NCAA Game 1: Gophers v UW Green Bay in Eugene (3-16-18)

GB's best defensive player just fouled out.
 

Do you believe? I didn't think they had it in them to come back in this game.
 

Green Bay kind of came apart at the seams in the fourth, but a lot of credit should go to the ladies for a few adjustments at the start of the quarter. They started reading the play and cutting down passing lanes inside in the final quarter, which created a bunch of turnovers. Also rebounded much better after being pretty flat-footed on that for most of the game. Still worry about that 2-3, which looks lost at times, but they found a way to get it done down the stretch. Creating a host of foul problems for Green Bay also helped.

In any case, it's on to the second round! :clap:
 

Green Bay kind of came apart at the seams in the fourth, but a lot of credit should go to the ladies for a few adjustments at the start of the quarter. They started reading the play and cutting down passing lanes inside in the final quarter, which created a bunch of turnovers. Also rebounded much better after being pretty flat-footed on that for most of the game. Still worry about that 2-3, which looks lost at times, but they found a way to get it done down the stretch. Creating a host of foul problems for Green Bay also helped.

In any case, it's on to the second round! :clap:

They had no answer for Bell's speed and she took over the second half. Happy for Wagner and they have a tough opponent in OR.
 

They had no answer for Bell's speed and she took over the second half. Happy for Wagner and they have a tough opponent in OR.

Yep, that's where a lot of the fouls came from. She was either drawing them herself or setting up spots where Green Bay had to foul because they were a step slow.
 


As we've noted before, this team developed a hardnosed toughness during the season. A BIG, BIG thanks to Jessie for cleaning up our problems in the paint. And Kenisha put together one of the great 20 minutes in Gopher basketball.
 

Stop saying “top defensive team in the country,” ESPN. They were defending against bad offenses.
 

As we've noted before, this team developed a hardnosed toughness during the season. A BIG, BIG thanks to Jessie for cleaning up our problems in the paint. And Kenisha put together one of the great 20 minutes in Gopher basketball.
Glad you noted Edwards. Even made her free throws!
 




Only the first few minutes and then it switched to the start of Gophers game. We are having a sloppy start with too many turnovers. Lucky Hubbard and Pitts are making 3's. It remains unbelievable to me how bad we are @ rebounding.
I was at a bar where the game didn't switch over., kept showing Notre Dame NCSU game. The bartender finally did a search in the 800 channels like so asked found the game on a repeater channel. Had to go there, would not have made it home in time to catch the game. Fourth quarter was a lot more fun to watch then the third. Defense and rebounding finally kicked in. Excited for the Gophers. Hopefully they can knock off Oregeon Sunday.

Sent from my SM-J327P using Tapatalk
 


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https://www.ncaa.com/game/basketball-women/d1/2018/03/16/minnesota-green-bay

Minnesota: 25-29 from the free throw line, 9 turnovers and 8 steals.
Green Bay: 12-16 from the line, 12 turnovers and 4 steals

Edwards with 12 points and 9 rebounds in 30 minutes of play.

Minutes Played (Starters Bolded)

40 Wagner
40 Pitts
37 Hubbard
34 Bell

30 Edwards
8 Taiye Bello
6 Brunson
5 Fernstrom
0 Kaposi, Lamke and Garrido Perez made cameos in the closing seconds.
 

Gophers showed their resiliency today. Iggy is right...this team got tougher as the year progressed. Bell was terrific in the second half. GB didn't have an answer for her speed and quickness. She shot 17 free throws. Loved the assist on the pass to Hubbard on the break. Pitts, Hubbard, and Edwards all with big contributions today. Edwards contributions were especially important as the Gophers got only 2 rebounds and0 points from Fernstrom and Bello in 13 minutes combined. Gophers defense struggled for the most of 3 quarters, but it showed up in the 4th quarter. Gophers controlled the tempo completely in the second half. Not sure if GB got tired in the 4th, but it looked like it. Pitts 7 of 10 from the field today. Hubbard with 4 steals, including another key steal down the stretch. She also got the Gophers off to a good start. Gophers were a 4-1/2 point underdog going into the game. If the Gophers play Oregon in a second round matchup, I'd expect a lot of scoring.
 

I guess you could use this same logic to say UConn's defense is overrated.

Nope.
A. U Conn has been way, way, way more dominant than Green Bay,
B. Green Bay hasn't played a good team in more than three months, In that time, U Conn played DePaul, Oklahoma, USF (twice), Louisville, Texas and South Carolina.
C. The AAC is the seventh-best conference. The Horizon is the 11th.
 

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http://www.startribune.com/gophers-freshman-destiny-pitts-shows-poise-with-20-points/477154943/

Misc. from Marcus:


There aren’t many stages bigger than the NCAA tournament, but freshman Destiny Pitts wasn’t rattled at all with 20 points in Friday’s 89-77 opening-round win against Wisconsin-Green Bay.

“I’m just really grateful,” Pitts said. “I just give credit to my teammates and coaches because they prepared me for this tournament. They told me not to put too much pressure on myself and just ‘do what you do.’ ”

The Gophers set an NCAA tournament school record with 10 three-pointers vs. the Phoenix. Pitts led the team in threes, shooting 5-for-7 from beyond the arc, which included scoring nine points on 3-for-3 shooting from long distance in the first quarter...

...The biggest rebound of the game for Edwards was after Kenisha Bell’s errant free throw with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. She snatched down the missed foul shot and gave the Gophers another possession up 81-77.

“She was huge,” Gophers coach Marlene Stollings said of Edwards. “That’s the first thing I actually talked about when we went into the locker room. Just how big she played for us down the stretch … she was outstanding.”
 


I believe the announcers said the Gophers' point total from the first quarter was the most the Phoenix gave up in a quarter this season? If that's right, that would mean the Gophers had the first, second and third highest scoring quarters against Green Bay.
(Edit: I don't think I'm gonna go through the whole Phoenix schedule but I see Wright State scored 24 in one quarter, so that's not true about MN's 22 in the first quarter. Anyway, the Gopher offense had way more success with the Phoenix defense than any other team this season.)
 


That comeback was a lot of fun to watch. I got nervous listening to the 2nd quarter on the way home.
 


Thanks Shades! WatchESPN doesn't let me jump around and I missed the second half so can watch it now! :)
 





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