Fayetteville focused on ball security
Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Momentum and first place in the 7 A-West Conference will be at stake tonight at Bulldog Gym.
The Fayetteville Lady Bulldogs (20-4, 9-2 7 A-West ) carry a five-game win streak into tonight's game against Fort Smith Northside (18-5, 9-2 ), winners of four straight games. The two principals are locked in a three-way tie for first place with Fort Smith Southside.
A game of such consequence has the potential to cause anxiety that can play on the nerves of both teams, but Fayetteville coach Bobby Smith said his team's demeanor should minimize any pregame angst.
"My kids are pretty loose," Smith said. "On the floor it's certainly a work atmosphere. Off the floor they enjoy each other's company. I'd say they're going to stick to the same pregame routines. I hope looking forward to this game doesn't tighten us up a little bit. Both teams could come out that way, but eventually the game will settle into a game."
The Lady Bulldogs controlled the first meeting before three consecutive live-ball turnovers triggered a 7-2 Northside run that whittled an eight-point Fayetteville lead to three at halftime. The pivotal stretch stole momentum that Fayetteville couldn't regain during the 45-44 loss and negated its 12-8 advantage in second-chance points.
"It's going to be a war on the boards," Smith said. "We know that. They had a few more easy baskets than we did. Our turnovers led to easy baskets a few more times than their's did. I think that's going to be a huge statistic.
"Our offensive discipline has to hang in their enough to where we don't have turnovers that lead to easy baskets. They're very athletic. You're going to make some mistakes against them. You can't afford back-to-back mistakes and you can't give them big runs."
Smith said Northside's end-of-the-half run coincided with his decision to sit Chantlee Nash and Kourtni Williams. The frontline duo went to the bench after picking up two fouls apiece, and Fayetteville's press offense suffered in their absence.
"Those two are certainly two of our more confident players," he said. "We might have lost some of our stability and [Northside ] went on a quick run there."
Smith said the Lady Bulldogs emerged from the setback at Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse a better team, less susceptible to the uneven play that afflicted them earlier in the season.
"I strongly suspect that one of the places where we've grown is there's just not as many ebbs and flows in our games as there was," he said. "There's a great deal more consistency to our play right now than there was earlier in the year. They have a whole lot of confidence from the success that they've had."
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