WBB 2023-24 AAC Games

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks cut the lead to 16 with 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter but 2 minutes later the lead was back to 23.

Tulsa's top 4 scorers put up 87 of Tulsa's 93 points.

[1972Shocker]

Watched a replay of the Tulsa game and came away quite impressed with Tulsa, both in terms of the talent they put on the floor and how they play and how they are coached. They were by far the better team on the floor. Pretty entertaining style of play as well. Not sure how long they will be able to hang on to that coach.

[1972Shocker]

The CUSA newbies doing well so far holding down 5 of the top 7 spots (including the top 4 spots) in the AAC standings at this point. Only FAU is struggling at 0-6 in league play. The Shock have FAU on their plate in 2 of the next 5 games.

[1972Shocker]

The Shockers (6-13, 2-5) hosted UAB (13-4, 5-1) at Koch Arena this evening. While I have not watched the game yet it looks like the Shocks lost a real heartbreaker.

In a very close, back and forth game UAB led 64-63 with about 3:45 to play. Two 3-pointers and a 2-point jumper put UAB up 72-63 with 2:15 left in the game and seemingly had taken control. However, the Shocks rattled of 9 points on 2 free throws by Salese Blow, a jumper-and-one shot and free throw by Raissa Nsabua, a short-jumper by Tre'zure Jobe and a turnaround jumper by Salese Blow with 1 second remaining to tie it up at 72-all and send the game into overtime.

The Shocks opened the OT on a 6-1 run in the first 2 minutes to take a 78-73 lead but then UAB anwered with a 8-0 run of their own to take an 81-78 lead with 30 seconds remaining. After a Shocker timeout moved the ball to the frontcourt Sierra Morrow got of a quick 3 but missed it with the rebound going to UAB. Dani Abies stole the ball with 24 seconds remaining and the Shocks called another timeout. Tre'zure missed a 3-point attempt with 15 seconds to play but Dani secured the rebound followed by a tying 3 pointer with 10 seconds to play by Ornella Niankan (her 2nd made 3 of the game and only 3 made 3 on the season) to tie it up at 81-all. But UAB scored on a drive to the basket as the clock expired and escaped with an 83-81 win.

The Shocks outshot UAB from the field 33-80 (41.3%) / 7-17 (41.2%) vs 27-73 (37.0%) / 10-35 (28.6%) and the Shocks also outrebounded UAB 55.43. The Shocks did haver 14 turnovers, not bad for them, to only 9 for UAB. However, UAB had a big advantage at the free throw line hitting 19-24 (79.2%) to 8-11 (72.7%).

Dani Abies (23 points on 11-19 FG, 1-4 FT, 10 REB, 4 A, 2 TO, 1 BLK and 1 STL), Salese Blow (21 pointis on 7-12 FG including 3-4 PFG, 7 REB, 6 A and 1 TO) and Tre'zure Jobe (18 points on 7-21 FG including 2-7 #PFG, 6 REB, 4A and 4 TO) led the Shocks. Ornella Niankan only took 2 shots, both 3 PFG, and made them both.

OTOH, Jayla Murray, Sierra Morrow, Raissa Nsabua and DJ McCarty only managed to combine for 13 points on 5-26 (19.2%).

Dani continues to be the Shocks most consistent producer although at 6 foot she is usually at a size advantage at the 5 spot. This was probably Salese Blow's best all-around game as a Shocker. The 7 rebounds. 6 assists and 3 three-point makes were all season highs and her 21 points were only 2 below her season high.

We'll have see if this performance has any carryover value. The Shocks play FAU (4-13, 0-7) at Koch Arena on Saturday in a game they should win.

[flyingMoose]

In several respects, I found this game encouraging. There were fewer turnovers, only one crazy cross-court pass, and fewer drive-to-the-basket-and-throw-up-a-prayer shots. We had a nice game plan - get the ball inside because we were far quicker than them on the inside. Unfortunately, UAB had two quick guards who often would drive past us for a layup, including the winning layup. We did miss too many contested chippies on the inside. All in all, encouraging.

[WuDrWu]

I watched a good bit of this game. The Shocks did an excellent job getting the ball inside where they had an advantage, but the UAB guards were just too quick (and skilled) for us. Mia ran by us all day. We had to fall back to stop the drive, and then she'd kick out to wide open shooter which apparently they've been knocking down at a regular rate all season. Last night those 3s were off a bit and it helped keep WSU in the game. More than once I thought we were dead and buried, and a couple times I thought we were going to pull a huge upset.

A few times this season Coach Nooner has had this team playing entertaining basketball. UAB helped that last night with their style of play. If we can do that more often, there is hope for this program. But, like the men's team, we need some upgraded talent, both skill wise and athletically.

But, they deserve praise for a hard fought game they had a great chance to win against a quality opponent.

[1972Shocker]

I have watched the replay. I agree with the comments by flyingMoose and WuDrWu made. We simply had no answer for those two small but lightning quick guards. 5-5 Denim DeShields (daughter of former MLB player Delino DeShields) and the 5-6 Mia Moore.

DeShields isn't much of a perimeter shooter but she is so quick she doesn't need to be. Moore is a better perimeter shooter but can also get to the basket about anytime she wants. Both are very good passers and ballhandlers as well. Amazingly, the 5-6 Moore is leading the AAC in rebounding. Moore is a redshirt sophomore transfer from Mississippi State. She sat out 21-22 season with an injury and then only played 4 games as a redshirt freshman last year. The Shocks simply had no one who could come close to matching their quickness and athleticism.

DeShields (23 points) played 44 minutes and Moore (21 points) played 42 minutes combining for 44 points on 14-23 (1-3) from the field and 15 of 18 from the free throw line. Moore also a game high 15 rebounds and 7 assists and only had 1 turnover. Just very impressive play.

UAB plays kind of an upside down game. Their 5-5 and 5-6 guards dominate the paint scoring and free throws and their forwards play more on the perimeter.

BTW, UAB was picked to finish 13th in the AAC. They are now tied for 1st at 6-1. DeShields is have a similar year this year compared to her freshman year, but Moore has come out of nowhere to be the Blazer's leading scorer and rebounder.

UAB is a pretty young team and it looks like the 2 seniors who play much, 6-2 Maddie Walsh and 5-11 Kylee Schneringer, appear to have their Covid year of eligibility left if they want to use it. Maddie Walsh reminded me a Kelsey Jacobs with a better perimeter game. UAB is going to tough for at least 2 more years.

I feel really bad for DJ McCarty. She returned from the portal for her final year only to have done something to her knee that has robber her pf her best attributes as a player and has kept her from getting into and keeping in shape. I don't think that is going to change much, if any over her remaining time as a Shocker.

Sierra Morrow started out like she was going to be give the Shocks a big lift once she was ruled eligible. In her 3rd game for the Shocks she scored a career high 29 points including 5-5 3-pointers. That may have been the worst thing that could happen to her. In the 8 games since that time Sierra has averaged 2.6 points per game while shooting 7-43 (16.3%) from the field including 1-18 (5.6%) on 3 pointers. She has shot well from the free throw line at 18-23 (78.3%) for the season. At 6-2 she is just an okay rebounder at best. Her biggest contribution has been her shot blocking as she leads the team with 15, more than double the next highest at 7. Like DJ, Sierra's career is also in her final year of eligibility.

Jayla Murray does seem to be improving and has moved ahead of Sierra on the depth chart for now. I think Jayla, with 2 years of eligibility remaining after this year, has some upside.

As far as next year goes only Daniela, Salese, Jayla and maybe Ornella would seem to be solid contributors. Ornella is a pretty good defender and a good free throw shooter but has not shown much as a scoring threat. Of course, that is assuming they all are back.

The Shocks will actually be getting smaller at the guard position bringing in 5-5 high schooler Kiyleyah Parr, Juco transfers 5-6 Kyleigh Ortiz and 5-7 Princess Anderson. Now if they prove to be clones of UAB's mighty minis then the Shocks will be in great shape. However, I doubt very much that will be the case.

Raissa Nsabua, Ella Anciaux, Sophia Goncalves, Carla Budane and Jordan Jackson all appear to me to be bottom of the roster, use in case of emergency practice players.

So IF everyone who can return, does return then Coach Nooner has 3 scholarships available. He will need to use those wisely.

[1972Shocker]

RH: Shocker Offense Clicks with Abies as Focus

Thursday's loss is heartening and heartbreaking because the Shockers did so many things right. Limiting their turnovers to 14 over 45 minutes gave the offense a chance to get into a flow and keep up with the AAC's best three-point shooting team.

Center Daniela Abies totaled 23 points and 10 rebounds for her third straight double-double. Blow sent the game into overtime with a jump shot and finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Tre'Zure Jobe added 18 points.

With Abies as the focal point, the Shockers hit their highest point total (in regulation) in AAC play at 72. They shot better than 40 percent (41.2) from three-point range for the second time in conference play and matched their season high with 19 assists.

The Shockers made 19 of 37 shots (51.3 percent) in the second half when Abies dominated for stretches. She made 5 of 8 shots in the third quarter and 3 of 7 in the fourth. It all worked because Wichita State, which averaged 17.6 turnovers entering the game, dropped that number to 14 after committing 13 in its previous game.

The threat of Abies' post scoring, and her willingness to pass, helps the Shocker offense avoid turnovers. Getting her the ball in the post isn't complicated and her scoring ability often gets the defense scrambling to help, which opens shots for teammates.

"Something we focus on in practice is making the easy play at all times," Nooner said. "You make turnovers when you try to force stuff and shoot through double teams and split traps. We did a good job of playing together and making the easy play."

With Abies, Jobe and Blow, the Shockers possess three scoring threats. Abies played 35 minutes and made 11 of 19 shots. Blow played 40 minutes and made 3 of 4 three-pointers. Jobe checked in with 41 minutes and made 5 of 10 shots in the second half for 11 points with three assists and one turnover.

"The moment we start sharing the ball, you can tell a difference," Abies said. (Funny how that seems to work).

[1972Shocker]

FLORIDA ATLANTIC (5-13, 0-7 AAC) at WICHITA STATE (6-14, 2-6 AAC)
Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024 | 5 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis and Tracey Anderson
Radio: GoShockers.com/Listen with Steve Strain

While the Shocks played well in their 81-83 OT loss to a good UAB team on Thursday, FAU also played probably their best conference game of the season losing at home 74-78 to ECU. So these games are not a slam dunk for the Shocks who are 2-10 in the last 12 games. FAU did beat former AAC member UCF 59-58 in the non-con which is their best win on the season.

Today's game will be the first-ever meeting between the 2 programs.

SCOUTING FLORIDA ATLANTIC
> Two Owls are averaging double-digit scoring with 5-8 So. Aniya Hubbard leading the team with 18.8 points per game, 5-11 So. Mya Perry averaging 12.5 per game, 5-11 Sr. Jada Moore averaging 11.6 per game, and 6-0 Grad student Janeta Rozentale averaging 9.7 points per game.
> Rozentale leads the team in rebounding with 9.2 per game putting at 3rd in the AAC, Moore averages 6.2. Hubbard averages 5.4 and 6-2 So. Dyllan Hanna 4.9.
> Perry leads the conference in three-point percentage (.444) and is ranked second in three pointers per game with 2.82. She is 17^th in the nation in three pointers per game.

A win ove FAU will not be a slam dunk. FAU's Aniya Hubbard missed 9 games between the end of November and the middle of January. She has only played in the previous 3 AAC games since returning to the lineup. In the first of those games Hubbard played 15 minutes against Tulsa and scored 11 points taking only 2 shots from the filed but hitting 9-10 from the line. She then played 28 minutes against Memphis scoring 19 points from the field on 8-14 from the field and 2-2 from the line. She followed that up with 30 minutes in the close loss to ECU on Thursday with 30 points on 9-13 from the field (0-3 on 3PFG) and 12-13 from the line.

Hubbard, the C-USA Freshman of the Year last year, appears to be a bigger and stronger version of what the Shocks faced against UAB. Like Denim DeShields, Hubbard is not too much of threat from the perimeter hitting 7-23 treys in her 9 games but has hit 49-85 2-pointers (57.7%) and 50-63 free throws (79.4%), I don't expect to see the speed and quickness of DeShields but I do think Hubbard will bring good athleticism and strength to the floor, is playing very well in her return to the lineup and will be a handful for the Shocks. The Shocks will also have to keep close tabs on Mya Perry especially around the 3-point line.

Despite FAU's record, which may be a bit deceiving due to the injury to Aniya Hubbard who is back in the lineup, the Shocks will need to pay well to win this game.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks jumped out to a 7-2 lead early on and looked pretty good but then they fell apart. Dani Abies is in foul trouble with 2 and will most likely sit the rest of the half. Sales Blow, after hitting her first shot, a 3-pointer, was terrible after that. Raissa Nsabua was the best of the Shockers in the 1st quarter with 7 points. The Shocks are down 14-18 at the end of the 1st quarter.

I can't say the Shocks are playing well but somehow they are hanging in with Dani on the bench thanks largely to 10 points from Raissa Nsabua which is a career high game for her in the first half. Salese Blow hit a couple of nice moves and bank shots in the final minute of the half to finish the half with 9 points. Jayla Murray added 6 points on 3-3 shooting.

I didn't think the Shocks were very good defensively in the 2nd quarter and so far the Shocks have turned it over 9 times to 5 for FAU. The Shocks also make a lot of low BBIQ plays. FAU as 11 points off of turnovers vs 2 for the Shocks.

Still the Shocks are in it trailing 34-30 at the half. Dani will be back in the game in the 2nd half but I don't think FAU is going to let her beat the Shocks. She is probably going to have be facilitator as much as a scorer in this game. Also, I think Shane said Dani is a little under the weather as well. Neither Dani nor Tre'zuire scored in the first half.

Shocks cut the lead to 1 at 47-46 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Defense was better in the 3rd quarter although I don't think they have yet figures out that FAU's Hubbard is a lefty. Dani only had 1 point but made 4 very nice passes that led to 6 points. The Shocks had no turnovers in quarter and FAU had 4.

FAU actually looks like they are a little more talented than the shocks overall but this game could go either way.

Final Score: FAU 63 - WSU 56. The Shockers continue to be very poor at closing out games. They were 1 of their last 16 shots and only 3-9 from the free throw line in the 4th quarter. Lucky the final score wasn't much worse.

FAU did a great job taking Dani Abies and Tre'zure Jobe out of the game although Dani did a very good job passing the ball in and out of the post. Combined Dani and Tre'zure to 9 points on 2-10 from the field and 5-8 from the line. Dani did grab a game high 11 rebounds, and had 4 second half assists.

OTOH, FAU's 2 top scorers combined for 33 points on 11-24 from the field including 4-9 treys and and 7-8 from the line. One of those players was totally a perimeter player and the other totally a slasher.

Overall the Shocks shot 37% from the field but were 5-23 (21.7%) on treys and 11-21 (50%) from the free throw line. The Shocks have now lost 11 of their last 13 games.

The Shocks have 9 conference games remaining. Their best chance for another win is in 2 weeks when they play at FAU and I would have to give FAU the nod in that game based on what in today's game.

Basketball has not be fun this year if you are a Shocker fan. Wished I could say I see a light at the end of the tunnel, but I don't.

[flyingMoose]

FAU was not going to let Dani beat them. The Shockers were going to have to win from the outside. Every time the ball went inside to Dani, they immediately collapsed down on her. A couple of times, the Shockers did have a nice hi-lo with the posts but not often. Again in this game, we cannot keep up with the slashing guards.

[1972Shocker]

WICHITA STATE (6-15, 2-7 AAC) at TEMPLE (11-9, 5-3 AAC)
Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024 | 6 p.m. CT
Philadelphia, Pa. | The Liacouras Center
TV: ESPN+ with Jon Mozes and Nicki Jones
Radio: Audacy.com/KFH with Steve Strain

LAST MEETING
> Wichita State faces Temple for the second time this season after dropping one at home, 72-49, on Jan. 9.
> Wichita State was caught in an offensive slump, shooting just 1-for-19 (.053 from three and 18-for-64 (.281) from the field.
> Temple shot 30-for-59 (.508) with seven three pointers as Demi Washington's 20 points led the Owls to its second-straight conference victory.
> The Shockers forced 25 turnovers but were unable to capitalize, scoring just five points off turnovers, compared to the Owls' 21 points scored off 19 Wichita State turnovers.

---

No reason to expect that things will go much better for the Shocks in this one. I look for Temple to perhaps use the same tactic that FAU used effectively. Double team Daniella and force her to give up the ball or take a highly contested shot. Although, Temple doesn't have much, if any, of a size advantage over the Shocks. However, Temple is another team that has strong guard play. 5-5-6 Aleah Nelson is one of those very quick little guards the Shocks have trouble with along the lines of the UAB guards. And she is paired with a couple of bigger, stronger guards in 5-10 Tiarra East and 5-10 Demi Washington. Tiarra East missed the Wichita State game and the Tulsa game on their road swing earlier this month but she has been back in the lineup the last 4 games.

Hopefully, the Shockers can play much better than they did against Temple in Wichita, but I have a hard time envisioning a pathway to victory in this game.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks are doing well so far in Philadelphia. Trailing 27-28 with 1:30 left in the half Salese Blow hit a wide open trey from the top of the circle on a nice kick out by Dani. Then Dani with about a minute to play Dani made a clean steal of a short pass at the top of the Temple and took it the length of the court for a layup. 15 seconds later Dani made almost an identical play to cap off a 7-0 Shocker run to take a 34-28 lead into the halftime locker room.

Dani is getting doubled some but she almost had a double-double in the first half with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Salese has 8 points including 2-3 three pointers. and Ornella has seven points hitting all 3 shots she took including a three pointer.

Shocks trail 56-57 with 5 minutes to play. Closing out gsmes has not been a strength. We'll see.

With the Shocks up 65-63 Dani blocked aTemple shot attempt with about 4 seconds left only to have Temple recover th ball and throw in a game winning 3 pointer ar the buzzer.

What a heartbreaking loss for the Shocks.

Dani with a 19 point, 14 rebound double-double.

[1972Shocker]

EAST CAROLINA (12-8, 5-4 AAC) at WICHITA STATE (6-16, 2-8 AAC)
Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024 | 2 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis and Tracey Anderson
Radio: GoShockers.com/Listen with Steve Strain

SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA
> Two Pirates are averaging double-digit scoring with AAC Preseason Player of the Year Grad Student Danae McNeal, a 6-0 guard, leading the team with 19.7 points per game and Preseason First Team All-Conference selection Amiya Joyner, a 6-2 So. forward, averaging 11.1.
> Joyner leads the team in rebounding with 8.4 per game.
> McNeal and Joyner have each been named AAC Player of the Week once this season, and McNeal has been named to the Honor Roll five additional times.
> Karina Gordon, a 5-9 freshman, has been named AAC Freshman of the Week twice.
> The Pirates lead the conference in steals per game (12.0), turnover margin (5.95) and turnovers forced per game (23.95). They rank fourth nationally in turnovers forced, ninth in steals and 12^th in turnover margin.
> ECU ranks second in the conference in scoring defense (59.4).
> Danae McNeal leads the conference in steals per game with 3.4, ranking fifth in the nation.
> East Carolina was picked second of 14 teams in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll and currently sits in sixth, 2 games out of first and 1 game out of second.

---

ECU and WSU have very similar looking offensive and rebounding stats. ECU is downs an experienced starter in 5-9 grad student Micah Dennis. Dennis played at Oklahoma State for 3 years before transferring to ECU last year. She has not played since the end of December. Dennis went down 5 minutes into the 11th game of the season against South Carolina and has not played since. In the first 10 games of the season she averaged 9.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists vs 2.7 turnovers and 1.8 steals while averaging 30 mpg. She was an 80% free throw shooter. So tht is a big loss for ECU.

ECU is also similar to the Shockers in that they seem to rely primarily on 3 players for scoring. McNeal, Joyner and Dennis in the first 10 games of the season. Since Dennis went down the freshman, Karina Gordon, has stepped in and averaged 9.8 games over the past 11 games and that includes a scoreless game against South Florida). While Gordon does have 18 steals in those 11 games she is not nearly as good handing out assists and she has had several high turnover games.

The Shockers pretty much rely on Dani Abies, Tre'zure Jobe and Salese Blow for scoring.

ECU hangs their hat on defense and that is where you start to see some statistical differences between the teams. While ECU averages 64.6 ppg this season and the Shocks have averaged 64.2 ppg ECU only gives up 59.4 ppg (2nd in the AAC) while the Shockers give up 70.5 ppg (14th in the AAC). ECU has a turnover margin of +5.95 (1st) vs -0.59 (9th) for the Shocks. ECU lead the AAC in steals with 12 per game vs 7.5 per game (8th) for the Shocks.

ECU is coming off of a 56-48 home win over Tulsa. Tulsa generally plays a high scoring, high tempo style but they have laid a few stinkers this year. While Tulsa beat the Shocks 93-70 they have 3 games where they only scored 48 points, 1 of game of 50 and 1 game of 52 points. Against ECU Tulsa's 2 star players, Temira Poindexter and Delanie Crawford scored a combined 38 points but they took 40 shots (13 of which were 3 pointers) and 15 free throw attempts.

ECU can lineup on defense with an athletic group that has good length. The top 8 players include 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, 6-0, 5-11, 5-11, 5-10 and 5-9.

Good chance the game will be a bit on the ugly basketball side of things.

[1972Shocker]

ECU got to a hot start and led 23-12 after 9 minutes of play. Dani scored with about 23 seconds left on the put back of a Shocker miss. The Shocks trailed by 12 at 28-16 with 6 minutes remaining in the first half bout outscored ECU 12-5 to close out the half capped off by another put back of a Shocker miss by Dani. ECU 33 - WSU 28.

Tre'zure with a good first half with 12 points followed by Sales Blow with 8. Dani has cheaped in 4 points on the 2 put backs of Shocker misses and has 6 rebounds. While the Shocks are a very good (for them) 4-10 on three-pointers they are only shooting 27% overall from the field. Tre-zure and Salese are a combined 7-17 (41.1%) from the field while the rest of the team is 3-20 (15%).

Both teams are 50% from the free throw line but the Shocks have 8 attempts to only 2 for ECU.

The Shocks have 8 turnovers vs 6 for ECU which isn't too bad. The smaller Shockers are beating ECU on the boards 29-22 with most of that due to a 13-7 advantage on the offensive boards.

The Shocks have a shot at this one if Tre'zure and Salese get a little more help in the scoring column. Not watching, but if recent games are any indication my guess is ECU is not going to let Dani beat them if they can help it.

ECU made hit 2 three-pointers to open the 3rd quarter and extend their load back to 11 points at 39-28 and have maintained that lead through the end of the 3rd quarter at 51-40. The Shockers had 7 turnovers but went 6-6 from the free thrown line while ECU did not get to the line. I t will be tough for the Shocks to make that deficit up against a defensively focused team like ECU.

The final quarter did not go well for the Shocks as ECU almost double them up at 21-11 to close out the game with a 72-51 win.

ECU pretty much shut down Tre'zure, Dani and Salese in the 2nd half. Combined those 3 were 3-13 from the field totaling 7 points. Tre'zure had not shot attempts in the 2nd half either from the field or from the line. Jayla Murray stepped up her game scoring 8 points on 3-4 from the field and 2-2 from the line but that was about it. The Shockers field goal shooting never did pick up as they were 17-61 (27.9%) including 1-9 on three pointers. The Shocks alos succumbed to ECU's defensive pressure with 14 turnovers in the 2nd half. ECU had 23 points following turnovers top only 4 for the Shocks. ECU also came back to out rebound the Shocks 20-15 in the 2nd half.

ECU's player of the year candidate Danae McNeal led ECU with 23 points on 10/17 (3-7) shooting plus 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

While i haven't watched the game sounds like my prediction of an ugly game, at least by the Shockers, came to pass.

The Shocks have now lost 13 of the last 15 games

The Shocks now have sole possession of last place in the AAC at 2-9. FAU won its 2nd game out of its last 3 and sits at 2-8. Charlotte hosts FAU on Wednesday and if they win that as expected the Shocks and FAU will be tied at 2-9 in AAC play and will face off next Saturday in Boca Raton. If the Shocks lose that one they could very well wrap up that coveted 14th seed.