USF -- Thursday @ 7 and SCU -- Saturday @ 1

UP will have a good opportunity to solidify their hold on 6th place (or even move up a notch) this weekend against two familiar teams....San Francisco and Santa Clara.

UP (4-5) beat USF (2-7) 82-72 on Jan 19 in the City despite a poor first half that was evenly matched by USF's poor first half.

SCU (3-6) beat UP 69-62 on Jan 19 after UP’s miraculous comeback from an abysmal first half fell short.

As Jim Sollars approaches the end of his UP coaching career, one can only hope his players will allow him to relax and enjoy instead of causing him to fret and wave his arms in the air…..we'll see, it just depends on which UP team shows up.  

In a reversal of their recent mode of operation, the Pilots had a big start to the game, leading 19-0 at one point, before losing to USF 74-73 on an "old-fashioned" 3-point play with .7 of a second left on the clock.

Notes:

1. It would seem the officiating at each women's game just gets worse and worse....and last night was about the worst!! There is just no consistency to the ref's calls, except for their ability to miss the obvious and call the almost non-existent.

2. I'm guessing Cassandra Brown was not feeling well because although she was in the lineup for 25 minutes, she barely contributed....lot’s of standing around and just 2 free-throws.

3. Freshman Hannah Mattson started in Brown's place and was a big contributor on defense and very good ball handling on offense....but she only scored 3 points.

4. In my estimation Coach Sollars substituted too early in the game....instead of keeping the hammer down, normally little-used players were sent in and the flow of the game suffered. I can only guess there were a number of injuries and illnesses that kept some on the bench last night when they "normally" would have been big contributors.

5. The Pilots are now in 7th place in the WCC....and my optimism is waning.

I saw a number of PN "lurkers" and contributors at the game last night; I would like to know your opinion of the game and the team.

DoubleDipper wrote:

I saw a number of PN "lurkers" and contributors at the game last night; I would like to know your opinion of the game and the team.

I think the high school kid next to me put it best when he said, "With the women it seems they make really great plays every so often, but then they make the worst mistakes." Pretty much. It's really hard to be surprised by anything this year's team does, they're so inconsistent.

Me last night at 22-2:

glad to see their playing with intensity. I think they are making USF look awful. We might win this

A_Fan:

don't jinks it.

He did put the whammy on them.

They looked awesome in the first half, good outside shooting, making fine passes to players breaking to the basket, making their layups. It was a complete reversal in the first 12 or so minutes of the second half. They couldn't buy a basket nor a rebound. Their defense was nearly non-exsistant.

The officiating was atrocious, but that is not what cost the Pilots the game. It was their inability to play well in the 2nd half.

It also may be the fault of the women's soccer team. About half of the team was there watching the 1st half. They disappeared at halftime and we never spotted them in the 2nd half. The game turned around after they left.

Must of been more of the traditional warm milk at halftime.

A_Fan wrote:It also may be the fault of the women's soccer team.  About half of the team was there watching the 1st half.  They disappeared at halftime and we never spotted them in the 2nd half.  The game turned around after they left.

Ha-ha, yea, I was sitting a row behind them and asked if they were heading to the T-Room as they departed, but only got non-committal answers.

The player they were all cheering the most was Jazmyn Johnson.  JJ played 9 minutes in the first half, but only 4 in the second half after the soccer team left.  JJ did not score in the game.

Halftime?

More like

Women up 28-18 over Santa Clara with 7:00 left in the half.

Refs outdoing themselves. Not sure I have seen this bad a performance in one half, and I watched last game.

Well, it wasn’t easy, but the Pilots beat SCU, 75-55.

It wasn’t easy because, frankly, the referees just wouldn’t let the teams play.

The refs were obviously frustrated by not being the center of attention, so they fixed that by calling 26 fouls in the first half alone.  They settled down a bit after the half, whistling “only” 17 more for their own entertainment after the intermission….HORRIBLE!!

At one point in the first half I was afraid Coach Sollars was going to have a heart attack just weeks before his retirement he was so livid….but his kids played well in the second half and the refs finally gave the game back to the players.

Cassandra Brown was obviously feeling better, scoring 20 points, while Kari Luttinen had 23….and all those points were needed when UP was only up by 2 points at the 14 minute mark before pulling away.

UP will remain in 6th place for now…..

Glad they ditched the warm milk at halftime.

All those fouls and not one was a hand check.

They even called a "carrying" foul on the dribble once and that is something that hasn't been called in years.

The best part was the 3 by the Pilots at almost the buzzer which got everyone in the building a scratch off for something at Buffalo Wild Wings. It got the biggest cheer of the afternoon. My scratch off by the way was a free kids meal.

One other question...

Why was the student section looking decidedly old, wearing red, and cheering enthusiastically for SCU?

PurpleGeezer wrote:Why was the student section looking decidedly old, wearing red, and cheering enthusiastically for SCU?

Umm, from where I sat, across from the benches, it appeared the fans behind the UP bench were decidedly OLDER than those wearing red.  

With two graduates of Oregon City High School (both freshman) in the SCU starting lineup, and both playing over 30 minutes, we'll probably being seeing those red shirts for a few years more.  

DoubleDipper wrote:UP will remain in 6th place for now…..

1. GU 10-1
2. SMC 8-3
3. USD 7-4
4. BYU 7-4
5. UOP 6-5
6. UP 5-6
7. LMU 4-6
8. USF 3-8
9. SCU 3-8
10. PU 1-9

UP’s remaining games are BYU, USD, and GU on the road, and LMU, PU, UOP, and SMC at home.

If they play like they did Saturday, they have a chance to win in all these games.

DoubleDipper wrote:2. I'm guessing Cassandra Brown was not feeling well because although she was in the lineup for 25 minutes, she barely contributed....lot’s of standing around and just 2 free-throws.

Sometimes it's easy to forget what CB went through beginning in the summer of 2012: