Women’s Basketball Struggles in the Virgin Islands

After coming off the biggest win since Lisa Fortier became the head coach of the Zags, things just didn’t go well for the Zags in their first game of the Paradise Jam. Here are my observations from the game.

1. Defense let the Zags down tonight. After being so good in their first few games of the season, things took a turn for the worst today. They held a team averaging 95 points a game to just 78 points, but they gave up 26 points in the first quarter and never recovered from the early deficit.
2. One on one defense against All American caliber players is lacking for the Zags. They just couldn’t stop Thompson or Flaherty as they put up 21 and 22 points respectively.
3. Three point shooting. The Zags have been on fire from behind the arc this season, but tonight they went cold. They shot just 15% on the game while Michigan shot 57.1%.
4. Free throws. The Zags still struggle from the stripe. Only one person on the team made all of their free throws and the team made only 76% of these shots. The Zags missed some clutch free throws that could have turned the game around.
5. Laura Stockton looked confident tonight. She was one of a few bright lights in the win tonight.
6. Elle Tinkle went flat tonight, missing all 5 shots she took and finished the game with 0 points. She needs to put this game behind her and bounce back for the rest of the tournament and season.
7. Jill Barta, as the announcer stated, “is the best player on the west coast, in any league.” The biggest bright spot in tonights loss was Barta’s performance. She once again led the team in points. Barta scored 27 points tonight. She has now scored a quarter of the Zags points on season.

The Zags now face a tough opponent in Florida State tomorrow. They’re looking to bounce back from a bad loss to pull off an upset of the #10 team in the country.