of two key players Fliss Henderson and the freshman center who has not played at all after the first game of the season. Fliss is a strong player and the freshman center is needed as back-up to our only big player. What is their status? If both of them are unavailable then the needed improvement will have to come solely from the players we have now.
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PeteD
Masters Student
Posts: 602
Loc: California
Reg: 03-13-07
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12-10-24 08:01 PM - Post#375561
In response to Columbia 37P6
I think this year’s team will be fine… they’re a heavy favorite to make it into Ivy madness, and Princeton is not as dominant as they have been in the recent past. Harvard is the team to beat this year, but let’s wait and see how the teams shape up in two months before crowning them (or Princeton).
The emergence of Mia Broom and to a lesser extent, Marija Avlijas, has me optimistic for a successful season.
Indeed, the absence of Fliss is a mystery. I was expecting her to be back in action by now.
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Columbia 37P6
Postdoc
Posts: 2267
Reg: 02-14-06
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12-11-24 04:09 PM - Post#375590
In response to PeteD
Whatever happened to Marta Jaama, the 6'2" freshman center from Eastern Europe? She has not played at all since the opening game of the season. Is Fliss Henderson injured, or whatever. I am not ready to panic, but without Fliss, Marta and/or another big inside player, winning the Ivy League this year will be a challenge. Maybe Coach G's back-up plan is to start giving many more minutes to Blau and Maria who are the only six footers on the roster.
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CM
Masters Student
Posts: 530
Reg: 10-11-18
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12-11-24 05:40 PM - Post#375594
In response to Columbia 37P6
The lack of transparency with college programs can be super frustrating to fans. Players get injured and there's never a status report on them. Some programs have kids straight up quit and we never heard anything about it - did you know one of this year's Harvard's captains is no longer listed on the roster? Just, poof, it's like she was never on the team this year.
I understand why this is the case, btw: they're college kids, not pro athletes. Still and all, it can make being a fan a bit more challenging
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