Girls Hoop, Too (FBCB 2010)
 

So I'm currently sitting in the Trial mode while I wait for GDS to reset my FBCB 2010 license (eLicense wouldn't do it). I'll be using Petrel's women's basketball mod, which includes name files and prestige ratings.

But I also might be tweaking those ratings. I'm seeing some very odd things.

1. Binghamton having 23 prestige despite not appearing to have the record to deserve that.

2. Cornell being at 2 prestige despite a 2004 NCAA appearance, while Columbia has 17 prestige with only 2 winning records in Ivy League history - and one of those is in 2020 - well past when he made the database! 0 appearances of course. That one I would love a justification on.

3. UW-Green Bay being at 72 prestige just one Sweet 16 appearance. Granted in recent history at the time the mod was made, the Phoenix were pretty consistently in the tournament and having a habit of making the second round, but 72 still seems a little too high for me.

4. Western Illinois being at 4 prestige even though they have (an admittedly distant) NCAA tournament appearance and at least 2 WNIT appearances (I'm only through 2010 currently). That's still far better than Binghamton and Columbia, and arguably better than Cornell.

Now if you want to argue that academic prestige and national reputation are part of the equation, that still does not square with such a wide disparity between Cornell and Columbia.

Okay, okay enough complaining from me (there will be more later, I'm sure).

So far, as noted I've gone through 2010 on the WNIT. I'll be going through 2012 since FBCB's default start year is 2013, and it becomes a real pain in the butt to tabulate teams once it expands to 64 teams (Note: FBCB only allows it to go to 40). The WBI is tabulated to 2012, but I haven't written down the champions of it yet. I might not because no one cares about the third-tier tournament.

For the NCAA tournament, I'm through the C's, and though I'm tabulating until 2022, I still won't take any team that's made their first tournament appearance after 2012. I don't want the pressure of trying to repeat the real-life results :)

Most interesting thing I've found: Arkansas Pine-Bluff bragging about their 1977-78 AWISA championship team - so much so that like 42 years later, they brought the team back to a game to acknowledge them:

https://uapblionsroar.com/news/2020/...nored-saturday

What's AWISA, you ask? Arkansas Women's Intercollegiate Sports Association. Basically, as JIMGA (who cracked the acronym for me) noted, essentially celebrating a conference championship. UAPB wasn't part of the AIAW, which was the national women's college organization at the time. As the article notes, they were part of the National Black Association of Black Sports.

Other historical note: the women's NCAA tournament started in 1982. The AIAW also held their tournament that year, but the best teams, including defending champion Louisiana Tech, said bye to the AIAW and went to the NCAA tournament instead (LA Tech won the inaugural tournament, then won again in 1988, beating Auburn by just 2 points).

Historical note 3? 4?: Auburn is the Buffalo Bills of women's college basketball. Three straight years - 1988, 1989, 1990 - they made the national championship game. They lost all three - by 2 to LA Tech in 88, by 16 to Tennessee in 89, by 8 to Stanford in 90. The Tigers have fallen off the map comparatively speaking since 1996, when they made their last Elite 8 appearance. That was the last time they made the Sweet 16, too.

Anyway, next post I'll probably come yet with more cool facts/trivia, and maybe have some lists ready for y'all to read. Long, long lists.

Absolutely classic website I stumbled upon while trying to figure out if Fairleigh Dickinson made the NWIT after their NEC tournament (and share of one) regular season championship in the late 80s/early 90s: Women's College Basketball Championship Page

Definite throwback to the past

As you can see on that genuinely helpful website, you essentially had 2 tournaments per year (not unlike now). Except for the year 1997 - the NWIT folded in 1996 and the secondary women's tournament wasn't brought back until 1998.

So I promised a list, and here's one: the WBI teams and champions from 2010-12 (For more details and later champions, see the Wikipedia page


And since I don't feel like typing out another 127 teams, here's the WNIT from 1998 to 2010 with 2011 champions noted:


The Wikipedia page for the WNIT

NWIT brackets I can only find on that throwback site and I'm not going to go through the hassle of tabulating that. Website to list of champions and runners-up per year can be found on the Wikipedia page

How are we doing on the NCAA tournament? Partway through the Es, I got sick of having to go back and forth to determine last year for things, so I switched to number of bids, S16s, E8s, F4s, and RUs. It's going a lot faster that way, and if I need to look up last year because I end up coaching one of those teams, I'll just hop to their page and find it.

I'm also going to rule out Fairleigh Dickinson from the list. Odds are they made the NWIT so they're ineligible. I'm going strictly for colleges that have no D-1 invited tournament play of any kind in their history. Through the Gs, we have 7 listed, but I won't post the full list until I finish going through the NCAA tournament notes.

So I realized I was creating way too much unnecessary work for myself and just sorted by Prestige in-game, finding the perfect team to try and get to the postseason for the first time.

We'll be switching from here to a mostly narrative approach. Out of game authorial commentary will be separated.

***


"Wagner began play in 1970. They have won the Northeast Conference title just once, in 1989. That year, they went 22-7 (14-2 in conference play), winning both the regular season and the tournament (66-60 over Robert Morris). The Seahawks have never qualified for a postseason tournament, neither Division I nor WNIT nor WBI. As of the end of the 2015-16 season, the Seahawks have an all-time record of 511-665." (Wikipedia)

It's 2013. And I've somehow ended up as the head coach of the Wagner women's basketball team. Dope logo. Not dope: NYC cost of living. The college is in Staten Island, which at least isn't the apartment-infested hellhole of Manhattan. I hate apartments.

But I'm living in one. $70,000 can get you a nice place in some parts of the country on a yearly salary, but the world of college sports is a precarious one for coaches, and who knows how long I'll be here.

I skim through the fact sheet left me by my predecessor:

Wagner College
Prestige: 6
Conference: Northeast
Prestige Rank in Conference: 3rd to last, ahead of Bryant (1) and St. Francis (NY) [3]

General Team Notes
*Academic eligibility will be a concern - Just five players on the team are at least scholastically average (50+)
*Corrine Hovis is the lone player with a demonstrable shot - she's good from 3-point range, but lousy everywhere else
*I recruited heavily for quick (80+) point guards
*McKenna Seely can play some post D, Karina Leith has a bit of two-way ability. Rely on these seniors for leadership and possibly your starting frontcourt unless you want Lila Reyes' solid rebounding in the lineup
*Hannah Isom has the most upside on the roster. She can be a good 3 point shooter and perimeter defender

Yasmin Ahmed was my first hire. Bangladeshi-American a couple years younger than me. She grew up in Salt Lake City where her father was a foreman at a plant for a company whose headquarters was in the NYC area. She'd been a scholarship player for Houston Baptist and I had a bit of fun teasing this young Muslim woman who grew up in a Mormon city and went to a Baptist college. She just smiled coolly at me and shook her head. Her poise drew people in, so she was a natural fit to be the Recruiting Coordinator. The administration was thrilled about the diversity hire and we got a lot of PR out of it. Yasmin had talent, though.

Then there was Kyleigh Pirtle. Despite the modern first name, she was 59 years old, who also grew up in Wisconsin, in the town of Shell Lake and went to Tennessee-Martin. We bonded over our mutual German ancestry and love of defense, the latter of which she was actually legitimately skilled at teaching. I hoped she could help Isom grow into her potential on that side of the ball. Kyleigh certainly had success turning Shell Lake High into a defensive powerhouse at any rate after she graduated from Tennessee-Martin.

Scouting Director was the biggest headache, but I realized I had more money in the coaching budget than I thought and was able to snap up Anastasia Cobb. A 47 year old black woman and Oregon native (The Dalles), she'd gone clear cross-country to attend Gardner-Webb and had a comparatively sharp eye for spotting talent. Which we frankly needed.

Our non-conference schedule had a bunch of fellow bad teams and Rutgers. It was also Ivy League-heavy.

In recruiting, since the previous coach focused so heavily on point guards, I found myself looking for SFs and bigs. We only had 2 scholarships to give out, so I wanted to focus on the players who looked most likely to epitomize the pressure defense I was looking to instill.

Our first offer went to Czech PF Eliska Janousek. Couldn't shoot worth a damn, but great rebounder and defender by the stats and our subsequent scouting (for our level, anyway). Our second went to Neveah Orange not only had one of the best names ever, the New Jersey PF, if our scouting was accurate, already was the best inside shooter and looked to be a solid perimeter defender who'd suit up at the 3.

Bad November news - Neveah Orange had narrowed it down to Long Island and us, then blew us off for the Blackbirds. Losing her to a rival NEC team hurt. But on the bright side, Hawaii, who had been sniffing around Eliska Janousek, buzzed off, leaving us the sole contenders for the Czech.

Unfortunately, I'd been pouring all our recruiting money into our targets, so we were left scrambling when the Orange rejected us.

The only player I cared about in training camp was Hannah Isom, and I sculpted her regimen to really focus on perimeter defense and 3 point shooting. She didn't have fantastic improvement, but it was solid...

Starting Lineup


Will be called upon to be one of the leaders of the team immediately. Promising 3&D guard and the only one on this roster with legitimate potential to speak of.


It's an all-freshman backcourt for the Seahawks and a very short one. Hovis is here strictly for her 3 point shooting wizardry and will be asked to be one of the team's leading scorers.


Two-way defense is her calling card and that's what she'll be asked to provide.


Earned a starting spot because the Seahawks' best all-around starter got academically suspended. The top rebounder should shift to a 6th woman role once that person returns.


Absolute workhorse who can literally play all game and might. Excellent handles for a big with stellar post defense.

...The starter who got suspended?


Probably projects as the PF when she returns, shifting Reyes to the bench.

This team is what it is, so I don't particularly care to list the reserves. You'll get to know them eventually.

We're walking a snail's pace offense with no motion, relying on our 3 point shooting (such as it is) and a lot of double-team help defense.

@ Columbia (0-0)
And so we stay in the NYC area and travel to Morningside Heights to take on the disastrous Lions. They're running a 5'7 and 5'9 forward combo, so I'm hopeful our height advantage will mean something. McKenna Seely wins the opening tipoff and Lila Reyes hits the ensuing jumpshot, so at least we don't trail the whole game.

McKenna Seely draws a charge on the opposite end and Karina Leith dishes out to Corrine Hovis, who nails the 3-pointer and I'm starting to get a wee bit excited.

Naturally Karina Leith picks up two quick fouls, Hannah Isom misses two free throws, and we fall behind until Lila Reyes converts an and-1 to put us back up.

And then the pendulum swings back the other way - including McKenna Seely getting T-ed up in addition to a foul.

If Hannah Isom and Breanna Jacques weren't a combined 3 of 10 from the charity stripe, we'd be leading at the half instead of down 30-32. Columbia is shooting a ridiculous 64.7% at the break, but they've also racked up 15 team fouls to keep us in it. Redshirt freshman Layla Landers is getting a run at PG because Isom is annoying me. The definite hero at the half for us has been Lila Reyes with 7 points, 4 rebounds, and an assist. Corrine Hovis has 9 with 1 steal, 1 turnover.

From there, our shooting completely tanks, the Lions continue not to miss, and they totally crush us.

@ Rider (1-0)
We go up by 5, then get blown out the rest of the way. I'm still trying to figure out the best lineup, it seems.


vs #9 Rutgers (3-0)
I turn this one over to Kyleigh Pirtle because I don't want to see the 50 point bloodbath that follows. No stats here - it's too ugly.

Eliska Janousek continues to toy with us, but I find Hope Bennett, a 5'11 SF from way out in California, who looks perfect for the system I want to run. She has an offer from Seattle but I'll try to snipe her anyway.

vs Bucknell (0-3)
If we can't even manage this one, we might well go winless the entire season. Layla Landers gets the nod at PG, as Hannah Isom has been a disappointment so far.

The good news: we found a fellow team that can't shoot 40%. The bad news: We've given up 10 turnovers by the half and are down by double-digits yet again. We're also shooting 30% from the charity stripe. And Layla Landers got injured.

We never get any closer than 8


Layla Landers is out 279 days so she's gone for the entire year. As if this season couldn't get any worse. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

vs Army (1-4)
Miracle of miracles, we actually hold a 23-22 halftime lead as Hannah Isom has gone off for 8 points. Of course we allowed a shot at the buzzer to cut our lead to 1. Of course.


Miracle of miracles, a Seahawks win! We gutted out this victory on a 33-10 FTA. That's the story right there, pure and simple getting to the line. Lila Reyes honestly deserves PotG despite Hannah Isom and McKenna Seely's better raw stats - Reyes didn't turn the ball over 3 times.

So I'm talking to Kyleigh Pirtle in my office, and we're looking at the data and our notes on the girls.

"I think Karina Leith needs to go out of the lineup," she says. "Her shooting has been terrible, her PPS is easily the worst of the starters, and I've noticed her lack of quickness is getting her killed on defense."

"So who do you suggest? Rose McCarthy and Jade Sand haven't looked any better in the minutes we've given them."

"Sarah Bell? She's the only who hasn't see any court time at all, and she's one of our scholarship seniors."

"Might as well try it."

@ Colorado State (3-2)
This went about how you might expect, though we set a new low by shooting under 30% from the floor. On top it, Lila Reyes pulls a groin muscle and is Day-to-Day.


@ Niagara (2-5)
You know what's embarrassing? When you get blown off the court by a team playing a 5'5 PG at CE because of injuries.


@ Brown (4-2)
The Bears are off to a surprisingly good start, all things considered. Lila Reyes is back in the lineup because 98% of Reyes is better than whatever else we have available. 8-0 run for us to start the game, but we blow that. Tie it up on our last possession at the half and again allow a buzzer-beater score to be down 25-27 going into the locker room.

We never get the lead back as the second half is all Brown, and it's only matter of if we lose by single digits or double. It turns out single, much like me.


@ Yale (3-4)
We're down by 9 at the half and that's frankly better than we started out. Turnovers and inability to make free throws are absolutely killing us, even though we're actually shooting decently for once. Second half is pure blowout. I frigging hate the Bulldogs


vs Coppin State (0-9)
One of the few teams in the country who might actually be worse than we are. Of course then we give up 11 turnovers in the first half and are down by double-digits. Fucking embarrassing. I don't even know what to do, as it only gets worse from there.


Hope Bennett signs with Seattle. We were too late getting into that game. On the bright side, Eliska Janousek finally emails in her LOI, just when teams like Xavier, Duke, West Virginia, and Maryland were starting to sniff around.


Raw but oh so promising player. Of course, not that our 6 rated, 10th in the NEC facilities will help her develop anywhere close to her potentials. But if this is accurate, she steps on the court as a slightly worse rebounder than Lila Reyes but far better post defense than Day 1, and the best stealer on the team by a wide margin. Not enough to start instituting my planned pressure defense, of course, but still an improvement.

Abigail Santoyo is back off academic suspension and immediately whining about playing time. There's no question that she'll start - it's just a matter of where. Ultimately I decide to slot her in at PF. We also tick up the Pace and slightly drop our 3 point shooting, making Abigail and Corrine Hovis the keys to our offense.


We want to avoid last place in the conference so the AD doesn't start thinking he made a mistake in hiring me. Looks like our best shot to do that might be finishing ahead of Monmouth and prove that Seahawks are better than plain old vanilla Hawks.

@ Long Island (5-7)
I really wanted to beat the Blackbirds as much as possible for the next several years since they stole Neveah Orange from us. We have turnover trouble as per usual, but are standing with a 24-20 halftime edge because Long Island is hitting just 27.6% and Corrine Hovis nailed B2B 3 point shots.

And of course, 34 seconds in, we've lost that lead. Our shooting straight-up collapses in the second half and we fall by double-digits.


After talking it over with the coaches, we decide to bench Sarah Bell in favor of Rose McCarthy next game. Bell can get hot, but she's a severe turnover machine that's killing our offense. Olivia Allen looked good enough that she'll get a chance to become the backup SG

vs St. Francis-PA (7-4, 0-1)
The Red Flash feasted on foes who kinda sucked (250 RPI), but they're probably still good enough to beat us. They start off white-hot - especially from 3 point, so we switch to the 3-2 zone. We fight our way back to temporarily take the lead with 51 seconds left in the half, but it ends up 34-36 Red Flash at the break.

I've not been impressed with what I've seen from Abigail Santoyo. Seems like our best frontcourt is still with Lila Reyes' rebounding in it. Olivia Allen keeps impressing me, however.


That one hurts. We were so close, but in the end we just couldn't overcome the rain of 3 point shots they hailed on us.

@ St Francis-NY (5-7, 1-1)
The good news is, Monmouth and Central Connecticut State have also both started 0-2 in NEC play, so there's hope we might climb out of the basement yet. I'm going to give Abigail Santoyo another shot, I think. We shockingly take a 29-24 edge at the half as Rose McCarthy is carrying this team with 11 points.

And of course we promptly go scoreless for the next 4 minutes and are in danger of losing the lead. We do and the rest of the game is a see-saw until there's 1:33 left, when suddenly the Terriers start hitting everything and we can't hit anything.


Absolute bullshit loss. This is one we should have had.

vs Bryant (5-7, 2-1)
The Bulldogs have been off to a better start than anyone could have expected. It's almost 5 minutes before we score. I fucking hate this team. We're down by 4 at the half - 22-26 - after having charged hard enough to come to a one-possession game. So.aggravating.

Most of the second half is two teams being allergic to actually making shots while committing turnovers (especially us). But then Olivia Allen gets hot and we decide to just keep riding her and we actually take the lead.

1:20 left on the clock. We're up by 2. Possession is ours, so I put in my best FT lineup (such as it is):

PG Hannah Isom
SG Lexi Boggess
SF Jade Sand
PF Abigail Santoyo
CE McKenna Seely

Jade Sand promptly commits two stupid fucking fouls and of course Bryant goes 4-4 from the line while we're 2-4 (1/2 both for Isom and Sand. Pound yourself, Sand. You're never getting another fucking minute of PT. Ever.)

Tied ball game. 14 seconds left.

Karina Leith shoots with 4 seconds left. She's in strictly because Rose McCarthy fouled out. Of course she misses and they get the rebound.

But at least they don't get a shot off and we head to OT.

We make 1 of 5 shots in OT.

I.AM.PISSED.

THAT'S 3 FUCKING GAMES WE SHOULD HAVE, COULD HAVE WON

FUCK YOUR MORAL VICTORIES. WE'VE WON ONE GOD DAMN GAME ALL SEASON LONG AND FUCKING MONMOUTH WON


vs Fairleigh Dickinson (6-9, 1-3)
I'm still too angry that we're 0-4 when we could just as easily be 3-1. The girls are so deflated, they just go out and go through the motions.


@ Mount Saint Mary's (7-5, 3-2)
For most of the game it looked like a question of how much we were going to lose by. But then we manage to get within a single possession. And instead of a 3 pointer to go for the tie and force OT, we meekly hit the bucket for another fucking moral victory. I'm getting real tired of this shit. Real fucking tired.


That's 0-4 now in games like I felt we should have won. Worse, Central Connecticut State got an upset, so we're now well and truly firmly in last place.

Yessss, still the best mod for this game ever.

vs Sacred Heart (15-2, 6-0)
Let's call this an L immediately. The Pioneers got a vote in the Top 25 poll and ranked #12 in the Mid-Major Top 25.


vs Monmouth (6-12, 4-3)
The Hawks have proven better than advertised. Much better, actually. Just when we get close towards the end of the first half - 3 straight turnovers. Whatever. The girls are so deep in the funk they promptly tank the second half.


@ Central Connecticut State (5-13, 1-7)
If we're to have any hope of meeting the AD's goals of getting out of last place, we absolutely *MUST* win this game. We're playing really well, with a 7 point lead even... and then we piss it all away to be tied at the half. I AM FUCKING FUMING and do some blue damage to the Blue Devil visitor lockers. "FUCKING PLAY LIKE YOU WANT TO FUCKING WIN THIS GAME, GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!"

Our first three possessions:
Turnover
Missed Shot
Turnover

Their first four possessions:
Layup
3 point shot
And-1 3 point play

fuck fudskhfojsadfhlosdahgosdukhgteiouhwg9ire7wuthg3396yewriugyer8i7t4398i75t38i5ugt634587tg58yrgt78634t58735t4358g53484

By the time we score, we were down by 13.

This team is a fucking joke.


In recruiting news, we offer Utah All-State C Ella Ford a scholarship. She can't shoot at all, but has some rebounding and turnover-forcing ability at least.


@Monmouth (9-10, 5-4)
Didn't we just play them? Pretty much. They're predicting a sweep of course. I would too. 5:40 before we score, of course.


I'm just gonna let Kyleigh Pirtle coach this team the rest of the month. Bluntly, she isn't any better, and the players start leaving games because of migraines. The morale of the team is in the tank. We finish 1-28 (0-18) on a 24 game losing streak.

St. Francis (PA) wins the conference tournament after Long Island upsets Sacred Heart in the semi-finals.


At first I think the Pioneers got robbed in a 4 seed in the WNIT, but then they lose to 5 seed Texas in the first game. The Red Flash are a 15 seed and promptly get ROFL-stomped by 2 seed Florida.

Final Four
1 seed Oklahoma vs 1 seed Tennessee
2 seed Ohio State vs 6 seed Marist

Championship
Oklahoma vs Ohio State

In the battle of the Os, it's the Buckeyes winning 77-72 for their first national title and the Big Ten's first since 1999. The Sooners fell just as they did in 2001.


We get a nod of recognition for our shitty season. Yay?

Ella Ford toys with us like an ex-gf I had until the summer before she commits.

Agreed!

***

I've found the perfect young woman who will revitalize our team if I can land her: 5'9 German shooting guard Isabella Henning. We'll actually have an offense if I can convince her to come play for us.

Come the start of the season, Henning still hasn't decided and we lose 2* All-Connecticut PFGabriella Ridgway who would have been a nice post addition to Army - the one team we beat last season. However, we do sign...


Already a turnover generator (compared to everyone else on the team) with a stellar jumper (again compared to everyone else). I feel like this is a girl a lot of schools slept on, and she'll challenge Hannah Isom for the starting role next year if this is accurate.

System
Pace: 1
Motion: 1
3-Point Shooting: 4
Focus: Balanced
Defense: 3-2 Zone
Press: 0
Trap: 0

Starters

Didn't really get a chance last year to show what she could do before she tore her ACL and was done. She'll begin the season as the starting PG to see how she performs, but it'll be a comparatively short leash.


Our All-Freshman NEC guard and best perimeter defender continues to improve. Kyleigh Pirtle wants her to start at SG, which sure, why not?


Shifting down to SF at Pirtle's suggestion. Our most accurate shooter last year and will be one of the focal points of the offense along with Issom. Hence why it was so critical we got Kassandra Heckman who has a jump shot, since Abigail's graduating.


Didn't improve as much as I hoped, especially on the defensive end. No shot, no handling at all, so if we find another big, look for Ella to shift to a backup role. For now, her rebounding is what's going to keep her in the lineup. Pirtle strongly disagrees with me on her inclusion and wanted to put Sand in, which absolutely not.


Wanted to see more defensive improvement that I didn't get. Still, stretch 5 potential and between her and Ford, our rebounding is leaps and bounds ahead of what it was last year. Probable four-year starter and end-to-end the best player on the roster right now.

Key Reserves

3 point shooting fell off a cliff at the end of the year and isn't aggressive enough. Won't start and will likely see a diminished role this year. Backup PG who might well end up on the end of the bench by the time she's a senior.


Lost her backup role to Olivia Allen until Pirtle took over coaching the team late in the season. Will get a chance under me to prove she should be the backup SG again, as she's simply more talented than Allen outside of the handling issues.


Will get more consistent minutes this year as the primary post backup due to lack of other options. But at least she can put the ball in the bucket thanks to her smart shot selection.


Will backup at SF and don't be surprised to see her in the lineup if Ford flames out, pushing Santoyo to PF. I like her better than Pirtle does.

vs Siena (2-1)
We had scheduling problems, so we only have two games in November. Here we go... It's an ugly game with no one able to shoot. We're hanging in there though and Eliska Janousek gets hurt mid-way through the first half. I swear to fuck this team is God damn CURSED. AND OF COURSE WE GIVE UP A BUZZER-BEATER SHOT AGAIN! Down by 4 at the half. Second half is new year, same old Seahawks.


Pathetic. Eliska Janousek will miss our next game and probably a couple more after that. So frustrating.

vs Florida International (2-2)
It's an easy decision to slide Ella Ford over to center. After some thought, Kelly Bostic gets the start at PF. Probably a mistake, but whatever. We've lost 25 straight. Not like it matters. But then Florida International goes almost 11 minutes without scoring and we're up 14-0 before they finally get their first points. Even more impressive - we hold that lead through the half and are up 24-13 as we go into the locker room. The girls are absolutely fired up and determined not to let this one slip away.

And though the turnovers come back in the second half...


We had to go with a small-ball lineup at times with Breanna Jacques - all 5'5 of her - at SF and Rose McCarthy at PF, but it worked out fine. What a hell of a game by Ella Ford and Corrine Hovis, and Abigail Santoyo was ever-present, too.

Finally, the 25 game losing streak is snapped. I'm .500 for the first time in my career.

We go out to celebrate and everyone's chanting Ella's name over breadsticks.

"That's why I was Utah All-State," she grins at me. "But no, seriously, Corrine, you were so fire, and Abby you gave everyone hell."

A nice night. Too bad two days later, all the recruits let me know they were still thinking about their decision.

Before our next game, Eliska Janousek tells me to put her in the lineup even though she's not 100% yet.

I have to agree - we got lucky last game with the Panthers being so ice cold for so long.

@ Fordham (1-4)
The Rams, like us, won just one game all last season - a fluke victory in the Atlantic 10. They're looking only marginally better this year with the addition of Samantha Sand, a 2* guard #558 recruit from the Bronx who is their leading scorer at 10.4 points and 5.2 rebounds a game. We stick a double team on her from the jump, but she's still managed to score 14 points and we're down 21-26 at the half because our shooting woes continue. Abigail Santoyo's foul trouble doesn't help matters.

Tons of turnovers and a lot of frankly bullshit charging calls by the home refs who are biased cost us this one. Winnable game ruined.


vs Army (1-6)
The Black Knights really want revenge after losing to us last year for our only victory of the season. And they steamroll us in the first half while we can't hit a bucket ourselves. To be down by only 8 points going in is frankly a miracle - they've totally outplayed us.


Our offense is going to be in serious trouble once Abigail Santoyo graduates after this season unless we get lucky in recruiting. There's just no consistent threat other than maybe Hannah Isom and Corrine Hovis if they're having good nights.

vs #18 South Carolina (5-0)
I let Kyleigh Pirtle coach this game. We're actually only down 16-20 at half and Abigail Santoyo has the game of her life. It's not enough for the massive upset, however.


@ Providence (5-1)
The Friars got snubbed, dropping out of the Top 25 despite not losing, so they're spoiling for a fight. Kyleigh Pirtle leads the charge in this one, too. It's a one-point game at half, and I'm forced to concede she's a way better coach than I am.


I might well need to have her coach the rest of the games while I sit and watch. Way better results than I can get.

Yeah seriously, she's got them playing. I need to boot this game up again.

So the results you saw after our first win? A fever dream that didn't happen (OOC Note: I apparently forgot to save, so it's on to replay we go)

@ Fordham (1-4)
The Rams, like us, won just one game all last season - a fluke victory in the Atlantic 10. They're looking only marginally better this year with the addition of Samantha Sand, a 2* guard #558 recruit from the Bronx who is their leading scorer at 10.4 points and 5.2 rebounds a game. We stick a double team on her from the jump, but she blows right past everyone anyway, scoring 8 of Fordham's first 10 points as they make literally everything and we make literally nothing. It continues that way and we're down by 20+ at the half. I turn it over to the assistants.


Kelly Bostic is injured, but will be playable off the bench by our next game

vs Army (2-5)
The Black Knights really want revenge after losing to us last year for our only victory of the season. Layla Landers scores 5 off the jump and we manage to build a small lead, fritter it away, and then come right back to expanding on it. I'm playing with a much shorter rotation than I usually do to see if that solves the problem we've been having with inconsistency, and leaning more into the hot hand approach. It's enough to hand us a 32-24 lead at the mid-buzzer.


Beautiful. That's what complete and total domination looks like. We've now officially won more games this season than we did last year, and I'm 2-0 against Army.

I pinch myself to make sure this is no dream.

Yep, though not in the replay in the second half. I'm still having her take over the games against South Carolina and Villanova (which I accidentally misrecorded as Providence initially) in the replay, because we're not even in the same ballpark as Top 25 teams.

Someone made a WNBA mod for FBPB3 in case you wanna keep this up into the bigs? ;)

FBPB3-WNBA-WIP - Google Drive