WBB: American Southwest Conference

[Ralph Turner]

Congratulations to McMurry.  The game was everything that you could want in an early season match-up.  Yes, the teams were a little ragged, but the intensity was playoff quality.

Pirate--congratulations on the game your daughter had.

I was very impressed with the play of the new players to the team this year.

Unsung hero of the game...McM Freshman backup point guard Courtney Wolfe!

With about 12+ minutes left in the game, (my candidate for All-American point guard) Symbri Tuttle picks up her 4th foul.  Coach Nichols quickly subs Wolfe for Tuttle and Courtney runs the offense for 5 minutes.  One turnover, one assist and she never drops a beat during the crucial middle of the second half against the #9 team in the nation.  After 5 solid minutes on the bench, watching the clock wind down, Tuttle is able to come back into the game and finishes.

Courtney, you may not get as many minutes as you might like this year, but we McM fans know that you can do the job this year when you are called upon, and that it is your job to take when Symbri graduates!  Sit back this year when you are not playing and learn the conference.  Load your notebook with tendencies, strengths and weaknesses on the players that you see.  Pick Symbri's brain and Coaches Nichols' and Densman's, too.   We need you to be the general on the court next year!

Finally, it was good to see all of my HSU friends.

[pirateonthebrazos]

Congrats to McMurry, you played a great defensive ballgame that kept us looking for answers in the 2cd half and none came. 
Ralph, you were dead on as to the 5 or so minutes when Tuttle and Richardson were on the bench.  HSU should have took full advantage of that but did not.
Both teams were horrible from the free thow line--HSU 12 of 24..,MCM 9 of 18. ....We will be outside on the driveway this weekend for sure. 

Thanks for the Kudos for the daughter...Surprised Briggs did not go deeper on her bench as HSU was tired down the stretch.

One thing we learned last year is that it is a long, long, season and lots can and will happen.  Enjoy the games.

[fanstand]

Well, I called it. Had Amanda Peters got her lay-up and had we made a couple of free throws in the first half, we would of had my point spread!. But don't beat yourself up Amanda, the adrenaline was overpowering.  It was way intense..crowd was the best I've seen. There wasn't alot of subbing by either coach but the season is early. This does not define the season by any means. And McM is well aware this game is just that, a game, though it is a sweet victory, it's back to work.  I'm exhausted. I know it is hard on the bench when they don't play, especially in such a contest as that, but their time is coming and there will be plenty of opportunities. Different nights, different strategies. Allie Nelson may have surprised them, but we knew she was coming on strong. I'm very proud of L.I.B. Relax and rest up, then onward. Maybe next week we'll break the top ten.

[Ralph Turner]

...Surprised Briggs did not go deeper on her bench as HSU was tired down the stretch.

One thing we learned last year is that it is a long, long, season and lots can and will happen.  Enjoy the games.

Pirate, HSU SID was right.  That game had the feel of late-season intensity.  Maybe that is why Coach Briggs did not go deeper into her bench.

[HSUats]

...Surprised Briggs did not go deeper on her bench as HSU was tired down the stretch.

I would have like to see some of the bench players from HSU see a little more playing time, whether it be Laci Walker and her defense or ability to grab rebounds, or Steinberger's defense, or the offensive ability of Rachael Singletary.

But none the less i am not the coach and think the game was coach very well on both sides. Again, i look forward to the next meeting at McM and other future meetings

[CUAfan]

CUA's in the middle of a tough stretch. We lost by 4 to UTT after tying the game at 70 with less than a minute left (if I recall correctly). Then we lost to Menlo College (#12 in NAIA Division II) on a literal last-second buzzer-beater 67-68. Hopefully we can bounce back tomorrow night against Huston-Tillotson before taking on UTD on Saturday.

[dballa]

CUAfan, thanks for the post.  We don't get very many CUA fans posting on here.  It sure would be great to get more insight from you guys.

[CUAfan]

No prob. Posting on here had been on my to-do list for a while.

I don't think anyone's going to really enjoy playing us this season. While we're not the most athletic team by any stretch, we play hard for the whole 40 minutes and play tough defense (we "held" UTT's Stanley to 16 points, for what that's worth).

[Ralph Turner]

fanstand, it was great to see you Monday night!

Your daughter is doing a wonderful job with the conditioning of the team.

FG % for the game

HSU: 1st half:  10-24 (41.7%); 2nd half:  9-28 (32.1%) 19-52  (36.5%)

McM: 1st half:  10-24 (41.7%); 2nd half: 14-27 (51.9%) 24-51 (47.1%)

[Ralph Turner]

No prob. Posting on here had been on my to-do list for a while.

I don't think anyone's going to really enjoy playing us this season. While we're not the most athletic team by any stretch, we play hard for the whole 40 minutes and play tough defense (we "held" UTT's Stanley to 16 points, for what that's worth).

+1 Karma, CUAfan.  Please keep posting!

[CUAfan]

Well, if you insist.... 

I think we'll be challenging for the West title in a couple years, I think. We only have something like 5 upperclassmen on this year's squad and only two of them get significant minutes. Not to mention that Kassandra Bills is one of the top scorers in the conference as a sophomore (a bit too Iverson-esque for my taste though) and we've got a solid and improving post in Jackie Eddins, all we're really short is someone who can rebound even a little bit like McMurry's Richardson.

[thundercat]

The biggest thing CUA needs to focus on is player retention.  They have had some very good players in the past and haven't been able to hold on to them.  Now, what the reason for their departure is one can only speculate, I have my ideas, but that is why they have such a young team.  Should all the young players actually stick around, maybe they will be near the top of the conference sometime down the road, but I would have to say that they are further off then a couple of years.  HSU, HPU and MCM didn't get there in a couple of years.  It is a building process and with those three schools maintaining their level of competition, it will be hard for any school to get in there and beat them out.

Now, let me say this, I would not be surprised if CUA is able to sneak up and beat one of the top schools at their place.  If they could get even 50 fans of their own in that shoebox of a gym it would be a very difficult place to play.  CUAfan, where is your student body at the games?

[CUAfan]

I know what you mean, thundercat. The only reason for losing a player that I know of was when we lost Danielle Barnett to UTD. She left because our then-assistant coach McKinney left to take the head job at Schreiner. I guess she was only here 'cause of McKinney and didn't like Sharp much.

As far as our student body goes, at this point in the season I'd bet a lot of 'em are either (a) working nights or (b) working on end-of-semester projects and whatnot. We had a pretty good turnout for UTT as far as I could tell. I think we had about 50 fans total for our Monday nighter against Menlo College. I think the problem's more that the fans who do show up aren't terribly vocal, rather than they just don't show up.

I have noticed from volleyball, though, that we tend to be out-drawn by our visitors, especially nearby ones like TLU.

[Ralph Turner]

George Levecque interviews McMurry Coach Sam Nichols after the McM win over HSU.

[HSUats]

i didn't catch the 2nd half of the HSU/Ozarks girls game so i'm not sure how it turned out

I would have like to see some of the bench players from HSU see a little more playing time, whether it be Laci Walker and her defense or ability to grab rebounds

But i did catch the 1st half and hear that laci walker had 13 points in 12 minutes, maybe Coach Briggs reads these posts