Sloppy play dooms Grizzlies in national tournament

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By Evan Shields, March 6, 2010

The major downfall for Franklin came from sloppy play on offense, resulting from a full-court press run by Illinois Wesleyan on Franklin’s first possession. The Titans of Illinois Wesleyan wanted to wear down the Grizzlies and potentially force a mistake. It worked; multiple times.

 

Franklin looked exhausted on the court, and they played like it, too. The Grizzlies committed 13 turnovers in the first half alone. Illinois Wesleyan got five steals and three blocks through poor play. Franklin often took wild shots; some never even hit the rim or backboard.

 

“We really knew that Wesleyan pressed for 40 minutes and they’re very, very relentless,” Eiler said. “We saw on film that if you lost focus for a second they were on you.” Eiler added she was very proud of the way the team handled the pressure.

 

The Titans capitalized on missed shots, grabbing 45 total rebounds, with 26 offensive rebounds leading to 24 second-chance points. The Grizzlies could only get 31 rebounds. Franklin made inaccurate passes that occasionally went nowhere near a blue-uniformed player. Illinois Wesleyan scored 20 points off Franklin’s mistakes.

 

These mistakes came back to haunt the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies fought well in the opening four minutes, keeping one point behind Illinois Wesleyan. After four more minutes, Franklin had not scored. Illinois Wesleyan went on a 9-0 run in that span. The Grizzlies were later held on another scoreless drought. This time, the Titans built their lead up to 18 before the Grizzlies scored again.

 

Franklin’s players were not the only ones worn down by the full-court press. Franklin’s fans, which numbered nearly 100 with roughly 15 clad in yellow jerseys, started the game chanting just as loud – if not louder than the fans of the home team.

 

During the two long scoreless droughts, Franklin’s fans quieted down. The visiting crowd had grown visibly exhausted, cheers weakening with each scoreless minute that passed. Thunderous applause from the Illinois Wesleyan’s home crowd never gave the Franklin fans a chance to encourage their team.

 

One major challenge facing Franklin was stopping Illinois Wesleyan’s top-three scorers: Christina Solari, Nikki Preston and Hope Schulte, all of whom average 10 or more points per game. The three scored 17 (accompanied by 14 rebounds), nine and eight points respectively, Titan sophomore Olivia Lett led scorers with 19 points. Franklin sophomore Sarah Condra matched Lett by putting up 19 points of her own.

 

Spirited play from the Grizzlies in the second half would reinvigorate the crowd to the end of the game, but Franklin could not seem to trim the lead halfway through the second half.

 

Starting guard Monica Planalp – who ended the first half with two fouls, but picked up two more just three minutes into the second half.

 

Franklin never gave up, though. Despite being down more than 20 at one point, Franklin put forth tremendous effort to try to win the game. Franklin coach Kim Eiler said facing this team was very challenging, but she was proud of how Franklin performed.

 

“I thought what our kids did bring is they brought the heart and I think overall we’re just as athletic as they are, we just need to put it together for 40 minutes.”

 

Franklin shot better in terms of field goal and three-point percentage, but Illinois Wesleyan shot almost twice as well from the free-throw line. The Grizzlies had 28 turnovers, which led to 39 points for Illinois Wesleyan.

 

Despite the losing effort, Franklin’s fans gave the Grizzlies cheers at the end of the game, including two rounds of the school fight song.

 

Franklin senior center Heather Harper looked back on her college basketball career with no regrets.

 

“I’ve had an amazing career and it was never what I expected,” an emotional Harper said after the game. She hoped all her teammates could go on to have successful careers as well.

 

But the rest of the team is looking forward, and on to next year. With only two seniors graduating this year, Condra expects a game like this to help the team next season.

 

“We never really experienced being press the entire game in our conference. We’ve had teams somewhat press us, but nothing like that,” Condra said.