Agree, that is going to be a brutal environment...

Posted on: January 8, 2018 at 03:46:44 CT

I imagine they will be looking for some payback. It was a very rough game yesterday. Frankly I'm surprised Dawn Staley lasted as long as she did. She was upset with the officiating nearly from the opening whistle and you could see her anger and frustration building. She did good to control it and not get booted until there were just 2-3 minutes to go.

She is a great coach, really like her. You have to admire her exit too.

You nailed it - relevant and disliked is what you get when you knock off an elite top 5 type team like SC two years in a row. I think we are up to the challenge and will perform well in the rematch in the other Columbia, Sophie in particular won't let this team back down from anyone.

My concern will be with how many minutes Sophie plays down there. The home crowd whistle won't be kind to her, and I can see her getting in early foul trouble there and eventually fouling out. Hope she recognizes that and pulls back a bit, but I won't hold my breath. I've gotten resigned to the fact that she is constitutionally incapable of staying away from the silly, impulsive anger/aggression fouls. And that's not a criticism. It's just her nature, and part of what you get with her. Her aggressive, take no prisoners nature is what makes her such a great player in so many facets of the game and a great team leader, she can no more moderate that than she could stop breathing. We have to take the bad with the good, I'm afraid.

But for us to have a fighting chance down there, I think Sophie needs to be on the court at least 35 minutes. I don't she will do that. The home whistle is going to be quick and unkind to her I'm afraid.