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It appears that the Mustangs women are getting closer to putting it all together. Unfortunately they lost another close one yesterday. The one thing I believe must happen is their Big 3 Wills, Samuels, and Gilliam must all play well to win. In all 3 losses 2 have a good game but not all 3. I think once they figure it out then they will be fine. Hopefully, they will get on a win streak this weekend. Let's come out and ensure we are supporting them. Go Mustangs!!!

I made it to both road games (left my Blackberry in the hotel, so no updates). My observations:

- Eastern Illinois was a lot better team than I expected.
- BG (Gilliam) played her best game of the season. She scored 19, but she also played better defense than she has this year - maybe better than she has ever. She had a bunch of steals, although she looked tired defensively in the second half. If she played defense the whole game like she did in the first half, we win the game.
- Our FT shooting was awful. I didn't look it up, but I bet we didn't hit 50 percent. If we make free throws, we win the game.
- Jillian Samuels was really clutch. She shot well early on to keep us in the game when EIU came out shooting lights out, and she hit a long 3 at the buzzer (and I thought she was fouled, but no call) to send it to OT. Great shooter, and very tough.
- Christine Elliott is going to be absolutely awesome. She looked a little nervous in the home opener, but she got more and more aggressive and more comfortable, and as that improves, she's going to be hard to handle. She's going to win us a lot of games.

See you all Friday.

I think what may be the deal breaker for us right now is a go-to scorer inside. Hopefully Elliott will turn into that, but right now that seems to be one of our biggest problems. Delisha can get to the rim and battle and rebound, but she doesn't have the size to be a stand up post player.

I plan to attend the SMU v Sam Houston State game. Should be fun!

We need some Ws to get well. I worry about what the game in Forth Worth could be like, especially since they drilled then-No. 3 Maryland.

The girls and I will be out. Just don't know when.

TCU's Lady Frogs (#22) crushed Houston tonight by a score of 91-72

MustangStealth wrote:I think what may be the deal breaker for us right now is a go-to scorer inside. Hopefully Elliott will turn into that, but right now that seems to be one of our biggest problems. Delisha can get to the rim and battle and rebound, but she doesn't have the size to be a stand up post player.

Good call, Stealth. Christine Elliott already is good, and will be very good. In her last two games, she has shown signs of being not just good, but dominant. She's not there yet, of course — she's still gaining confidence and getting comfortable in her new team's system. But when the Ponies played at Arkansas last week, the Hawgs started a center who was huge — 6-3 and well north of 200 pounds. When Elliott came off the bench, she neutralized the big UA center to the point that Hog coaches took her out of the game permanently. Elliott missed her first couple of shots, and then started to take over inside. She only scored 9 points, but she also grabbed 9 boards and had Arkansas avoiding the low post at all costs. Against Eastern Illinois, it was more of the same — she started tentatively and had her ups and downs, but showed flashes of becoming a simply overpowering inside presence. She's a legit 6-2 and very strong, and runs pretty well. She can turn to her right or left when she gets the ball in the low post, and she has a few blocked shots already. She has a way to go in terms of consistency, but as she gets comfortable in her role and gets more familiar with her teammates and where they'll be, she looks like she'll get better and better and better. She should be pretty solid by the time the all-important conference games come around in six weeks.

...the assessments shared are right on. What we miss is what we had last year and that is a legit low post threat. D Wills can post up but is not the one to throw it into each time. Elliott is going to be a presence and just needs to not think but just play. Either way we need for our Big 3 to show up every game and I think everybody else will do their game. As we all know winning cures a lot of your ills. See ya on Friday!

I agree on all fronts. This definitely isn't an easy non-conference schedule so there's no question this team is being challenged early. Get the kinks out now, pick up at least 7 non-conference wins and I think this team will be in good shape and well prepared going into conference play. The Conference USA championship is anyone's title to be had in my opinion - there's no clear-cut, dominant leader on the women's side. I can be patient with this team - they lost a solid core of Seniors and it's nice to see that they're competitive with decent teams on the road. Just need some win's to keep confidence.