Lent Day 23: USC Women's Game Live Blog

I was trying to figure out what to do for my Friday post, but was coming up with nothing. I’m not a big St Patrick’s Day fan - you know, since I don’t drink or party or like corned beef and cabbage. I am going to the parade tomorrow to walk with Free Mom Hugs, and I am wearing green today. But that’s not worth much of a post. So I decided to tick off anyone who isn’t a sports ball fan by dipping back into that well. Our hometown University of South Carolina women’s basketball team today kicks off their pursuit of a perfect season and second straight national title. So let’s do a Live Blog! Remember, all times are Eastern Time. 

 

2:25pm Tip off. The game started 25 minutes late thanks to the overtime USF vs Marquette team. That just gave Norfolk State 25 extra minutes until they get thrashed. Hey-oh! Definitely a biased blogger here. 

2:28pm Two minutes into the game, USC 5 Norfolk State 2.  If this score holds, the final will be 100 to 40. That sounds ridiculous, but it is possible. 

2:30pm “Norfolk State didn’t come in here intimidated whatsoever … on South Carolina’s home court.” The worst part of watching any of these tournament games is that there are so many games that low-quality announcing teams make it. I call BS on Norfolk State not being intimidated. Everybody is intimidated by USC’s women’s team. The USC MEN’S team is intimidated by the women’s team. 

2:32pm USC 9 Norfolk State 4.  “As of right now, Norfolk State has … held their own.” Let’s dial it back, dumbass.  Not even five minutes in. Let’s see how things look in the third quarter. 

2:33pm USC blocks two shots in a row. This is going to be a major theme in this game. USC blocks so many shots. Of course, the ref calls a foul on the second one. Bend over and use your good eye, ref! 

2:34pm TV timeout. Charles Barkley, Samuel L Jackson, Jennifer Garner, Willie Nelson, Jim Nantz, and Spike Lee in the same commercial. Really bizarre grouping there, Capital One. I bet the catering bill for that commercial was astronomical. Cause pot … munchies … 

2:35pm Under Armor commercial with Aliyah Boston. I’m glad this Name Image and Likeness deal is benefitting some of the ladies as well.  

2:38pm My favorite player Kamilia Cardoso is in! HECKZ YEAH! She’s a 6 foot 7 inch Brazilian who is a rebounding and blocking machine. She’s in for five seconds and already is shooting foul shots because the only way anyone can play against her is to wrestle her.  

2:39pm Another block by USC. This time by a guard. And Cardoso is back at the foul line. 

2:40pm USC 13 Norfolk State 5  Aliyah Boston just got quadruple teamed under the basket. Shockingly, she got fouled. Boston is a really exciting and impressive player. Because she can sit down more during a game, her numbers aren’t as high this year. But that quadruple team shows how much she terrifies people. 

2:42pm. OMG! Norfolk State scored. 14:7 now. Watch out, people. This could be the beginning of an upset! Gotta build drama wherever you can. 

2:43pm Another USC block. How many of these USC ladies are going to be playing in the WNBA? I could easily see half of them making it in. That’s a conservative estimate. 

2:45pm “South Carolina hasn’t had a field goal in three minutes and 45 seconds.” “And Norfolk State has had everything to do with that!” You’re right. Because they keep fouling USC. That’s how it works. When you get fouled every time down the court, you don’t make field goals. 

2:46pm Nice fast break by USC off a steal.  Then another fast break off a steal. Then another fast break off a rebound.  Three pointer.  So much for the field goal drought.  USC 20 Norfoul State 7.

2:47pm End of First Quarter.  USC 20 Norfolk Slap 7.  You know how much women’s sports has advanced by the fact that the tournament is being shown on the full ESPN family of networks. That never happened in years past. They would just kind of play in the background, completely overshadowed by the men’s tournament. Title IX has definitely had a positive impact. 

2:51pm Second quarter is about to get going. Cardoso easy basket.  This girl is a monster. I can’t wait to see her next year once the seniors all graduate. She won’t have to split time with Boston. Who can match up with a 6’7” player who is awesome on both end of the court and runs like a guard. This isn’t some big skinny light pole just standing around on defense. 

2:53pm 24:7 now. I don’t think Norfolk State has scored in six weeks. 

2:54pm Boston is coming back in; Cardoso is going out with two fouls. It must be a nice luxury for Coach Staley to be able to make that swap. “Oh, we have to take our 6’7” monster? Let’s just put our 6’5” player of the year back in.” 

2:55pm OMG! Norfolk State scored twice. 24:12 now. Timeout by USC. The wheels are coming off! “Norfolk State’s defense caused that!” Perspective. Another Capital One commercial with Charles Barkley dancing in an Elvis-style jumpsuit. I have no idea what the hell is going on. 

2:57pm AFLAC commercial with Dawn Staley and Coach K. Good for Dawn. This would be her third championship, if USC wins. If it wasn’t for the 2020 Pandemic, they probably win again. Staley built this program. She has won at every level as a player also. Hall of Famer.

2:59pm “The Spartans are not here to mess around!” Steal by USC and fast break to a layup.  Kind of seems like the Spartans are here to mess around. 

3:00pm Laeticia Amihere from USC just completely ran over a Norfolk State player. I mean, she had a full head of steam and trucked her. Foul on the Norfolk State player.  Nice. Even the USC fans questioned that call. 

3:02pm TV Timeout. In all seriousness, USC is playing a little sloppy. But they have played sloppy the last few games. Missed tons of free throws. Turnovers. Missed easy shots. That kind of shows how incredible this team is. They still are winning by double digits every game. 29:12 at the commercial break. It must be nice to play sloppy and still lead by 17 in the first half.

3:05pm They are talking about USC’s bench. The one game we watched against UF, the bench outscored UF’s starters. The bench is leading 15 to 12 today. 

3:06pm “Zia Cooke gets this look when she’s running the court.” “It’s the Cooke Look!” “Haha, the Cooke Look.” Okay. 

3:07pm One of the Norfolk State girls just blocked Aliyah Boston’s shot! They are supposed to be the number one defense in the country. Maybe it would be 50:12 if it was another team.  It’s only 33:12. 

3:08pm It’s at the point where I need to mention every time Norfolk State scores.  They just did. Two trips down the floor in a row. They’re making a charge people! 

3:09pm Yet ANOTHER foul by Norfoul State. Their coach was six feet onto the court complaining. T em up Ref! 

3:10pm Under two minutes in the half. USC has missed their last six shots. This is what I mean by sloppy. They can’t do this junk against Indiana. They’ll probably just overwhelm everyone until the Elite Eight. But once they have to face the big teams, they need to play better.

3:12pm “These Spartans didn’t come in here with no fear!” 33:18. “They held USC to 33 points in the first half!” That is impressive; I’ll give them that. USC has missed 9 free throws, though. 

3:14pm HALFTIME! USC 34, Norfolk State 18. USC was favored by 49 points. Definitely a moral victory for the mighty Norfolk State Spartans. Here’s the thing: the third quarter is when USC usually begins trouncing people. We will see!

3:16pm Hey they just talked about UCF. Granted, it was about the fact that the coach and one of their best players left for Georgia last year. Then they started talking about USF advancing in the tournament. Not a happy few minutes for UCF Knights fans. 

3:23pm The less I say about the studio commentary the better. I hate these contrived, overly polished bits. “We don’t want those nine dollar words (scintillating was the offensive word). We like four dollar words. … She be smackin’” Okay, maybe the polished stuff is better than ad lib. Not saying much. 

3:25pm Jonathan Majors in a US Army commercial. That dude has definitely seen his career explode in the last year. Shoot, the last month. He had three movies out at the same time - two of them opened number one. He was so big in Creed III that he made Michael B Jordan look small. I’m not sure what his acting trajectory is going to be. I think Jordan is the next Denzel. Majors has played as many villains as good guys. Still trying to figure him out. 

3:28pm Almost back. The announcers are talking about how USC hasn’t scored in four and a half minutes due to Norfolk State’s defense. Although most of that defense consists of fouling. 

3:30pm We are back! Second half has started with Norfolk State missing a shot and then … fouling Aliyah Boston! She missed one of two, of course. I guess this is a good plan. One point is better than two. 

3:32pm Maybe Norfolk State should have spent more time practicing shooting than fouling. Their shots are just ugly. Of course, USC just missed four shots in a row on the same possession. 

3:34pm A Norfolk State player just slammed onto the floor. No foul called on USC. Questionable lack of call. 

3:35pm They keep talking about Norfolk State’s defense giving USC problems. No, really terrible shooting is giving USC problems. Norfolk isn’t making USC miss easy layups or wide open jump shots. They’re just crowding the lane and hacking anyone who heads to the basket. 

3:36pm “I have the little fire name by my bracket, so I think that means I’m doing okay.” “Or maybe  it means you should set it on fire.” That was actually funny. 

3:37pm Cardoso is back in! Another block by USC. Another fast break. Another missed layup. Another Norfolk State foul. TV Timeout. Lest you think I’m exaggerating the foul situation. USC has 4 called fouls (plus 2 missed calls). Norfolk State has 14. They’re winning something! 

3:40pm Why is Fleetwood Mac’s song “Everywhere” so popular right now? I swear, I hear it … everywhere … in commercials. I really don’t like the song. Makes me not want to buy those products. Now Kohl’s has jumped on the bandwagon. 

3:41pm The announcers just made a really interesting comment. (Shocking, I know.) The well-covered Senior players at USC have had a crazy run. Their freshman year, they had the best record and number one seed - except Covid ended the season. They lost by one to Stanford in the Final Four their sophomore year. National Champs in their junior year. Senior year they are undefeated and aiming for another title.  That has to go up there as one of the greatest runs ever. 

3:43pm USC 50, Norfolk State 26. USC has finally been making some shots. 

3:46pm Lance Reddick died?!? What the heck. They are saying natural causes. 60 year old guy who was fine yesterday? That’s shocking. 

3:50pm What happened? I had to go let a workman out of the house. It is USC 56, Norfolk State 26. Hopefully nothing amazing went on. 

3:51pm End of the third quarter. USC 56. Norfolk State 26.  But the Spartans lead the Fouls count 16 to 5. One more quarter to go!

3:54pm Olivia Thompson - she is such a great lady. She’s the other player of the senior class. Never plays, but she is loved by the whole team. You should hear the arena when she comes into a game. The place explodes. Not literally, of course. But you knew that. 

3:56pm Hey! Another foul by Norfolk State. 

3:58pm Not gonna lie, this game is a little boring. That happens in a blowout where both teams are playing ugly. Dawn Staley is going to have a LOT to get onto the team’s case about after this game. 

4:02pm Sloppiness, sloppiness is what I long for.  Sloppiness is what I neeeeed. 

4:04pm People! OMG! We have a Chloe Kitts sighting! She plays like a minute a game. 

4:07pm I guess they gave up on this game. They just went to the studio, and they are sending us to the Iowa game. Wow. Rude. “They didn’t cover the 49 point spread, but it was an emphatic win.” 

Kind of a bummer of a game to try to live blog. But the point is, I posted something. So there. Quantity over quality at this point. Amirite?