Congrats Kellie For Huge Road Win Over Drake!

[creekdipper]

Well, now for something completely different (taking a break during halftime of SC game for some good news).

Lady Bears slipped up a couple of weeks ago and lost by 2 to an average Illinois State team. Since then, they have bounced back by winning last three games by 22, 19, and 27 (today) points respectively.

Kellie's team has two big home games coming up this Friday (3rd place Northern Illinois) and next Sunday (2nd place/#24 Drake). Be interesting to see how much her youngsters (one senior, one available junior) have improved.

They're fun to watch and/or listen to on radio. And, to go along with the fab freshmen she has, there's a really good class coming in next season.

Last time I checked, Creme still has them as a #13 seed in NCAA.

 

[creekdipper]

Wish I could report that MoSt won both games this weekend, but they split at home. After pounding N. Illinois Friday night, they lost by nine to #23 Drake this afternoon.

Lady Bears started out on fire Friday but were sluggish today, falling behind by 22 at one point and down 18 at the half. To their credit, they clawed their way back in the second half, shutting down two of Drake's best scorers and getting within four with 30 seconds left. Then the free throw parade began, and Drake padded the final score at the line.

MoSt was without one of their best young post players who had a monster game when they upset Drake at their place. Don't think this loss against a ranked opponent will hurt them much if they take care of business and finish strong going into their conference tournament. Hopefully, they'll maintain their strong presence and maybe meet Drake again in the conference finals. Creme still has them as a 13 seed (latest from a week ago had them matched up with South Carolina). A strong showing in the tournament (or a championship) might help them get a little easier draw in the tournament.

Female announcer reported at the half that Kellie had challenged her post players to get physical and deny easy entries. Her extremely young team responded well and had the crowd on their feet at the end. Kellie sounded very composed and analytical in the postgame interview. They hit a lot of threes Friday night (for them) but missed nearly all their threes today. Almost a great comeback, but too big a hole. Nice to see Kellie's adjustments at the half working well.

With her incoming class and a nucleus of sophomores and freshmen, the future looks bright. Drake has been reloading, too, so there's going to be some good battles over the next few years. I believe Drake has a couple of P5 transfers coming in.

Always good to see a favorite Vol Alum doing well. Speaking of that, have really enjoyed Tamika Catchings' color commentary on SEC games. Very knowledgeable and makes insightful (and fun) comments.