OK, so the scoreboard made the MSU-Grand Valley State game look like a blowout: 84-44. And, technically, it was. MSU notched a second exhibition win in its belt for the season.
But the first half of the game was a messy, low-scoring outing that had me worried about all the enthusiasm I'd burst forth with after the SVSU game on Thursday. Rebounds were few and far between, passing was poor and scoring was low -- MSU in the low 30s and GVSU at 19. The game shouldn't have been that close.
In the second half, however, an entirely different squad hit the floor, with a faster game, terrific ball handling and passing and a much more powerful look and feel than the first half. Whew.
Cetera Washington, in particular, had a very strong second half, scoring points all over the floor. The sophomore forward who had 7 points in Thursday's game more than doubled that this time and proved to be one of the key players on the floor today.
Next up: The first pre-season game, vs. Niagara at the Bres at 6:30 on Friday. See you there.
Robin - what's going on with DeHaan? Is she not getting many looks, or is she playing passive?
Posted by: Marc | November 09, 2008 at 05:46 PM
Robin,
Is the game against Niagara really a preseason game, or is it a non-conference game that counts for MSU's record (unlike this game that didn't really count)?
Posted by: Doug | November 10, 2008 at 07:08 AM
The Niagara game is the first game of the regular season, and yes it is a nonconference game. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
Posted by: Chris Solari | November 10, 2008 at 08:11 AM
Yes, Chris beat me to it -- my bad. Regular season, nonconference.
Posted by: RobinSwartz | November 10, 2008 at 08:37 AM
Coach Merchant appears to have a problem (or opportunity) from what we witnessed in these two exhibition games. She used 10 players pretty much equally Sunday and add to that 2 of her top 5 players are injured and didn't play. This team is loaded, so how is she going to find minutes for everyone? Don't know what will happen this season, but look out next year. Come March 2010, these SPARTANS should be no worse than a final four team. Regarding Sunday's first half, there was too much showboating, several no-look passes, unfortunately the intended recipients weren't looking either. also several "home run" passes to which the intended recipients couldn't catch up. That didn't appear as much in the second half.
Posted by: bob | November 10, 2008 at 09:25 AM