BleedGopher
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per Youngblood:
It’s not surprising their fondest memories would be so similar.
Brenda Frese — then Brenda Oldfield — coached at the University of Minnesota for just over nine months, hired before the 2001-02 season, gone to Maryland by early April the following year. But in a short time, Frese took a Gophers women’s basketball team from nowhere to relevance, thanks in large part to guard Lindsay Whalen.
Frese was 31 then, in her second head coaching job. Whalen was entering her sophomore year, having endured a difficult first year under former coach Cheryl Littlejohn.
Fans all know what happened. From an 8-20 record to 22-8. From one Big Ten victory to a second-place conference finish, an NCAA bid, a postseason victory.
Fast-forward 17 years. Thursday in Maryland the Gophers will be looking for their seventh straight victory. The eighth-ranked Terrapins, their eight-game winning streak ended by Iowa over the weekend, will be looking to stay atop the conference standings.
On the sidelines? Frese and Whalen. Frese will coach against a former player. “This will be the first time,” Frese said. “So it’s pretty cool to see it come full circle.”
And the shared memories?
The big victory in Wisconsin over the fifth-ranked Badgers, and the joyous bus ride home.
A week later, after a busted water pipe forced a game against Indiana to be moved from the Sports Pavilion, as it was called then, to Williams Arena, 11,389 watched the Gophers beat the Hoosiers.
A couple of weeks later, Whalen scored 41 points in a victory over No. 7 Purdue.
“From the moment you stepped on the court, you could see her competitiveness,” Frese said of Whalen. “That kid was all about winning.”
Said Whalen: “She was an unbelievable motivator. She had us ready to go, excited for every game. I learned a lot in a little time from her.”
http://www.startribune.com/lindsay-whalen-to-coach-against-brenda-frese-for-first-time/506136442/
Go Gophers!!
It’s not surprising their fondest memories would be so similar.
Brenda Frese — then Brenda Oldfield — coached at the University of Minnesota for just over nine months, hired before the 2001-02 season, gone to Maryland by early April the following year. But in a short time, Frese took a Gophers women’s basketball team from nowhere to relevance, thanks in large part to guard Lindsay Whalen.
Frese was 31 then, in her second head coaching job. Whalen was entering her sophomore year, having endured a difficult first year under former coach Cheryl Littlejohn.
Fans all know what happened. From an 8-20 record to 22-8. From one Big Ten victory to a second-place conference finish, an NCAA bid, a postseason victory.
Fast-forward 17 years. Thursday in Maryland the Gophers will be looking for their seventh straight victory. The eighth-ranked Terrapins, their eight-game winning streak ended by Iowa over the weekend, will be looking to stay atop the conference standings.
On the sidelines? Frese and Whalen. Frese will coach against a former player. “This will be the first time,” Frese said. “So it’s pretty cool to see it come full circle.”
And the shared memories?
The big victory in Wisconsin over the fifth-ranked Badgers, and the joyous bus ride home.
A week later, after a busted water pipe forced a game against Indiana to be moved from the Sports Pavilion, as it was called then, to Williams Arena, 11,389 watched the Gophers beat the Hoosiers.
A couple of weeks later, Whalen scored 41 points in a victory over No. 7 Purdue.
“From the moment you stepped on the court, you could see her competitiveness,” Frese said of Whalen. “That kid was all about winning.”
Said Whalen: “She was an unbelievable motivator. She had us ready to go, excited for every game. I learned a lot in a little time from her.”
http://www.startribune.com/lindsay-whalen-to-coach-against-brenda-frese-for-first-time/506136442/
Go Gophers!!