B1G Game 5: Gophers host Southern Cal 1-11-26

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once again GG put on the cape and SAVED the day for us.. FIVE made 3's again.. she had been perfect at the line then has missed her last 3 now, her last one against Northwestern and then her 2 today.

Mara NEEDS to take more then 4 shots.. Glenn shouldn't have more shots then her tbh.. but for some reason Mara won't demand the ball or go get it..

I thought this was Sophie better games of the season 15 points, 6 rebounds and was 7-13 from the floor.

THE STREAK IS OVER...
 

Can’t wait for the game when all five starters are on scoring. If they can pull it together they could get couple more top wins.

I hope they have money to keep GG her final year.
 

Star City said:
It goes by the opponent being ranked in the poll at the time of the game.
Whether, what matters for selection purposes, it's a Q1 or Q2 win, depends on how they do the rest of the season (they were NET 26 and probably won't go down much, if at all from this).
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Great we will take it! Rah!
 


Gophers112233 said:
once again GG put on the cape and SAVED the day for us.. FIVE made 3's again.. she had been perfect at the line then has missed her last 3 now, her last one against Northwestern and then her 2 today.

Mara NEEDS to take more then 4 shots.. Glenn shouldn't have more shots then her tbh.. but for some reason Mara won't demand the ball or go get it..

I thought this was Sophie better games of the season 15 points, 6 rebounds and was 7-13 from the floor.

THE STREAK IS OVER...
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I'm not sure I agree. Mara had one of her better games today, didn't force anything offensively, played strong defense and had 10 rebounds. She is shooting .266 from 3 point range this year, so I don't think we want her firing away at will.
 

BBJones said:
I'm not sure I agree. Mara had one of her better games today, didn't force anything offensively, played strong defense and had 10 rebounds. She is shooting .266 from 3 point range this year, so I don't think we want her firing away at will.
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she needs to have more then 4 shots..
 


Outsider said:
Why? Because you say so? Who are you? They win a game where she had 10 boards, played solid D and only had 4 shots. I don’t care how many shots she has or how much she scores as long as a W goes in the Win column.
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because it will open up the offense more? you really want Glenn chucking up 3 and off balance shots? late in games.. Id rather have Mara taking those shots.. another guard at some point needs to wake up.. maybe if mara gets into a rhyme her offense will come alive.. yeah?
 




Gophers112233 said:
because it will open up the offense more? you really want Glenn chucking up 3 and off balance shots? late in games.. Id rather have Mara taking those shots.. another guard at some point needs to wake up.. maybe if mara gets into a rhyme her offense will come alive.. yeah?
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I’ve sat here all year and listened about how she needs to find her game. We are now 15 or so games in and her shot is still AWOL. I could care less who takes the shots as long as a W follows. She is contributing in other ways.
 

Great game! I really thought it was over in the 2nd quarter when USC went on a 19-0 run and Davidson started making every shot she wanted to. I thought we were in for a 40 point night from her and that was that for the game. It's all about how you respond when they punch you in the face, and the Gophers did enough to fend them off!

I think Grace is going to start getting a lot more media attention if she keeps scoring 20 points per game and shooting 50% from 3.
 

Outsider said:
I’ve sat here all year and listened about how she needs to find her game. We are now 15 or so games in and her shot is still AWOL. I could care less who takes the shots as long as a W follows. She is contributing in other ways.
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I agree Mara is a solid player. But for some reason this fan base think she is the best player in the big ten. They think she is Catlin Clark. I listened to them claiming all the wins we would have had when she was injured. I think Tori played better as her replacement. I was glad Grace is starting to take charge. Let Mara play her part but not be the focal point.
 



Sad I couldn’t make todays game. Looks like it was not a great offensive performance, besides GG n Hart, but they found a way to win. Maybe this gives them some much needed confidence that they can finish against a ranked team. Agree with previous posters that for future success we need Battle, Braun n McKinney to be consistent.
 

Was a big W! Didn't shoot that well overall or that great of offense overall(GG had big moments), but were able to get the offensive rebounds in this game(18) and not turn the ball over the 2nd half which was the difference to squeak it out. Big W as any W in big 10 play is tough.

Lot better being 3-2 than 2-3 in big 10 play with UCLA, @Wash, @Oregon coming up next 3 games. Need to get at least 1 of the next 3 games, 2 would be great, but I think be a challenge. Personally UCLA isn't the fastest of teams, so if we can contain Betts and can get a hot night of shooting I think we have a chance. Be interesting to see if Battle be used to see about making entry paces into Betts more difficult. Battle has answered the call on some of those situations in the past. UCLA on Wednesday! Lets go!

Rah!
 

Really surprised Christian is only getting 2-5 minutes a game. Thought she would be more of a contributor. Hopefully she stays with the program/process.

Will incoming Tori O or Kussow be able to contribute next year?
 


I am hesitant to comment about Mara Braun. Tough breaks for her because injuries are outside her control.

She did everything in her power to be a star, was wow at Wayzata, looked like a star for Gophers, did have things she was working on, and then injury and injury causing disruption outside her control.

If she wants to limit shots to.protect herself and team from more disappointment, then I understand. It will be revealed when to.do more.

I have no.idea how to.get back.to how she looked before or what all is to blame. I do not know what coaches are doing. It is impossible to make sense except I feel bad for Braun.

She did have a redshirt from the injury and a senior next year. How she becomes ms.automatic again, I don't know.
 


GringaGopher said:
Sad I couldn’t make todays game. Looks like it was not a great offensive performance, besides GG n Hart, but they found a way to win. Maybe this gives them some much needed confidence that they can finish against a ranked team. Agree with previous posters that for future success we need Battle, Braun n McKinney to be consistent.
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The way Minnesota found a way to win was clamping down on defense, taking care of the ball, clearing rebounds and one of our scorers got really hot. USC's defense against us and the big offensive second quarter by Davenport was the reason they surged ahead in the 2nd quarter.
 


Braun played a pretty good game, maybe not as many points as we would like but 10 rebounds and her defense. There were a few possessions in the 4th quarter when Braun was guarding Jazzy and she totally locked her up, great effort. The whole team played great defense on USC when it mattered in the last quarter.
 

Chico Gopher said:
The way Minnesota found a way to win was clamping down on defense, taking care of the ball, clearing rebounds and one of our scorers got really hot. USC's defense against us and the big offensive second quarter by Davenport was the reason they surged ahead in the 2nd quarter.
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Davidson?
 

Agree that Braun played a heck of game, did the things that won't show up in the stats. She didn't take any bad run and gun shots like she has in previous games.

Still think she needs to get stronger and be more physical on her drives.
 

DietCokeFan said:
Agree that Braun played a heck of game, did the things that won't show up in the stats. She didn't take any bad run and gun shots like she has in previous games.

Still think she needs to get stronger and be more physical on her drives.
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Related to this is that the 3 pt line has moved since she started at Minnesota. The new distance means you have to be stronger to maintain your form and I wonder if this hasn’t affected her.
 

Outsider said:
Related to this is that the 3 pt line has moved since she started at Minnesota. The new distance means you have to be stronger to maintain your form and I wonder if this hasn’t affected her.
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Potentially impacted by needing to push off her repaired foot.
 

FINALLY GOT THAT RANKED WIN! No matter how it may have looked, they got it done, and that’s the important thing.

I thought it was one of Sophie’s best games of her Gopher Career and for sure her best this season. She knew she had the mismatch and often looked to take advantage of it. She also stayed active on the glass and even went to the ground once to save a possession and get the ball over to a guard. That kind of effort pays off when every point matters.

Also, hats off to Grace once again. She has been her best in the biggest games this season so far. She is putting up 26 ppg in the 3 Big Ten matchups against ranked opponents (Maryland, Michigan, USC), and you could see how impactful she is on the court. It’s truly difficult to find minutes to get her a rest.



Now the Mara convo on here. First, I want to say that yes, Mara Braun should have more than 4 shot attempts in a game. Does that mean I feel she should force shot attempts to get them? no. However, Glenn went 1-9, Tori 2-12, and Amaya 1-6 (although she didn’t take a single shot in the 2nd half). There could be shots in there for Mara that would be a higher %.

Glenn, I felt forced on some of her shots. The quick transition 3, with a couple of the runners off balance, was a bad shot. Also, there is a saying in basketball. Sometimes you are open for a reason. She had open looks, but that may have been by design of USC. I think especially her 3 in the left corner, she was so wide open that she had an entirely open lane. She is quick…go right to the basket. At worst, you will pull 1-2 defenders closing to you and get a teammate open; at best, they don’t close out, and you get an open layup.

Another aspect of Mara. She was the ball handler in the final minutes, closing out the game. Amaya was very turnover-happy and mid-range jumper-happy again yesterday. I actually like the call to give your next most seasoned (with the Gophers) player in Braun, the ball, and let her bring it up and run the offense. That also could have played into her not taking more shots, but I never once questioned her decision-making in those final minutes. She handled pressure, pushed it up with pace, and didn’t throw low-percentage passes.



In terms of our offensive movement, or people saying we are over-dribbling. I could be wrong, I fully admit, but at times it seems to me we are extremely focused on not turning over the ball. In doing that, we likely don’t make flashy or risky passes. We almost will always make an easy pass to the person closest to the ball handler, or will only pass if it’s almost a guarantee to get through (yes I’m aware Amaya breaks this thought but the rest usually don’t)

It’s also why I feel we play slower at times. Helps limit the risk of out-of-control turnovers. Example. After the Glenn steal with gophers up 53-50, she kicked out to Amaya and on the opposite wing Mara was open and asking for the ball for a 3. However you saw Amaya hesitate to make the cross-court pass knowing USC was running back and that it wasn’t a guarantee pass (still should of made it but you saw the hesitation). Granted it worked out and Grace hit the 3 but it was an example to me of not making any sort of risky pass no matter the low nature risk of it.
 

Glenn played a nice game, with some fine defense. But, I will happily live the rest of my life without ever seeing her shoot a BB again. Even her open layups become her "signature" runner as it’s described by Ms. Excitable on B1G+.

This teams competitiveness and combatitiveness is exemplary. The defense is top notch, but it puzzles me how Braun, Battle, and McKinney can have fallen off offensively this much at this stage in their careers? I am in the camp that would like to see Cristian get a few more minutes to see if she could get comfortable, especially since our bench is so short. She does play some defense, rebounds, and is not really a gunner like the woman from WI. that was here last year and left.

That said I love watching them play and never miss a game. They will battle you to the end.
 

Outsider said:
Related to this is that the 3 pt line has moved since she started at Minnesota. The new distance means you have to be stronger to maintain your form and I wonder if this hasn’t affected her.
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For me its the 3s where she is clearly settling for a Caitlin Clark shot. We didn't see that yesterday, which to me was game changing.
 

We also need to become USC fans and get them to start winning so that win becomes a Q1 win. Currently we're 0-3 on Quad 1, 3-1 Quad 2, 1-0 Quad 3, and 8-0 Quad 4. NET ranking of 14.

So while have no bad losses need to get a few more big wins
 

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