Shocks Host SIU & Evansville

[1972Shocker]

The Lady Shocks are 9-3 in Valley play and are tied for 1st with MSU and ILS.

The Shocks host SIU tonight at 7:00 and Evansville on Sunday at 2:00.

SIU is 3-10 and in 9th place and Evansville is 2-11 in 10th place in the Valley.

MSU is also hosting Evansville and SIU this weekend.

ILS is at Creighton (7-6) and Drake (6-7) this weekend.

ILS has the toughest chore this weekend but I don't expect MSU or ILS to lose.

SIU and Evansville both gave the Shock decent games at their places. The Shocks absolutely need to fix their rebounding. They were outrebounded by significant margins in 5 of their last 6 games including by 25 in 2 of their last three at Creighton and at Missouri State.

Four weeks ago at SIU the Shocks were outrebounded 43-34 with the difference attributable to SIU's 21-12 advantage on the offensive boards. Evansville only outrebounded the Shocks by 1 on their homecourt.

Good luck Shocks. Can't afford a loss in either of these games.

:poster_shocks:

[mickeylegal]

Lady Shocks win 74 - 46 tonight. Plus ISU (red) lost so we aretied for first with MSU.

[1972Shocker]

SIU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. SIU is a really bad looking basketball team. It is basically a 2-person team. Jr. Guard Terri Oliver is a good player and can be an effective 3-point shooter. She had 12 points and 7 rebounds but it took her 11 shots and she fouled out. Fr. Point Guard Cartaesha Macklin had 25 points and 11 rebounds but it took her 24 shots and 9 free throws to get hers. She is a very quick slasher but she does nothing to make any of her teammates better. She had 3 assists and 8 turnovers. That is about as far as it goes for SIU. 37 points from these 2 and 9 points from the other 9 players. In defense of Macklin and Oliver they may have to play selfishly. None of the other SIU players really showed anything.

Shocks needed to rebound better and for the most part did that. They were outrebounded 44-40 but SIU does have some good athletes and they had a big size advantage in the post and when I say big I mean huge. You had to see it to believe it. A lot of rebounds between the two teams. SIU missed 40 of their FG attempts and on shot 8-17 (47%) from the line. The Shocks recovered from a poor start to shoot 29-62 (47%) from the field but they were a very so-so 15-24 from the line. SIU turned the ball over 25 times to only 10 for the Shocks. SIU had only 4 assists on 17 baskets while the Shocks dished out 20 assists on 29 baskets.

I did not think the Shocks played very well in the first half but thanks to SIU's poor play they lead 34-24 at the half. Shocks played much better in the second half as they were really never challenged after racing out to an 18 point lead at 44-26 with 17:00 minutes remaining in the game.

Highlights for the Shocks:

Freshman Alex Harden made her first start of the season and responded big time with 15 points on 5-9 from the field and 5-6 from the line, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 4 steals in 26 minutes of play. I've been waiting for Jody to give Alex a bigger role and she sure looked like she was ready for it tonight.

In contrast to the 2-person team SIU rolled out onto the floor, the Shocks countered with a very balanced team effort as they put 5 players in double figures. In addition to Alex Harden's 15, Haleigh chipped in 14, followed by Jessica and Chyna with 12 each and Jaz Gordon with 10.

Chynna also grabbed 11 rebounds for another double-double (her 5th of the year). Jaz just missed a double-double with 9 rebounds as the Shocks just missed getting a double double-double from their two inside players.

Shocks got some unexpected, but welcome help from Creighton tonight as the BlueJays knocked off Illinois State 68-59. The Redbirds drop into 2nd place, one game behind the Shocks and Missouri State (who took care of Evansville 76-62). Also Northern Iowa lost at Bradley 75-61.

So all-in-all a very good night for the Lady Shocks.

[1972Shocker]

Expecting a tougher game today than we had with SIU on Friday. Evansville gave the Shocks a good game in Evansville and they played MSU closer Friday than the Shocks did a week ago. Still, this is a game the Shocks should win and need to win. Hopefully, they play up to their capabilities.

The Shocks have been on a little bit of a roller coaster lately with a good game, then a bad game, then a good game, then a bad game, then a good game.

Hopefully, they can break that cycle today.

:poster_shocks:

[shoxlax]

Great game ladies!

[1972Shocker]

Great game ladies!

Yes, it was. The Shocks looked more like the team that went 8-1 during the 1st half of the Valley season this afternoon with their defensive intensity as they forced Evansville into 28 turnovers and outscored the Aces 33-4 on points off turnovers.

The Shocks, behind Haleigh and Jaz, used a 13-5 burst over the last 6 minutes of the 1st half to take a 31-21 lead into the locker room.

Evansville hit the 1st two baskets of the half to close to withing 5 points at 31-26 at the 18:30 mark. The Shocks turned it on at that point and outscored Evansville 32-8 over the next 10 minutes to effectively put the game on ice at 63-34 with 8 minutes remaining. A good portion of the final 8 minutes was played by the Shocker reserves.

Alex Harden with with her 2nd consecutive start again responded well with 14 points on 6-7 FG's, 2-3 FT's, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals plus a number of defensive disruptions in 26 minutes of play. Jessica Diamond got her mid-range game going in the 2nd half and also scored 14 points on 7-11 shooting in 23 minutes of play. Haleigh Lankster chipped in 11 points in 23 minutes and moved into 9th on the Shocker carreer scoring charts with 1,274 career points. 7 other Shockers contributed points lead by Jazimen Gordon with 9 on 3-5 FG's and 3-4 FT's in 15 minutes of play as the Shockers were able to spread the minutes among their entire active roster.

Evansville's 6'2" Jr Samantha Heck led all scorers with 21 points, tying her career high, and also grabbed 11 rebounds. However, she was the only Evansville player in double figures of the 6 Evansville players who saw action in the game.

The Shocks were outrebounded again 30-23, but most of this damage was in the 1sst half as the Shocks outrebounded the Aces in the 2nd half 14-13.

The biggest factor by far though was the Shocks were just all over the Aces defensively and simply would not allow them to get into any flow whatsoever. Great effort on the defensive side of the ball by the Shocks.

Missouri State and Illinois State both won today, so the Shocks remain in a tie for 1st with MSU at 11-3 with ILS one game back at 10-4. The Shocks and the Bears play the Redbirds and the Sycamores on the road next weekend which could go a long way towards determining how the top of the Valley race will shake out with only 4 games remaining.

[mumdaddy316]

Great win,go lady shox!!! (sad they don't get as much luv)