2024-25 Shocker WBB AAC Conference Games

[1972Shocker]

]Not a game you expect the Shocks can win but they need to show they can at least be ready to play from the opening tip. Something they have failed at miserably in their last two games and falling behind UAB 22-10 before rallying for an 82-70 win and falling behind USF at home 35-9 before closing the gap to 11 points early in the second half before succumbing to a 72-46 beatdown.

Please disregard this comment. So far the UTSA is every bit as bad of a start as the previous 2 games. After the Shocks fell behind 20-8 at the end of the first quarter they hung around for the first 3 minutes of the 2nd quarter before going scoreless over the final 7 minutes of the first half trailing 16-34 heading into the locker room.

Taylor, Jayla and Salese were a combined 6-16 (2-5) in the first half accounting for 14 of the Shockers 16 points. The other 8 Shockers to play were a combined 1-12 from the field. The Shocks had no free throw attempts. UTSA outrebounded the Shocks 27-11.

The Shocks outscore UTSA 21-12 in the 3rd quarter to cut the halftime lead in half trailing 37-46 at the end of he 3rd quarter. Taylor led the way with 11 points making 3-3 three-pointers and 2-2 from the line. Jayla and Ornella each chipped in 4 points. The Shocks forced 8 turnovers in the quarter and only committed 2 turnovers.

A 15-0 run by UTSA in the first 4 minutes of he final quarter extends UTSA's lead to 24 at 61-37 as they slam the door shut on the Shockers.

Final score: UTSA 69 - WSU 51. Thank goodness for Taylor who had 22 points on 6-9 from the field (all 3-pointers) and 4-4 from the free throw line for 22 points. UTSA outrebounded the Shocks 42-20 outscored the Shocks 21-4 on 2nd chance points and outscored the Shocks 42-18 om the paint.

Hopefully, these last 2 games are just being outgunned by the 2 best teams in the league and not a sign of bigger problems.

[1972Shocker]

One thing I found interesting in the UTSA game was that the Shockers opened the 2nd half in a 3-2 zone and played that on approximately on half their defensive possessions in the 3rd quarter, usually after Shocker makes or a dead ball inbounds by UTSA on the far baseline. They opened the 4th quarter in the 3-2 zone but after a sidelines inbounds play it seemed to switch to a man-to-man with UTSA scoring on a layup. That was the last of the zone defenses. In the 3rd quarter the Shockers outscored UTSA 21-12. In the other 3 quarters where the Shocks essentially played strictly man-to-man UTSA outscored the Shockers 57-30. Of course, perhaps the opportunities to set up the zone were pretty limited in the 1st half as the Shocks only had 7 made baskets.

UTSA did not show a particular interest in shooting 3-pointers. They finished the game 4-8 on 3-pointers. 3 of those makes game during an 11-point run over a 2-minute stretch early in the 4th quarter. All 3 of those 3-pointers were against a M-T-M defense with a fast break transition layup accounting for the other 2 points. UTSA was 4-5 on 3-pointers against the Shocker M-T-M defense, 0-2 against the Shocker zone with one miss on a 3-quarter court heave at the end of the 3rd quarter.

The Zone did seem to bother UTSA some in that 3rd quarter.

[1972Shocker]

TULANE (10-6, 3-2 AAC) at WICHITA STATE (6-11, 1-4 AAC)
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 | 6:00 p.m.
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis and Tracy Anderson
Radio: GoShockers.com/Listen with Pat Strathman

SCOUTING THE GREEN WAVE
Led by fourth-year head coach (first at Tulane) and former player for the Green Wave, Ashley Langford, Tulane is 3-2 in conference play coming off a 64-75 loss at East Carolina.

Tulane generally goes about 8 deep with 5 players are averaging double figures:
6-2 senior transfer forward Sherese Pittman averages 13.0 points per game. Pittman is also the Green Wave's leading rebounder with 7.1 per game.
6-0 junior forward Amira Mabry averages 12.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
5-9 redshirt-senior guard Kyren Whittington was selected to the AAC Preseason All-Conference Second Team and is averaging 11.8 points per game.
5-8 freshman guard Kendall Sneed has been named the AAC Freshman of the Week three times this season, averaging 10.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
5-7 grad student Victoria Keenan leads the AAC in three-point percentage at 46.5% on 47-101 and is averaging 10.4 points per game.
6-2 junior forward Dyllan Hanna leads the AAC in total blocks (26) and blocks per game (2.0) and is averaging 6.3 rebounds per game.
5-10 freshman guard Sadie Shores plays is 12-31 (38.7%) on three-pointers in a reserve role.
5-9 junior guard Kayla Hampton has played in 14 of Tulane's 16 games averaging around 7 minutes per game.

Tulane was picked 10th of 13 teams in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll.

Warrennolan.com gives Tulane a 67% probability to winning this game with score prediction of 68-63

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The first half of Shockers' AAC schedule looks to be significantly tougher than the second half. A 1-8 start to conference play is certainly a possibility.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks trailed by as many as 8 in the 1st quarter and still trailed by 8 with about 8 minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter. A 6-0 run got them within 2 at the 5:30 mark with the teams pretty much the Shocks tied it at 30-all with about 3:00 remaining in the half. The Shocks took their first lead since scoring the opening basket 20 seconds into the game at 33-32 with 1:30 to go but Tulane scored the final basket of the half to take a 34-33 lead into the locker room.

Salese with 13 points on 4-8 (2-4) from the field and 3-3 from the line and Bre-Mode with 9 points on 4-5 from the field and 1-2 from the line. The Shocks are getting outrebounded 25-19 with Sales and Bre-Mode leading the Shockers with 3 each. Tulane's Dyllan Hannah leads both teams with 6 rebounds but has not scored.

Tulane helping the Shocker cause by only hitting 1-12 three-pointers and 5-9 free throws. The Shocks are only 3-11 on three-pointers but are 6-7 from the line.

All-in-all certainly an acceptable half for the Shocks. They are at least in the game.

Tulane opens the 3rd quarter with a quick 7-0 run to expand their lead back to 8 at 41-33, their largest lead of the game. The Shocks answered that with a 7-0 run of their own to make make in 41-40 with 6 minutes to go in the quarter. Tulane's lead fluctuated between 1 and 4 points before the Shocks closed out the quarter on a 5-0 run over the final 2 minutes to take a 50-49 lead into the final quarter. Salese continues to pace the Shockers.

With Tulane leading 59-57 with 5:20 remaining in the 4th quarter both teams went scoreless for 3 minutes before Tulane scored off of an offensive rebound to go up 61-57 with around 2 minutes to play.

With Tulane leading 61-58 Jayla was called for an offensive foul with 1:10 to play followed by a Tulane 3-pointer to put Tulane up by 6 at 64-58 with 53 seconds to play. That will be pretty hard to overcome. However, Tulane is only 10-20 from the free throw line so far in this game.

After a Jayla Murray driving layup Tulane misses 2 from the line giving the Shocks the ball with 27 seconds to play trailing 60-64. Salese misses a 3-pointer and Tulane rebounds. Tulane hits 1-2 from the line to lead 65-60. After a layup by Ella, Tulane hits 1-2 from the one to close out a 66-62 win.

A pretty good effort by the Lady Shocks. I suppose the main reason they were in the game was due to Tulane only making 12-26 from the free throw line. Tulane outrebounded the Shocks 36-28 but turned it over 19 times to only 12 for the Shocks so those kind of offset.

Salese led the Shockers with 20 points on 6-17 (3-7) from the field and 5-7 from the line and was 2nd in rebounds for the Shocks with 5. Jayla followed with 17 points on 8-16 (1-1) from the field. After 9 points in the first half Bre-Mode failed to score in the 2nd half.

Jasmine had a poor shooting game for the Shocks only making 1-8 field goal attempts but she hit 3-4 from the line and led the Shocks with 7 rebounds and 8 assists and had 2 steals as well.

[1972Shocker]

WICHITA STATE (6-12, 1-5 AAC) at NORTH TEXAS (13-5, 5-1 AAC)
Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 | 2:00 p.m.
Denton, Texas | The Super Pit
TV: ESPN+ with Kyle Youmans and Austyn Iven
Radio: Audacy.com/KFH with Pat Strathman

SCOUTING THE MEAN GREEN
Led by 11-year head coach (second at UNT), Jason Burton, North Texas is 5-1 in conference play coming off back-to-back wins over South Florida and Rice.

Four players are averaging double figures, led by 6-2 senior forward Tommisha Lampkin with 16.9 points per game. 5-8 junior guard Ereauna Hardaway (10.8 ppg), 5-8 sophomore guard Desiree Wooten (10.8 ppg), and 5-9 junior guard Kyla Deck (10.4 ppg) join her in double figures. 5-8 senior guard Jaaucklyn Moore is close behind at 9.5 ppg.

Lampkin is also the Mean Green's leading rebounder with 9.1 per game.

North Texas leads the conference in free throws made per game with 15.3 and ranks second in field goal percentage (39.1). Lampkin holds the AAC's best field goal percentage, shooting 57.8 percent, and leads the conference in rebounds per game.

Deck ranks third in the AAC in free throw percentage (80.0) and fourth in steals per game (1.9).

The Mean Green were picked second of 13 teams in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll, receiving three first-place votes. Lampkin was named the Preseason Co-Player of the year.

WarrenNolan.com assigns North Texas an 88% probability of winning this game with a score prediction of 73-59.

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North Texas beat the Shocks 62-56 in Wichita to open AAC play at the end of December. I don't think the Shocks will keep it that close in Denton.

On issue the Shocks have is the size of their guards. North Texas top 4 guards go 5-8, 5-8, 5-9 and 5-9. The Shocks top 4 guards go 5-5, 5-4, 5-6 and 5-7. That presents problems in the paint on both offense and in defending and rebounding.

On paper the Shocks look big with 6-6 Aisha Ndour and 6-4 Ella Anciaux but both are lacking in athleticism. Fundamentally, Ella is the better player. Aisha is the better shot blocker. Neither are capable of carrying the Shocks. On a combined basis they average 22 minutes per game while scoring 6.6 ppg and grabbing 7 rebounds per game with those numbers split pretty evenly between the 2 players.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks hung around for about the first 9 minutes of the game and the it was pretty much all North Texas as the Mean Green cruised to an 80-58 win.

Not sure why but Taylor Jameson did not play today. (Update: Apparently Taylor is in concussion protocol)

North Texas outrebounded the Shocks 48-27 and was 20-24 from the free throw line vs 4-8 for the Shocks.

A more talented team that played hard than the Shocks and got a favorable whistle = a blowout.