Latest NET Rankings

Rank, Team, Record
36 Missouri St 12-4
55 Dayton 13-3
58 Toledo 14-3
62 Buffalo 11-5
90 Kent St 8-6
102 Ohio 8-5
107 Seton Hall 8-8
130 BGSU 6-7
135 WMU 8-4
142 Ball St 10-7
154 Idaho St 10-6
158 Akron 6-5
178 Miam 6-8
209 NIU 5-9
228 Oakland 9-8
247 EMU 3-9
253 Wright St 1-10
265 SIUE 7-10
286 CMU. 3-14
301 Loyola MD 3-14
328 St Francis PA 4-14

St Francis PA 69 Sacred Heart 66 (OT)
- Would you believe SFPA has won 5 in a row, and is tied for 2nd place in their conference?

Dayton 52 Fordham 48

Ohio 68 Buffalo 66

Buffalo went up big early, but played pretty bad in the 2nd half, and Johnson & Bambule shot lights out from three to bring OU back. Buffalo had a chance to tie/win at the end but missed a couple shots. Although Fair played all 40 minutes, she looked like she is hurt, as they didn't even run the offense through her most of the game. Ended up with only 10 points. Missed several shots she would normally make with her eyes closed, including a breakaway layup late in the game. Also, Adeyeye went out with an injury in the 2nd, and came back with her knee wrapped in ice. If she is out for any length of time, will be very hard for Buffalo the rest of the way, with essentially 5 players (plus 2 that hardly play.)

OU is going to be a really tough matchup for UT on Wed.

In other games,

Ball State 67 Miami 64
- BSU had only 8 players available, missing Freeman for the game. Went out big early, but Miami almost came all the way back.

BG 71 EMU 60

NIU 79 Akron 67

silver lining is UT women have a bit longer rest?

(01-24-2022 09:07 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Ohio 68 Buffalo 66

Buffalo went up big early, but played pretty bad in the 2nd half, and Johnson & Bambule shot lights out from three to bring OU back. Buffalo had a chance to tie/win at the end but missed a couple shots. Although Fair played all 40 minutes, she looked like she is hurt, as they didn't even run the offense through her most of the game. Ended up with only 10 points. Missed several shots she would normally make with her eyes closed, including a breakaway layup late in the game. Also, Adeyeye went out with an injury in the 2nd, and came back with her knee wrapped in ice. If she is out for any length of time, will be very hard for Buffalo the rest of the way, with essentially 5 players (plus 2 that hardly play.)

OU is going to be a really tough matchup for UT on Wed.

(01-24-2022 09:07 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Ohio 68 Buffalo 66

Buffalo went up big early, but played pretty bad in the 2nd half, and Johnson & Bambule shot lights out from three to bring OU back. Buffalo had a chance to tie/win at the end but missed a couple shots. Although Fair played all 40 minutes, she looked like she is hurt, as they didn't even run the offense through her most of the game. Ended up with only 10 points. Missed several shots she would normally make with her eyes closed, including a breakaway layup late in the game. Also, Adeyeye went out with an injury in the 2nd, and came back with her knee wrapped in ice. If she is out for any length of time, will be very hard for Buffalo the rest of the way, with essentially 5 players (plus 2 that hardly play.)

OU is going to be a really tough matchup for UT on Wed.

It will be third game for Ohio since Saturday. And Ohio only plays six players. I also understand that Erika Johnson has sore knees and that the coach indicated on Saturday that he wasn't sure she would be able to play three games so close together. I watched her tonight and she certainly moves more carefully around the court than I would expect.

(01-24-2022 10:11 PM)kazoorocket43 Wrote:  

(01-24-2022 09:07 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Ohio 68 Buffalo 66

Buffalo went up big early, but played pretty bad in the 2nd half, and Johnson & Bambule shot lights out from three to bring OU back. Buffalo had a chance to tie/win at the end but missed a couple shots. Although Fair played all 40 minutes, she looked like she is hurt, as they didn't even run the offense through her most of the game. Ended up with only 10 points. Missed several shots she would normally make with her eyes closed, including a breakaway layup late in the game. Also, Adeyeye went out with an injury in the 2nd, and came back with her knee wrapped in ice. If she is out for any length of time, will be very hard for Buffalo the rest of the way, with essentially 5 players (plus 2 that hardly play.)

OU is going to be a really tough matchup for UT on Wed.

It will be third game for Ohio since Saturday. And Ohio only plays six players. I also understand that Erika Johnson has sore knees and that the coach indicated on Saturday that he wasn't sure she would be able to play three games so close together. I watched her tonight and she certainly moves more carefully around the court than I would expect.

To be honest, I would not fully believe what Bolden said about Johnson. If she is that bad off, why did she play 37 minutes against BG when they were up by double digits the whole game, and as much as 22 late in the 3rd. Seemed the perfect opportunity to get her some rest, but he chose not too. Would not surprise me if he is just doing some gamesmanship.

The Ohio-Buffalo game seemed to lack the intensity of the Buffalo-Toledo game, and it was surprisingly low-scoring for these two teams. Ohio committed six fouls the entire game. Buffalo committed thirteen, but that's only because they fouled about six times in the last 90 seconds. I think that Gabby Burris will be a tough cover for either of our centers, but that mismatch should help us a lot on the other end. Ohio has no one to compete with our bigs down low. I know that Ohio is a good team, but I really like the Rockets in this match-up. Ohio prefers to hoist a bunch of threes, so we need to make those shots difficult.

(01-24-2022 10:38 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  

(01-24-2022 10:11 PM)kazoorocket43 Wrote:  

(01-24-2022 09:07 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Ohio 68 Buffalo 66

Buffalo went up big early, but played pretty bad in the 2nd half, and Johnson & Bambule shot lights out from three to bring OU back. Buffalo had a chance to tie/win at the end but missed a couple shots. Although Fair played all 40 minutes, she looked like she is hurt, as they didn't even run the offense through her most of the game. Ended up with only 10 points. Missed several shots she would normally make with her eyes closed, including a breakaway layup late in the game. Also, Adeyeye went out with an injury in the 2nd, and came back with her knee wrapped in ice. If she is out for any length of time, will be very hard for Buffalo the rest of the way, with essentially 5 players (plus 2 that hardly play.)

OU is going to be a really tough matchup for UT on Wed.

It will be third game for Ohio since Saturday. And Ohio only plays six players. I also understand that Erika Johnson has sore knees and that the coach indicated on Saturday that he wasn't sure she would be able to play three games so close together. I watched her tonight and she certainly moves more carefully around the court than I would expect.

To be honest, I would not fully believe what Bolden said about Johnson. If she is that bad off, why did she play 37 minutes against BG when they were up by double digits the whole game, and as much as 22 late in the 3rd. Seemed the perfect opportunity to get her some rest, but he chose not too. Would not surprise me if he is just doing some gamesmanship.

I hope your right but she didn't look to me like she was playing full out in the Buffalo game. I see that her scoring average the first 9 games was 20/game and 13/game the last 5 games. So does that reveal a problem? We'll see. But the big thing for me is that in the middle of 3 games in 6 days playing minutes for the starters were Hooks (40), Johnson (40), Burris (39), Bambule (37) and Mase (33). The one sub who played 11 minutes contributed zero points, rebounds, assists, etc. Would seem those minutes have got to wear on them. And what if someone were to get in foul trouble? Key to the game for me is can the rockets defend the 3 effectively.

(01-25-2022 11:55 AM)kazoorocket43 Wrote:  

(01-24-2022 10:38 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  

(01-24-2022 10:11 PM)kazoorocket43 Wrote:  

(01-24-2022 09:07 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Ohio 68 Buffalo 66

Buffalo went up big early, but played pretty bad in the 2nd half, and Johnson & Bambule shot lights out from three to bring OU back. Buffalo had a chance to tie/win at the end but missed a couple shots. Although Fair played all 40 minutes, she looked like she is hurt, as they didn't even run the offense through her most of the game. Ended up with only 10 points. Missed several shots she would normally make with her eyes closed, including a breakaway layup late in the game. Also, Adeyeye went out with an injury in the 2nd, and came back with her knee wrapped in ice. If she is out for any length of time, will be very hard for Buffalo the rest of the way, with essentially 5 players (plus 2 that hardly play.)

OU is going to be a really tough matchup for UT on Wed.

It will be third game for Ohio since Saturday. And Ohio only plays six players. I also understand that Erika Johnson has sore knees and that the coach indicated on Saturday that he wasn't sure she would be able to play three games so close together. I watched her tonight and she certainly moves more carefully around the court than I would expect.

To be honest, I would not fully believe what Bolden said about Johnson. If she is that bad off, why did she play 37 minutes against BG when they were up by double digits the whole game, and as much as 22 late in the 3rd. Seemed the perfect opportunity to get her some rest, but he chose not too. Would not surprise me if he is just doing some gamesmanship.

I hope your right but she didn't look to me like she was playing full out in the Buffalo game. I see that her scoring average the first 9 games was 20/game and 13/game the last 5 games. So does that reveal a problem? We'll see. But the big thing for me is that in the middle of 3 games in 6 days playing minutes for the starters were Hooks (40), Johnson (40), Burris (39), Bambule (37) and Mase (33). The one sub who played 11 minutes contributed zero points, rebounds, assists, etc. Would seem those minutes have got to wear on them. And what if someone were to get in foul trouble? Key to the game for me is can the rockets defend the 3 effectively.

I believe Johnson maybe banged up, I just don't believe Bolden about possibly sitting her against UT. I believe she will play 40 minutes tomorrow regardless. She's the problem for UT in recent years, not so much Hooks, ever since Nitra Perry invented the special D many teams use now, which is to not guard Hooks on the perimeter at all, but try to cut off her drives, and if she gets 25 or 30, so be it, as long as they are most all 2s, and you keep Johnson and the others from raining threes. That worked Hooks' 1st 2 seasons but not so much the last two, mostly because of Johnson (plus UT's lack of offense those games). Still remember the night she went 8-11 from three 2 years ago. She doesn't need to run the offense to make it miserable for UT, just shoot lights out with contested jumpers from 25 feet, which she is capable of doing on any given night.

Cullop in the past has had our five guarding Hooks. That worked well with McIntyre, who was very agile for her size and also very smart. It didn't work as well with Beacham, and I think it would be even more questionable with Cook or Noveroske. I'll be interested to see if she tries it. The other problem is that Hooks has improved her three-point shot, although clearly that is not her preferred game. Johnson, on the other hand, doesn't want to drive to the basket at all. When she takes a hard dribble forward, it's just to get her defender backing up so that Johnson can step back and shoot a three.

In an unusual late-season 11 AM start, in DeKalb NIU beats Kent 61-55.
Kent continues its terrible three-point shooting, making only 17% today. Blackford was very nearly the sole offense Kent had in the game.

Bizarre ending to the game. NIU up 10 late, and Kent comes all the way back to tie. NIU ekes ahead by 2 with under a minute left. Kent with the ball and Blackford hits her defender hard in the face with an unintentional, but still illegal elbow that sends the NIU player crumpling to the floor. The ref, looking right at it, calls nothing, which leaves Blackford standing all alone under the basket. She gets a feed for the easy layup - tie game. Except, Brandon from NIU is laying on the court bleeding. Refs are convinced to look at the replay and conclude that it was a flagrant foul on Blackford .... but ... they say the basket is still good. Whaaa? NIU gets 2 FTs and the ball (which they would have gotten anyway). They make one of 2 and make FTs the rest of the way and Kent can't hit a tying three.

I have no idea how Blackford's basket still counted. The flagrant foul actually gave Kent an advantage then, because they got the gimme basket and NIU had to make free throws to keep up. If the hit was a little harder, they also would have knocked one of NIU's key players out of the game. That rule has to be changed - assuming they applied the rule correctly at all.

But, in other bad news for NIU, they lost Chelby Koker, one of the best PGs in the conference, to a non-contact leg/knee injury early in the 4th. She did not return, except to the bench on crutches and her leg wrapped in ice. She looked distraught at the end of the game, so it does not look good. Wish her the best, but if she can't return this year, that really hurts NIU's season, because she is the key to their whole offense.

Blackford's basket still counts because the only thing that is reviewable is whether a flagrant foul occurred. Everything else has to stand, even if the refs can tell by the replay that they blew it. The same thing happened to the Rockets a couple years back when Beacham took an elbow to the face and got called for a foul. The foul on Beacham stood, but a flagrant was added for the player who elbowed her.

There have been a ton of major injuries on the women's side in the MAC this year. Fleming of BG, Clephane of Ball State, Coker of NIU, Garcia of Toledo, Gaba and McEvans of Ball State, Guice and someone else from Ohio. I'm sure that I'm missing some.

(01-26-2022 04:46 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  In an unusual late-season 11 AM start, in DeKalb NIU beats Kent 61-55.
Kent continues its terrible three-point shooting, making only 17% today. Blackford was very nearly the sole offense Kent had in the game.

Bizarre ending to the game. NIU up 10 late, and Kent comes all the way back to tie. NIU ekes ahead by 2 with under a minute left. Kent with the ball and Blackford hits her defender hard in the face with an unintentional, but still illegal elbow that sends the NIU player crumpling to the floor. The ref, looking right at it, calls nothing, which leaves Blackford standing all alone under the basket. She gets a feed for the easy layup - tie game. Except, Brandon from NIU is laying on the court bleeding. Refs are convinced to look at the replay and conclude that it was a flagrant foul on Blackford .... but ... they say the basket is still good. Whaaa? NIU gets 2 FTs and the ball (which they would have gotten anyway). They make one of 2 and make FTs the rest of the way and Kent can't hit a tying three.

I have no idea how Blackford's basket still counted. The flagrant foul actually gave Kent an advantage then, because they got the gimme basket and NIU had to make free throws to keep up. If the hit was a little harder, they also would have knocked one of NIU's key players out of the game. That rule has to be changed - assuming they applied the rule correctly at all.

But, in other bad news for NIU, they lost Chelby Koker, one of the best PGs in the conference, to a non-contact leg/knee injury early in the 4th. She did not return, except to the bench on crutches and her leg wrapped in ice. She looked distraught at the end of the game, so it does not look good. Wish her the best, but if she can't return this year, that really hurts NIU's season, because she is the key to their whole offense.

I don't understand how Kent can be 2-6 in the league. They had that extended period with no basketball in December but should have recovered from the inactive period by now. Seem to have too much talent to be near the bottom of the league.

(01-26-2022 05:00 PM)Lester Wrote:  Blackford's basket still counts because the only thing that is reviewable is whether a flagrant foul occurred. Everything else has to stand, even if the refs can tell by the replay that they blew it. The same thing happened to the Rockets a couple years back when Beacham took an elbow to the face and got called for a foul. The foul on Beacham stood, but a flagrant was added for the player who elbowed her.

Thanks. That's a rule that needs to be changed then. The flagrant foul led directly to the basket that would not have happened otherwise. If they can go back and take away a basked 5 minutes after it happened on a missed shot clock violation, they can take away a bucket like that.

(01-26-2022 05:04 PM)kazoorocket43 Wrote:  

(01-26-2022 04:46 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  In an unusual late-season 11 AM start, in DeKalb NIU beats Kent 61-55.
Kent continues its terrible three-point shooting, making only 17% today. Blackford was very nearly the sole offense Kent had in the game.

Bizarre ending to the game. NIU up 10 late, and Kent comes all the way back to tie. NIU ekes ahead by 2 with under a minute left. Kent with the ball and Blackford hits her defender hard in the face with an unintentional, but still illegal elbow that sends the NIU player crumpling to the floor. The ref, looking right at it, calls nothing, which leaves Blackford standing all alone under the basket. She gets a feed for the easy layup - tie game. Except, Brandon from NIU is laying on the court bleeding. Refs are convinced to look at the replay and conclude that it was a flagrant foul on Blackford .... but ... they say the basket is still good. Whaaa? NIU gets 2 FTs and the ball (which they would have gotten anyway). They make one of 2 and make FTs the rest of the way and Kent can't hit a tying three.

I have no idea how Blackford's basket still counted. The flagrant foul actually gave Kent an advantage then, because they got the gimme basket and NIU had to make free throws to keep up. If the hit was a little harder, they also would have knocked one of NIU's key players out of the game. That rule has to be changed - assuming they applied the rule correctly at all.

But, in other bad news for NIU, they lost Chelby Koker, one of the best PGs in the conference, to a non-contact leg/knee injury early in the 4th. She did not return, except to the bench on crutches and her leg wrapped in ice. She looked distraught at the end of the game, so it does not look good. Wish her the best, but if she can't return this year, that really hurts NIU's season, because she is the key to their whole offense.

I don't understand how Kent can be 2-6 in the league. They had that extended period with no basketball in December but should have recovered from the inactive period by now. Seem to have too much talent to be near the bottom of the league.

Kent, in recent years under Sharkey, only tends to win games when they shoot very well from three. Despite their size and other attributes, if you go back and look and many of their results - shoot 40+% from three and make 15 of them, they win. Shoot <30% from three, they don't win very often. At the start of the season they had like 5 players shooting >40% from three, so they were winning. Now, very poor shooting for whatever reason, and they don't seem to have an alternative way to win games.

BG blows out Western 67-51
- Not gonna get any easier for UT on Saturday.

Akron 68 EMU 64

Ball St 72 Buffalo 70
- No Adeyeye for UB, so wonder how long she is out. Buffalo essentially only played 5, with a sixth just getting a few minutes. Will be tough for them to finish the season strong

CMU 70 Miami 59
- CMU did not have Davis for the game, nor reportedly their Head Coach, had 25 turnovers, but still were able to beat Miami

WMU 74 Ohio 64
- WMU was down at the half, but shot lights out from three in the 2nd half. Hooks was in foul trouble and really didn't look herself for the few minutes I saw. One funny play, Hooks looked to commit her 5th foul on an offensive foul and seemed to know she did as she just stopped playing and turned around to hand the ball to the ref, but the ref just looked at her and didn't blow the whistle. Fortunately she didn't travel, and then just continued on with the play. When the players can't tell what's gonna be a foul, that seems to me to be more evidence of the variability in MAC refereeing this year.

Buffalo 68 NIU 61
- Buffalo barely hangs on at home against a Koker-less NIU. Fair still looked hurt and not herself. No Adeyeye for Buffalo, but they did play freshman Wilson for the 1st time (Not sure if that's cause she was hurt before, or they just decided they needed to add another player to the mix) and she contributed double-figure scoring.

EMU 80 Miami 69
- Peyton Scott scored 32 but it wasn't enough. Combs had 29 for EMU

Akron 70 CMU 60
- Dawson a double-double for Akron

MAC Standings

Toledo 9-1
WMU 5-2
Buffalo 6-3
Akron 6-3
Ohio 5-3
Ball State 5-4
BGSU 4-4
NIU 4-5
Kent State 2-6
Miami 2-6
EMU 2-7
CMU 2-8

Rockets and CMU the only teams to play 10 games. UT has 3 games in hand against WMU, which means WMU is gonna have to play a lot of games in the 2nd half of the season, or hope that some get cancelled.