Union Lady Warriors 75, Kaplan University 70

It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong, and to quote Michael Scott, “I am that big man.” Throughout the season I have been a bit critical of the Lady Warriors set offense. So critical in fact, that in response to his offenses resurgence Thursday night Coach Steiner actually, at one point, looked up to where I was seated in the crowd and yelled “what do you think of my offense NOW!” Okay I made that up. Anyway, against Kaplan University, a rematch of the Lady Warriors first game of the year, the Lady Warrior set offense showed signs of dramatic improvement. However, even with the Lady Warriors offense running at peak efficiency in the first half their lead at intermission was only nine points. And after a slow start to the second it looked as if the Lady Warriors would again give up the game in the second half. Kaplan had adjusted its defensive sets and Beth-Anne, who was shooting lights out in the first, was no longer getting open looks around the perimeter. However, after scoring only four points in the opening seven minutes of the second half, Union’s offense erupted for 32 points in the remaining 13 minutes to close out a 75-70 victory over a feisty Kaplan University.

Rant: I admit the offense worked better, but I still don’t like Laura handling the ball out in the corner. She isn’t really a threat to score from there, and although she handles the ball effectively it isn’t one of her strong points.

Rave: Staci Davenport. I have talked about her needing to step up and be more aggressive all year. She showed great poise Thursday by sticking with her shot after missing a few attempts early. She scored six straight points for the Lady Warriors at a critical point late in the second half, the final basket coming on a sick jump hook in the lane after an aggressive pass from Stephanie Krueger.

Rant: Number three for Kaplan was ridiculous. I didn’t catch her name, but she I’ll call her “The Answer” because she shares the same number as another undersized basketball player that goes by that moniker and plays for the Nuggets. Although undersized and a bit erratic with her shot, she always seemed to come up with a big play to keep Kaplan close, whether it was hitting an open three, or locking down on Beth-Anne on the perimeter she got it done. For the rant part though, might want to think about guarding her a bit closer if these teams meet again, and you might want to box her out, and you might want to watch for her jumping into passing lanes when playing defense. Basically know where she is at all times.

Rave: Julia Short, Beth-Anne Laspe, and Sarah Marais were a combined 15-24 from beyond the 3-pt arc, and one of those misses was an end of the half heave by Beth-Anne. That’s disgusting. The three had 19, 24, and 10 points respectively