I hate moral victories. I think that lowers the standard of our expectation of winning. That said, however, I watched the first half, this team competed and with a few added pieces is just as good or even better than SC. We match up well with this squad. We need more production from our bench. Specifically guard play has to be better down the stretch. Jordan did well today. I need her to have a little bit more composure on offense. She should control the pace of game. She should control our offense. She is the floor general.
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Sometimes the moral victory is something to build on. Honestly, this game could have been so much worse. Not only did the LVs have very little time to adjust to Jordan's absence but Key had some foul issues. And yet, Boston did not destroy us. The defensive effort was exceptional. SC did dominate the boards but it sure seemed like the refs were willing to let SC get away with more contact than the LVs.
But, the LVs got a lot of defensive stops and had more than a few good looks at the basket, Their inability to shoot with any consistency is, for me, the most frustrating aspect of the team,. Just hit the open jumper and then you can set your defense (and not pick up fouls going for the offensive rebound. ahem see comment above).
I found it interesting when the commentators stated that Rae is still feeling inhibited by her knee injury. She had so many shots there were just slightly off. If her shooting % had been higher, and she scored 25 to 30 pt. (well within her last season's capacity) this could have been a game.
But the next two games are the real test. Can the LVs maintain that level of defensive effort
and make some shots? If yes, they can finish on a pair of wins going into the SEC tournament.
On a bright note, I thought Wynn looked much better on the court than she has in her other SEC appearances. Maybe she will be able to step up.