how the University can make such a mess of parking. Driving to the JACC one hour before the game there was already a long line of barely moving traffic toward the JACC. Parking lots were full. Parking personnel provided no useful information to drivers. Apparently, keystone kops supporting a national championship team.

Girls won the 3A State Title last year.

Sydney stepped down due to her work schedule and to get her MBA at Notre Dame.

It was Melissa Lechlitner who was the AC when St. Joe won the state title after the 2016-17 season.

Becca became an AC last year (17-18 season). She was named head coach earlier this year when Smallbone stepped down.

What upset her?

to early bench time and limited minutes for the game. They couldn't handle Jess and Brianna.

perspective from the Pavilion is far superior to mine on my computer here in Scottsdale. I made some comments below but I'll repeat myself a bit so it's all in one place.

The thing that heartened me most was the unselfishness of the group. Everyone passed, although Arike clearly shot a lot! I'm sure Muffet doesn't want her to lose her aggressive edge, and she shot a high percentage and had a team-high 5 assists, so she played well offensively. I was upset when she didn't get a call on a drive and then stayed down the other end while the Crimson attacked, eventually getting a 3-pter because Arike didn't get back. But overall I thought she played a great game. She ran the break very well and finished far more often than not.

Jess was my player of the game though. 28 points on 12/16, 8 boards, 4 assists (vs. 1 TO), a steal and a block in 26 minutes? That's super! That's POY type numbers.

Jackie was steady but not spectacular. It's as if she only goes off offensively if we need it, but I wish she would be more aggressive offensively. She passed well (5 assists vs 1 TO) and played great defense, but 5 shots in 27 minutes? She needs to look for her shot more.

Bri looked a bit rusty, or maybe it was that her teammates have sort of forgotten where she needs the ball. Jess is more versatile offensively, so she is less particular where she receives the ball. But Bri is not that way. I loved the high low alley-oop from Jess. I hope we see more of that. And defensively she is super, but I thought she had more blocks than she was credited with (1). She rebounded very well (11 boards in 21 minutes) and even dished out 3 assists. And I think she defended McD's AA Boehm, and Boehm did not play well offensively (4 points in 17 minutes with 4 PF).

Nixon did fine for her first game with live bullets. Her final stats were not impressive (4 pts, 1-2 FG, 3 ast vs. 6 TO, 3 reb), but she made few really bad decisions, and Muffet believes that she will learn from her mistakes, as she has impressed Muffet with her desire to improve and quickly get her game up to college speed.

Now the bench

Vaughn is so great! So impressed with her. In 23 minutes she secured 6 boards (pretty good) but was 6/7 FG for 12 pts with 4 blocks! Her weakness was 4 PF and 0/2 FT. And she is just a freshman in eligibility! Very nice asset.

Gilbert needs her shoulder issue to subside, because she doesn't look good from outside, but I thought she otherwise looked good. But other teams will leave her open if she can't shoot from the perimeter, and that will hurt team offense and also affect her ability to take people off the dribble (they will play off her).

Prohaska looks good. Her tenacity is obvious and if she can stop fouling she will be that pesky defender that no opposing player will want on her. She looks confident and that's good! Her stats in 18 minutes: 6 pts, 1-3 FG, 4-4 FT, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 TO, 2 steals.

I was pleasantly surprised that Muffet substituted so liberally in the first half. I know that Harvard was overmatched, but it was still a show of faith for the bench.

..some of which I've posted here or there (Romper Room).

- Think Bri is a bit rusty and missed a few chippies, but she'll get those. FA's point about getting the ball in the right place at the right time might be helped a bit when Marina reenters the lineup. Going back to 2016-17, Mabrey2 does a good job with skip passes into the lane to Brianna. It will take some time for Jordan to reach the familiarity that Lindsay Allen had passing into Bri, but here's to seeing that happen.

Also expect more of Jess Shepard throwing that entry pass from the elbow, a la Kat. She had one beauty yesterday. Expect more to follow.

Abby was looking for Mik for similar passes in the second half. If she gets more air time with the first unit (and if she plays D like she did today, she will), I'll bet Abby will be a steady feeder into the appropriate post.

- Regarding Jackie. Who knows if the mask was getting into her concentration? Or if the word was to feed the post and she consciously held back from attacking the lane like we know she can. However, it would be nice to let her loose, particularly as long as Marina is out.
Having three scoring options would be nice. (Giving Bri time...)

- Shep. She looks so relaxed and confident (guess winning a NC will do that). She'll use that confidence to dig into her growing tool kit of moves. And defenses will have to pick their poison between Bri and Shep or inside-outside. No team wins doing that.

- Mik. Perfect situation to play. No pressure, get reps.

- Abby. You can tell she was a leader in high school. But I agree that I was pleasantly taken aback by just how confident she appears. That's great. Deferring on offense, but that's cool. Take the medium jumper when it's there though and would like to see her catch some teams asleep when she goes hard left to the hoop.

- Injuries. Crossing fingers here.

- Banner Raising. Hope to see alums, for sure. Also hope to see an unofficial visit.

...to be a star studded affair.

If I were planning the ceremony, I'd invite all WBB alumni to be on the court behind the team for banner raising.

suggested fearlessness. If I didn't know I would have thought she a veteran. She was decisive with a little cockiness mixed in.

..but she was a bit of a turnover machine. As she gains experience she might want to reduce the number of bounce passes.

It's just one game, but Jessica Shepard showed again why she may be Arike's strongest competition for Player of the Year. (Along with Sabrina, of course, the triple double machine.)