All Things 2013-2014 Gopher Womens Season Thread

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Interesting points.

Teague definitely is faced with a gutty call as soon as the women's basketball season concludes.
 

gregbrady said:
Just wanted to post some thoughts & a couple of questions. I know the program has been down for a while & having no bench is unheard of in this day, but Pam is winning games. What's her buyout after the extension know one knew about? Also, does anyone think that the Brenny case (women's golf coach gets 350k in a lawsuit against the U) may have an effect on NT's decision to keep or fire Borton? NT has taken a few hits as far as money goes, Tubby buyout, UNC buyout, and now this lawsuit(though this happened under Maturi) about a lesbian coach. Seems to me that all this may weigh on NT as he is also trying to raise money for the facilities. I'll hang up and listen to your answers!
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Borton's buyout is about $165,000 per yr and there are two years remaining on her contract.

Hard to know what all Teague is weighing. Hard to know if there are some potential big donors that are big Borton backers but I suppose that could be an issue.
 

There is a pretty consistent amount of bitching and snide comments about how women's sports are unduly favored on GH, but yet there is this worry about doing anything because it is a women's sport. The avid women's basketball fans I know, and I consider myself one, simply want the decision made based on what is best for the program. Borton has had the program on a downward slide for years if you look at NCAA appearances, attendance, level of recruiting, player development, etc. She isn't winning games anymore than Tubby was. How does the lawsuit factor into this exactly just because she's a lesbian? Show me where she's been discriminated against. Again, I'll point out. If you're raising money for facilities, you're stupid to keep a coach who has sucked the life out of a program. You're also stupid to keep a coach who has gotten the program to a point where you are losing tons of money because of the loss of tickets sales. Her buyout is chump's change in the larger picture. You've got a women's program sitting there where the right replacement could immediately create a boost in tickets sales and excitement that would surpass anything Pitino has done with the men's program. Banham, Zahui B, and Wagner as a start could get you a lot of interest from hot young coaches. If they lose Thursday like a lot of people expect, a lot of people are going to be surprised and upset if Borton is still the coach Friday afternoon based on how Tubby fared.
 

gregbrady said:
Just wanted to post some thoughts & a couple of questions. I know the program has been down for a while & having no bench is unheard of in this day, but Pam is winning games. What's her buyout after the extension know one knew about? Also, does anyone think that the Brenny case (women's golf coach gets 350k in a lawsuit against the U) may have an effect on NT's decision to keep or fire Borton? NT has taken a few hits as far as money goes, Tubby buyout, UNC buyout, and now this lawsuit(though this happened under Maturi) about a lesbian coach. Seems to me that all this may weigh on NT as he is also trying to raise money for the facilities. I'll hang up and listen to your answers!
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I don't think any of those things will make him more hesitant to make a move. Either it's time to move on and try something new, or you feel the coach is doing the job. I know many of us are not enamored with Borton, but it's Teague's call. I think he will make a move and bring in someone who has a chance to be a splash kind of coach. That's my gut, but we'll see.
 

Sparlimb said:
I don't think any of those things will make him more hesitant to make a move. Either it's time to move on and try something new, or you feel the coach is doing the job. I know many of us are not enamored with Borton, but it's Teague's call. I think he will make a move and bring in someone who has a chance to be a splash kind of coach. That's my gut, but we'll see.
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You want to really take a chance?

How about Marquette assistant Tyler Summitt. He has basically been coaching since he was 10.
 


Correction to post 519

JackJD said:
...This will be the first time Minnesota has played at Frost Arena. The last meeting between the two schools was 12/9/08, SDSU 65, Minn. 55. The prior game, 1/14/07, SDSU 59, Minn 58, ended with some question about when time ran out....
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The Minnesota women played at Frost Arena in 1978. SDSU and Minnesota women may have still been in the AIAW at that time...the NCAA brought in women's sports in the late 1970s and I haven't bothered to look up whether that was before 1978. SDSU was NCAA - Division II in 1978.

The overall record between the schools is 4-1 in SDSU's favor.
 

Attendance projections for Thursday's game at SDSU are 3000-3500. The game will be televised on Midco Sports (covers SD, ND and major part of Western MN).
 

Big Ten women's basketball has no elite star power

A little off topic. ...

Big Ten women's basketball is in a serious down cycle. All 5 NCAA teams advanced to the Round of 32, but only Penn State (a host team) moves on to the Sweet 16. It's gotten to the point where if a Big Ten women's team gets to the Sweet 16 it's a major accomplishment. They're light years behind the other major conferences. Of course, everyone is light years behind UConn. It has to suck being put in UConn's region because that means there's no chance to reach the Final 4.
 

JackJD said:
Attendance projections for Thursday's game at SDSU are 3000-3500. The game will be televised on Midco Sports (covers SD, ND and major part of Western MN).
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Thanks for the update, didn't think it would be on anywhere but I get Midco so I might have to check some of it out tomorrow between watching the Sweet 16 games.
 



JackJD said:
Attendance projections for Thursday's game at SDSU are 3000-3500. The game will be televised on Midco Sports (covers SD, ND and major part of Western MN).
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Thanks for the heads up! As it also covers some of us in the boonies all of 60 miles north of the U Campus, I'll be able to watch.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
The big Swede might be older, wiser, and stronger but from what I've seen Wagner is just a flat out better player and much more valuable player that can create on her own or for others. There is absolutely no excuse if the women can't make a run next year with players like Banham, Wagner, and Zahui B.
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Aside from the occasional blocked shot, who's going to play defense?
 

More info on Midco coverage of the game (7:00 Central tip off): "Thursday’s game will be televised live regionally on Midco Sports Net (626 HD channel, standard channel 26). Tom Nieman will call the play-by-play and Brad Newitt will provide color commentary."

Nieman does an okay job but understand that he's an SDSU grad (former SDSU baseball player) and will be very familiar with the Jackrabbit lineup. He'll try to not be a homer but a Gopher fan may sense some leanings.

We're a little concerned about the weather. I think if we had normal temps for this time of year, the crowd could get close to 5,000 but looks like snow is on the way so 3,000 to 3,500 may be the best we'll do. (General admission tickets are $20.00 if you can make it to Brookings!) All the seats in Frost are good seats.

There are many connections among the players on the two teams. For example, Banham and another Gopher played on an AAU team with SDSU's Boever and Strop. Several of the players played against each other in high school. Here's the lineup from SDSU...you may recognize some of the Minnesota players' names (probable starters: * )

Chynna Stevens, G/F 6-0 Fr., Clark, SD
Megan Stuart F 6-2 Jr., Roseville, MN
* Gabby Boever G 5-9 Jr., Worthington, MN
Kerri Young G/F 6-0 Fr., Mitchell, SD
Tara Heiser G 5-9 Sr., Watertown, SD
Jessica Hart G 5-9 So., Eagen, MN
* Hannah Strop F 6-0 Sr., New Prague, MN
* Steph Paluch G 5-10 Sr., Pierre, SD
Clarissa Ober C 6-2 Fr., Glencoe, MN
Chloe Cornemann G 5-8 So., Yankton, SD
Rachel Walters G/F 6-1 Jr., Sioux Falls, SD
* Megan Waytashek G/F 6-0 Jr., Lino Lakes, MN
Tiffaney Flaata C 6-2 Fr. Savage, MN (won't play--is redshirted)
* Mariah Clarin F 6-1 Jr., Princeton, MN
 

Now that Borton will be shown the door...What was your favorite Pam Borton memory after lucking into a final four with Whalen and McCarville?
 



Defeat to the Jacks is imminent. I wonder if Teague will determine Borton's fate immediately or wait until the men have concluded their season.
 

Caught bits and pieces of the game and overall it just seemed like a real ugly bad basketball game all around. If this is the last game for Borton I would say it is pretty fitting with how ugly and bad it has been.
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> women's basketball seasons comes to an end as South Dakota State defeats <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Minnesota&src=hash">#Minnesota</a> 70-62 in the WNIT. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23BortonWatchBeginsNow&src=hash">#BortonWatchBeginsNow</a></p>— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) <a href="https://twitter.com/GopherHole/statuses/449363886542954496">March 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
 

Sid Hartman said:
Now that Borton will be shown the door...What was your favorite Pam Borton memory after lucking into a final four with Whalen and McCarville?
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Winning an NCAA game over ND, that one time? 2008? 2009? So long ago, I'm unsure.
 

Had to laugh at the comment that women's sports are favored…. Do you mean to say that Borton staying on be an example of women's sports being favored, or an example of it not being favored?
 

sunnyday2 said:
Had to laugh at the comment that women's sports are favored…. Do you mean to say that Borton staying on be an example of women's sports being favored, or an example of it not being favored?
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Borton staying on would be fear of doing your job and fear of getting sued. Guessing Norwood has a spine, time will tell
 

Attendance was 3,320. The weather scared off some fans...actual ticket sales (many sold online) much greater than 3,320. SDSU hosts Indiana on Sunday and the crowd could hit 5,000.

Banham and the Swede are both the real deal. Remainder of the team is good but, as Gopher fans know, going into any game with seven dressed players just doesn't work. SDSU played 11 players and I was impressed with the stamina of the seven Gophers (and very glad they didn't have more than seven dressed).
 

Is Norwood in town?

If so I'm guessing Borton is gone by noon.
 

JackJD said:
Banham and the Swede are both the real deal. Remainder of the team is good but, as Gopher fans know, going into any game with seven dressed players just doesn't work. SDSU played 11 players and I was impressed with the stamina of the seven Gophers (and very glad they didn't have more than seven dressed).
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Good luck the rest of the NIT. My bias against Borton continues but IMO she hasn't exactly forged a cohesive team this year with those two talents. First half tonight Zahui couldn't be stopped. If you noticed, in the second half Banham hit some shots but it's like the rest of the team was taken out of the game as she dominated the ball. Too often this year it was just Banham doing everything and the other four shuffling around. I think it carried over to their defensive effort also.

Any worries in Brookings about your coach leaving, like maybe for a bigger school a bit east of you that hopefully will soon be looking for a new women's coach?
 

Mulligan said:
Good luck the rest of the NIT. My bias against Borton continues but IMO she hasn't exactly forged a cohesive team this year with those two talents. First half tonight Zahui couldn't be stopped. If you noticed, in the second half Banham hit some shots but it's like the rest of the team was taken out of the game as she dominated the ball. Too often this year it was just Banham doing everything and the other four shuffling around. I think it carried over to their defensive effort also.

Any worries in Brookings about your coach leaving, like maybe for a bigger school a bit east of you that hopefully will soon be looking for a new women's coach?
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I think the consensus is we will lose AJ someday but the likelihood of him going to Minnesota is not as strong as some may think. First, will Minnesota really dump a coach who just won 22 games? Second, what' s the likelihood Minnesota will hire a male to coach the women's team? Third, AJ and his wife have two little kids and they really like living in Brookings-- in spite of what our friends at places like NDSU may say, Brookings has become a great college town (pop. about 22,000). But, I suppose there will be a day...almost happened a few years ago when AJ was on his way to UW Green Bay to be introduced as the new coach when he changed his mind in the Minneapolis airport.

If Minnesota looked over its west boundary, the AD will look at AJ and the head women's coach at USD in Vermillion, Amy Williams. Williams just completed her second season leading USD. Her team upset SDSU in the Summit League Tourney to advance to the NCAA (lost first round to Stanford). I think any objective person who watched the game would say SDSU failed to show up but even so, USD is a decent team and Williams is an excellent coach. (She played at Nebraska and has a successful coaching background prior to USD.)
 



JackJD said:
I think the consensus is we will lose AJ someday but the likelihood of him going to Minnesota is not as strong as some may think. First, will Minnesota really dump a coach who just won 22 games? Second, what' s the likelihood Minnesota will hire a male to coach the women's team? Third, AJ and his wife have two little kids and they really like living in Brookings-- in spite of what our friends at places like NDSU may say, Brookings has become a great college town (pop. about 22,000). But, I suppose there will be a day...almost happened a few years ago when AJ was on his way to UW Green Bay to be introduced as the new coach when he changed his mind in the Minneapolis airport.

If Minnesota looked over its west boundary, the AD will look at AJ and the head women's coach at USD in Vermillion, Amy Williams. Williams just completed her second season leading USD. Her team upset SDSU in the Summit League Tourney to advance to the NCAA (lost first round to Stanford). I think any objective person who watched the game would say SDSU failed to show up but even so, USD is a decent team and Williams is an excellent coach. (She played at Nebraska and has a successful coaching background prior to USD.)
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Brookings is a nice town, and SDSU is a good gig. As is often the case, if he leaves it'll be the lure of a much bigger paycheck that'll be the deciding factor.

When it comes to Borton, this isn't as much of a slam dunk as some think or hope. The team did alright in the end, especially considering the loss of Mullaney, who was a key player. They recovered nicely from a bad start to the conference schedule. If Borton is replaced it'll be for her body of work including the steady decline of the program as well as the failure to get the team to the NCAA's with a rare talent like Banham. And similar to the Tubby Smith matter, it'll be the things an AD sees from day to day that we fans are not privy to.
 

Borton has to go. Virtually empty arenas, lots of "home grown" talent that inevitably goes elsewhere and virtually no success in Conference and the NCAA. Those who support Women's Sports should be the most vocal ones on getting her out of here. The U has had great success with volleyball and hockey. Can't keep letting basketball whither on the vine.
 

It is hard for me to imagine that a few wins late in 2014 would get a stay of execution. 22 wins doesn't change average attendance of 2,000, barely 1/6 of what was inherited. It doesn't change that the 2013s were considered one of MN's best recruiting classes in years, and Pam went 0-for-6 on the best of them. Hedstrom was generally regarded as bottom of the top 10 or even outside the top 10. Meanwhile Nia Coffey (NU), Rebekah Dahlman (Vandy), Seanna Johnson (Iowa St), Jessica January (DePaul), Jade Martin (Georgetown) and Allina Starr (Auburn) are all on their way to great college careers, and 2012 Marissa Janning is Big East PoY at Creighton. And Pam didn't get a single one of them. Too many of MN's elite girls, when they are freshmen and sophomores, may not know where they want to go yet, but many of them know they don't want to play at MN.

Heck, SDSU probably has better MN talent than the Gophers do. Iowa has better MN talent than the Gophers do. A few wins in March, after your season (NCAA tournament chance) is already over, doesn't change the negatives associated with the program.
 

Any chance NT will wait until after the men's NIT and/or the men's hockey tourney is finished before he renders his public verdict on Borton?
 

I would say the longer this goes on the more likely Borton stays. If she isn't canned by tomorrow, she'll be the coach next year. Whatever Teague's intentions are, I think he's seen the program the past two years and where it's going to know one way or the other.
 

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