March 27, 2008...9:48 pm
Delta Without Chuck Norris (A little about Delta State)
Okay, so maybe I chose a movie not too many people are familiar with since it is from the late 80’s, but Chuck Norris plays an army dude who kills all the terrorists in a movie called The Delta Force.
Anyway, there is your movie trivia for the day. Onto more about Delta State.
Delta is undefeated and finished the year as the No. 1 ranked team in the national polls. Delta beat two ranked teams during the season, one three times in Arkansas Tech. The Coyotes can tell you that isn’t easy after beating North Dakota three times and Minnesota State-Mankato four times.
The only common opponent each team has faced is, surprisingly, Minnesota-Duluth. It was Delta’s first game of the year and they beat Duluth 63-58 in Quincy, Illinois. That might not seem like a margin the No. 1 ranked team in the nation should be beating Duluth by, but you have to remember that is the first game of the year. Most teams you see are completely different at the end of the season then at the beginning of the season. Remember USD’s loss to Adams State? The Coyotes are a different team then they were in that third game of the year.
Delta has averaged 71 points during the season and given up 51 points. This shows they have some pretty good defense. The one problem is they might not have that one set up defender from the way Brooque Williams had her way with Delta yesterday.
Delta’s scoring is also a product of their passing and getting the whole team involved. They don’t have that one great scorer on their team like a Jeana Hoffman, Corkey Stiger, or Brooque Williams, but they do have two very good passing guards. Bug Cooper averages 3.8 assists per game and Jennifer Rushing averages 4.7 apg.
Delta also has out-rebounded their opponents 38.7 to 27.9 rebounds a game. Once again, they don’t have one rebounder step up and it is a team effort on the boards as well. Lamaesha McAdory leads the team with 5.6 rebounds per game.
The main downfall of Delta, which there can’t be many if you are undefeated of course, is their turnovers. They average 16 turnovers a game, which is something the Coyotes should be able to feast on again hopefully, since they have done that all year. The Coyotes forced Washburn into 23 turnovers last night.
Speaking of last night, that could be the Coyotes main problem. A double overtime game will take a lot out of you. Jeana Hoffman played all 50 minutes of the game last night, 45 minutes for her sister, and 42 minutes for Bridget Yoerger and Shannon Daly. Amber Hegge played 24 and fouled out and Jasmine Mosley played 10 minutes and fouled out so hopefully both of them are fresh tonight since both are two major contributors off of the bench.
It will help that the game tips off at 9:30 to give the Coyotes some more rest time. If the Coyotes are able to overcome the fatigue factor and can force turnovers, I think they can win this game. Like I have said for a while, this team has a legitimate chance of winning the national title. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be in the Final Four.
Stay tuned to the blog as Matt Dahlseid will be providing a live blog again tonight.
————Justin Rust
1 Comment
March 27, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Was Chuck Norris in a motion picture titled Delta? I don’t get it.
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