Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Plitzuweit Eyeing More Growth From Mountaineers
January 13, 2023 10:54 AM | Women's Basketball, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – We're seeing growth in Dawn Plitzuweit's West Virginia University women's basketball team.
We saw a little bit of it against 20th-ranked Oklahoma when the Mountaineers were trailing the Sooners by one point with two minutes left in the third quarter.
We saw a little bit of it at 11th-ranked Iowa State when the Mountaineers were matching the Cyclones point-for-point at the end of the first half.
And, we've seen much more of it in West Virginia's recent victories at Kansas State on Jan. 21 and earlier this week against TCU.
West Virginia (11-4, 2-2) held the Horned Frogs to less than 10 points in the first and third quarters, marking the 17th time that's happened this year.
Now that's defending!
Thursday morning, Plitzuweit cited a specific play in the third quarter of Tuesday night's TCU game to illustrate how much her team is growing and developing.
"There was a possession in the third quarter when (Madisen Smith) goes after a loose ball and doesn't get it but doesn't take herself completely out of the play," she said. "Then, she gets back into the play, beats two ball screens, there is a deflected pass, and she dives on the ball.
"I go back to our first game against Oklahoma when we had a situation somewhat similar to that, and we dove at it and took ourselves completely out of the play and Taylor Robertson hits a shot from almost half court," she said. "Savannah (Samuel) flew in and contested it, but just that little understanding and that discipline to play solid, I think we're getting better at that right now."
As for her team's impressive play on the defensive end of the floor, Plitzuweit says it has been a total team effort because she doesn't have a 6-foot-4 post standing in the paint to erase mistakes.
"It's team defense and finishing plays," she explained. "That's something we didn't do a good job of in the second quarter against TCU. We flipped completely where we fouled on both ends of the court. We fouled trying to get offensive rebounds and we fouled in some back-screen and ball-screen scenarios and got ourselves in tough spots on the offensive end by fouling.
"Then, on the defensive end we didn't box out and finish at the same level. When you don't finish plays, you're out of position because you got beat on some action earlier and now it's harder to get back," she said.
She believes the third quarter of WVU's 77-45 victory over TCU, when the Mountaineers outscored the Horned Frogs 26-7, might have been the most disciplined quarter her team has played this season.
"We did some good things," she said. "We saw some different looks defensively. TCU came out and pressed. They guarded some ball screens a little bit differently, and we spaced it and attacked it and got to the rim or kicked it out and some really good shots out of it. Defensively, we stayed really solid without fouling, and that's something we've got to continue to work on. We want to be aggressive, and we want to play hard and smart, but we can't put ourselves in positions where the other team is scoring at the free throw line."
On Sunday, 18th-ranked Baylor looms. The Bears were recently named Team of the Week by ESPN.com following conference road wins at 17th-ranked Oklahoma and 21st-ranked Kansas.
But on Wednesday, the Bears were stunned at home 70-65 by Oklahoma State. That loss snapped Baylor's 14-game winning streak against the Cowgirls. Plitzuweit is expecting a determined and refocused Baylor team in the WVU Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
"I think every game in this conference has been an incredible battle and certainly watching that battle (Wednesday night), it comes down to single possessions. I certainly have a great, great deal of respect for Baylor as a program," she said. "They're really tough on both ends of the court. They can push the ball up the court and score. They have great speed to attack quickly. They can shoot it. They can attack the rim and offensive rebound. Then, they defend and they're really stingy and tough to score on. They're just really solid all-around."
Plitzuweit is really impressed with Baylor guard Sarah Andrews, recently named National Player of the Week for her 57 points at Oklahoma and Kansas. She had 16 on just 4-of-16 shooting in Wednesday night's loss to Oklahoma State.
"She's fast; she can shoot it and she can get to the rim," Plitzuweit said. "She doesn't rush her decision making. She does a lot of really solid things, plus, she's really good defensively on top of that. There is a reason why she was the national player of the week. She does more than one thing really, really well."
By Baylor standards, this is not an overly big team, but they are tough, athletic and long. Coach Nicki Collen employs a four-guard starting lineup that features a pair of 6-foot-1 players and a couple of 6-foot forwards coming off the bench.
Andrews (5-foot-6), Jaden Owens (5-foot-8) and Ja'Mee Asberry (5-foot-5) join Caitlin Bickle (6-foot-1) and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (6-foot-1) in the Bears' starting lineup.
"Maybe they don't have the same shot blocking potential, but they do have kids that can block shots because they're long and athletic," Plitzuweit admitted. "They really attack and get to the rim a lot of different ways. They use some ball screens to get there, they can get there in transition and they can get there in their post game and their offensive rebounding. They are really quick so they've found a way to be highly successful doing what they're doing at this point in time."
She added, "Their whole team has a great deal of experience. They have four kids in their lineup who have played significant minutes at Baylor. Then you add (Aijha) Blackwell to that mix. She's a kid who can score outside and can get to the rim and draws a lot of fouls. She has a ton of experience too. Now her experience may not be at Baylor (she played at Missouri), but she's played in a lot of big games and knows what that looks like."
The last time Plitzuweit faced Baylor was in last year's NCAA Tournament when her South Dakota team stunned the Bears 61-47 in a second-round game in Waco. Baylor lost the No. 2, No. 10 and No. 24 picks in the WNBA Draft from that team but does have four players returning.
Plitzuweit said there is a little bit of carryover from that game, but not much.
"There is carryover in the way they attack you, but the reality is they are a different team, too, because of graduating their two post kids," she said. "We're a different team than we were when we played them at West Virginia last year and certainly at South Dakota last year. I think it will be a different attack approach."
Sunday's game will tip off at 3 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
We saw a little bit of it against 20th-ranked Oklahoma when the Mountaineers were trailing the Sooners by one point with two minutes left in the third quarter.
We saw a little bit of it at 11th-ranked Iowa State when the Mountaineers were matching the Cyclones point-for-point at the end of the first half.
And, we've seen much more of it in West Virginia's recent victories at Kansas State on Jan. 21 and earlier this week against TCU.
West Virginia (11-4, 2-2) held the Horned Frogs to less than 10 points in the first and third quarters, marking the 17th time that's happened this year.
Now that's defending!
Thursday morning, Plitzuweit cited a specific play in the third quarter of Tuesday night's TCU game to illustrate how much her team is growing and developing.
"There was a possession in the third quarter when (Madisen Smith) goes after a loose ball and doesn't get it but doesn't take herself completely out of the play," she said. "Then, she gets back into the play, beats two ball screens, there is a deflected pass, and she dives on the ball.
"I go back to our first game against Oklahoma when we had a situation somewhat similar to that, and we dove at it and took ourselves completely out of the play and Taylor Robertson hits a shot from almost half court," she said. "Savannah (Samuel) flew in and contested it, but just that little understanding and that discipline to play solid, I think we're getting better at that right now."
As for her team's impressive play on the defensive end of the floor, Plitzuweit says it has been a total team effort because she doesn't have a 6-foot-4 post standing in the paint to erase mistakes.
"It's team defense and finishing plays," she explained. "That's something we didn't do a good job of in the second quarter against TCU. We flipped completely where we fouled on both ends of the court. We fouled trying to get offensive rebounds and we fouled in some back-screen and ball-screen scenarios and got ourselves in tough spots on the offensive end by fouling.
"Then, on the defensive end we didn't box out and finish at the same level. When you don't finish plays, you're out of position because you got beat on some action earlier and now it's harder to get back," she said.
She believes the third quarter of WVU's 77-45 victory over TCU, when the Mountaineers outscored the Horned Frogs 26-7, might have been the most disciplined quarter her team has played this season.
"We did some good things," she said. "We saw some different looks defensively. TCU came out and pressed. They guarded some ball screens a little bit differently, and we spaced it and attacked it and got to the rim or kicked it out and some really good shots out of it. Defensively, we stayed really solid without fouling, and that's something we've got to continue to work on. We want to be aggressive, and we want to play hard and smart, but we can't put ourselves in positions where the other team is scoring at the free throw line."
On Sunday, 18th-ranked Baylor looms. The Bears were recently named Team of the Week by ESPN.com following conference road wins at 17th-ranked Oklahoma and 21st-ranked Kansas.
But on Wednesday, the Bears were stunned at home 70-65 by Oklahoma State. That loss snapped Baylor's 14-game winning streak against the Cowgirls. Plitzuweit is expecting a determined and refocused Baylor team in the WVU Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
"I think every game in this conference has been an incredible battle and certainly watching that battle (Wednesday night), it comes down to single possessions. I certainly have a great, great deal of respect for Baylor as a program," she said. "They're really tough on both ends of the court. They can push the ball up the court and score. They have great speed to attack quickly. They can shoot it. They can attack the rim and offensive rebound. Then, they defend and they're really stingy and tough to score on. They're just really solid all-around."
Plitzuweit is really impressed with Baylor guard Sarah Andrews, recently named National Player of the Week for her 57 points at Oklahoma and Kansas. She had 16 on just 4-of-16 shooting in Wednesday night's loss to Oklahoma State.
"She's fast; she can shoot it and she can get to the rim," Plitzuweit said. "She doesn't rush her decision making. She does a lot of really solid things, plus, she's really good defensively on top of that. There is a reason why she was the national player of the week. She does more than one thing really, really well."
By Baylor standards, this is not an overly big team, but they are tough, athletic and long. Coach Nicki Collen employs a four-guard starting lineup that features a pair of 6-foot-1 players and a couple of 6-foot forwards coming off the bench.
Andrews (5-foot-6), Jaden Owens (5-foot-8) and Ja'Mee Asberry (5-foot-5) join Caitlin Bickle (6-foot-1) and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (6-foot-1) in the Bears' starting lineup.
"Maybe they don't have the same shot blocking potential, but they do have kids that can block shots because they're long and athletic," Plitzuweit admitted. "They really attack and get to the rim a lot of different ways. They use some ball screens to get there, they can get there in transition and they can get there in their post game and their offensive rebounding. They are really quick so they've found a way to be highly successful doing what they're doing at this point in time."
She added, "Their whole team has a great deal of experience. They have four kids in their lineup who have played significant minutes at Baylor. Then you add (Aijha) Blackwell to that mix. She's a kid who can score outside and can get to the rim and draws a lot of fouls. She has a ton of experience too. Now her experience may not be at Baylor (she played at Missouri), but she's played in a lot of big games and knows what that looks like."
The last time Plitzuweit faced Baylor was in last year's NCAA Tournament when her South Dakota team stunned the Bears 61-47 in a second-round game in Waco. Baylor lost the No. 2, No. 10 and No. 24 picks in the WNBA Draft from that team but does have four players returning.
Plitzuweit said there is a little bit of carryover from that game, but not much.
"There is carryover in the way they attack you, but the reality is they are a different team, too, because of graduating their two post kids," she said. "We're a different team than we were when we played them at West Virginia last year and certainly at South Dakota last year. I think it will be a different attack approach."
Sunday's game will tip off at 3 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballNCAA Second Round Press Conference | Kellogg, Harrison, Shaw
Monday, March 23
NCAA First Round Recap
Sunday, March 22
Mark Kellogg, Meme Wheeler & Jordan Harrison | NCAA First Round vs. Miami (OH)
Saturday, March 21
NCAA Tournament Trailer
Friday, March 20
