B1G Game 14: Gophers Visit Purdue (2-14-19)

Poll results are in: 99.9% of GopherHolers would prefer 4th quarters like this one in the future.

Pitts shoots .667 from 3, and .889 from 2, .833 on FT. Everybody happy except Purdue. [Well, technically speaking, T. Bello has a legit gripe since Pitts didn’t leave her any Orebs to be had - but she’ll gladly take the W.]

Perez 1-1 from deep, making her 6-7 (.857) on 3s over last 3 games.

Bell with a different yet great game, in spite of her 7 turnovers. I like it when she’s able to feed a hot Pitts instead of having to take all the shots herself. Makes her more effective when she does shoot.

A possible first: Bell (9) and Pitts (7) out-rebound Bello (5) and Lamke (4). Versyp was right - the battle of the boards did determine the outcome - although Purdue did execute well on their game plan, beating up on Taiye and limiting her to 5 rebounds. But the other Gophers made up the slack, out-rebounding the Boilers 30-22.

Brunson and Lamke also had good games. Lamke with the 3-point play that seemed to have inspired the team to play the rest of the game with 150% effort for the W.

I like seeing K. Bello play, not the least of reasons for which being, that means we’re far enough ahead in 4Q that we can relax. Kehinde must have been relaxed too, since she had no negative stats - just one rebound and one steal in her 2 minutes.

As JanelPick posted: Versyp didn't speak; McLaughlin did:

McLaughlin was left standing as the team’s only spokesman after Purdue’s second 20-point loss in the last three home games. Versyp didn’t make herself available to the media, who waited for more than 45 minutes outside of the locker room.


https://www.purdueexponent.org/spor...cle_c78b0538-30b3-11e9-8da5-df92bd08e1a9.html


"Coach's game plan from the very get-go was to attack them, attack (No.) 31, attack (No.) three, attack (No.) 41. And we didn't do that," said sophomore guard Karissa McLaughlin. "We didn't excuse the gameplay, and it was disappointing to see the lack of fights had."

This speaks volumes. We start 3 of the best defenders in the country. You will always have a chance with a great defense. Numbers aren't always an indicator of individual defense, but keke leads the conference in steals. Taiye is one of a few ladies that avg almost 2 blocks and least 1 steal. Jasmine, along with those 2 do a great job of sliding their feet 1 on 1 and making players make or miss over them. And the 3 of them atop that press creates turnovers and rushed shots.

They treat the Harris foul as a block; but why mess with a good highlight?

I thought it looked good as a block, definitely in real time.

That must have been Lamke screaming “And 1” during Bell’s pinball basket during the #1 play.

Oh, and.... howdy stranger!

Doesn’t get much prettier than this in frozen time. And since it was a chase-down block in which they were headed in the same general direction, there was no body interference.

A couple of notes resulting from the current win streak: Doesn't seem that anyone is questioning the team's conditioning now that they are winning games with 5 or 6 players. Also, the idea that this team can't hold on to win games in the 4th quarter has passed. This team still isn't all that good when it goes into the "hold the ball" until the shot clock is about to expire mode, but they are now able to hold on to leads that they weren't able to hold on to earlier in the conference season.

EaganGopher22 said:

Great win. Now let's just not let up in the next one.

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This. VERY much this. A six game winning streak going into that final Gauntlet will be huge for confidence and wanting to go dancing.

tripledouble said:

A couple of notes resulting from the current win streak: Doesn't seem that anyone is questioning the team's conditioning now that they are winning games with 5 or 6 players. Also, the idea that this team can't hold on to win games in the 4th quarter has passed. This team still isn't all that good when it goes into the "hold the ball" until the shot clock is about to expire mode, but they are now able to hold on to leads that they weren't able to hold on to earlier in the conference season.

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Speaking of the shot clock. I think there were more bench player count downs than any game I can remember. It was 8,7,6,5,4.... over and over in the background.

As to conditioning, the players seem to thrive with a reduced bench. As Whalen's said, Keke doesn't get tired. I think the same is true of Brunson. Pitts has entered diesel mode where she relentlessly plugs along. And Whalen's been able to get Taiye and Perez occasional rest. Even when they go into slow down mode which should help, they often employ the press. Whalen has mentioned reduced practices and additional days off. Maybe that's helped.

Ignatius L Hoops said:

Speaking of the shot clock. I think there were more bench player count downs than any game I can remember. It was 8,7,6,5,4.... over and over in the background.

As to conditioning, the players seem to thrive with a reduced bench. As Whalen's said, Keke doesn't get tired. I think the same is true of Brunson. Pitts has entered diesel mode where she relentlessly plugs along. And Whalen's been able to get Taiye and Perez occasional rest. Even when they go into slow down mode which should help, they often employ the press. Whalen has mentioned reduced practices and additional days off. Maybe that's helped.

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I thought the Gophers, especially Brunson, did a nice job of ignoring the fake countdowns (from the Purdue bench? the crowd?) when they were setting up.

Kudos to the Gophers' Iron Five for being able to stay out of foul trouble, playing as many minutes as they are playing and using the full-court press as often as they do. Bello gets in occasional foul trouble, but she has done a very good job of staying on the court this year after struggling with that last year. And Bello and her teammates have been able to maintain their aggressiveness throughout the games. Gophers will be able to carry this defense into next year, even with the loss of Bell and Perez.