the Bulldogs will travel to Ft. Collins for their final road match in non-conference play
Later today, the Gonzaga Women will face off in a road match against the Colorado State Rams that will start at 3:00pm EST. I’m not exactly sure how to view this midday matchup, but the Gonzaga site features this link that will take you to the CSU website for the Mountain West Network, which may or may not be paywalled. Sorry for the lack of details.
I covered the Rams’ season outlook and initial performance thus far in this article on Thursday so check that for some scouting on the opposition.
The Zags will be looking for a bounce back against the Rams after going 0-3 in the Paradise Jam that featured a tight, one point, loss against Missouri State, a lackluster effort against Texas Tech leading to an 18-point defeat, and a 41-point blowout against a Florida State team that is somehow still unranked.
Things to Watch:
- Yvonne Ejim: after dropping 51 points and grabbing 21 rebounds across her three games in the Virgin Islands, the standout senior was selected to the Paradise Jam All-Tournament Team. I’m not entirely certain how I feel about that selection given her 17 turnovers across that stretch, there is no doubt Gonzaga needs Ejim to produce at an insanely high level to ensure wins. As such, let’s hope that Ejim’s mobility can cancel out Emma Ronsiek’s talent and the Canadian shreds the double-teams to score, distribute, and, most importantly, limit turnovers.
- Ines Bettencourt: the Portuguese point guard has delivered some very strong performances this season, like her career high 17 points against Wyoming, but has also dropped massive duds like her 2 points against both Stanford and Texas Tech along with her . However, I’m not too concerned about her inconsistency on the scoring front as I’m far more concerned about her struggles in the point guard role. Thus far, she has dished out 20 assists, which is fourth on the team, but also coughed up 34 turnovers, a number that’s tied for a team high with Yvonne Ejim. While entering Gonzaga as a junior after transferring from UConn, Bettencourt is still a fairly green player that needs to blend her flare and athleticism with better consistency in her play and decision making. I believe she has this potential, but we haven’t seen it quite yet.
- Maud Huijbens: the Dutch senior big has surprised me with her level of distribution this season. Entering today’s game, she leads the team in assists with 38 and, importantly, is the only player with a positive A/T ratio. That’s awesome to see from your senior big, however, I find her shooting performances across this first seven games incredibly concerning for this team’s success this year. Last season, Maud shot 54.8% from two and 40.9% from three on 4.2 and 0.9 attempts, respectively. This season, she’s averaging 45.1% from two and 20% from three on 5.7 and 2.2 attempts, respectively. While I expected some drop off with the departure of such talented perimeter players and increased volume, I feel like Huijbens’ drop off this season is more than just those two factors. She just doesn’t seem comfortable with the ball in her hands when in shooting positions and it’s leading to a weird combination of both missed and forced opportunities. I’m not sure what the solution is, but something has to change because we need Maud’s confidence to boost the squad as I think she’s a fierce player that adds an edge few on this squad possess.
- Esther Little: I’m hesitant to write this because I feel like I criticize the English-born senior too much. As such, I want too start that saying that I think her presence on the floor is borderline necessary for this squad due to her defensive prowess and while I believe Christabel Osarobo has a much higher ceiling, the Spanish freshman can’t replace what Esther brings on that end at this time. However, Little represents a metaphorical black hole on offense and essentially limits this team to having just four players in the half-court offense. I’m not saying she’s only one in this category as we routinely see defenses essentially ignoring players like Osarobo, Vera Gunaydin, and, sometimes, Claire O’Connor, but Esther is playing starter minutes yet can’t contribute anything meaningful on offense. In her 6 games and 146 minutes this season, the senior has added 12 points, 6 offensive rebounds, 17 turnovers, and 9 fouls. And despite her presence on defense impacting the flow of the opponents’ offense, she hasn’t stepped up on an individual level as she has yet to log a steal, only has one block, and has contributed the same amount of rebounds as McKynnlie Dalan. I think this team needs more from Esther and I’m hoping these final two non-conference games serve as a ramp for her take-off.
- Injured Players: This represents a formal call for some goddamn transparency regarding injuries and expected timeline for return. I hope we get to see Tayla Dalton and Lauren Whitaker soon, but given reports about the two not having logged practices and the Spokesman reportin they have “mysterious foot injuries”, any hope for a quick return seems highly unlikely. Meanwhile, Vera Gunaydin picked up an unspecified injury before the Paradise Jam, but did feature in garbage time against Florida State so the Zags should have their reserve guard available off the bench. With regards to Bree, I’ve always tentatively been in the camp that she won’t actually log minutes on the floor this year and the same Spokesman article as above commented that “she hasn’t publicly announced if she intends to try and play.” While not necessarily injured, I felt like Christabel Osarobo took some strong fouls and was on the floor often in the Paradise Jam so let’s hope the freshman is handling the transition to the NCAA safely.