WBB: Gophers v. Ohio State-B1G Game 17 (2/24) Senior Day

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ruppertflywheel said:
Wagner with 26 and key buckets in both OT. Banham had 35. Edwards also with a big basket. I would hope this gets them in.
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Had to have that win, but 1 big win at the end of a season doesn't wash away a season's worth of a nondescript resume. Unless they beat Maryland, they'll need 2 quality wins in the BTT to have a fighting chance.
 

Indiana wins on Sunday, Gophers lose. Indiana gets the #4 seed and bye. Minnesota gets a chance for another win as #5 seed before playing the Hoosiers. OSU swept Maryland this year so I think they would be #1 seed and play the winner.

That OT loss to Auburn and 19 point home loss to New Mexico. Would love mulligans on those with a fully healthy/confident Banham.
 

A game so nice we got to celebrate twice. Starr and Hedstrom previewed the heroics with their buzzer beater play ending the 3rd quarter. Then we had Edwards for the lead and Hart for the tie in the final second of regulation. And finally, Carlie’s redemption closing out the game and my voice.

A fun, terrific senior night that repeatedly animated Kevin Mcguff to near technical territory. I’ll mention, for the umpteenth time how I hate advancing the ball at the end of games. But, it sure provided a deserved, exciting exit for a great group of seniors.
 

Maximus said:
Indiana wins on Sunday, Gophers lose. Indiana gets the #4 seed and bye. Minnesota gets a chance for another win as #5 seed before playing the Hoosiers. OSU swept Maryland this year so I think they would be #1 seed and play the winner.

That OT loss to Auburn and 19 point home loss to New Mexico. Would love mulligans on those with a fully healthy/confident Banham.
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Well, Indiana in that case has a good chance to move to the #3 seed assuming Ohio State beats Michigan State. A win over Michigan State would be better than Indiana.
 

A Sendoff to Remember.


Starters (a senior night lineup with a twist):

Barnes
Banham
Mullaney
Bailey
Wagner


Minutes Played:

42 Wagner: 26 points
37 Banham: 35 points; Fouled Out
32 Edwards: 6 points; 12 rebounds
32 Hedstrom: 10 rebounds
31 Mullaney: 9 points, 4 rebounds
29 Bailey: 2 points, 7 rebounds
12 Barnes: 4 points, 5 rebounds, Fouled Out
10 Starr:

Of Note: on a poor shooting night the Gophers were still 10-24 from three (OSU was 6-26); Minnesota also out rebounded the Buckeyes 53-52.
 


I bitched early in the season about how Stollings hardly used a bench. Tonight it seemed like some players were doing hockey shifts. In for 30 seconds and then to the bench. Didn't really see a pattern and wonder if it led to some of the raggedness in the first half. For as much as Mullaney handled the ball, she had an outstanding game. A few seconds of, "Oh, sh*t," when it looked like Rachel might have hurt her knee again. Jessie Edwards also made some key plays but I hope she can add some strength next year.
 

The game will be replayed Friday @ 11:00 AM on BTN

I have a feeling we are going to win that one too.:):cheer:
 

Updated projections on ESPN have Gophers in first 4 out
 

Frink said:
thatjanelpick, after tonight you may want to think about changing your name to thatjessiepick. Edwards absolutely blew up one the OSU guards on the game winner.
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Edwards pick was a classic. It looked even better on the replay; as did, Rachel's ankle breaking move on Alston and Rachel's behind the back delivery to Edwards.
 





They're either going to need to beat Maryland on the road or beat Northwestern/Michigan State consecutively in the Big Ten Tournament to make the big dance. It's not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it is possible. There's still hope!
 

Mulligan said:
I bitched early in the season about how Stollings hardly used a bench. Tonight it seemed like some players were doing hockey shifts. In for 30 seconds and then to the bench. Didn't really see a pattern and wonder if it led to some of the raggedness in the first half. For as much as Mullaney handled the ball, she had an outstanding game. A few seconds of, "Oh, sh*t," when it looked like Rachel might have hurt her knee again. Jessie Edwards also made some key plays but I hope she can add some strength next year.
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Certainly during the B1G season Stolling's popped players in and out freely and frequently. Doing plus-minus stats must be a pain. It helped keep up the offensive pressure; I don't think it caused the ragged play. I think that first quarter was just poor shooting.

Other than Edwards and Barnes, players play interchangeable positions. (Yes, players occasionally forget their position like Rachel did briefly at the end of the Iowa game when Rachel said she forgot she was the four and needed to inbound the ball). It keeps players fresh enough to up tempo the offense and make the other teams bigs run (OSU obviously slowed things down in order to keep Hart and Cooper on the court). And of course it pays off on plays like Starr dribbling the length of the court to find a wide open Hedstrom for two at the end of the third quarter.
 



I know it's been awhile since Friese pulled a Lou Holtz when she left for Maryland. I hope this team plays with that chip on their shoulders mentality in this game. I'd take very opportunity to stick it to Friese regardless of the team's situation.
 

overpass said:
Well, Indiana in that case has a good chance to move to the #3 seed assuming Ohio State beats Michigan State. A win over Michigan State would be better than Indiana.
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Thanks. Missed that. IU beat MSU by 16 earlier this year.
 


Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
I know it's been awhile since Friese pulled a Lou Holtz when she left for Maryland. I hope this team plays with that chip on their shoulders mentality in this game. I'd take very opportunity to stick it to Friese regardless of the team's situation.
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Carlie Wagner was maybe seven years old when Brenda Freese left. I doubt Carlie is up on the Voelz/Freese disconnect leading to Freese's departure.:D
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
I know it's been awhile since Friese pulled a Lou Holtz when she left for Maryland. I hope this team plays with that chip on their shoulders mentality in this game. I'd take very opportunity to stick it to Friese regardless of the team's situation.
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One interesting point is Wagner was heavily recruited by Maryland.
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
Carlie Wagner was maybe seven years old when Brenda Freese left. I doubt Carlie is up on the Voelz/Freese disconnect leading to Freese's departure.:D
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I'm aware of the players ages when Frese bailed (likely between 3 and 8). Hopefully, they've been well informed that Frese thought the talent pool here was subpar for her liking.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
I'm aware of the players ages when Frese bailed (likely between 3 and 8). Hopefully, they've been well informed that Frese thought the talent pool here was subpar for her liking.
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I'd think that the game could very well determine whether they get into NCAA tourney would be the motivation. That, and the fact they have a chance to defeat the premier women's league program Not some slight that took place close to a lifetime ago for some.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
I'm aware of the players ages when Frese bailed (likely between 3 and 8). Hopefully, they've been well informed that Frese thought the talent pool here was subpar for her liking.
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The relationship between Voelz and Freese (Oldfield) broke down during the season. And if I recall, the post exit quote attributed to Frees regarding Minnesota talent was a Voelz invention.

Here’s an article from February 7, 2002 (before an Ohio State game oddly enough) giving the flavor and the depth of the discord. One of them had to go, both of them did.

http://www.postbulletin.com/oldfiel...cle_af9ff7a2-9e40-5e15-adc3-618597d0340c.html

Here's one problem:

Pep band? Believe it or not, the absence of a pep band at the team's home games has become a quiet controversy in the Gophers athletics department. Oldfield has talked about creating a more exciting atmosphere at the games, but the use of the school's pep band is out of her control.

"We'd love to have a pep band at the games, but there's a cost factor, and we've just gone through $250,000 in budget cuts," Gophers women's athletics director Chris Voelz said. "We're hopeful we can use the university to leverage a relationship with the music department in that area."

Voelz and Oldfield met Wednesday afternoon to discuss plans for the program. Voelz expressed her full support and insisted that she and her staff have pushed for improvements before the team's surprising season. The success and national attention might have given everybody a nudge sooner than expected.


And here's a quote from Freese regarding Minnesota talent:

University of Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt, who has led the school to six national championships in the past 15 years, came to Minnesota last week to see Lakeville High School star Liz Podomonick play against Bloomington Jefferson. The 6-foot-2 junior is regarded as one of the nation's top 10 centers and forwards. Oldfield has also been to a Lakeville game this season, but she knows the battle she would face if Summitt remains interested in Podominick.

"It's exciting for me if Summitt's coming around," Oldfield said. "It's a reflection of the talent level in the state and that our program has reached another level. We're a top 20 team, and we're going to be facing other top 20 teams in recruiting the same players. I want to go up against all of the top coaches in the country. It's where I want our program to be."

Voelz is particularly sensitive to Oldfield's recruiting problems because of the NCAA matter.
 

Another example of Voelz being the biggest cancer the U of M Athletic Department has ever had.
 

Frink said:
thatjanelpick, after tonight you may want to think about changing your name to thatjessiepick. Edwards absolutely blew up one the OSU guards on the game winner.
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That's the 2nd home game in a row where a big Edwards pick led to a win.

At least at home, she has been doing the little things that lead to wins.
 



Ignatius L Hoops said:
Which made Edwards shot at the end of the fourth quarter all the more impressive; she put it back after being roofed by Cooper.
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I was thoroughly impressed with Edwards improvement from the earlier two games I attended this year. The light has clicked on for that Edwards kid, she gets that she needs to be more aggressive in cleaning up the boards and standing tall to her opponents on defense. Getting stronger and more decisive in her decision making will only improve her game more. She was a major factor I thought in yesterday's win even if some of what she did does't show in the stat sheet. If you were not at yesterday's women's basketball game you really missed out, that was a fantastic atmosphere and how the barn should be during a basketball game, any basketball game. Finally there was some life in Williams arena and you could hear that "Barn roar". Deafening noise at times it was a lot of fun. The naysayers will say POO POO, how can you like that, and that the women's game is no good but they only mock it because they have never been to a game, or don't really know how much the college game has improved and what just a hell of a ball game that game between Minnesota and Ohio State was. IF you have not been to a womens basketball game ever or at the U you really need to check it out. A great entertainment value for my sports dollar in my opinion. The cherry on the Sundae was that the Gophers won and they beat a great team.

This game was fantastic, it was a a real contest of wills, the spirit of competition, the up and down runs, and the game had everything you could think of with two teams of skill really going at each other even with our star player getting kind of cheesed in to her final two fouls.
You could almost call it a brawl of WILL, physical and emotional energy pouring out, a real test of basketball IQ, because both teams competed at a very high level, pushing each other to see who would prevail. All of that only made the game even more entertaining than I already thought it was going to be. I feel guilty that I was late because I had to drive around an extra 15 minutes trying to find parking due to HS Hockey.
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
I was thoroughly impressed with Edwards improvement from the earlier two games I attended this year. The light has clicked on for that Edwards kid, she gets that she needs to be more aggressive in cleaning up the boards and standing tall to her opponents on defense. Getting stronger and more decisive in her decision making will only improve her game more. She was a major factor I thought in yesterday's win even if some of what she did does't show in the stat sheet. If you were not at yesterday's women's basketball game you really missed out, that was a fantastic atmosphere and how the barn should be during a basketball game, any basketball game. Finally there was some life in Williams arena and you could hear that "Barn roar". Deafening noise at times it was a lot of fun. The naysayers will say POO POO, how can you like that, and that the women's game is no good but they only mock it because they have never been to a game, or don't really know how much the college game has improved and what just a hell of a ball game that game between Minnesota and Ohio State was. IF you have not been to a womens basketball game ever or at the U you really need to check it out. A great entertainment value for my sports dollar in my opinion. The cherry on the Sundae was that the Gophers won and they beat a great team.

This game was fantastic, it was a a real contest of wills, the spirit of competition, the up and down runs, and the game had everything you could think of with two teams of skill really going at each other even with our star player getting kind of cheesed in to her final two fouls.
You could almost call it a brawl of WILL, physical and emotional energy pouring out, a real test of basketball IQ, because both teams competed at a very high level, pushing each other to see who would prevail. All of that only made the game even more entertaining than I already thought it was going to be. I feel guilty that I was late because I had to drive around an extra 15 minutes trying to find parking due to HS Hockey.
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Not sure it you should be calling out Dpo like that.:rolleyes:

Come on Deeps, admit it, you're reading this thread.:)
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
That's the 2nd home game in a row where a big Edwards pick led to a win.

At least at home, she has been doing the little things that lead to wins.
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Next year, I kinda wonder if they'll consider Fernstrom at the five so they can put Hedstrom at the four. I guess they'll have a lot of options
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
The relationship between Voelz and Freese (Oldfield) broke down during the season. And if I recall, the post exit quote attributed to Frees regarding Minnesota talent was a Voelz invention.

Here’s an article from February 7, 2002 (before an Ohio State game oddly enough) giving the flavor and the depth of the discord. One of them had to go, both of them did.

http://www.postbulletin.com/oldfiel...cle_af9ff7a2-9e40-5e15-adc3-618597d0340c.html

Here's one problem:

Pep band? Believe it or not, the absence of a pep band at the team's home games has become a quiet controversy in the Gophers athletics department. Oldfield has talked about creating a more exciting atmosphere at the games, but the use of the school's pep band is out of her control.

"We'd love to have a pep band at the games, but there's a cost factor, and we've just gone through $250,000 in budget cuts," Gophers women's athletics director Chris Voelz said. "We're hopeful we can use the university to leverage a relationship with the music department in that area."

Voelz and Oldfield met Wednesday afternoon to discuss plans for the program. Voelz expressed her full support and insisted that she and her staff have pushed for improvements before the team's surprising season. The success and national attention might have given everybody a nudge sooner than expected.


And here's a quote from Freese regarding Minnesota talent:

University of Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt, who has led the school to six national championships in the past 15 years, came to Minnesota last week to see Lakeville High School star Liz Podomonick play against Bloomington Jefferson. The 6-foot-2 junior is regarded as one of the nation's top 10 centers and forwards. Oldfield has also been to a Lakeville game this season, but she knows the battle she would face if Summitt remains interested in Podominick.

"It's exciting for me if Summitt's coming around," Oldfield said. "It's a reflection of the talent level in the state and that our program has reached another level. We're a top 20 team, and we're going to be facing other top 20 teams in recruiting the same players. I want to go up against all of the top coaches in the country. It's where I want our program to be."

Voelz is particularly sensitive to Oldfield's recruiting problems because of the NCAA matter.
Click to expand...

Was that article from before or after the pipe broke in the Pavillion, and the crowds showed up to The Barn in force? And there must not have been that much money involved, the Womens Athletic Band formed the next year, and it isn't affiliated with the marching band.

From what I've noticed, crowds at women's games are much louder and more enthusiastic on a per-person basis than corresponding crowds at men's games.
 

I had 3 daughters that played, and one son that played. I was fortunate to be able to coach two of my daughters up to 9th grade. I like the women's game equally as well as the men. Anybody that says after seeing the women play at the barn that: " I didn't have any fun" is the ultimate grump.
 

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