The day when nothing happened or anything like that

Photo: Kai Oehler

Things got off to a very inauspicious start for us. Heidelberg jumped out to a 12-0 lead before Jada Smith scored our first basket to make it 2-12. After the score reached 2-15, we called a timeout, and it worked. We won the rest of the first quarter 11–6. A three-pointer by Smith and another three-pointer by Lisa Hoppe off an assist from Smith brought us to 13–19; the quarter ended 13–21.

In the second quarter, the deficit narrowed to 20–24. Four points—that was as close as we got that day. Then Heidelberg pulled away with an 8–0 run to make it 20–32, and the score at halftime was 31–41. Annika Heck commented: “The first half was significantly better than the second.”

The third quarter then took all the suspense out of the game. The visitors outscored us 10–30 in that quarter; we managed just four field goals. Heidelberg extended their lead with a 7–0 run from 33–43 to 33–50 and with a 12–0 run from 35–50 to 35–62. Greta Metz, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, scored eight straight points in this stretch. At 41–71, the game was over. In the final quarter, Smith brought us to 46–71 with five straight points. Heidelberg called a timeout and responded with an 8–0 run, all scored by Letlow. At 47–79, the game was definitively over; the quarter ended 8–15.

If you’re looking for reasons, look to the two-pointers. Both teams attempted 42 of them; Heidelberg made 27, while we made 13. From the three-point line, both teams were similarly infrequent scorers—we made five out of 22 attempts, while the visitors made six out of 25. So the three-pointers hardly explain this result. On top of that, Heidelberg grabbed 52 rebounds to our 35 and dished out 27 assists to our seven. Marissa Pangalos dished out twelve of those and scored eleven points herself, while Anna-Lisa Wuckel had seven assists. We also struggled at the free-throw line, going 8 for 22. Heck says, “We actually trained them well. Sometimes it just isn’t meant to be.”

And then there’s Letlow. 30 points in 23:04 minutes, 11-for-15 from the field, 8-for-8 from the line, plus ten rebounds and a rating of 34. She accounted for about 35 percent of all of Heidelberg’s points. That’s impressive, and it’s worth noting. Heidelberg’s head coach Kuusi describes her—in our paraphrased translation—as very humble and possessing a strong work ethic. She fits well into the system and is eager to learn—ideal qualities for a player who wants to improve and plays on a team that aims to play team basketball.

Jada Smith, on the other hand, had other ideas. She scored 25 of our 49 points, making 9 of 18 from the field and 4 of 6 three-pointers, along with three blocks and three assists. Kuusi essentially says that with very good players, the question always arises as to whether you should limit her yourself or let someone else do it so she has to take over the game, and how much effort she has to put into every shot. You can’t completely stop a player like that. The key is how much you can slow her down and make life difficult for her.

Kuusi cites three things as key for his team. First was the deep rotation; every Heidelberg player was on the court for more than ten minutes—between 15:02 and 26:13, according to the box score. Second, they successfully slowed down our numbers one and two. And finally, the team showed a different side than in the first game, with better body language and more energy; everyone contributed something. That was much better, according to our translation of his remarks.

Despite the disappointment, the afternoon also had a bright side for us. It was fun, says Heck, especially to finally play in front of a home crowd again. The Heidelberg fans are always loud—even last season—and drown out a lot; it felt like there were a hundred of them. But we also have supporters who cheer everyone on, and the team is proud of and grateful for that. Heck herself scored eight points and grabbed eleven rebounds, plus she stole the ball five times.

In the locker room, our coach Sandra Rosanke went over the basics with the team once more—the offense and everything that can be improved. Next time, Heck says, “it’ll be better again; it can hardly get any worse.” It was a Saturday when the basket was mostly closed, and our first home game ended differently than we’d hoped. Heidelberg deserved the win, and their number 9 played her part in it.

Playing Time

Jada Smith, 32:48, 25 | Elza Bierina, 31:30, 7 | Magdalena Zimmermann, 16:50, 5 | Annika Heck, 28:23, 8 | Jenna Rosanke, 5:30, 0 | Hannah Biwersi, 26:56, 0 | Lisa Hoppe, 17:27, 4 | Stella Nwaobi, 10:24, 0 | Laura Thiele, 20:49, 0 | Annika Schwarz, 9:23, 0