Recap: Lafayette Is Outgunned, Outmanned, Outnumbered, Outplanned

Often part 2 of a trilogy is the weakest installment of the series, but in game 2 of the Hall of Fame Tournament the Cardinals came out blazing.  They picked up where they left off defensively against Bowling Green and allowed Lafayette only 7 points in the first quarter.  From the bench Coach Walz praised their effort but did encourage them to "clean it up" because of turnovers.  The score at halftime was 48-17 with a nice balance of scoring and rebounding between several players, but it was led by Mariya Moore with 10 points/6 rebounds.  They were also moving the ball well and found the open player for shots which led to 10 assists at halftime.

Myisha Hines-Allen seemed to get hurt on the first play of the game and sat the first quarter, but she had a strong second half.  She had 14 rebounds to go with her 7 points and 5 assists.  After the game Coach Walz praised her for her passing and said that they had been working on improving her assist to turnover ratio.

Another player who had a strong showing was sophomore Sam Fuehring.  She went 6-6 from the field and finished with 13 points and 5 rebounds.  Of course there is always room for improvement and at one point in the first half Coach Walz yelled to her  "A retreat dribble---we practice that.  That spin move you're doing---we don't practice that.  Don't do that."

Without combing the statistics for last year's minutes I am going to anecdotally assert that sophomore Brianna Jones has played more this year than she did all of last year put together.  She had 6 rebounds and made positive contributions on both ends of the floor.  She's not near the top of the depth chart, but in a long season it's always a bonus to have players on the bench who can be called upon if needed.

With 2 blowouts the starters have gotten plenty of rest the last 2 days which may be important in the game against Chattanooga tomorrow night.  After the game Coach Walz said that "we've got to be able to keep our focus for 30 seconds" and that the next opponent will run the clock down.  He added "When the clock gets below 10 seconds...we have breakdowns."  He said, "I love this group, they're a great group of young women, but they have to continue to work if they want to play at an elite level."

The game tomorrow is at 7:30 at the Yum! Center.  It will be the last home game before December 1st when the Cards take on #6 Maryland.