I'm a Hokie married to a Hoosier living in Bloomington. The WNIT championship game has me pitted against the rest of my family. The wife has my kids drinking the cream and crimson cool-aid. Looking forward to a great game.

I've been to 10+ IU W-Basketball games this season, plus 4 out of the 5 WNIT games. I've already got my tickets to the Championship game. Here's my assessment of the team and each player.

As a team they are playing great basketball headed in to Saturday's game, that's an obvious. They're nothing like the team that started the season. Having given three of their five freshmen significant playing time. It took these ladies some time to catch up to the speed of the game. And boy have they. In the last 10 games of the regular season the Hoosiers where 8-2, with the losses book ending a 8-0 run. So the team is playing with a lot of confidence.

The team plays with a lot of emotion, lead by Tyra Buss. She's the heart and soul of the team. More on her later. With those emotions the team can go on a blistering run and score 10 points in the blink of an eye, like they did against TCU to open up a tight game. On the flip side, their emotions can lead to extended slumps. The ladies can let their frustrations show. Sometimes allowing the opposing team to take advantage, picking on that player. It usually takes one or two buckets or defensive plays from Tyra to re-energize the team.

The team please great defense and they're good in creating points off turnovers. This leads to those quick runs. They lack size but have been able to compensate with team defense. One thing that has caught my eye is once the ball enters the paint how fast they collapse on the ball handler. If the ball goes back out they close quickly.

The Hoosiers are well coached. Teri Moren trusts her team, often letting them play through the highs and lows of their emotions. She knows the swings of her team and lets the ladies figure it out themselves. The assistant coaches are vocal and makes sure the players know their assignments.

Individual assessments
#1 Bendy Yeaney - Athletic, strong and FAST. She plays bigger than 5-10. She can play out of control at times and will get into foul trouble because of it.

#2 Keyanna Warthen - A Freshman that has played more the last half of the season. She's gain confidence and is a good defender. Usually the second or third option of the bench.

#3 Tyra Buss - As I said, the heart and soul of the team. The best lady to put on a Hoosier uniform. Smart, scrappy, and relentless. Shes a driver and usually will only shoot threes of the pass. She draws a lot of fouls with her style of play. If she hasn't hit the floor with her backside more then 10 times a game you ask whats wrong with her. There aren't many flaws in her game at this level. She's likely to get drafted to the WNBA in the second round. It's been a pleasure to watch her.

On a side note. She's a great role model for kids. She's first on the court. And often last one to leave. Mainly because she's signing autographs for any and every kid that comes to her. IU is lucky to have her.

# 5 Grace Withrow - Bench player

#11 Kym Royster - Plays the role of rim protector. She's athletic for her size. She'll run the floor. Kym has the tendency to get into foul trouble.

#12 Linsey Marchese - Often the first player off the bench. She's the biggest player on the team at 6-4 and provides defensive help. Not usually a scoring threat. She plays much slower then the game around her. She's great at holding her ground and making opponents take contested shots.

#13 Jaelynn Penn - Heir-apparent to Tyra Buss. She's a freshman All-American. Shoots the three with confidence. But when not tossing it from behind the arc will drive into the lane and create off the dribble. She plays like a freshmen some times. Will make some lazy passes or try to create for herself when nothing is there.

#14 Ali Patberg - Sitting out season because of transfer rule.

#23 Alexis Johnson - Bench player, possibly red-shirting.

#31 Bre Wickware - Another player that's coming on at the end of the year. Like Keyanna, the second or third option of the bench.

#33 Amanda Cahill - The other senior leader on the team. She's stretches the court because she can post up and shoot from range. One of the better three point shooters on the team. Shes not quite the leaders Tyra is. Will quietly go about her work getting double double.

#50 Brenna Wise - Sitting out season because of transfer rule.

I'm looking forward to a great game. Look for me in bright orange in a sea of cream and crimson.

Go Hokies!

[Post edited by vtkying at 03/30/2018 10:38AM]