Gotta give credit to Idaho State for playing a tough, physical defense in this game and not giving PSU any easy shots or open looks throughout the entire game. I must point out that this game was one of the most poorly officiated games that I have seen at the collegiate level, and the inconsistency of foul calls seemed to favor the physical style of play that ISU employs. There was a lot of physical contact in this game, especially on drives to the hoop, that normally is whistled, but was ignored. Conversely, several seemingly phantom calls were made in the open court, which did not match the referee's established tone of play. I don't point out this poor officiating as an excuse, as ISU was the superior team on this night, but I do believe that the game would have been much closer if the refs had maintained tighter control in their allowance of physical play.
That being said, I do think that PSU's use of a zone defense helped limit the scoring opportunities by their opponent, especially in the first half. The breakdowns that occurred were due to slow post rotation, primarily along the baseline. ISU initially struggled against PSU's zone, but eventually figured out that they could get open looks with patient passing. To their credit, they knocked down a high percentage of these open shots. Considering that this was the first game of the season that PSU used a zone for any extensive time, I think it was OK. Like anything new it needs practice to get better. Slow player rotations within the zone limited it's effectiveness, but ISU passed the ball well and PSU was not as aggressive as they could be in getting out on their perimeter players and contesting these passes. PSU also gave up several offensive rebounds in the zone, which gave ISU a lot of second chance possessions. All these flaws can be addressed in practice and improved with repetition. But a zone defense by itself is not the only answer to PSU's defensive problems. It should only be one defensive weapon in a defense that should switch up defensive schemes often, to keep opponents off balance. Whether we have time to refine our defense this late in the season is debateable.
The season, and any chance of getting to the Big Sky Tournament is now probably dependent on our meetings with Sac. State. Today they upset Montana State in Bozeman and showed that they are eager to fight for the sixth and final seed. They are not a mediocre team and have shown steadily improved play as the season has progressed. Let's hope that Coach Murrell can rally the troops, and herself, with a large dose of positive motivation.
