the Women kick of a three game slate in three days later today
While the Men’s team stumbled in their first game in an early season Caribbean tournament, the Women will look to avoid such start as they kick off their first of three games in three days later today against Missouri State. Let’s take a look at the Lady Bears and the other two opponents the Bulldogs will face this holiday weekend.
Missouri State: November 28th @ 5:30pm EST – ESPN+
The Lady Bears entered this season predicted to finish mid-table in their conference and featuring turnover that made it seem like this team’s offense would run through their guards. Thus far, the team has only played four games and find themselves at 3-1 with victories over Tulsa, Wichita State, and St. Louis and a defeat at the hands of UT-Martin.
Their two primary scorers are players I highlighted in the non-conference schedule preview with 6’0” sophomore guard Kyrah Daniels leading the way with her 17 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. She’s joined by fellow sophomore guard, 5’4” sophomore Lacy Stokes who is adding 14 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.8 steals while their interior presence comes in the form of 6’3” senior forward Sarah Linthacum who contributes 12.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.
Excluding Kyrah Daniels, who is averaging 6.5 threes per game on 42.3% efficiency, the Lady Bears don’t take a lot of deep shots with just 18 per game compared to 43 shots inside the arc. However, those deep balls are going in at a respectable 38.9% so the Gonzaga defense can’t soley focus on the interior with their game planning.
Other numbers of note from this Missouri State team include their quality on the offensive glass where they are grabbing 17.8 per game, tenth in the nation, their propensity to earn free throws with 26.5 per game, twenty-fifth in the nation, and quality assist numbers with 16 per game, seventy-eighth in the nation.
This suggests the Zags will be facing an inside-out team looking to drive the ball to earn their points inside with the occasional dish out pass, crash the glass to secure boards and extend their possession, and get your team into foul trouble. Let’s see how the Bulldogs face in their game 1 matchup.
Texas Tech: November 29th @ 8:00pm EST – ESPN+
The Red Raiders have been locking down teams to start this season as they currently stand undefeated with their 6-0 record that includes victories over New Mexico and Washington State. Unlike Missouri State who will likely try to push the agenda on offense, Texas Tech looks more like a defensive team as they are only averaging 69.3 points per game, but holding their opponents to a measly 53 points per game, which ranks twenty-fifth in the nation.
While defense doesn’t normally show up well when looking at boxscore numbers, the Red Raiders feature some impressive numbers with their 6.8 blocks per game, fifth in the nation, and with their 10.7 steals per game, eighth in the nation while also holding opponents to just 6 assists per game.
However, they look a little light on the glass with only 36 total rebounds per game and a concerningly low 22.3 defensive rebounds per game, a number which ranks 315th in the nation. This might be an interesting area to exploit given that the Red Raiders are currently holding teams to just 21.2% shooting from beyond the arc.
On the individual side, Texas Tech doesn’t really have a player supplying eye opening numbers as they have just two players averaging double-digit scoring per game. Those come in the form of two junior guards with 5’8” Jasmine Shavers leading the way with her 13.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game and 5’10” Bailey Maupin following with her 10 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.
No player particularly shoots the ball well from the outside with only 6’0” guard Adlee Blacklock shooting more than 35%, although she looks like a volume shooter with her averaging 6 attempts per game in just over 17 minutes.
This game looks like it has the potential to be a very different style of game compared to the Missouri State Lady Bears and could be very physical, which would be another nice test, possibly in the same vein as the Rice match
Florida State: November 30th @ 8:00pm EST – ESPN+
Last, but certainly not least, the Bulldogs will take on the Florida State Seminoles. The Tallahassee program currently sits at 5-1 with their only loss coming against Illinois and they are receiving votes in the AP Top 25.
This Seminole team looks quite impressive on paper:
- NCAA leading 100.7 points per game
- NCAA leading 22.7 free throws made per game
- 3rd in the nation with 77 field goal attempts per game
- 6th in the nation with 34.3 field goals made per game
- Five players averaging double digit scoring
While I can reasonably see the Zags taking the W against Missouri State and Texas Tech, this match will test this team similar to Stanford. The Bulldogs will need to dig deep to secure a big win in the final day of a back-back-back tournament after having travelled over 3000 miles in the previous days.
This will need to be a team defensive performance if the Bulldogs have hope for a victory, but they will need to watch out for the Seminoles’ dual threat of 5’8” junior guard Ta’Niya Latson and 6’2” senior forward Makalya Timpson. Latson is currently averaging 26.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals per game while Timpson is averaging 20 points, 12.7 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 3.7 blocks.
Those two players will do the majority of their damage inside the arc as Latson only averages 2.5 per game while Timpson doesn’t really shoot from deep at all so Gonzaga will need to stay home on the perimeter to guard the likes of O’Mariah Gordon, Sydney Bowles, and Carla Viegas. Those three guard are currently averaging 17, 10.7, and 10.2 points per game while shooting 4.3, 6.2, and 5.8 three pointers per game with varying degrees of efficiency.
I’ll be very interested to watch how the Bulldogs handle such offensive talent and also how they will execute their offensive plan against a Florida State program that’s holding their opponents to just over 64 points per game. This final game will be one major test of physical endurance, mental fortitude, and team cohesion. Let’s hope our Bulldogs come home with 3 wins and a Paradise Jam Reef Bracket Championship