Lady Shocks Host Drake & Creighton

[1972Shocker]

The Lady Shocks after getting off to arguably their best start ever in MVC play after impressive road wins at UNI (67-40) and Bradley (71-58) return home for the 1st time in over a month to host Drake on Thursday (7:00) and Creighton on Sunday (2:00).

The Lady Shocks are certainly off to the best start in the league this year. ILS and INS are the only other teams that are 2-0 but their wins were at home against Evansville and SIU who were picked to finish 9th and 10th in the league respectively.

Drake defeated Creighton in an apparently stinky 47-44 game in their only league game to date.

The Lady Shocks need to validate the good road start by taking care of business against two teams picked to finish in the middle of the pack. A couple of good home crowds to support the Ladies would be a nice reward for their 5-0 performance since last playing at Koch Arena.

:poster_shocks:

[1972Shocker]

Up first is Drake at 7-5 (1-0 MVC) with their best wins being on the road at Wisconsin (65-54) and at Creighton (47-44).

They have not been scoring a lot averaging 58.2 PPG but they also don't give up a lot of points at 57.6 PPG.

Drake goes about 8 deep.

They do have some good size and are lead by 6'3" Sr. Rachel Hackbarth (#15) who is averaging a double-double at 17.9 PPG and 10.1 RPG. Hackbarth is capable of going off and putting up big numbers. Drake also starts 6'2" Jr. Stephanie Running (#44) who averages 7.2 PPG and 5.2 RPG. 6'2" Fr. Cara Lutes (#51) provideds back up support averaging 1.2 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 13.5 MPG.

6'0" So. Morgan Reid (#21) at 2.8 PPG and 4.4 RPG and 5'11" Sr. Amber Wollschlager (#34) at 4.7 PPG and 1.8 RPG appear to share the minutes at the 3. Reid has not attempted a trey this year but Wollschlager has the 2nd most attempts on the team at 31 but has only made 8. So they will give you a little bit different look depending on who is in the game.

The starting guards are 5'5" Sr. Brittnye McSparron (#24) and 5'5" Fr. Kyndal Clark (#4). Looking at the numbers and the fact that McSparron is a senior my guess is she is the primary point guard although these two could be interchangeable at the 1 and 2 or perhaps serve as co-point guards. McSparron averages 9.2 PPG and 3.8 RPG. She is 8-26 from 3-point range. Clark is averaging 10.2 PPG and 2.5 RPG and is an excellent 23-46 from 3-point range. 5'7" RFr. Carly Grenfell (#1) provides back up support averaging 3.6 PPG in 14.2 MPG. She is solid 11-26 from 3-point range.

Drake does turn the ballover some with 16.9 turnovers per game vs 13.6 for their opponents. The Lady Shocks will no doubt try to turn up the defensive pressure in an attempt to create scoring opportunities off of turnovers.

My guess is that Drake will probably play a lot of zone and try to have the Shocks beat them from the perimeter. Again that is just a guess. If they do, hopefully, the Shocks can get out and run and try to beat Drake down the court and score before they can set up in addition to generating transition scoring off of their defense.

I think Hackbarth will get hers. Hopefully, the Shocks can hold her around her averages and control everybody else.

[1972Shocker]

Creighton is 6-6 (0-1 MVC) and was picked to finish 4th, one spot behind the Shockers. The Bluejays have played 4 Top 50 RPI teams with their best win a 74-67 neutral court win over NC State.

Creighton is pretty young with only 1 senior and 2 juniors to go with 5 sophomores and 3 freshman and does not have Drake's size with only one player taller than 6 foot.

3 players average 30+ minutes per game. 6'0" So. F Sarah Nelson (#42) leads CU in scoring and rebounding at 13.2 PPG and 7.1 RPG and will shoot the occasional three pretty effectively (5-11 on the season). 5'10" So. G Carli Tritz (#21), the 2011 MVC FOY, follows with 12.9 PPG and chips in 3.1 RPG and does most of her scoring inside the arc although she is 9-25 from beyond the arc. 5'6" Sr. G Ally Jensen (#12) at 9.1 PPG and a surprising 3.8 RPG and shoots about 2/3rd of her shots from beyond the arc (23-61 on the season).

The lone Senior 5'10" F DaNae Moore (#2) plays 25 MPG and chips in 3.9 PPG and 4.4 RPG and has missed her only 3-point attempt of the year.

4 players average between 15 to 17 per minute. Either 5'11" So. G McKenzie Fujan (#11) at 3.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG) or 5'5" So. G Jordan Garrison (#32) at 4.0 PPG, 1.8 RPG will fill out the starting lineup. Garrison likes the 3-ball as she puts up 4 a game but is only hitting 29% (14-48). Fujan shoots about the same percentage from behind the arc but only shoots about 1 trey per game. 5'11" Fr. F Taylor Johnson (#22) at 5.7 PPG, 1.7 RPG and 5'6" Jasmin Corbin (#24) at 2.2 PPG, 1.7 RPG will also see the floor. Both like the 3-ball. Johnson is 12-41 (29%) and Corbin is 6-23 (23%) from behind the arc.

CU's biggest player. 6'3" So. C Alyssa Kampauas (#55), plays only about 11 minutes a game (although she did play 21 minutes against Drake) averaging 2.0 PPG and 2.5 RPG.

Like Drake, Creighton is not scoring a lot at 57.8 PPG but they also do not give up a lot of points with an opponents scoring an average of 57.7 PPG.

I think the Shocks match-up pretty favorably with the Bluejays. However, they have to come out ready to play against each and every opponent.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks continue their good play in MVC games knocking off Drake 63-41 at Koch Arena tonight. Actually, the Shocks opened with 12 minutes of outstanding basketball going up 24-4 only to be followed by 8 minutes of very poor basketball allowing Drake to close out the half on a 15-2 and to pull to 26-19 at halftime. The Shocks then came out strong again in the 2nd half and played a solid 20 minutes outscoring Drake 37-22 to finish off the romp. Excluding the last 8 minutes of the 1st half, which coincided with Jessica Diamond going to the bench with 2 fouls, the Shocks outscored Drake 61 - 26.

As I suggested above I thought Rachel Hackbarth would get hers and hopefully the Shocks would control everybody else. That is exactly what happend as Hackbarth scored 19 and the rest of the Drake team could only manage 22 points collectively.

The Shocks really got after the Bulldogs defensively pretty much throughout and except for the last 8 minutes of the 1st half played good team basketball offensively. They showed good patience and good movement. I think the Shocks only attempted 2 three pointers.

Perhaps the only disappointment was the size of the crowd. I'd guess about 600 in attendance give or take. Shocks reach 3-0 in MVC play for only the 2nd time in program history with the last being in the 1998-99 season.

[flyingMoose]

Missouri State 70-60 Creighton

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

This is very team to watch and root on. Sunday the team can be the first to go 4-0 to start the Valley season. I'd recommend all Shocker fans come out to watch and support this contender for the Valley title. They play hard and have great desire to win. Way to go Shox!!!!!

[1972Shocker]

The Lady Shocks took 47 shots to 46 for Drake but the Shocks hit 55.5% to Drake's 37.0%. Drake was 1-8 on treys. The Shocks were 1-2 on treys.

Shocks 10-13 from the line. Drake was 6-11.

Shocks had 4 blocks and 11 steals vs 2 and 6 for Drake.

Shocks look like they are buying in to whatever Jody is selling.

[1972Shocker]

This is a very (entertaining) team to watch and root on. Sunday the team can be the first to go 4-0 to start the Valley season. I'd recommend all Shocker fans come out to watch and support this contender for the Valley title. They play hard and have great desire to win. Way to go Shox!!!!!

I agree. It would be nice to have a big crowd to get behind the Shocks on Sunday afternoon against the team so many Shocker fans profess to hate. Maybe the that will translate into a nice crowd. The Lady Shocks certainly deserve support if they continue to play with the effort they showed tonight and apparently have displayed during their current 6 game winning streak. There is certainly plenty of room on the bandwagon. Creighton played preseason MVC favorite Missouri State fairly tough in Springfield tonight.

Perhaps there was a silver lining to the beat down the Shocks suffered at Kansas State. That seemed to be a wake up call for this team.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Thanks for the edit (entertaining). My fingers got ahead of my brain. The Shox have a very nice team.

[1972Shocker]

Saturday Games:

UNI 70 - SIU 66 in a closer than expected game even if it was in Carbondale.

MSU blasts Drake 78-46. Not sure how Drake managed to beat Creighton in Omaha. Guess we will find out more about that tomorrow when the Bluejays visit Koch Arena.

[flyingMoose]

MSU blasts Drake 78-46.

Drake had the same ugly start as they did here. It was 24-6 at one point.

[1972Shocker]

Drake would be in a world of hurt without Rachel Hackbarth.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Lets pack it full of fans this afternoon!!!! The Lady Shox have earned our support!!!

[Shox1979]

Lets pack it full of fans this afternoon!!!! The Lady Shox have earned our support!!!

Been a women's season ticket holder for probably 15 years. I always wonder what it will take to get consistent crowds out to see the women play. A league winning team? I dont know that a team that is simply in the top half of the valley will draw. A really great local talent? The top level ones tend to go away but I'm hoping that will change. This team comes to play and I hope they can steal a few fans away from their couches and the NFL playoffs. For the price of season tickets there isn't a better value out there.

[1972Shocker]

Sounds like this game may come down to which team handles the other team's pressure the best. Both teams stress defense and both teams will pretty much defend the full 94 feet.

Creighton has two very fine players in Sarah Nelson and Carli Tritz but I think the Shocks may be deeper. Shockers were picked 3rd and Creighton 4th in the preseason conference poll.

I too doubt that we will pull anyone away from their NFL games but @Shox1979 is right, with the way the Ladies are currently playing, Shocker WBB season tickets are a very good value.

Maybe we will pick up a few fans today since we are playing Creighton and many Shocker fans profess a keen dislike for the Bluejays, but I'm not sure that extends much beyond Men's Basketball and perhaps Baseball.

WSU does hold the record for the largest women's basketball crowds in conference history, but these were crowds that came out to see Jackie Stiles not the Shockers and were helped by the fact the MSU fans travelled in huge numbers in those days. The fan base definitely took a hit during Jane Albright's tenure and we have not really recovered much from those levels yet. Now we are also fighting a tough economy.

Maybe later in the year if we are still in the hunt for our 1st ever MVC Conference Championship we will see some pickup in attendance.