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Womens : Bama - Sat 12/21 1:15 PM Baller

Been checking in from time to time, but just got home and finally able to listen down the stretch. Looks like Spiders are doing well on the boards, but turnovers are again a bit of an issue....–6 margin on those.

Four Spiders have 10 points each. 58–55 Tide.

Edit: Doogan 3 ties it up, and then the Tide big picks up her 4th foul.
 
Spiders led by 1 with 2:10 to go. But Alabama outscored us 11-3 from there. Some of that was intentional fouling to get the ball back but they made the FTs.
 
Disappointing since it looked like we had the game within grasp up 1 with 2 min left. Says a lot about the growth and expectations of the program when there’s a feeling of disappointment after losing to an Alabama team that will be top 25 in the country come Monday.

Would’ve loved the momentum of this win heading into conference play, but still this stretch of P5 games will prepare us well and we see what’s necessary to keep elevating our game to the next level. We finished OOC with a 9-4 record with quality wins @Temple, @Fairfield, neutral Oklahoma State, neutral Columbia.

I give our final OOC grade as an A-. An at-large is still in play but will have to likely finish with 4 or fewer losses and to top teams like George Mason, St. Joes, or Duquesne. Next up is the A10 title defense!
 
This team has be able to avoid long dry spells, reduce TOs and close out close games.
I don't think there's any real issue. The schedule has been brutal. The Temple, Fairfield, Ok State and Columbia wins will all look great at the end of the year... and were all very good in terms of resume. The Georgetown loss was a bit fluky.... and aside from that we've lost to Texas, Tennessee and Alabama. They're gonna be fine.... Alston will get her legs back which will help and aside from that, they'll keep getting better (and they're really, really good right now).
 
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Would have been nice to win of the past 3 but I absolutely love the fact that Rousell went out and played this schedule. We have never talked about women's team on here but based on what they did last year and the start to this year, we now are.

Rousell took a moribund program that no one cared about and built into this, really outstanding work.
 
Would have been nice to win of the past 3 but I absolutely love the fact that Rousell went out and played this schedule. We have never talked about women's team on here but based on what they did last year and the start to this year, we now are.

Rousell took a moribund program that no one cared about and built into this, really outstanding work.

the A10 schedule will feel like a walk in the park after this non-con run, which is an awesome thing to have.
 
I don't think there's any real issue. The schedule has been brutal. The Temple, Fairfield, Ok State and Columbia wins will all look great at the end of the year... and were all very good in terms of resume. The Georgetown loss was a bit fluky.... and aside from that we've lost to Texas, Tennessee and Alabama. They're gonna be fine.... Alston will get her legs back which will help and aside from that, they'll keep getting better (and they're really, really good right now).
VS against good teams we struggle when we are coming down to the wire. We blew GT game and should
have never been in that position at the end of the game. We will have a bullseye on our back in the A10 and
we will be getting everyone’s best.
 
VS against good teams we struggle when we are coming down to the wire. We blew GT game and should
have never been in that position at the end of the game. We will have a bullseye on our back in the A10 and
we will be getting everyone’s best.
We didn't play well against Georgetown agreed... but this is the same team as last year, and they played super clutch in tight games last year.

No argument that they've been a bit sloppy this year.... but I think that gets cleaned up. Most of that seems to be Maggie who hasn't been sharp at times handling the ball or taking her eye off passes for some reason, but we're incredibly fortunate to have her.... and I think she's going to continue to have another great year. I had said previously that we're not nearly as good as we've been without Ally's progress and thats certainly true... but Maggie allows us to do so many things that we couldn't do without her. She's insanely skilled for her size and opens things up for us in so many ways.

For sure, we'll be getting everyone's best. I think they're up for it... and i'm looking forward to the rest of the year.
 
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Ally, Newell and Alston have done great replacing Townsend who is starting for UNC.
I have watched every game I can the women play and have even gotten a couple of 76ers
in Richmond area to go watch some games and they are impressed.
 
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Ally, Newell and Alston have done great replacing Townsend who is starting for UNC.
I have watched every game I can the women play and have even gotten a couple of 76ers
in Richmond area to go watch some games and they are impressed.
This is almost the perfect year to become a UR Women's basketball fan...the program and team couldn't be more different from the Men's program and team...outstanding schedule, home and away, strong NET ranking with A-10 Championship and NCAA At-Large bid chances; veteran roster that fans know; dynamic, articulate and motivating coaching staff; fresh, interesting and entertaining style of play...etc.etc.

it's very easy to become a fan!

Congrats to the players and coaching staff for building on the momentum of last season.

Go Spiders!
 
Well said Mojo. Another point I would add is that Roussell has done a great job of building depth across multiple classes and not just having one super class and after they graduate, it’s a total rebuild. Doogan and Ullstrom are juniors, Sweeney is a sophomore. That’s 3 starters coming back next year and if we continue to do well with high school and transfer recruiting, there’s no reason why we can’t be at the top of the A10 next year too.
 
Several good teams in the A10 this year so won’t be a walk in the park, but I agree that our tough schedule will prepare us well. I think it benefits us that George Mason, St. Joes, and Duquesne had a good OOC this year. Not just from a conference reputation, NET ranking, and at-large resume building perspective, but also the “target on our back” won’t seem so large because there are several teams this year that have a shot of winning regular season/tournament. Hopefully this’ll allow us to feel less pressure in the games. Though we know our team does a great job playing under pressure!
 
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Well said Mojo. Another point I would add is that Roussell has done a great job of building depth across multiple classes and not just having one super class and after they graduate, it’s a total rebuild. Doogan and Ullstrom are juniors, Sweeney is a sophomore. That’s 3 starters coming back next year and if we continue to do well with high school and transfer recruiting, there’s no reason why we can’t be at the top of the A10 next year too.
The definition of a strong program rather than a good team.
 
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