TML1000 Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 The women's team rebounded from a tough loss at CMU with a solid win this evening at Akron. After a very slow start, down 20-4 late in the first, the team turned up the defense and allowed just 19 points in the second and third quarters combined. Fair once again led the way with Gaba again putting in a strong offensive performance with 15 points in 19 minutes. The most impressive effort came from Elias, playing 29 minutes and scoring 11 points with 16!!! rebounds. Elias has really earned much increased playing time with huge efforts on the boards and not committing fouls. With both Summer and Christie out, her jump in minutes and quality has been much needed. Also, Casey Valenti-Paea saw the first action of her career late in the game and promptly hit a three....very similar situation to that of Stephanie Reid in that she came over from Australia mid-season. She has more size and length than Reid, likely will not be quite the playmaker but is a better shooter. Given the recent struggles of Hall and Young, I would not be surprised to see Valenti-Paea get a few more minutes here and there...there is always room for knock-down shooting. I would expect her to play a large role going forward next season and beyond. The women return home Saturday to face a tough Eastern Michigan team before hitting the road for two more at Toledo and Northern. There are also still two postponed games to reschedule against Kent and Ball, against whom UB has two games each. Overall, the MAC is very open right now...Kent remains at the top but have a myriad of games to make-up having finally played a game tonight (their first MAC loss) against Ohio and have a record of just 4-1. CMU lost as well which puts them at 8-4, tied with Ohio while UB, Ball and Northern all stand at 7-3 with BG at 9-3, having lost tonight to Northern. The top 8 is largely set...only Toledo has a realistic chance to break in from the 9th spot as Akron, Western and Miami all have just one MAC win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DooleyBull06 Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 The question is in the state of women's college bball is the MAC a multi bid league? It has been lately, hopefully that continues. Especially bc we have established ourselves as a tournament caliber team for a few years now. I watch this team and I say we are a tourney team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skrabukes Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 22 minutes ago, DooleyBull06 said: The question is in the state of women's college bball is the MAC a multi bid league? It has been lately, hopefully that continues. Especially bc we have established ourselves as a tournament caliber team for a few years now. I watch this team and I say we are a tourney team. If we were at full strength, I'd agree. It's been tough without summer, christie and mcevans. Taking away 3 strong parts makes things challenging, and with the short non league season, it may hurt the MAC (hopefully not). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DooleyBull06 Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 4 minutes ago, skrabukes said: If we were at full strength, I'd agree. It's been tough without summer, christie and mcevans. Taking away 3 strong parts makes things challenging, and with the short non league season, it may hurt the MAC (hopefully not). Will we ever see Summer again? But I agree. Yet the resolve of this team is incredible. Plus we have Fair who can carry us for stretches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TML1000 Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 Unfortunately the MAC will not be a 2 bid league this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrooklynBull Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 14 hours ago, DooleyBull06 said: Will we ever see Summer again? But I agree. Yet the resolve of this team is incredible. Plus we have Fair who can carry us for stretches. June 20, 2021. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 4 hours ago, BrooklynBull said: June 20, 2021. Good to see McEvans back and hope she will be okay the rest of the season. Is there any chance for Christie to play again and is Summer even on the bench and in uniform?? Go Bulls!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skrabukes Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 6 minutes ago, John said: Good to see McEvans back and hope she will be okay the rest of the season. Is there any chance for Christie to play again and is Summer even on the bench and in uniform?? Go Bulls!!! Summer has been on the bench in sweats. Not sure about Christie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrooklynBull Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 Wednesday's Ball State game on Directv 788. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skrabukes Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 7 hours ago, BrooklynBull said: Wednesday's Ball State game on Directv 788. I saw that there was a new post here. My thought is, "great the game is canceled". It's a relief to not see that, but it's still many hours til tip off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promotherobot Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 Another dud, sadly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrooklynBull Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 Ball State rematch on Directv 791 on Saturday.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DooleyBull06 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Gritty come back win by the ladies today. Fair and Hall really carries them from 3 late. Much needed win. Hopefully gets them going once again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TML1000 Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 The conference really is a crapshoot...seems like BG, CMU, Ohio, UB, NIU, Kent and Ball can all beat each other. Unfortunately it looks like this will be a single bid year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TML1000 Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 It seems like Summer may be able to play at some point down the stretch....not sure if it is just talk but she has been practicing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skrabukes Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Who's this #0 playing today?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promotherobot Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 1 hour ago, skrabukes said: Who's this #0 playing today?!? Summer Hemphill. Another sloppy outing, another loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skrabukes Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 1 hour ago, promotherobot said: Summer Hemphill. Another sloppy outing, another loss. My question was sarcastic, but your 2nd line is true. #0 didn't look like herself (or maybe still not 100% or rusty or both). This team is really good though. They can win the league, but like the men, it will be a challenge to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DooleyBull06 Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 Bad loss. Absolutely fell apart on both ends of the floor in the final minute. Very sloppy. Live and die by Fair. She can carry us no doubt but sometimes the offense is her dribbling while the others stand and do nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TML1000 Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 I have a feeling this team will be really good next season...like at-large bid good. I expect McEvans to take a big step, presumably all of the bigs will be back, I think Valenti-Paea will be a major contributor and Woolley, the other incoming player from Australia, has major potential as well....even if Fair is at the same level as this season, the team should be significantly improved. Hopefully they can make a run in the tourney this season, the talent is there to win it, but just so many teams that can beat each other in the MAC. Great things are once again on the horizon for the women. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBinMD Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 15 hours ago, DooleyBull06 said: Bad loss. Absolutely fell apart on both ends of the floor in the final minute. Very sloppy. Live and die by Fair. She can carry us no doubt but sometimes the offense is her dribbling while the others stand and do nothing. Agreed, from the games I've watched that has been a frustration point for me. Her talent is unquestionable, but need to get others involved to keep from 4 people watching her play the game. Its incumbent on her to recognize when that is happening as much as the coaches and other players. No player will be "on" every game, so they need to all contribute, even if she is the main contributor. That's one thing I thought Dillard was exception at. She was obviously the best on the floor, but she was able to keep her teammates engaged. Hopefully they can solve that. Also with some of the incoming player having good pedigrees, that will help elevate the entire team. Go Bulls!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullsbball Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) 23 hours ago, UBinMD said: Agreed, from the games I've watched that has been a frustration point for me. Her talent is unquestionable, but need to get others involved to keep from 4 people watching her play the game. Its incumbent on her to recognize when that is happening as much as the coaches and other players. No player will be "on" every game, so they need to all contribute, even if she is the main contributor. That's one thing I thought Dillard was exception at. She was obviously the best on the floor, but she was able to keep her teammates engaged. Hopefully they can solve that. Also with some of the incoming player having good pedigrees, that will help elevate the entire team. Go Bulls!! I totally agree with this. First, I'll say that I haven't seen many games this year (only 1) but I am a longtime season ticket holder. Once Fair gets the ball in the front court, she rarely passes it especially if the shot clock is running out (at least last year). She doesn't even look at her teammates. No wonder her teammates don't move when she gets the ball. She's a little better this year with 104 assists so far compared to 106 the entire last year. On the good side, her turnovers are way down from last year (56 vs 123 last year) but I think she thinks she's a one-women show. McEvans is showing good signs of helping on the offense. The team also needs to find a consistent 3 point shooter. Hall is very streaky. Some days she makes them, others she doesn't. I guess that's the life of a 3-point shooter. Fair, in the last 3 losses, is 5 of 32 from 3-point range (15%). When she can't drive the basket, she throws up desperate 3 point shots. Comparing Fair to Dillard is probably a good comparison. Both were shooting guards that like to drive the basket. Both are "ball hogs". But, Fair is currently only a Sophomore. In Dillard's senior year, her total scoring went up but so did her turnovers (from 98 to 129) (probably because she didn't have Reid to go to). Dillard shot around 32-35% from 3-point range her 4 years (including UMass). Fair is consistent at 31.4% both this year and last year from 3. In short, Dillard had more assists, points and turnovers than Fair. Again, good that Fair has cut the turnovers but she needs to improve her shot/shot selection and increase her assists. As UBinMD said, hopefully the rest of the team will play better so Fair doesn't feel she needs to carry the team. Edited February 26, 2021 by bullsbball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TML1000 Posted February 26, 2021 Author Share Posted February 26, 2021 One huge difference from Dillard's two seasons playing here v Fair's first two...a healthy Hemphill. Dillard also had Autumn Jones, who, while not an efficient scorer, was a veteran player confident in her ability...Fair has not really played alongside a player of that mindset either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullsbball Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 35 minutes ago, TML1000 said: One huge difference from Dillard's two seasons playing here v Fair's first two...a healthy Hemphill. Dillard also had Autumn Jones, who, while not an efficient scorer, was a veteran player confident in her ability...Fair has not really played alongside a player of that mindset either. To that point, Fair has 494 points so far this season (33.2% of the total team scoring). The next highest points goes to McEvans with 189 points (12.7%). Hall only has 149 points. Fair last year had 30.6% of the teams total points. Dillard was 20.7% of the scoring her Junior year (Reid was doing the scoring) and 33.1% her senior year. For the past several years, the team has only had one good scorer and not much else. What happened to Hall? She's not scoring much and has been getting less minutes lately. I also think it was a mistake for Marissa Hamilton to leave UB (and then drop out of Southeastern University). I guess she had misplaced "pro" ambitions. Not sure the full story on her. Gaba looked bad and overweight last year. I guess she's doing better this year but I'd still would rather have had Hamilton. They also miss the drive and determination of Onwuka. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrooklynBull Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 (edited) Sitting in 4th with one game to play. This will be the 8 teams, unless one or more drop out for COVID. Edited March 4, 2021 by BrooklynBull Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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