If Jeff Walz was a football player, he'd probably be a scrambling quarterback. The Cardinal WBB head coach has managed to keep his squad on the court despite -- seemingly -- the ACC not wanting to play the Cards or being forced out of games because of virus issues to play his squad.
Enter the SkyHawks from Martin, TN for today's 2:30 p.m. tip at the KFC YUM! Center. Again.
They were here for their opening game of the season and took a 85-67 loss to Louisville on Dec 6th. Since then, UTM has had three more games and gone 2-1 in them. All of them have been on the road. The SkyHawks also played SEMO, as Louisville did, and took a 61-58 win. A trip to Samford produced a 75-67 win for UTM. UTM ended 2020 with a 72-67 loss to Jacksonville State on 12/30. They've been idle since.
Jacksonville State is not in Florida, as many of you may have guessed. It is in Jacksonville, Alabama and they are a member of the OVC. Remember the little boy from Close Encounters of the Third Kind? That was Cary Guffey and he went on to be a graduate of Jacksonville State. So is Randy Owen, lead singer for Alabama. But, I digress, let's get back to the game preview.
Senior Chelsea Perry has been leading the way for UTM with 27.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. She's shooting 53 percent from the floor. The Skyhawks entered the 2020-21 season as the OVC favorites, ranked 10th in the Mid-Major Top 25 preseason poll, while receiving votes in the Preseason USA TODAY Coaches’ Poll for the first time in program history.
The Skyhawks return 13 players off a squad which posted a 22-10 overall record last season while cruising to a 16-2 mark in league play to garner the program’s sixth regular season championship. They added Seygan Robins, of course, a former Louisville WBB student-athlete , and Seygan is averaging 8.0 points a contest for the SkyHawks. She's getting almost 30 minutes a game, as a starter and is 4-13 from three-point range. Her season high was 16 at Samford.
Perry and fellow senior Maddie Waldrop each followed up All-OVC first team honors last season with similar preseason nods. The pair combined to score 35.8 points per game last season while averaging over 7.8 rebounds per game and tallying 108 blocks.
The Cards used a strong close-out in the first half last time these two played to distance themselves from the SkyHawks. In their third game back from the COVID break, will Louisville jump on UTM early with pressure defense and fast-break transition basketball? I would like to see the inter-changeable posts of Olivia Cochran and Liz Dixon have a good outing against UTM. Dana Evans had 26 points in the first meeting, and she can probably equal that again if Walz decides to play her 27 minutes again.
Walz has stressed he wants to see less dribbling and more crisp and accurate passing. Since Malik Cunningham isn't on the WBB roster, those duties will fall to Dana, Hailey, "E", Ahlana and any/all of the other guards Walz employs today. Norika Konno gets it, maybe her minutes will increase. Lastly, it's time for the "three" to start to go in. 29.5% is simply unacceptable. Maybe it's because Sean Moth no longer loudly proclaims the success of a long range connect. (I'm still going through "Sean" withdrawals when I hit the KFC YUM! Center).
The ACC Network has the feed today. I'll be radio-listening due to work requirements. You can use your UNC tickets and parking pass if you want to attend.
--sonja--
Enter the SkyHawks from Martin, TN for today's 2:30 p.m. tip at the KFC YUM! Center. Again.
They were here for their opening game of the season and took a 85-67 loss to Louisville on Dec 6th. Since then, UTM has had three more games and gone 2-1 in them. All of them have been on the road. The SkyHawks also played SEMO, as Louisville did, and took a 61-58 win. A trip to Samford produced a 75-67 win for UTM. UTM ended 2020 with a 72-67 loss to Jacksonville State on 12/30. They've been idle since.
Jacksonville State is not in Florida, as many of you may have guessed. It is in Jacksonville, Alabama and they are a member of the OVC. Remember the little boy from Close Encounters of the Third Kind? That was Cary Guffey and he went on to be a graduate of Jacksonville State. So is Randy Owen, lead singer for Alabama. But, I digress, let's get back to the game preview.
Senior Chelsea Perry has been leading the way for UTM with 27.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. She's shooting 53 percent from the floor. The Skyhawks entered the 2020-21 season as the OVC favorites, ranked 10th in the Mid-Major Top 25 preseason poll, while receiving votes in the Preseason USA TODAY Coaches’ Poll for the first time in program history.
The Skyhawks return 13 players off a squad which posted a 22-10 overall record last season while cruising to a 16-2 mark in league play to garner the program’s sixth regular season championship. They added Seygan Robins, of course, a former Louisville WBB student-athlete , and Seygan is averaging 8.0 points a contest for the SkyHawks. She's getting almost 30 minutes a game, as a starter and is 4-13 from three-point range. Her season high was 16 at Samford.
Perry and fellow senior Maddie Waldrop each followed up All-OVC first team honors last season with similar preseason nods. The pair combined to score 35.8 points per game last season while averaging over 7.8 rebounds per game and tallying 108 blocks.
The Cards used a strong close-out in the first half last time these two played to distance themselves from the SkyHawks. In their third game back from the COVID break, will Louisville jump on UTM early with pressure defense and fast-break transition basketball? I would like to see the inter-changeable posts of Olivia Cochran and Liz Dixon have a good outing against UTM. Dana Evans had 26 points in the first meeting, and she can probably equal that again if Walz decides to play her 27 minutes again.
Walz has stressed he wants to see less dribbling and more crisp and accurate passing. Since Malik Cunningham isn't on the WBB roster, those duties will fall to Dana, Hailey, "E", Ahlana and any/all of the other guards Walz employs today. Norika Konno gets it, maybe her minutes will increase. Lastly, it's time for the "three" to start to go in. 29.5% is simply unacceptable. Maybe it's because Sean Moth no longer loudly proclaims the success of a long range connect. (I'm still going through "Sean" withdrawals when I hit the KFC YUM! Center).
The ACC Network has the feed today. I'll be radio-listening due to work requirements. You can use your UNC tickets and parking pass if you want to attend.
--sonja--
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