WBB: Gophers v Penn State @ Williams-B1G Game 2 (1/3)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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Penn State (6-6 (1-0 B1G)) arrives at Williams Arena fresh from a 79-72 upset of #14 Northwestern in Happy Valley. Yes, Northwestern always plays Penn State with one Wildcat paw securely duct taped to the self-destruct button; but the Lady Lions did make a point of jumping up and down on it. As a bonus we got to see Wildcat coach, Joe Mckeown flustered and flabbergasted-no one does it better.

The Lady Lions have four players averaging double figures. However, against the Wildcats most of the damage was done by highly recruited freshman point guard Teniya Page (27 points) and senior guard Brianna Banks (25 points). Three post players, including 6-6 Candice Agee, get most of the minutes. The favored trio grabbed 37 rebounds against Northwester (Agee (13), Whitted (13) and Mitchell (11)).

Expected PSU Starters

G Brianna Banks 12.2 pts/game
G Teniya Page 13.6
G Lindsey Spann 12.2
F Kaliyah Mitchell 11.0
F Peyton Whitted 10.5

PSU Injury Report. Brianna Banks has been nursing an ankle injury but is now apparently a 100% (although she was limping, briefly, late in the Northwestern game). Out for season with ACL’s: Sierra Moore, Keke Sevillian, and Amari Carter.

For Minnesota (8-4 (0-1 B1G)) to keep the Lady Lions winless on the road, Banham and Wagner must regain their shooting touch and our rotating post players really need to box out (something that’s been a challenge out of the zone). The Lady Lions will push the ball if you let them; but they can be slow getting back on defense. More important, Stollings says we need more scorers. I hope she solves that problem tomorrow.
 




Edwards having a career game in the post. 22 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks.

Wagner has 30 points.
 


98-85 Gophers win!

Wagner finished with 32. Spann had 30 for PSU.
 

How many B1G wins are needed for an NCAA bid? 10-6?
 


Gopher ladies need to make hay between now and Game 15 because they'll likely finish with a 3-game losing streak (MSU, OSU, Maryland).
 



Some quick notes:

Now that was a satisfying win (98-85) over Penn State. Minnesota started with a purpose. Bailey opened the scoring by driving around her defenders and taking advantage of Allina Starr blocking off the post to score two. Next time down, Banham drove off a Starr screen to put away an open jumper. And, we can’t forget Wagner who nailed her first three of her career day for a 7-0 Gopher lead as Minnesota led wire to wire.

Wagner (32 points) and Lindsey Spann (30 points) dueled from the start. A special shout out to Carley for driving PSU coach Coquese Washington to distraction. Stollings wanted another scorer and Jessie Edwards stepped up at the perfect time (22 points and 8 rebounds) against a team with a truck load of post players.

Anyway, hitting half your shots is a great way of winning.


Injury note: Kynadi Johnson was in warmups with a boot on her left foot. A minor note: Allina Starr had physio tape on her left calf.

One aside: Starr cannot shoot. I don’t mean a Korrinne Campbell can’t knock down a 12 foot jumper can’t shoot. I mean, in warmups, Starr has a plain ugly shot. But, man she can do everything else and is important to this team. They did run a couple of plays for Starr. One was the lob from Wagner which they ran with Kelley and this year Banham. Unfortunately, I don’t think Starr knew it was being run-turnover.

One inbounding against the press note: I don’t know how the triangle set up is supposed to work. Against Rutgers it put eight players in the same area four of whom were grabbing at the ball. Same thing happened late today causing Gopher turnovers. We had much better success with Banham and Mullaney or Banham and Starr, etd, handling the duties by themselvesc. Anyway, something I’m trying to figure out.
 


station19 said:
Looking forward to first TV game on Thursday.
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It was important to get some points in the paint today. Starr definitely does not look like a scorer but she could teach the men how to box out and get in position for rebounding. OSU beat Maryland today and so there may be more parity than expected in pre-season. It's amazing that when you think Banham is having a bad day she still drops in 20. It was great to see Whalen in the house!
 

Another new lineup with Lamke providing some shock troop action early.

Minutes Played/Starters (*)

38 Wagner* 32 points
33 Bailey* 8 points
27 Banham* 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists
27 Mullaney 10 points, 5 assists
23 Edwards 22 points, 8 rebounds
20 Starr*
16 Hedstrom 4 points (an important three with 38 seconds remaining in the first half (47-41 Gophers))
9 Lamke*
7 Barnes

Banham played the point quite a bit. As at Rutgers, Rachel was hard to defend off the dribble when she starts bouncing around. Wagner still got the drive from the right, down the lane for a left handed layup. At the start of the second half, PSU ran enough defenders at Carlie to string it out. But, much to Coquese Washington's chagrin, Carlie still got it done.

There was a disputed Banham three in the second half. I thought the shot clock had expired (There was a second on the clock when Mullaney passed to Rachel). The PSU bench went ballistic and I thought referee Lisa Mattingly may have indicated "my bad" when she discussed later it with Coquese Washington. I'll have to check the replay. GringaGopher, do you have an opinion?
 



ruppertflywheel said:
I think they play 18 Conference games plus the BTN Tourney. I think 10 wins would get them in.
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16. They have their tourney the week before the men, so 2 less games. Unless they get no byes this year...
 

Nice line by Edwards. How did that happen? Play that well?
 

First chance to see the team in person. That was a nice win and a very entertaining game.

I've been saying Edwards is going to be a solid player down the line but I sure didn't expect her to tear through a veteran front court like she did today. She has several things a young big needs. She's mobile, has good hands (she catches passes and has a soft shooting touch around the rim) and she is absolutely great about not bringing the ball down low. After today I would add that she is good at placing herself in the right spot to provide a target for her driving teammates.

Banham's 3 sure looked to be late. Gringa is right about Starr's blocking out. She is solidly built, gets her feet under her and gets her backside into the oppenent's legs.

Wagner sure relocated her 3 pt stroke today. PSU really hurt themselves early by leaving her unguarded on the three pt line. That really let her get in rhythm. She had a step back 3 from the top of the key in the 4th that was an absolute dagger.
 

Frink said:
First chance to see the team in person. That was a nice win and a very entertaining game.

I've been saying Edwards is going to be a solid player down the line but I sure didn't expect her to tear through a veteran front court like she did today. She has several things a young big needs. She's mobile, has good hands (she catches passes and has a soft shooting touch around the rim) and she is absolutely great about not bringing the ball down low. After today I would add that she is good at placing herself in the right spot to provide a target for her driving teammates.

Banham's 3 sure looked to be late. Gringa is right about Starr's blocking out. She is solidly built, gets her feet under her and gets her backside into the oppenent's legs.

Wagner sure relocated her 3 pt stroke today. PSU really hurt themselves early by leaving her unguarded on the three pt line. That really let her get in rhythm. She had a step back 3 from the top of the key in the 4th that was an absolute dagger.
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Rachel took that 3 right in front of my seats and it was definitely late. She also traveled to get in position but we won by more than 3 so no harm. It did almost cause coach Washington to get a technical.
 

I just looked at the replay, Rachel's three was late. I think Mattingly, who called the three, just forgot the shot clock was winding down. Maybe the substitutions before the inbounds play confused her.
 

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/010316aae.html

[Coquese Washington] On how to stop Carlie Wagner…

“Well, obviously we didn’t do enough. We lost her quite a few times in transition. They run some good stuff, some misdirection stuff, and got her open. And we had some miscommunications on some screens and how we want to guard her. She’s a fantastic talent, and I think she’s one of the most creative, and one of the top-scoring guards in our conference. She tough, and when she gets going early, it’s hard to stop her. So she played a great game tonight, and I just think she’s a fantastic talent.”
 

Thanks for the notes, folks. Just was getting to be too much to have tickets to both basketball teams so we gave up the WBB tickets two years ago. In retrospect, I'm not too sure it was the wise move, but I appreciate the observations.
 

Well, crap. Vikings win! Get home playoff game at 12:00 Sunday!

Obviously the Gopher/Michigan game won't be at 2:00 PM as scheduled -I'm assuming.
 


Ignatius L Hoops said:
Well, crap. Vikings win! Get home playoff game at 12:00 Sunday!

Obviously the Gopher/Michigan game won't be at 2:00 PM as scheduled -I'm assuming.
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Since Michigan is a home & home game team, they might switch the home games.

We go to Michigan on Sunday, Michigan comes here on the 31st.
 


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