Gopher Basketball
The Gopher guards were drilled by a quicker and more athletic MSU backcourt in Thursday’s loss. The Spartans 4 main perimeter players outscored the Gophers 4 main perimeter players, 57-8. The Gophers were 0 for 17 from 3-point range, including 0 for 13 from the Gopher guards. None of the 3 starting Gopher perimeter players scored until there were 7 minutes remaining in the game.
Shannon Bolden and Shannon Schonrock were held scoreless for the entire game. April Calhoun scored 3 points.
Michigan State, (21-3, 10-2), hit its 1st 5 shots, never looked back, and created a rare spectacle inside Williams Arena–a crowd that headed for the exits early.
For the Gophers, it was Janel McCarville and Jamie Broback against the world. McCarville scored 17 points, shooting 7 of 13 from the field. She held MSU’s Kelli Roehrig to only 4 points on 4 shots. Broback contributed 16 points on 7 of 14 from the field.
Michigan State had 4 players in double figures: Rene Haynes (22 points off the bench), Kristin Haynie (18 points), Liz Shimek (15 points), and Lindsay Bowen (13 points).
The Gophers, (18-5, 8-3) had entered the game only a game behind conference-leading Ohio State, but fell 2 games back with the defeat.
Purdue Next. The Gophers host the Purdue Boilermakers, (l3-9, 6-5), in a nationally-televised game on ESPN2, 4 p.m. Sunday at Williams Arena.
The Gophers defeated Purdue, 58-38, in their 1st meeting of the year on January 13. Purdue will have had a week to prepare for the Gophers after upsetting Penn State, 50-44, in their last game, a home game. Purdue is led by sophomores Erin Lawless with 14.3 points per game and Katie Gearlds at 13 points per game. Senior Emily Heikes leads the Boilermakers in rebounds with 6.4 per game.
Notes and Observations:
- Gopher guard Kelly Roysland stretched her school record streak of consecutive made free throws to 33 before missing in the 2nd half. A knowledgeable Williams Arena crowd gave her a standing ovation after the miss to recognize her accomplishment. Roysland has started a new streak; it’s now at 1.
- Gopher post player Liz Podominick was not in uniform Thursday due to mononucleosis. Gopher freshman post Natasha Williams missed her 4th straight game due to illness. As a result, freshman Lauren Lacey has received more playing time, including 11 minutes against MSU. Lacey has played well in recent games and she can be expected to be a major contributor next year with the vacancy left by McCarville in the middle.
- The highly-touted Gopher defense has struggled against some of the best teams it has played. A defense that prides itself in holding opponents to 50 points or under has allowed these totals in its 5 losses: 72 to Washington, 75 to No. 1-ranked LSU, 81 to Penn State, and 62 and 79 in 2 losses to MSU.
- The offensive and defensive shortcomings of the Gopher perimeter players have been exposed in the losses against LSU, MSU, and PSU. April Calhoun and Shannon Bolden are very good defensive players, but neither is much of a factor offensively. Bolden is in the same mode that Kadija Anderson was in for a good part of last year, where she doesn’t look to shoot or drive the lane.
Shannon Schonrock is a very good college point guard who has worked hard to successfully improve her outside shooting with a quicker release. She’s also improved her ability to pass the ball into the post. That being said, she also has size, strength, and even quickness limitations that hamper her against teams with very good guards (MSU, PSU, OSU, LSU).
The lack of scoring by the guards against some of these top teams has forced McCarville and Broback (and sometimes Schonrock) to provide all of the offensive punch. Playing 3 against 5 or 4 against 5 in the offensive end won’t bode well for the Gophers in games against these quality teams. Coach Borton may have to consider using Kelly Roysland more in these games. She’s not as good defensively as Bolden or Calhoun, but she’s adequate, and she’s more of a scoring threat.
Last year with Lindsay Whalen‘s ability to create shots and penetrate, the Gophers were usually able to function well offensively against good teams. Although they still occasionally struggled offensively against teams with quick and athletic guards (i.e.–Ohio State), they were usually able to survive based on Whalen’s ability alone.
On Pam Borton’s Holiday wish list…a strong, athletic guard who can score to complement the guards she already has? Is Tanisha Wright available in a trade? The Gophers are eventually going to have to recruit someone to fill this bill.
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