I appreciate the LV's efforts in a hard fought game that resulted in another tough loss, the kind of loss that sticks in the craw for a while. Now, like coroners, we pick over the carcass with woulda, shoulda, coulda and what if. I did not watch the game but was able to check the score, halftime stats and touch base with the Forum some. Here are my thoughts. I'm not too bright. I know there are those on this Forum who will be eager to point that out. Just be gentle is all I can ask. Stream-of- consciousness, here goes: Ruby Whitehorn is becoming my favorite player on this team. Spearman, 14pts in 18 mins and she was ailing, tough lady. I know, a couple of posters seem to hold her personally responsible for the loss. Something about a foul or lack of near the end of the game. Spear and Spencer collectively average 24 pts and 6.5 rebs per game. Last night they had 6 pts and 2 rebs. We needed more than that out of them. I realize, given their stature and the amount of beef the Longhorns had inside, getting a rebound would have been a tough chore. We were outrebounded by 16 in the first. We improved to + 1, 14 to 13 in the second half. That and continued good shooting allowed us to stay in the game until the end. Shooting was terrific, 50% overall, 52.9% 3pts and 48.6% 2pts. Good enough to win most games. If a women's basketball team committed exactly 4 fouls per quarter and every foul was a common foul, they would end the game having 16 fouls called against them with their opponent going to the free throw line 0 times. Last night the LVs were13/19 on free throws, Texas 15/20. Not a huge discrepancy yet TN was whistled for 22 fouls to TX 10. I can only surmise a large portion of the fouls TX committed were on shooters while many of the fouls committed by TN were non- shooting reach ins, going for steals etc. Finally, Cooper. One minute she wows me. The next she leaves me scratching my head and cursing out loud. She drives into a crowd with that high bouncing ball, turns it over then lopes back down the court, head hanging down, completely out of the game. She tries too much wow when the routine play would do. She reminds me of Horston. Then, I look at her stat line and am always surprised how much she has contributed- points, steals, rebounds. How great she can be when she improves her handle, develops her on court awareness. When she does she'll improve her play and the performance of her teammates as well.
out entirely.
