Well, we lost another tough game tonight that we led at halftime. We lost to NCAA III Finlandia University (Hancock, MI) 74-57 tonight. It was one of those games where the score doesn't tell the story, but at the same time it does....
First off, Northland has been a relatively easy win for Finlandia for years. They are a tough, fast, aggressive running team, and we have never been able to remotely handle the pressure or score with them. But tonight we came out hungry, playing fast and matching their intensity. The pressed us most of the first half and we handled it really well - maybe too well. We scored quite a bit in transition, alot from breaking the press, and had to run our half-court offense very little. Defensively we played fairly well, limiting them to one shot, and taking a 10-point lead with about two minutes left in the half. They finished on a 5-0 run, sending us to the locker room up 40-35.
They shanged some things on defense and stayed away from the press most of the second half, and we made too many mistakes in our offense. We actually held them to four points the first five minutes of the half, but we had only scored three, so our lead was down to four. The next five minutes saw them tie it up, and they took the lead from 10:00-5:00 left in the game. We were out of gas the last five minutes, and during a timeout when down by 10 with 3:30 left I asked the girls if they wanted to pack it in and work on some things for Mt. Mary or Moody, it was a resounding "no." Thmaking the final score more lopsidedey wanted to play to win. As much as their spirit was willing, their bodies were weak, and hope slipped away. Take nothing from Finlandia - they won the second half, especially the final eight minutes in a huge way. They are extremely talented and well coached.
We don't, and never will, count moral victories. However, we played so well for 32-35 minutes against a much better opponent, and had a chance to win the game. From a basketball sense, that is our goal every game.
Statistically, Tiff had another great game shooting the ball, scoring 25 points including 11 of 13 from the free throw line. Ellie scored 14 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 4 assists and had 3 steals.
We have two really tough games this weekend as we travel to Milwaukee to play Mt. Mary Friday night, and Chicago to play Moody on Saturday. We lost to Mt. Mary at our place last Friday, and the last time we saw Moody was in the Region semi-final where we edged them in a double overtime game. They are a great team this year, and we will have to play our best game of the season to beat them.
Thanks for reading!
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