After a couple of disappointing losses, our Lady Boilers bb team finally put in a solid half of basketball at Wisconsin last night in the 2nd half. Actually the 2nd half of the Penn State game was solid also, but in general this team has been frustrating to watch for the most part since the MSU game. Actually losing by 8 at Penn State wasn't so bad, and we gave them a scare in the second half. But the Michigan game was really a big disappointment. Losing at Penn State or Iowa when they are both shooting very well is understandable. But the poor shooting in the Michigan game and during the first half at Wisconsin was hard to watch. It seems like we couple poor shooting with lack of defensive intensity. I do have to take my hat off to Michigan and their excellent coach Kim Barnes Arico as she really drew up a great game plan and the players were flawless in defensive exection as well as being cold dead on shooters. Some disturbing stats in that game, but their 3 point shooting was 9 for 17 and ours 2 for 19. Last night we continued poor shooting in the first half, 25.7%. In the second half KK Houser snapped out of her recent slump by draining 4 three pointers in a fairly short period of time. Drey Mingo redeemed herself nicely in the second half and came out of a slump as well. We cut down on our turnovers for the second straight game, yea! It does look like the winning formula is defense leading to offense. We can be such a tenacious one on one defensive team, but sometimes the lapses are hard to fathom. That then seems to lead to poor shooting, even on wide open shots. I had to admit that my former optimism had been dampened somewhat of late. But after the second half of last night's game, some cautious optimism is returning. Teams are keying on Courtney Moses and for good reason, but she can really light it up at any time that our switching can get her open shots. Now that other players are stepping up in the scoring column, it seems like Courtney is due for a big game soon. It was good to see the offensive patience against the Wisconsin zone which was lacking in the Michigan game. Our schedule looks favorable the rest of the conference season, but as I have stated before these middle of the pack teams or even some of the lower of the pack teams in the Big Ten are quite capable of pulling off an upset. Penn State will probably win the regular season championship but I am hoping Purdue can make second to get a good seed for the Big Ten tournament.