B1G Game 15: Gophers Host Wisconsin (2-20-24)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT​

Minnesota (5-9) is looking to avenge a loss to Wisconsin (5-9) that pushed the Gophers into a six-game face plant. Having picked themselves up and dusted off the offense against Northwestern, the Gophers once more find the Badgers blocking the way. Literally blocking the way with one of the country’s best post players, the 6’4” sophomore Serah Williams. Here’s her brief resume:

3rd in conference scoring at 19.9 per game

1st in conference rebounds at 11.9 per game

1st in conference blocked shots a 2.9 per game

Here are Williams’ last seven games of which the Badgers have won four.



OpponentMinutesPointsReboundsScore
Minnesota34241558-56Win
Rutgers28311273-62Win
@ Ohio State30161149-87Loss
@Northwestern29111142-69Loss
Penn State31311568-64Win
Indiana35181454-68Loss
@ Rutgers34171861-43Win


That’s four Badger wins and a consistently imposing stat line. The fifth win was early in the season at Illinois where Williams finished with 27 points and 15 rebounds in 37 minutes.

Williams doesn’t shoot often from three, but she is 4-8. So that may not be a weakness. By any measure she’s having a terrific season.

Of course, Williams isn’t the only Badger of concern. Here’s an article on the Brooklyn native’s friendship with Como Park’s Ronnie Porter. The 5’4” Porter is having a decent season herself. She’s second in scoring for the Badgers with 10 points per game. Porter also averages 5.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.

badgerextra.com

Wisconsin standouts didn't talk to each other. Now they're 'troublemakers'

The one-foot height gap between the sophomores is really all that separates the Badgers' top-scoring tandem.
badgerextra.com badgerextra.com

Williams took umbrage with the fact opponents only attributed her success growing up stemmed only from her 6-foot-4 build.

“People were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re so tall,’ and I hated hearing, ‘You’re only good at basketball because you’re tall,’” said the Brooklyn, New York native.

“That made me so mad so I was like, ‘I’m going to be as good as I can, not just because I’m tall, because I genuinely want to be good at it. I love to compete and I love to play.’”

Conversely, Porter was largely overlooked at 5-4, although the Como Park, Minnesota native admitted she truly stands at just 5-2. Regardless of the two-inch difference, Porter said “the height really doesn’t faze me."

“When I step on the court my first thought is, ‘You can’t guard me. I can do this and you can’t,’” she said. “It kind of just drives me to see that people really are kind of still shocked at the fact that I'm short. It kind of amazes some people, but to me it’s just basketball at the end of the day.
Click to expand...
 

www.buckys5thquarter.com

How Serah Williams has re-invigorated the Badgers women’s basketball team

The Badgers forward has developed into a premier player for Marisa Moseley.
www.buckys5thquarter.com www.buckys5thquarter.com

Talented sophomore forward, Serah Williams, has brought a much-needed spark to the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball program.

Earlier this month, the 6’4 Brooklyn native was named as one of the 15 players in the country on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watchlist.

Williams is already accustomed to receiving honors and awards after a breakout freshman campaign that earned her three Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors and All-Freshman honors as well.

Since adding Williams to the roster, Wisconsin has gotten increasingly better.


They posted an 8-21 overall record and a 5-13 Big Ten record in 2021-22. They improved to 11-20 overall with a 6-12 Big Ten record after adding the star freshman and are already even better this season with a 12-12 record and a 5-9 Big Ten record with four games remaining.

The Badgers’ new star player joined the team during the second year of head coach Marisa Moseley’s tenure with the team. The continued improvement of the program since the addition of Williams and Moseley is promising for the team’s future.

In 2018, Williams moved from New York to Toronto where she played for Niagara Prep and became one of the best high school players in the country. In her senior season in 2022, Williams averaged 18 points and 14 rebounds and also added 2.9 blocks and 2 steals defensively. She was named to the 2022 All-Canadian All-Star team.

The elite defender joined Wisconsin last season as a freshman and quickly became a vital contributor to the team on both ends of the floor.

Williams averaged 12.7 points per game including a season-high 31 points against the Michigan State Spartans. She also averaged 1.9 blocks per game, which ranked second in the Big Ten.

This season, she picked up right where she left off as a defensively dominant player and the main offensive contributor for the Badgers. Williams is currently averaging 18 points per game this season in addition to three blocks per game.

The Badgers' next contest is against the Minnesota Gophers on Feb. 20 and is just one of the team’s last four matchups of the season before the Big Ten tournament, where they will look to improve on last season’s first-round exit.

The National Semi-finalists for Naismith Women’s DPOY will be announced on Mar. 20 and the 2024 winner will be named on Apr. 3.
Click to expand...
 


In a league with juniors Shyanne Sellers and Laila Phelia, and fellow sophomores Cotie McMahon and Mara Braun, I would not have picked Serah Williams as the best non-senior in the league. But she has been that. Need to keep her from having a big night tonight, perhaps with aid of foul trouble.
 

BigTenGuy said:
In a league with juniors Shyanne Sellers and Laila Phelia, and fellow sophomores Cotie McMahon and Mara Braun, I would not have picked Serah Williams as the best non-senior in the league. But she has been that. Need to keep her from having a big night tonight, perhaps with aid of foul trouble.
Click to expand...
Cotie has beat Iowa and Indiana. Mara has beat Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska. Laila has beaten Ohio State.

I would say Sarah is maybe the third or fourth best non-senior. Maybe Second with Mara out Injured.
 


bball_craz_31 said:
Cotie has beat Iowa and Indiana. Mara has beat Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska. Laila has beaten Ohio State.

I would say Sarah is maybe the third or fourth best non-senior. Maybe Second with Mara out Injured.
Click to expand...
McMahon carried OSU to victory over Iowa, but has not improved her numbers from freshman year. If anything, a mild sophomore slump. William's conference-play numbers are more impressive.

Serah Williams conference stats:
19.4 ppg (3rd in the league behind Clark & Holmes)
12.5 rebounds pg (1st in league)
.542 fg% (6th in league)
(not in top 25 in league in assists per game)
2.5 blocks pg (1st in league)

McMahon conference stats:
15.1 (12th in league)
7.8 rpg (6th in league)
.479 fg% (10th in league)
2.6 apg (25th in league)
.6 bpg (20th in league)
 

Let's Go Gophers!
Beat the Badgers!!
 

Would really like to see team finish at least 2-2 these last 4 games or 3-1 as a stretch goal before the Big 10 tournament. Need to stay out of Wednesday game and get one more day of rest. Would be nice to build some momentumn so Gophers can host WNIT home games in March at least, extend the season some. Good start would be beating the Badgers. We owe them, 3-0 stretch favoring them is too long. Might be ambitious goal with what seems to be happening tonight. Looks like some bad news for Gophers.
 
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I’m hoping that GG sets the tone and the Gophers dominate Badgers from the jump!
 












Heyer needs to step up! Going to be a tall task if Williams is going to start hitting 3s too lol
Coaching staff needs to do better to create open shots.
 


We must not switch on screens I guess. We just let people go down the lane and score it, no one steps in. Don’t understand such a simple concept . Need to be better defensively.
 


This team desperately needs a point guar, we have no one right now that can create their own shots and dismal on layups. It’s painful to watch them on offense
 







Oof. I cannot remember a time when the Badgers were quicker than us.
 


Ouch....short handed already and now GG in foul trouble. Not a good 2nd Quarter.....Coach P needs take some of her own coaching and FIND A WAY to not have these long scoring droughts.
 

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