WBB: Gophers v. Towson-Game 7 at Williams (12/6)

Ignatius L Hoops

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There’s not much to say about Towson State. They are 2-5 having two wins versus UMBC, 61-51 and Western Illinois, 88-77. They’ve lost to Rider, George Mason, Coppin State, North Florida and Cornell. After playing Minnesota they take on Auburn.

Towson is 47-149 from three point range and assistant coach Christie Rogers was an assistant to Stollings for one year at Winthrop.

I suppose there is this from Garry Wills’ “Nixon Agonistes”:

“He rose above the podium squinting and lidded, like a friendly mole, all smiles:”


http://library.towson.edu/cdm/ref/collection/photo/id/45
 






A Sunday night non-conference win (105-86) versus Towson State was more interesting than anticipated. First off, the Tiger’s Dominique Johnson put on a three point shooting performance (9-14) we haven’t seen at Williams since Brittany Rayburn knocked down 12 treys for Purdue. The difference tonight was that after Johnson’s two threes in the first minute of the second half (giving her seven) Stollings called time and switched to a box and one with Bailey being the one. Mikayla shut Johnson down from behind the arc until there were about two minutes remaining in the game. Johnson finished with a game high 37 points. Still, a big thanks to Mikayla-it could have been much worse.

Unfortunately, Johnson in the last minute of play got out of control on a drive collided with a couple of players and fell to the court backwards whiplashing her head to the court. She left game more than a little dazed.

Johnson’s other impact on the game was sticking like glue to Joanne P Mccallie’s “irritant” Carlie Wagner. It was a part of a triangle and two defense that Towson played against Banham and Wagner. I doubt Carlie has been guarded more tightly even though she still managed 27 points and 10 rebounds.
The Gophers attacked the triangle and two early by leaving Wagner and Banham out near mid court and driving the lane. Although Minnesota missed a lot of bunnies early, the strategy put Towson’s posts in foul trouble early and rendered them ineffective.

Nothing was comfortable until mid-way through the fourth quarter when Minnesota’s five guard lineup finally took control. There were plenty of good stat lines. Here’s Shayne Mullaney’s: 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists. Not bad considering Shayne missed three or four layups and got benched early in the first quarter.
 

The five guard lineup continues:

Minutes played
.
40 Wagner*
40 Bailey*
38 Banham*
37 Mullaney*
33 Hedstrom
6 Barnes
3 Edwards*
2 Garven
1 Lamke

Minnesota was 15/38 behind the arc. Towson was 12/30. C
 

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/120615aag.html

And some quotes:

On Joanna Hedstrom's versatility...

"We use her almost everywhere on the courts, and, against smaller teams, she's able to go play the five for us. They were pretty guard-dominated so we were able to utilize her. They were playing some junk defense through the first half. They were playing a lot of trained 1-2 on Rachel (Banham) and Carlie (Wagner), so we like Jo being out there to give us the 3-point threat."

On Minnesota’s centers tonight...

"The matchup wasn't good for them. We were going against a team that was pretty much all guards in what they decided to do, and it wasn't a good matchup for us in that way. Then, offensively with them playing the triangle-and-two, it gave us a much better look to have someone like Joanna out there with the offense we were running at the time."
 

A Sunday night non-conference win (105-86) versus Towson State was more interesting than anticipated. First off, the Tiger’s Dominique Johnson put on a three point shooting performance (9-14) we haven’t seen at Williams since Brittany Rayburn knocked down 12 treys for Purdue. The difference tonight was that after Johnson’s two threes in the first minute of the second half (giving her seven) Stollings called time and switched to a box and one with Bailey being the one. Mikayla shut Johnson down from behind the arc until there were about two minutes remaining in the game. Johnson finished with a game high 37 points. Still, a big thanks to Mikayla-it could have been much worse.

Unfortunately, Johnson in the last minute of play got out of control on a drive collided with a couple of players and fell to the court backwards whiplashing her head to the court. She left game more than a little dazed.

Johnson’s other impact on the game was sticking like glue to Joanne P Mccallie’s “irritant” Carlie Wagner. It was a part of a triangle and two defense that Towson played against Banham and Wagner. I doubt Carlie has been guarded more tightly even though she still managed 27 points and 10 rebounds.
The Gophers attacked the triangle and two early by leaving Wagner and Banham out near mid court and driving the lane. Although Minnesota missed a lot of bunnies early, the strategy put Towson’s posts in foul trouble early and rendered them ineffective.

Nothing was comfortable until mid-way through the fourth quarter when Minnesota’s five guard lineup finally took control. There were plenty of good stat lines. Here’s Shayne Mullaney’s: 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists. Not bad considering Shayne missed three or four layups and got benched early in the first quarter.

Thanks for the recap. Beginning to wonder about Stollings' use of her bench. Or, more accurately, her lack of use of her bench. Things like not running people down, team morale, building depth, and player development that might be pretty good reasons to give your substitutes more than 12 minutes total in a game.
 



Thanks for the recap. Beginning to wonder about Stollings' use of her bench. Or, more accurately, her lack of use of her bench. Things like not running people down, team morale, building depth, and player development that might be pretty good reasons to give your substitutes more than 12 minutes total in a game.

She has 2 or 3 players becoming eligible in dec/jan. Wonder if she figures those will be major parts of the rotation.
 

She has 2 or 3 players becoming eligible in dec/jan. Wonder if she figures those will be major parts of the rotation.


It’s a disappointment that Danielle Garven is a bit at sea when she is on the court. Last night, her first short stint ended after she was called for a moving screen. With about 30 seconds left in the game she picked up her dribble in the back court, got doubled and had the ball stripped for a layup. Presumably, Allina Starr will see substantial playing time once she is eligible; but I don’t recall how good a player she is. It would be a better sign that Kynadi Johnson is ready to play if she was participating in warmups instead of wearing them.

Last night in the three on three game, Karley Barnes had several missed offensive opportunities. Twice she was isolated with a defender at the free throw line. Karley declined to drive or pop a jumper. The third time she was isolated, Mullaney broke free under the basket and Karley was late with the pass. Right now the offense runs better with Hedstrom. Hopefully we will see more from Barnes this week.

On the positive side, Carlie Wagner is truly becoming an irritant. As previously mentioned on this board, she is playing with confidence. She’s beating defenders off the dribble and getting to the rim. She’s coming off of screens, beating players to the base line and getting to the rim. She’s taking a dribble, stepping back (or sideways) and knocking down threes. Last night, after Carlie had the ball stripped by Johnson, Carlie chased her down the court and delivered a hard foul preventing the layup. Wagner playing with confidence and a little fire is fun to watch.
 

That lineup won't fly in the B1G. She should have Barns and Edwards in there on a high/low combo to get them some expierence.
 

It’s a disappointment that Danielle Garven is a bit at sea when she is on the court. Last night, her first short stint ended after she was called for a moving screen. With about 30 seconds left in the game she picked up her dribble in the back court, got doubled and had the ball stripped for a layup. Presumably, Allina Starr will see substantial playing time once she is eligible; but I don’t recall how good a player she is. It would be a better sign that Kynadi Johnson is ready to play if she was participating in warmups instead of wearing them.

Last night in the three on three game, Karley Barnes had several missed offensive opportunities. Twice she was isolated with a defender at the free throw line. Karley declined to drive or pop a jumper. The third time she was isolated, Mullaney broke free under the basket and Karley was late with the pass. Right now the offense runs better with Hedstrom. Hopefully we will see more from Barnes this week.

On the positive side, Carlie Wagner is truly becoming an irritant. As previously mentioned on this board, she is playing with confidence. She’s beating defenders off the dribble and getting to the rim. She’s coming off of screens, beating players to the base line and getting to the rim. She’s taking a dribble, stepping back (or sideways) and knocking down threes. Last night, after Carlie had the ball stripped by Johnson, Carlie chased her down the court and delivered a hard foul preventing the layup. Wagner playing with confidence and a little fire is fun to watch.

Good to hear about Wagner. Was often tentative last year.

Haven't had a chance to watch yet. First Tv game is Jan 7 vs Illinois.
 



Hey Iggy, is Aubrey King still on the team?

Adorable young lady and such a great story.
 



Thanks for the recap. Beginning to wonder about Stollings' use of her bench. Or, more accurately, her lack of use of her bench. Things like not running people down, team morale, building depth, and player development that might be pretty good reasons to give your substitutes more than 12 minutes total in a game.

Totally short sighted for all those reasons, plus it girls basketball. Guys you can play 5 or 6 people in basketball if you have no other choice, not in girls I don't think. Of the 5 that play, 3 are seniors correct?
Is she planning on coaching the team next year? Even if they add 3 contributors, they'll still be at 5 again. Bizarre... Playing 5, somebody gets hurt...you have nobody to put in the game anybody can count on.
Foul trouble, sickness, eligibility, injury, partner problems, discipline issues, flagrant fouls, family emergencies, quitting, etc etc...there are lot of ways to be without players
 





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