"We figured that we weren't going to have very much trouble with Tulsa. Tulsa had a really good player named Jazmin Beddow who could ball, and sometimes I wondered why Tulsa wasn't better that it was. The problem was that their fronts couldn't play any defense. They played that 7-11 defense - you know, put your hands up and remain perfectly still. Coach Ballard said that Tulsa wouldn't set a screen if their lives depended on it and they didn't look sharp on tape.
So we got off to a 17-10 lead. We had 17 points and we were just keeping them right off the boards. Tulsa didn't have a single rebound, offensive or defensive - they'd shoot, we'd pick up the ball and then we'd try. We were making it look really good - we were up 26-12 before they got a rebound - and they kept sending us to the foul line. We didn't notice that Tulsa was sneaking up on us, but they had closed the gap to six points at the end of the half and we went into halftime 36-30.
But when they came out in the second, they rolled out. Marcie Palin came out strong and she scored two buckets early on. (Never trust that name, you know.) Tulsa tied it at 38-38 with a bucket by Palin and she got the And One. That put them up 41-38 but Letell (Hanson) hit the 3 at the top of the arc and tied it back up.
After that, we were in a fight for our lives. Tulsa smelled blood, an upset on our home grounds. The game was getting physical - Patty Clark went out when she hurt her hand and went back on the bench in the first half - and we were just throwing everything at Tulsa that we could think of. Tulsa was setting screens. I think it's sick when these crappy teams have a good run, and then all of a sudden they remember their fundamentals.
At one point, we were leading 68-61 when Palin closed it to 68-64 with the bucket and drawing the foul. She would score 25 points on us. Down 70-64, and with the clock running down, they were going to have to one of us to the foul lines.
"Put it in #13's hands," Coach said. Those were my hands.
So Tulsa put that press on at the end and they sent me to the foul line twice. They managed to close the game to four but I hit all four of my shots, including the last two shots of the game that gave us an eight point lead and killed a comeback.
We're 5-0 in conference. I'm starting to become very aware of that, and everyone else is starting to be aware of it, too." I dread this game with SMU coming up. Coach is going to work us like dogs.
--Brenda Dean
(* * *)
I think it's been about two weeks since I played this game, so I don't remember much about it. I don't keep a shot-for-shot record, but I do scribble notes. What you read above is basically recounted from the notes, and I can't vouch for its accuracy. Maybe Brenda wrote that diary entry after the fact, I don't know.
Okay, so it's been busy. I'll give you an idea of how the C-USA looks right now. UTEP leads 5-0 in conference, followed by East Carolina, Southern Mississippi and Southern Methodist, all of whom are 4-1. Memphis and Rice are both 0-5 in conference.
After the Southern Methodist game - the next game on the schedule - UTEP goes on a long road trip, playing five out of six games on the road, including the longest road trip of the year against East Carolina on the road.
The current rankings:
AP Poll RPI: 41
Coaches Poll RPI: 31
This was a slide backwards in the Coaches RPI. Obviously, there's no such thing as a game-per-game RPI. This just gives you an idea of where the team stands at any particular moment. There won't even be a new poll until after the SMU game.
(You know, maybe I'm too invested in this thing....)
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