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At the Half

UCA 34
TN-Martin 32

Sugarbears started off well..got up to a 29-16 lead, but a late charge by TN-Martin cut that lead.

UCA getting owned on the boards and in all kinds of foul trouble...not looking good for the sugarbears....another tough test as SEMO comes to Conway on Saturday.

TN-Martin picked to finish 6th in OVC...SEMO picked to finish 1st.

Not a well played 2nd half for the ladies of UCA...

FINAL

UCA 65
TN-Martin 78

Like I said, UCA played like crap in the 2nd half

I started listening with about 16 minutes left in the second half. I think the SBs were up about six at the time. Nothing good happened the rest of the way. Steve said a couple of UTM's players set career highs last night. That's never good.

Like Josh, I heard a lot about how they were killing us on rebounds in the second half. I've always heard that rebounding was about hustle and want-to.
Just sayin'.

Doesn't sound like talent is the problem. Like I said earlier new team chemistry and lack of experience. Hopefully they will grind away and by mid-season we will start to see a progression and glimpse of a promising season. Consider this a re-building season. I am pretty suprised they have been so competitive and no major blow outs yet this season. They have the talent if they can key on their strengths to suprise some good teams a few times this year.

Stick around, I'm sure there will be some this season with our hard OOC schedule..heck there may even be one Saturday night at the Farris Center (but you didn't hear that from me... )
The one thing that killed us at UT-Martin, besides the fact that we were outrebounded 54-37, was the fact that we were 13-19 on FTs, but they were 26-39...so the 13 extra points they got on FTs was in fact the difference in the final score...interesting.

Rebounds were even at the half 24-24...girls shot well over 40% in the first half...

UTM only whisteld for 5 fouls in the first half...I think we only shot 5 FTs in that half...

For the better part of the first half we owned them, in all the aspects of the game, all those hustle points and dead balls went UCA's way in the first half, even points in the paint I think.

Experience caught up with them in the 2nd half a little. UTM is not a bad team at all, especially with the duo of Mitchell and Fuller. I thought we were much more competitve last night with them with almost an entirely new roster, than we wre last season with a veteran group at home.

The talent is there. I think now they are just learning to play with one another. Several times last night you could see the wheels turning with some backdoor passes and other ares of the game. A couple of them missed, but who knows, when in a couple of weeks a couple of the girls get used to playing together more on the court with one another and the combinations that may be in, those passes are all of a sudden are on the mark, instead of just a tick too far out front. But with this much youth and inexperience there is only one way to learn, and that's trial by fire. I will say this, Meaghen Kelleybrew has been a great leader so far for this team.

http://www.ucasports.com/sport.asp?action=news&sportid=5&article=2195

SKYHAWKS RUN OVER SUGAR BEARS
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL • Nov 13, 2007

MARTIN, Tenn — The University of Central Arkansas Sugar Bears sprinted out to a 29-16 first-half lead against Tennessee-Martin, but it was the Skyhawks (2-0) who proved to be the the better runners as they overcame the early deficit to defeat UCA 78-65 at Skyhawk Arena on Tuesday.

Trailing 13 with 3:37 to play in the first half, UT Martin went on a 16-2 run down the stretch in the first half, then followed with an 11-0 spurt in the second half during a 12-minute span where they outscored UCA 33-14, a stretch that proved too much for the Sugar Bears (0-2)...

I hope that you are right...and I agree the talent is there. I also agree with the more physical play than last year statement, I remember listening to games last year and it was pretty ho-hum, but last night the team just sounded more physical (especially in the 1st half). I expect this to be a tough year record wise, but I think this team has the makings of a really good one down the road...that is if they all stick around.

That was something else I wanted to add. With last years leaders and veterans gone a new player will find themself in this leadership role and the team will begin to form and take shape.

They showed they can play solid in the 1st half apparently....maybe lack of concentration in first part of 2nd half?? Young teams are known for that.

GoSugarBears!!