But, for a freshman playing in her first college game, Scalia’s debut was impressive. Coming in off the bench, she played well enough to get 20 minutes of playing time, hitting two of three three-pointers on the way to eight points. The way the 5-10 guard played defense guarantees she’ll get significant time in Sunday’s game against Vermont at Williams Arena.
Playing in front of friends and family, the moment wasn’t too big.
“She’s been that way from the start,’’ Whalen said. “Nothing really seems to affect her, bother her. She came out and had a nice take in the first half, played great defense.’’
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Considering the way Scalia was during summer workouts and early in training camp, this is a mouthful. At first she was quiet. On the court and off. Maybe too quiet.
Early on, Whalen wondered why. But as Scalia got more comfortable she opened up.
“Once she got more confident she started talking a little more,’’ point guard Jasmine Brunson said.
Scalia’s ability to shoot the three — she shot at a 41.5% clip as a senior at Stillwater — combined with her defense is going to get her a lot of playing time on a Gophers team committed to playing a smaller lineup.
