Shocks vs Illinois State ($1 GA Tix)

[1972Shocker]

Shocks take on Illinois State Saturday at 2:00. As Shocker Fan posted on the INS game thread GA tickets are only a buck and all but 2 sections in the lower bowl on each side of the court is GA seating for Women's basketball. So getting a great seat is no problem.

http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/7500/pics/wbb_cka_diagram_web.jpg?&DB_OEM_ID=7500

Illinois State will bring an experienced team with good size to Koch arena. They are lead by their 3 seniors, Maggie Krick, Ashleen Bracey and Nicole Lewis who provide 60% of their scoring and 48% of their rebounding. Krick averages 17.4 ppg and 5.5 rpg, Bracey is at 12.5 and 7.1 and Lewis is at 10.9 and 6.5.

4 Juniors and 1 Soph round out their top 8 players.

ILS does have 4 Freshman, however they have only played 5% of their team's minutes. Compare that to the Shocks whose 4 freshman have played 37% of their team's minutes.

ILS size will be a challenge for the Shocks. Senior cener, Nicole Lewis at 6'5" (and not a skinny 6'5") in particular will provide matchup problems for the Shocks and will make it difficult for the Shocks to score around the basket. Ashleen Bracey at 6'0" and Maggie Krick at 5'11" are both very strong players. Krick was a pre-season All-Conference selection. Bracey at 37.0% and Krick at 32.8% can both shoot the three-ball so they can be tough to defend. 5'9" Soph Katie Broadway is their 3-point specialist. She is 48.4% on 15-31 for the year and is a torrid 10-14 in the last 2 games from behind the arc.

For the Shocks only Haleigh (35.6%) and Jessica (41.7%) have been very consistent from behind the arc. Chynna is not hesitant to take the 3-pointer but she is only 4-16 on the year. Morgan likes the 3-pointer but is now only 8-50 (16.0%) on the season. Dannah is a 3-point specialist with 48 of her 53 shots being 3-pointers. However, she has only knocked down 12 of those for 25%.

Shocks will need to counter ILS size with pressure defense and they need try to score as much as possible in transition. Defensively, I would like to see them change up the looks they give ILS. The zone they threw at INS in the second half of Thursday's game was very effective. We also need to keep ILS off of the offensive boards. ILS is outrebounding their opponents by 6.5 rpg and they have more offensive rebounds (32) than defensive rebounds (28).

While it would be nice to minimize our turnovers, the Shocks probably need to utilize their athleticism and run the ball up and down the court as much as possible. So we may have to live with some turnovers.

Shocks do not want to get into a free throw shooting contest with the Redbirds. ILS is shooting 78.9% as a team while the Shocks are at 68.2%. In particular, we need Haleigh to stay out of foul trouble. She has been a little foul prone this year and we will need her on the court as much as possible.

Morgan needs to put the 3-point attempt in her back pocket for now and concentrate on her mid-range & transition game. Dannah should keep shooting, but needs to be a little more selective as she tends to take a lot of rushed shots.

Illinois State was picked to finish 2nd in the league behind Creighton and was the only team other than Creighton to receive 1st place votes.

This will definitely be a tough one for the Shocks. One in which they are the clear underdog. An unexpected upset win would be very big for this young Shocker team. Hopefully, the last 15 minutes of the INS game will carryover and the Shocks can at least be competitive.

[1972Shocker]

ILS used a late 13-2 run to close out a 75-60 win over the Shocks. The game was pretty even until midway through the second half when ILS pulled out to a 52-41 lead. The Shocks rallied to wihtin 62-58, but could get any closer as ILS used the late run to close out the game.

Freshman Chynna Turner was outstanding with a career high 23 points.

Sheena Johnson had a good 1st half offesnively but did not do much in the 2nd half.

Jessica D had a pretty decent game after twisting an ankle early in the 1st half. She made several outstanding defensive plays in the 2nd half but also had a couple of key unforced turnovers in the 2nd half.

As I said before the game the Shocks did not want to get into a free throw contest with the Redbirds. Unfortunately ILS feasted at the line. I don't know what the final stats were but the Redbirds were 12-14 from the line in the first half. The Shocks did not shoot a free throw in the 1st half. The fouls were more even in the second half but ILS still picked up a lot of points at the line.

Overall the Shocks played pretty well although I thought their defense could have been better at times. Nevertheless, not a bad effort by the young Shocks.

[flyingMoose]

As I said before the game the Shocks did not want to get into a free throw contest with the Redbirds. Unfortunately ILS feasted at the line. I don't know what the final stats were ...

The Redbirds were 23 of 28 for 82%. Our 75% came from 12 of 16.

Nevertheless, not a bad effort by the young Shocks.

The Redbirds start three seniors and two juniors. That is a lot of experience to overcome when it is starting to get close at the end of a game.

[tgcshock]

In the first half, in what was a physical game at both ends by both teams, the Redbirds were awarded 14 free throws and the Shockers were awarded none. Shockers played well enough to be up by six or more at the half. Hurt their momentum to have that extreme of a disparity in calls.

[Snapshot9]

Although the Lady Shox fell short this game, I do like what Jody is doing with this team, and all the Freshmen talent we seem to have.