Game Notes: St. Mary's College @ North Central College (11/21/14)

Final Score
NCC 100, St. Mary's 84

Game Summary
It was a fairly slow start for the Cardinals (1-0), who missed their first several threes to start the game and the Belles (0-3) took advantage to build an early 9-2 lead. The threes started to drop from there and the press started to force turnovers. A 19-4 run got the Cardinals well in front and helped them stake a 44-33 halftime lead. North Central came out stronger in the second half and pushed the lead to about 20 halfway through. The Belles would narrow the gap to as closets 13 with about five minutes to go, but the Cardinals were able to step up late to put it away.

Key Stats

• Miranda Grizzafi (NCC): 5-11 FG (all 3PT), 1-1 FT; 16 pts, 4 reb (3 off), 1 ast, 1 blk. Miranda got the first triple of the year to kick things off, and was shooting well the rest of the night. She also crashed the offensive glass, giving the Cardinals extra chances.
• Jamie Cuny (NCC): 5-15 FG (3-11 3PT), 1-2 FT; 14 pts, 9 reb (1 off), 1 ast, 2 stl, 4 blk. The U of I-Springfield transfer and Naperville native had a good first game, launching plenty of shots from outside, but she also provided good interior defense and reach on the press. She hit a layup with 10 seconds left to hit the century mark. 
• Ariana Paul (SMC): 9-13 FG, 2-4 FT; 20 pts, 20 reb (4 off), 2 ast, 2 STL, 1 blk. As is the case with NCC's system, opposing forwards typically score a lot, but a 20-20 game doesn't happen that often. She did have five turnovers however, which didn't help.

North Central System Watch

• SMC Turnovers: 42. The Belles turned it over 28 times in the first half, obviously struggling with the pressure. Every player who saw time save one had at least one giveaway. NCC did force one ten second call, and 21 of the turnovers came on NCC steals; Bobbi Johns led the team with four, while Mayson Whipple had three.
• NCC 3PT: 16-67 (23.9%). The NCAA record for attempts is 68, so they fell just short, but did set a program record. After missing a bunch to start, the Cardinals finished 7-35 at the break. The second half was better (9-32), but still not a great start. Most of the shots were open looks, so I imagine those will fall as the season goes on.
• NCC Charges Drawn: 4. This is a new feature I'm adding this year. I told Coach Roof before the season started that this should be an official stat. I've been a proponent of this since my days at Aurora Christian, where charges were kept as an official stat at least until 2010 (I'm not sure with the new regime if it still is). I didn't catch who, but they drew a pair in the first half. Therese Pettersson drew a pair early in the second half before fouling out.

Early Game Notes
Millsaps 55, Trinity International 31. Trinity did hold some early leads, but the Majors were in control most of the contest. Kala Freeman led the way with 16 points and six rebounds, while Sam Perez had a great floor game (9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals). Amari Parham led the Trojans with 11 points, but has seven of TIU's 27 turnovers.

Final Thoughts
Fun officiating notes tonight: NCC was assessed an early technical. They had a player wearing a wrong jersey in the book, which is a two-shot tech. But apparently, you can only get assessed one per game. We learned this when we caught a second one in the second half. Also, apparently it's now against the rules for a player to step out of bounds and touch the ball right away once you're back in bounds.

Overall, not the best start, but a win is a win. NCC will plays Millsaps for the title tomorrow night at 5:00.

Game Notes: St. Mary's University @ North Central College (12/28/13)

Final Score
St. Mary's (MN) 99, NCC 81

Game Summary
In a game where they never trailed, the St. Mary's Cardinals (6-1) scored on their first possession and never looked back. North Central (6-4) kept it within single digits for a good chunk of the half and even pulled within three at 24-21 with 6:53 left in the frame. Then St. Mary's went on a tear, scoring 12 unanswered in less than two and a half minutes. North Central rallied and made it a 49-38 game at halftime. North Central couldn't really close the gap unfortunately, as St. Mary's pulled away slowly but surely, leading by as many as 23 points. North Central pulled to within 13 a couple times but could get no closer in the final minutes.

Key Stats

• NCC: 36 turnovers. Offensively... it was a nightmarish day for this Cardinal team. I don't know if they were tired or weren't entirely ready for the game, but they struggled. They telegraphed a lot of passes and were a little careless with the ball yesterday. Not one of their best performances this season. 20 of those turnovers came in the first half, so they did improve a bit as the game went on.
• Shelby Auseth (SMU): 12-18 FG (2-3 3PT), 2-3 FT; 28 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk. She killed in basically all facets of the game yesterday. St. Mary's was efficient from deep, and Auseth was a part of it. She also had some good looks at layups throughout the game. She took advantage of North Central's system and had herself an excellent game.
• Uzuri Williams (NCC): 6-10 FG, 1-2 FT; 13 pts, 5 reb (2 ofr), 2 stl, 1 blk. I think this was a breakout game for the junior transfer. She showed some decent moves down in the post, rebounded relatively well, and a few times in the game showed great hands on defense. I felt like she had more than the two steals. She could be a valuable piece moving into conference play next weekend.

North Central System Watch

• NCC 3PT: 8-31 (25.8%). I think this number might have looked uglier than it actually was. A few threes in the first half were pretty bad shots in that they were contested or really, really long. The Cardinals seemed short on a lot of their looks, even the open ones. It just wasn't their day. If they hit even a couple more of those (or move in a tad closer), this becomes more of a ballgame and we don't see the point disparity we did late. Such is the system: you live by the three, you die by the three.
• SMU Turnovers: 28. Not a bad total, though obviously it's bad when you turn it over more than that. North Central forced them into a few mistakes, but also notched 17 steals as a team. Bobbi Johns was her usual self, leading the team with 4 takeaways. Maryssa Cladis and Uzuri Williams each had 2 to help out.

Final Thoughts
Any post-Christmas hangovers should be gone now, I'd hope. A few players looked to be out of breath as the game went on. I noticed Larynn Shumaker breathing pretty hard coming out of the game at one point (though despite the fatigue, she had an okay game with 14 points on 6-14 shooting). Ultimately though, one of the worst offensive showings of the young season doomed this team. Side note: you know it's sad when you shoot 40% as a team and score 81 points, yet call it "one of the worst". I trust this team though. St. Mary's is no slouch and they played well yesterday. North Central gets a day to reflect and move on before non conference rival Aurora University visits Gregory Arena. They've had some struggles this year, so I'm looking forward to my Cardinals unleashing the press on them.