WBB: Gophers v NJIT-Game 11 (12/28)

Ignatius L Hoops

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Minnesota (7-3) faces NJIT (3-8) in the season’s final non-conference tilt. The Gophers last faced the Highlanders in 2011. In that game, Rachel Banham, in 34 minutes, scored 20 point, grabbed 4 rebounds and dealt 4 assists.

NJIT wins: St. Josephs Brooklyn, College of St. Josephs (VT) and LIU Brooklyn.
NJIT losses: Binghamton, Lehigh, Marshall, Wagner, Virginia (54-81), Army and Vermont.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/122615aac.html

3 Rachel Banham and Carlie Wagner are the No. 4 scoring duo in the nation as of Dec. 23. Banham (23.2 points per game, ninth in the nation and second in the Big Ten behind Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell) and Wagner (19.0) combine to score 42.2 points per contest. The pairings ahead of them hail from Washington (45.9), Ohio State (43.6) and Albany (43.1).

• Leah Horton leads the Highlanders in scoring and rebounding with average of 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. She recorded her first double-double of the season (16 points/11 rebounds) in a close loss to North Dakota State.
• Kelly Guarino is NJIT's second-leading scorer at 8.5 points per game, and the leading 3-point shooter, connecting on 28 of 64 attempts (.438).
 


This isn't a cupcake....it's a 3 layer cake. My wife, 3 daughters and daughter in law could beat them.
 

Minnesota started the game 0-9 from behind the arc and finished the game by missing their last 22 shots in a four point fourth quarter. In between, some interesting things happened in a 83-50 rout.

We are definitely a post by committee club. Edwards started, scored five points, grabbed three rebounds and was quickly replaced by Lamke. Buckingham joined the rotation early; but, unlike Edwards and Lamke, Josie never really threatened the basket. Stollings rolled them in and out and they totaled 12 points and 15 rebounds.

With 14 steals tonight, Minnesota’s defense has continued to improve. Rutgers and Penn State will let us know if it’s a mirage. The steals set-up some nice Banham fast break assists.
Shayne Mullaney scored 10 points, had 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

Not Playing:
Karley Barnes, the starter versus North Dakota, did not play. Karley participated in warmups but remained on the bench minus her knee brace.
Allina Starr is still not participating in warmups.

Scoring Her First Points as a Gopher:
Kynadi Johnson played her first game (4 points). Kynadi grew more comfortable as the game went on. I have no idea if she’ll be a presence at some point during B1G play.
Danielle Garven demonstrated a smooth jumper in scoring her first 4 points.

I Would Have Never Believed it:
It’s official, Carlie Wagner’s three point shot is a mess (0-7). Carlie was clanging them during the second half warmups and they were worse when the shots counted.
 

Minutes Played and Starters (*)

30 Wagner*
29 Bailey*
28 Mullaney*
27 Banham *
23 Hedstrom
19 Edwards*
15 Lamke
13 Johnson
8 Garven
8 Buckingham

Banham missed a three point attempt starting the fourth quarter and then Mullaney swiped the ball and scored Minnesota’s only field goal of the fourth quarter at 9:18.
The awesome fourth quarter miss totals: Bailey (5), Wagner (4), Mullaney (4), Hedstrom (3), Banham (3), Johnson (2), Edwards (1) and Buckingham (1).

And, yes, 13 of the misses were from behind the arc. Maybe everyone was just anxious to get on the plan to Piscataway.
 


The way they've been playing, I'm not too sure they're eager to get on that plane. You gotta hit shots if you wanna live by the three.
 

AZB would fit in nicely this year......color me sad......I'm feeling selfish of course.
 

When you don't establish post play and you know the 3 has to be made it puts a lot of pressure on the primary shooters ( Banham , Wagner) Banham will not finish her career with a tourney run (NCAA)
This is not a good basketball team.
 

When you don't establish post play and you know the 3 has to be made it puts a lot of pressure on the primary shooters ( Banham , Wagner) Banham will not finish her career with a tourney run (NCAA)
This is not a good basketball team.

Hope it's not the case, but my vibe is last season was the best it'll ever get under Stollings. Both Teague basketball hires still have a lot to prove. Downward trends right now, on the court, where it matters most.
 



Hope it's not the case, but my vibe is last season was the best it'll ever get under Stollings. Both Teague basketball hires still have a lot to prove. Downward trends right now, on the court, where it matters most.

Best season, eerily similar to when Borton first started with the Gophers with the help of Whalen and McCarville?

There's a small glimmer of hope if Christianna Carr decides to be a Gopher starting in 2018-2019. I don't believe the Gophers have ever scored a prospect that highly regarded.
 

The way they've been playing, I'm not too sure they're eager to get on that plane. You gotta hit shots if you wanna live by the three.

Yes I think they actually were packing during the 4th quarter. Certainly the offensive sets were put away.
 

Best season, eerily similar to when Borton first started with the Gophers with the help of Whalen and McCarville?

There's a small glimmer of hope if Christianna Carr decides to be a Gopher starting in 2018-2019. I don't believe the Gophers have ever scored a prospect that highly regarded.

Stollings gets credit for recruiting Shae Kelley. Without Shae, at minimum, the Gophers lose to Ohio State. (Kelley had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 3 assists in Columbus to pick up the slack left by Amanda’s foul trouble). That victory alone kept the Gophers off the NCAA bubble and Shae contributed much, much more. Kelley was at least the best transfer into the program since Corin Von Wald.

One oddity about Stollings first year-Pam pretty much left a full roster. Kelley and Banham were the only Seniors or at least the only Seniors without eligibility remaining. Of course, that changed for Banham; but only after the early signing period was complete. Given the limited space, Garven was the only November signee.

Stollings cleared some room with Johnson, Coughlin and Bessard departing at mid-season and Jacobs leaving at the end of the year. She then signed three JC players. One didn’t qualify academically and the other two came with injuries. Then, anticipated (actually, I think Shades anticipated it) or not, Zahui declared for the draft and Hirt decided she played quite enough ball, thank you. Which led to the late additions of Edwards and Lamke. That’s a lot of backfilling on the fly.

To your point, because of Kelley, Stollings’s recruiting had an immediate positive impact. The success wasn’t entirely with inherited players. This season (largely because of some Stollings decisions) has turned into a scramble. We won’t know until next fall whether the four November signees will make us forget Borton’s first recruiting classes.
 

Stollings gets credit for recruiting Shae Kelley. Without Shae, at minimum, the Gophers lose to Ohio State. (Kelley had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 3 assists in Columbus to pick up the slack left by Amanda’s foul trouble). That victory alone kept the Gophers off the NCAA bubble and Shae contributed much, much more. Kelley was at least the best transfer into the program since Corin Von Wald.

One oddity about Stollings first year-Pam pretty much left a full roster. Kelley and Banham were the only Seniors or at least the only Seniors without eligibility remaining. Of course, that changed for Banham; but only after the early signing period was complete. Given the limited space, Garven was the only November signee.

Stollings cleared some room with Johnson, Coughlin and Bessard departing at mid-season and Jacobs leaving at the end of the year. She then signed three JC players. One didn’t qualify academically and the other two came with injuries. Then, anticipated (actually, I think Shades anticipated it) or not, Zahui declared for the draft and Hirt decided she played quite enough ball, thank you. Which led to the late additions of Edwards and Lamke. That’s a lot of backfilling on the fly.

To your point, because of Kelley, Stollings’s recruiting had an immediate positive impact. The success wasn’t entirely with inherited players. This season (largely because of some Stollings decisions) has turned into a scramble. We won’t know until next fall whether the four November signees will make us forget Borton’s first recruiting classes.

Good recap and dead on.
 



Stollings gets credit for recruiting Shae Kelley. Without Shae, at minimum, the Gophers lose to Ohio State. (Kelley had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 3 assists in Columbus to pick up the slack left by Amanda’s foul trouble). That victory alone kept the Gophers off the NCAA bubble and Shae contributed much, much more. Kelley was at least the best transfer into the program since Corin Von Wald.

One oddity about Stollings first year-Pam pretty much left a full roster. Kelley and Banham were the only Seniors or at least the only Seniors without eligibility remaining. Of course, that changed for Banham; but only after the early signing period was complete. Given the limited space, Garven was the only November signee.

Stollings cleared some room with Johnson, Coughlin and Bessard departing at mid-season and Jacobs leaving at the end of the year. She then signed three JC players. One didn’t qualify academically and the other two came with injuries. Then, anticipated (actually, I think Shades anticipated it) or not, Zahui declared for the draft and Hirt decided she played quite enough ball, thank you. Which led to the late additions of Edwards and Lamke. That’s a lot of backfilling on the fly.

To your point, because of Kelley, Stollings’s recruiting had an immediate positive impact. The success wasn’t entirely with inherited players. This season (largely because of some Stollings decisions) has turned into a scramble. We won’t know until next fall whether the four November signees will make us forget Borton’s first recruiting classes.

Who's the JC player that didn't make it academically?
 






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