Perspective came easily and instantly for USF head women's basketball coach
Travis Traphagen after USF (2-1)
notched a 73-49 victory against Mayville State (6-2) Tuesday night at the Stewart Center.
All the fifth-year coach needed was one glance at the box score.
“What really jumps out to me is that we're a really good shooting team,
but if you look at the stats right now that wouldn't show,” he said.
For the second straight contest, the Cougar offense struggled early,
with the team recording more turnovers (3) than points (2) through the
first four minutes of the game. USF was also just 3-for-20 (15%) from
three-point range.
“I
like the way we started, but sometimes instead of just shooting jump
shots it's about getting to the rim and getting fouled and doing some
little things,” Traphagen added.
“We've
just got to find our routine and our rhythm a little bit; I want to
find a unit that wants to start a game, and start well.”
That's
especially true of a team like this with young pieces, two junior
college transfers and an enormous void left by redshirt freshman center
Amber Paden (torn PCL) and senior
guard
Holli Aggen (arthroscopic knee surgery), who are still both out
for two to three weeks.
Mayville
State led USF just twice, taking a 2-0 lead with the first shot of the
night and later moving in front 9-8 when Nicole Meyer set her feet and
drained a three-pointer
at the 14:03 mark. The Cougar offense finally found its timing, as they
strung together a 15-1 run that was capped by a deep corner jumper by
Alyssa Rushton, who finished with 13 points, including 12 in the first
half.
USF led Mayville State 31-14 at the break, heading into the locker room off of back-to-back buckets by Rushton.
USF
maintained its 17-point advantage until the midpoint of the second
half, when the Cougar buckets began to rain down on the Comets. Chrissy
Strassburg scored four straight
points with a layup and pair of freebies to extend the Cougars' lead to
55-34. A layup from freshman
Teagan Molden gave USF its largest lead at
71-43 with less than three minutes remaining.
Traphagen
emptied the bench for the duration, which allowed fans to catch a
glimpse of the Cougar backcourt of the future in true freshmen Marie
Malloy and
Cassidy Gebhart.
The
Cougars overcame another frigid night of downtown shooting thanks to a
stifling defensive effort that held the Comets to just 25 percent
shooting from the floor and 17.2
percent from long range—including an anemic 6.3% (1-for16) team 3-point
percentage in the first half.
USF
also held 6-2 Comet center Marcisa McMillan, who entered the contest
shooting at a 71.4 percent clip—the best in the NAIA Division II—to 11
points on 3-for-7 shooting.
“We knew Mayville was a dangerous team and we had one goal on the board
before the game, which was to control them from three-point range,”
Traphagen said. “We did a good job of taking that away and did a good
job on their post.”
Four
Cougars hit double digits tonight, with Rushton and
Jaicee Ulmer
leading the way with a baker's dozen each.
Laura Johnson chipped in 12
points on 5-for-11 shooting, while
Molden posted a dozen points of her own, along with four rebounds.
The
Cougars won every statistical category, including a 44-38 edge on the
glass. USF dominated inside, holding a 22-6 margin in points in the
paint.
“There
are a lot of positives we can take from this, but there's also a lot of
things that we need to work on,” Traphagen said. "I'm very happy with
the effort, defensively,
we got a nice win and we got to play a lot of kids tonight.”
The Cougars wrap up their non-conference slate on Saturday with a 4 p.m. home tilt versus Dakota State (2-4).
