mat1992

Well, Rivera's specialty. A bank shot three gives Towson the lead 43-41 at the half. Crazy ending to a crazy half. Nelson and Kornegay-Lucas with three fouls. Tucker injured ankle. Kubek banged knees, but has two fouls. Somehow leading with JMU going crazy from 3.

Another tech foul, this on Kornegay-Lucas, who picks up here third after finishing with a basket. She yelled foul and she was right, but these refs are f-ing sensitive. So she got the tech. Maybe somebody needs to tell the players to calm down and don't react (wildly) to every call. I know it's tough because they are calling everything except when Kornegay-Lucas was hacked going to the basket and still finished.

Refs have completely taking over this game. Not going to say the technical foul was a bad one. The original foul was another ticky tack call. Now it's JMU 35-32 with the ball.

Now Nelson picks up a tech as she slams the ball down hard to the floor. Point guard needs to be calmer and more of a leader. Now she has three fouls.

Nobody contesting threes all game whether it's a zone or man.

Because it's become so physical, now refs are calling every little ticky tack call. Towson also has no inside presence without Kubek and Tucker. Up 30-29 with 4:00 left in the second quarter.

Up 27-23 in the second quarter. A lot of physical play. Several injuries. Tucker seems to be the most serious. Kubek just out with two fouls. JMU is stepping in a lot and drawing chargers. Also doing a great job of acting.

Absolute bizarre start to the first quartrer. Towson didn't know what basket they were shooting from. JMU won the tip and go the easy layup. Nelson ran into an JMU players elbow, Tucker twisted her ankle when stopping on Kubek's foot. Then Kubek called for a questionable charge and picks up her second foul. Bangs knees. Towson up 18-12 at the end of one.

We're getting screwed up 18-12. Jefferson picked up here second foul on a block. Her foot was in the circle. Touching the line. The original call was a block, now it's on offensive foul on Dodson. Another terrible call.

Horrible call on Kubek. Charge foul. She had no room to move. That's a block more than a cheap charge and she picks up here 2nd. So Kubek and Tucker out. Kubek also hurt on the play. Banged knees. Towson up 18-12 late in the first quarter. Not the same great JMU teams we've seen in the past.

Nelson is back. Score is 13-12 Towson, but Rivera just threw up two awful air balls. One from 3. Shot selection has never been her strongsuit here.

Now Rivera is hurt. Tucker looks a little better on the sidelines. Rivera will play through it. Hate zone, but they will have to play it with all the injuries. Kubek can't afford to get in foul trouble.

Not sure if Nelson will return and Tucker definitely looks doubtful with that ankle. So Towson's depth, which is very good, will be tested. We go zone, just like the men, and JMU hits a 3. Kubek and Rivera's time to shine.

Another injured player as Rayne Tucker is now down. Geez. Now 8-7 JMU. Tucker injured her ankle.

Not a good start. Down 8-2 as Aleah Nelson takes an incidental elbow and is knocked a bit woozy. Defense has been basically non-existent in first four possesions.

I really didn't comment on this but this as well as I've seen us play at home against a conference opponent. Ever. Shows you how much depth we have. And Tyler Coleman has something. I don't know if he's long enough to play center or quick enough to play the four, the way we want fours now (stretch 4s with handle). But showed some size, touch and toughness, even if he's just a role player. We will need a backup 4 next season amongst other things. I was also really impressed with Hicks. First time I got to talk to him and Rizutto face-to-face or mask-to-face. Haven't seen those guys in the press room since we've been allowed in there (hope we never have to back to Zoom pressers again at home, don't mind it on the road). What else can you say about CT? That kid has gone from All-Defensive Team to at least third-team All-Conference and in the conversation for DPOY. Again, averaging 16.8ppg his last 7 games. His overall numbers are not much better than last season (9.1, 6.4rpg, 1.6bpg, this season 10.2ppg, 6.1rpg, 1.5bpg, 62% FG). But look at his conference numbers: 13.3ppg, 7.2rpg, 1.8bpg, 66% FG, It also helps we're going to him more, maybe because masked Cam is a bit off in his inside-out game. I'd rather have balance than just one great player and ordinary offensive players. Adding Charles to the mix means we can do a lot more than just open the game going to him down low. We can go consistently to him throughout the game and he's smart enough to know when there will be doubles and not to force it because you have other perimeter options.

UNCW 41-34 with 2:57 left in the first half. Not a lot of D by CofC. They should slow it down and pound it inside but that's not their game.

Only negative was the crowd of 1,800+ for Autism Awareness day. I can understand the hesitation of some people that ordinarily come and not showing up due to the circumstances but no excuse for the poor showing of the students.

Skerry opening comments "Guys were really ready to play today. I told them at halftime, that if we didn't make shots in the first half, which we did, I would have been really pleased. Because we were really tuned in defensively. Coach Clark did a really good job with the scout. That's what we need to do. They have really good guards and we knew we had to defend the three-point shot. Terry, Rahdir, Juwan, Charles. That was the difference in the game. Everything snowballed because we were really good on offense. But our defense was really good today." On going to the bench and walk-ons early "Our league is really good. Elon is too good. That never happens. We have great walk-ons. They have helped us all year on the scout team. They have great personalities so it's good to reward them. I told Tyler Coleman after the game. He's getting in better shape and he's worked harder in practice. It's noticeable today. That's encouraging. " On 26-0 run without Cam and Nic "We have nine guys. I trust all nine guys. I have confidence in all of them. This makes me feel better today. I wish we were further ahead with rotation. Had so many guys out due to bizarre staff. We have high level players and they were connected." On Cam and his new mask "He was good in the second half. A guy playing with a broken jaw and a mask. He's as tough as they come." On JB's teams "Every team is different. We've had a lot of good teams. We had a good environment today. We have to try and keep getting better. We have to worry about what it's in front of us and keep getting better." On UNCW "Guys will be off tomorrow. I didn't do a good enough job last time against them. It will be sold out down there. We'll need a good week of practice to play against a well-coached team."

Comments from Antonio Rizzuto "It was definitely special. We showed today what we're capable of doing. We played really hard on defense. Made some key shots to start them off and didn't let that go." On first half woes against W&M We have to come out that like that every game. THat's what we're capable of and we'll strive to do that the rest of the season. On the walk-ons A lot of what we do is credited to them. Every day at practice they are busting their butt for us. It's super special to see them at the end of the game and it was fun. It's all about Wilmington, one game at a time. Charles Thompson "We've had some slow starts and it's been our focus about not digging us ourselves a hole. Instead of playing one great half, how about playing two. That's what happened. On 26-0 run "Our energy was great. We focused from start to finish. Attention to detail." On hook shot Me being more patient. We have so many people on our team. Nic can shoot it. Cam can shoot it. Terry can shoot it. It's hard to double when there are so many great shooters on the floor. We have great veteran point guards and I trust their decision-making. On UNCW "I'm looking forward to every game. Every game is a big game." Radhir Hicks On sitting out "It was frustrating. Not being able to go to Elon and W&M. It was rough being able to watch game. It helped sitting and the hunger was stronger." On game slowing down "It's like repetition. The more reps you get, the more you get used to it. Everything is starting to open up. You can't guard everything. There are certain spots, I know I can get there. Things are slowing down for me. The game is becoming a little easier." On enjoy playing defense "I really do. I guess because others don't really enjoy it, I enjoy playing it. I pride myself on it. If they can't score and I can help us get stops, we are hard to beat. When we hold people to a low shooting %, I know we can win."

BTW, 17 players played today. Can't imagine there was a better feeling for the rotation guys and Bemi Joseph when he hit that three-pointer (I know he hit a shot before that)

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