Women seek revenge as Stevens comes to town
By Brandon Smith
Last Updated:6:09 PM EST 1/27/10 Section: Sports
Any bus trip after a loss is difficult for players, especially when you have to travel home from New Jersey.
This was the case a few weeks ago when the St. John Fisher women's team traveled to Hoboken, NJ to take on the Ducks of Stevens Institute.
Last go around it was the Ducks who came out on top, 67-58. That is something Fisher will look to avoid in the rematch on the Jan. 29. For Fisher, its game against Stevens was the first game after a ten day Christmas break. In fact, it was the first game since Dec. 7, nearly a month.
"We were slow out of the gate," head coach Marianne O'Connor Ermi said. "It being our first game after such a long break and us having to go there didn't help."
"We didn't show up in the first half," junior guard Colleen Maloney said.
Stevens took advantage of the slow start and built nearly a 30 point lead heading into half time. They were hitting its shots, getting to the free throw line and firing on all cylinders. Fisher, conversely, was struggling in nearly every aspect including defense, offense and even communication.
"We didn't communicate well on offense and defense," Maloney said.
After a halftime talk that O'Connor Ermi used to inspire her players, Fisher came out and played better than the first and trimmed the lead. Unfortunately it was not enough as Stevens walked away with the victory.
"We started to press more in the second half, especially in the last 10 minutes, started to force turnovers and got ourselves some easy baskets," Maloney said.
No doubt something that O'Connor Ermi was hoping for the entire game, not just at the end.
This time around Fisher hopes to be better prepared and extract a little revenge from a game that will be played on its home court at the Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium.
When asked about keys to the game O'Connor Ermi said, "We can't get down by 29 points again and we need to play solid defense because that leads to our offense."
"[We need to play] 40 minutes of hard team defense, boxing out, getting to the free throw and converting, cutting down on turnovers, being more patient on offense, playing with confidence," Maloney said.
Each of those points are key to Fisher coming out on top.
O'Connor Ermi also believes the team is playing with much more confidence than it was at the time of the first game with Stevens.
The scouting report for Stevens goes something like this: "[They have] very good shooters, lots of experience, good inside, but I feel like we can pressure their guards and force turnovers," O'Connor Ermi said.
It will be important for the Cardinals to control the tempo of the game with its trademark pressure defense. They will throw in a combination of full court presses and a 1-3-1 half court trap.
The coaching staff is also excited about their man to man defensive pressure. Fisher hopes to use its defense to create easy scoring opportunities at the offense end.
bes01060@sjfc.edu
This was the case a few weeks ago when the St. John Fisher women's team traveled to Hoboken, NJ to take on the Ducks of Stevens Institute.
Last go around it was the Ducks who came out on top, 67-58. That is something Fisher will look to avoid in the rematch on the Jan. 29. For Fisher, its game against Stevens was the first game after a ten day Christmas break. In fact, it was the first game since Dec. 7, nearly a month.
"We were slow out of the gate," head coach Marianne O'Connor Ermi said. "It being our first game after such a long break and us having to go there didn't help."
"We didn't show up in the first half," junior guard Colleen Maloney said.
Stevens took advantage of the slow start and built nearly a 30 point lead heading into half time. They were hitting its shots, getting to the free throw line and firing on all cylinders. Fisher, conversely, was struggling in nearly every aspect including defense, offense and even communication.
"We didn't communicate well on offense and defense," Maloney said.
After a halftime talk that O'Connor Ermi used to inspire her players, Fisher came out and played better than the first and trimmed the lead. Unfortunately it was not enough as Stevens walked away with the victory.
"We started to press more in the second half, especially in the last 10 minutes, started to force turnovers and got ourselves some easy baskets," Maloney said.
No doubt something that O'Connor Ermi was hoping for the entire game, not just at the end.
This time around Fisher hopes to be better prepared and extract a little revenge from a game that will be played on its home court at the Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium.
When asked about keys to the game O'Connor Ermi said, "We can't get down by 29 points again and we need to play solid defense because that leads to our offense."
"[We need to play] 40 minutes of hard team defense, boxing out, getting to the free throw and converting, cutting down on turnovers, being more patient on offense, playing with confidence," Maloney said.
Each of those points are key to Fisher coming out on top.
O'Connor Ermi also believes the team is playing with much more confidence than it was at the time of the first game with Stevens.
The scouting report for Stevens goes something like this: "[They have] very good shooters, lots of experience, good inside, but I feel like we can pressure their guards and force turnovers," O'Connor Ermi said.
It will be important for the Cardinals to control the tempo of the game with its trademark pressure defense. They will throw in a combination of full court presses and a 1-3-1 half court trap.
The coaching staff is also excited about their man to man defensive pressure. Fisher hopes to use its defense to create easy scoring opportunities at the offense end.
bes01060@sjfc.edu
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