Watkinson v. MacDuffie: The Turkish Twist

<span style="font-weight: 400;">I took a trip down to Hartford, Connecticut, to watch Watkinson and MacDuffie battle it out. MacDuffie was in control of the whole game and won 62-54. There were a couple of big scoring performances on both sides. Below are the top players from Monday night.</span> &nbsp; <strong>Player of the Game: </strong> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-383130" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/26B8040A-604B-49FC-9917-9494EBCB7911-scaled-crop-1920x1261-1643727639-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="355196" first="Zeynep" last="Goktepe"] - MacDuffie - 5’8’’ - PG - ’24</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Goktepe had 40 points and was the driving force behind MacDuffie’s 8 point victory Monday night. This was no easy 40 point game either. Goktepe was hitting contested three-pointers, slicing through the lane by multiple defenders, and finishing tough layups at the rim. What was most impressive about Goktepe’s 40 point explosion was that the majority of her drives were to her left. She has a very polished off-hand and, combined with Goktepe mixing up speeds, made her unstoppable. Goktepe is a good athlete who crashed the glass hard and saw the floor well in transition. </span> &nbsp; <strong>MacDuffie Standout: </strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="383131" first="Sam" last="Keser"] - 5’10 - SF - ’24</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Kesser had a solid outing against Watkinson, finishing with 10 points, and was highly effective in the mid-range area. She knocked down a few shots from 15 feet and also is a good passer in that area. Overall, I think Kesser sees the floor well for her position and gets the ball up the court fast in transition. Kesser showed good shot selection and three-point range but didn’t fall in love with that shot. She consistently turned down open looks for better shots for her teammates and made smart decisions with the ball in key moments. </span> &nbsp; <strong>Watkinson Standouts: </strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="278587" first="Amaya" last="Mitchell-Howard"] - 5’11’’ - SG - ’22</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Mitchell-Howard led Watkinson with 26 points, and she had to earn every single one of those buckets. MacDuffie keyed in on her defensively and wouldn’t let Mitchell-Howard get any easy looks on the perimeter. Instead of settling for bad shots or forcing her offense, Mitchell-Howard impacted the offensive glass and playmaking in the open court. The luxury of a player like her on your team is that she has guard skills and power forward strength; therefore, Mitchell-Howard can facilitate while also bullying opponents on the block. Mitchell-Howard lived at the free-throw line and showed good touch and form on her shots. She also hit a couple of mid-range jumpers off the bounce. Considering the attention she drew all night, I thought she played as good a game as one could play. </span> &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="383132" first="Eva" last="Giannini"] - 5’6’’ - PG - ’25</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The freshman point guard showed tons of confidence, shooting the ball, nailing 3 three-pointers en route to a 13 point game. Giannini has a tight handle and secured the ball well when pressured. She never got rattled when defended closely and made smart decisions throughout the game. In transition, I thought Giannini was at her best. Her shiftiness, change of speed, and direction on the break led to many scoring opportunities.</span>