• BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    The two top WBB teams in the Big West square off 7 pm Thursday night at the Bren Events Center in Anaheim when the Aggies travel to SoCal to start conference play. The Aggies, who raced out to a 9-0 start, have lost 3 of their last 4 games and have dropped from as high as #5 in the Women's BB Mid Major Poll to #12 in the most recent ranking. The Aggies have won the last 5 meetings between these two clubs but Irvine has made good progress this year and is off to one of it's best starts in years.

    The two teams have played several common opponents: UCI beat Pepperdine 75-74 and the Ags beat the Waves 69-64, the Eaters lost to Portland State 82-76 in OT while the Aggies won 79-67 over the Vikings, the Ags crushed SUU 85-59 and UCI beat them 71-64, and, lastly, the Anteaters won at Seattle 84-79 and the Ags dispatched the Redhawks 79-53.

    The Anteaters present a unique problem for the Aggie defense. They average 70.1 ppg but do not have a single player averaging double figures. Instead, their scoring is spread out over 10 players averaging 5.3 to 8.3 ppg. The Eaters are able to substitute freely and get good production from their bench so the Aggie defense will have to play solid against everyone on the floor at any given time.

    After the Aggies loss last week in the Bronx to Fordham, Aggie coach, Jen Gross, said that her team did not play well consistently enough to get the win. After suffering their third loses in their last 4 games she said that now is the time for the team to take a moment and reflect on their goals and who they want to be. The Ags are a talented basketball team but a little shine has come off the apple lately and good teams are finding ways to make things very tough for them. Tonight's game will be a good test of their character and resolve to get back to their winning ways.

    Live online stream from Big West TV: http://www.bigwest.org/tv/

    Go Ags!
  • 69aggie
    370
    Hope Morgan has worked on her 10ā€™ jumper. Oregon states big 6ā€™ 5ā€ German girl just laid back and protected the basket forcing Morgan to take that shot and she did not make many. I am sure Jen saw this and Morgan has the skill to overcome the problem. Go Ags!
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    The Aggie opponents get better and better with their defensive strategies to slow down them down as the season progresses as they see more film on the Ags. Morgan pretty much dominated early on with her spin moves in the paint which really opened things up from the perimeter for the Ags and our guards were knocking down their threes. Teams are now packing their defenses into the paint and making it very difficult for her to get those buckets in close. They are also now willing to give her those mid-range jumpers that haven't been falling for her. In addition, our 3 point shooting has lapsed significantly lately. We need to heat up from outside again to be as prolific as we were offensively in the early season.

    Good teams are able to make adjustments to the defensive schemes opponents throw at them during the season. We need to do just that if the Aggies are going to achieve the lofty goals they have set for themselves this year.
  • 69aggie
    370
    Does this mean we face the 2-3 zone from now on?
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    I think it's likely that we'll see a lot of zone defenses in conference play.
  • 69aggie
    370
    OK Iā€™m no coach but fast down the court, quick passes and a smart point. We can do this!
  • aggie6thman
    158
    Or if we start hitting our outside shots it extends the zone and makes it harder to collapse on the low block. Multiple ways to get the W!
  • aggie6thman
    158
    Ags up 43-30 at half.
  • aggie6thman
    158
    Ags win 76-67!!
  • Russ Bowlus
    330
    Sloppy offensive game--Irvine should have never been that close.
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    I was looking at the stats and the Aggies had 23 TO's...not good at all. We also gave up 16 offensive boards...wow. The good news is that the Ags came back from being down one point after 3 quarters and won the game in the 4th on the road.

    Learn from it and get better. Hawai'i comes to town on Saturday.
  • Russ Bowlus
    330
    The offensive boards thing is weird. One possession I watched, the Anteaters got 4 offensive rebounds. So, yeah, from one perspective, that's crummy rebounding. On the other side of the coin, that's four missed shots by Irvine, so go defense? I dunno.

    TOs were a combination of Irvine's press (fair enough) and just plain bad passing in/around the key (very frustrating to watch).
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    I hope the Ags are getting the sloppy play out of their system. They have not played up to their ability lately. I would imagine that Jen Gross is scratching her head wondering why the Ags are going through this apparent slump. I hope they shake it off soon.
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