Game Notes: Ripon College @ North Central College (11/15/13)

Final Score

NCC 113, Ripon 111 (OT)

Game Summary

In an incredibly back and forth game, the Red Hawks (0-1) had control and most of the lead, but the Cardinals (1-0) never trailed by more than 5 and even took the lead here and there. Ripon had a 6 point lead with about 7 minutes to go in the first half when the Cardinals started to make a run. A few well-timed layups and threes got the Cardinals back into it and they led by 6 at the break. North Central came back out of the locker room pretty quickly, building the largest lead of the game at 10 points a couple times. Ripon worked their way back, finally tying the game about halfway through the frame. It was a war of attrition from there, with neither team able to pull away by more than 5 points, when Ripon did it with about 2 minutes to go, then again with about 35 seconds left after North Central tied it. Fortunately NCC got a three point play and a charge before a game-tying layup forced overtime (which was then nearly averted by a halfcourt heave that juuuuussst missed going in). In the extra frame, neither team led by more than 2, but a botched play turned out all right with less than 4 ticks left, and the Cardinals may have a legend in the making.

Key Stats

• DeJa Moore (NCC): 5-9 FG (0-1 3PT), 4-6 FT- 14 pts, 5 reb (2 ofr), 7 ast, 2 stl. Your hero of the night. I heard encouragement from NCC's bench for DeJa to "Attack #12 [of Ripon], she can't guard you!" And sure enough, she attacked the basket well tonight, including when it mattered most. She found room for a layup at the end of regulation with the clock winding down to force the extra session, and in overtime took the ball out under the basket with 7.5 seconds left following a timeout. She tried to get an entry pass into Larynn Shumaker, saw it bobbled, but ended up with the ball under the basket, and somehow found a way to put it home.
• Larynn Shumaker (NCC): 6-12 FG, 13-15 FT- 25 pts, 3 reb (2 ofr), 1 ast. With the main weapon of the arsenal (see below) not working, the Cardinals turned it over to their star in the middle, and Larynn showed that she worked hard in the offseason. Just like last year, she can beat anyone in the post to get a good look, and 50% shooting from the floor is a good start. What really impressed me though was the amount of times she got to the line and converted. As a team, the Cardinals shot 37-48 from the line. The 11 misses scared me at times tonight, but 77% from the stripe as a squad isn't too shabby.
• Sofia Svensson (NCC): 5-13 FG (1-3 3PT), 0-2 FT- 11 pts, 12 reb (8 ofr), 3 stl. In basketball, you need someone to do the dirty work: grab a few rebounds, play tough defense, dive after loose balls, and the native of Sweden did just fine in her first collegiate game. We could maybe argue that she tried a little too much, resulting in a couple fouls that could have been avoided, but I was impressed by her heart and hustle. They couldn't have pulled this win off without her.

North Central System Watch

I did this part last year too, but I'm getting rid of the line changes. It's going to be about 40 a game, what with all the pressing and such. So instead, I'll focus on the two keys of the system on each end.

• NCC 3PT: 8-46 (17.4%). So much for the 30 percent prediction. A lot of these threes were open looks, but they just didn't fall. They seem to fall in some key situations though, when the Cardinals need a bucket to open up some space or get back in a game. I'm not expecting a 20-48 line every night, but if they can make maybe 12-15 a game, I think they'll be all right.
• Ripon Turnovers: 39. Granted, in women's basketball, turnovers seem to be a lot more prevalent, but holy crap. Of those, 24 came off of North Central steals (Bobbi Johns and Uzuri Williams each had 4 to lead the way). The Cardinals drew two or three charges tonight and forced one five-count as well. So far, the 10-second rule addition hasn't had an impact.

Final Thoughts

Hey look, my head! Oh, and a basketball game. That too.
(Photo by NCC Sports Information Department)

At some point this season (read: the heart of CCIW play), this team will come to a bump in the road. Looking back to a game like this will hopefully give them some confidence to turn it around. Objectively, this was a really good game: 24 ties, 13 lead changes, no lead bigger than 10. For the fans who came in starting at 7 for the men's game (they won, by the way), they got to see a thrilling end to what, in most circumstances, could be called an instant classic.

There was just one, teeny tiny, eensy weensy problem... the NCAA's stupid insistence on the hand check rule for this season. Granted, we had an overtime period, but over the course of those 45 minutes of play, a whopping 73 fouls were called, resulting in 93 free throws. It was terrible in the first half, which took just over an hour to complete. I understand the idea of wanting to clean up the game and that eventually players will adjust, but my goodness. A lot of these calls were legitimate fouls, but there were enough ticky-tack ones that made this game a bit of a headache. Let them play, refs.

Anyway, I'm back at it tomorrow. Ripon gets a shot at Bluffton University's women's team, who got beat 83-59 by #9 Hope College in the early contest, for third place at noon. 2:30 sees Valor Christian College try to right the ship from their loss to NCC by facing Trinity International University. Finally, the 5:00 women's title game pits the Cardinals against Hope. I'm hoping the Cardinals can build some momentum off a big win there and take home the tournament championship!