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On the surface this weekend games seem like two wins just waiting for the taking. The Shockers (18-4, 9-1) take on Loyola (4-18, 2-9) on Friday at 7:00 pm and Bradley (4-18, 3-8) on Sunday at 2:00 pm.
4 weeks back the Shocks went on the road and defeated Loyola 65-41 and Bradley 61-45 in games where the Shockers quite frankly did not play their best, especially in the first half of both of those games. The led Loyola 25-23 at the half and Bradley 28-25 at the half in those games with Bradley closing to within 1 point a couple of times early in the 2nd half before the Shocks shifted gears and pulled away.
Perhaps just a matter of the Shocks not being real motivated to play seemingly overmatched opponents but not the kind of effort you want to have regardless of the opponent.
Loyola may have played their best 2 games of the season last weekend at home defeating Evansville 70-58 and Indiana State 61-50. In the win over Evansville Loyola's big center, Taylor Manuel, went for 29 points and 9 rebounds. In their win over Indiana State, 6-0 Sr Simone Law rejoined the team after missing 18 games with an injury and lead the Ramblers to the win with 17 points on 8-10 shooting and 8 rebounds. Manuel had 7 points in the Indiana State game but she had 8 rebounds and 6 blocked shots in 20 minutes. However, she left the game with a injury (knee I think) with about 16 minutes t play and her availability for this weekend games is unknown at this point.
When I say Manuel is big, I mean she is big. She is only 6-2, the same height as Kelsey. However, at a MINIMUM she outweighs Kelsey by a factor of 2-to-1. OTOH Kelsey can run rings around Manuel and should be able to consistently beat her up and down the court.
The Shocks actually did a very good job on Manuel in Chicago holding her to 5 points and 5 rebounds plus forcing her into 5 turnovers in that game.
Bradley has won 3 of its last 5 games after starting Valley play at 0-5. However, 2 of those wins came against fellow bottom-feeders Loyola and Illinois State although both were on the road. Bradley also picked up its best conference win last weekend defeating Evansville 56-50 at home.
Hopefully, the Shocks will come out engaged and focused from the get go and give Jody a chance to work in her bench liberally to 1) help save the legs of the starters and 2) give the bench some badly needed game experience.
Valley leader Drake host UNI on Friday night in their only game of the week. This will give the Shockers the opportunity to pull even with Drake at the top of the Valley even if Drake wins their game with UNI. Drake will clearly be favored to win but UNI is capable of pulling the upset which would give the Shocks the opportunity to capture sole possession of 1st place if that were to occur.
The Shocks just need to control what they can control and take care of their business.
4 weeks back the Shocks went on the road and defeated Loyola 65-41 and Bradley 61-45 in games where the Shockers quite frankly did not play their best, especially in the first half of both of those games. The led Loyola 25-23 at the half and Bradley 28-25 at the half in those games with Bradley closing to within 1 point a couple of times early in the 2nd half before the Shocks shifted gears and pulled away.
Perhaps just a matter of the Shocks not being real motivated to play seemingly overmatched opponents but not the kind of effort you want to have regardless of the opponent.
Loyola may have played their best 2 games of the season last weekend at home defeating Evansville 70-58 and Indiana State 61-50. In the win over Evansville Loyola's big center, Taylor Manuel, went for 29 points and 9 rebounds. In their win over Indiana State, 6-0 Sr Simone Law rejoined the team after missing 18 games with an injury and lead the Ramblers to the win with 17 points on 8-10 shooting and 8 rebounds. Manuel had 7 points in the Indiana State game but she had 8 rebounds and 6 blocked shots in 20 minutes. However, she left the game with a injury (knee I think) with about 16 minutes t play and her availability for this weekend games is unknown at this point.
When I say Manuel is big, I mean she is big. She is only 6-2, the same height as Kelsey. However, at a MINIMUM she outweighs Kelsey by a factor of 2-to-1. OTOH Kelsey can run rings around Manuel and should be able to consistently beat her up and down the court.
The Shocks actually did a very good job on Manuel in Chicago holding her to 5 points and 5 rebounds plus forcing her into 5 turnovers in that game.
Bradley has won 3 of its last 5 games after starting Valley play at 0-5. However, 2 of those wins came against fellow bottom-feeders Loyola and Illinois State although both were on the road. Bradley also picked up its best conference win last weekend defeating Evansville 56-50 at home.
Hopefully, the Shocks will come out engaged and focused from the get go and give Jody a chance to work in her bench liberally to 1) help save the legs of the starters and 2) give the bench some badly needed game experience.
Valley leader Drake host UNI on Friday night in their only game of the week. This will give the Shockers the opportunity to pull even with Drake at the top of the Valley even if Drake wins their game with UNI. Drake will clearly be favored to win but UNI is capable of pulling the upset which would give the Shocks the opportunity to capture sole possession of 1st place if that were to occur.
The Shocks just need to control what they can control and take care of their business.
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