B1G Game 11: Gophers visit Purdue (2-8-18)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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Purdue is on a run. Winners of six of their last seven the Boilers have hit their stride. Yes, they’ve had some luck-please note last week’s overtime win in Ann Arbor. Trailing by 16 with 7 minutes remaining, Purdue rallied to tie with .7 left on the clock. And still they needed Michigan’s Kayla Robbins to miss two free throws at the end of regulation. In overtime, the Boilers Karissa McLaughlin hit a couple of threes setting up a Boiler 81=79 victory. It was Purdue’s signature win this season and a nice turnaround for a team which during the non-conference season lost at home to Ball State 60-66 and Ohio University 71-77.

Yesterday Purdue took care of business in Champaign 73-54. Illinois did close to within six early in the third quarter before Purdue cut off the Illini surge.

Other than the Michigan victory, the most notable Purdue win was probably the hot shooting night versus Penn State. Purdue shot a Boiler record 73.5 % from the field. (Harris scored 27 points on 12-14 shooting and Oden 21 points one 9-11 shooting). Despite the hot shooting, Penn State was within 8 at the end of the third quarter 65-57 before Purdue finished off the Lady Lions.

Purdue normally uses a seven player rotation five of which are guards. They are sometimes plagued by turnovers. At Nebraska 21 Boiler turnovers plus some foul trouble helped the Huskers defeat Purdue 75-51. Early in the B1G season Purdue played some pretty ugly low scoring games; 57-35, 47-33 and 58-50. Scoring has ratcheted up as the season progressed. In other words, Purdue is a typical Sharon Versyp team, somehow they manage to pull it together just in time for an NCAA bid. Minnesota is searching for its own NCAA bid and could use a win in what should be a fun guard versus guard matchup against the Boilers.

Last Meeting: In Williams Arena the Boilers, leading at the half 33-30, put the Gophers away for good in the fourth quarter for a 67-54 victory. Morrissette led Purdue with 23 points and Harris contributed 12. For Minnesota, Wagner led the scoring with 17 and Bell finished with 14 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Tinjum had 10 points and 11 rebounds.


B1G Wins: Wisconsin 57-35, Rutgers 47-33, @ Iowa 76-70, Northwestern 65-60, Penn State 88-73, @ Michigan 81-79 OT and @ Illinois 73-54.

B1G Losses: @ Rutgers 50-58, @ Indiana 54-72, and @ Nebraska 51-75.



Starters (B1G Stats):

6’1” F So. Ae’Rianna Harris 10.7 points and 7.3 rebounds/game
5’7” G Fr. Karissa McLaughlin 9.6 points/game
5’10” G Sr. Andreona Keys 14.2 points and 5.1 rebounds/game
5’8” G So. Dominique Oden 15.7 points/game
5’9” G So. Lamina Cooper 9.4 points/game


Bench:

6’6” F Jr. Nora Kiesler
6’0” G Fr. Tamara Farquhar
 

Should be no problem going 4 guard against these guys. Maybe even start Bello in the post?
 

http://www.jconline.com/story/sport...s-oden-showcasing-more-versatility/311276002/

Dominique Oden:

Oden is more aware of head coach Sharon Versyp’s system compared to last year, giving her the confidence to find openings and attack. She’s scored more than 20 points in three straight games and is averaging 21.2 points the last six games.

“Aggressiveness and actually looking for my shot and not just running through the plays,” Oden said. “It’s not something I’ve done in the past. I’ve just stayed in the system and now I’m seeing more opportunities.”

Most opponents look to take away Oden’s 3-point attempts. But her midrange game continues to make strides, evident by the recent stretch. She’s shooting 66.7 percent (30 of 45) from 2-point range the last six games.

Oden has countered what defenses are trying to take away with great success.

“She’s always had it in her; it’s just a matter of her believing in herself enough to do that,” Morgan said. “She’s always been able to mix it up. It does make her hard to guard because you have to figure out what you want to try and take away from there.”

Morgan calls Oden’s jumpers in transition “as good as a layup.” But here’s what’s going on – a bulk of Oden’s baskets are jump shots. They’re in transition or in the halfcourt set. Against Penn State, all nine of her field goals were jumpers as she scored a career-high 26 points.

In Sunday’s win, Illinois respected her 3-point shot, creating more opportunities closer to the basket.

“It left me open for the midrange more but people will start to adjust because I am getting to the basket more,” Oden said. “It’s also part of my game – getting to the basket has made them adjust the other way.”..

...Her overall shooting percentage has increased to 40.9. Last year, she finished at 36.5. She currently leads the Boilermakers in scoring (15.7) in league action as opposed to averaging 9.1 as a freshman. Her 50.9 shooting percentage is ahead of last year’s 38.7 percent pace.

Oden made 25 3-pointers in 16 conference games last season. She’s sitting at 21 with six games to play. And she’s doing more with fewer attempts. Oden is averaging 1.48 points per field goal attempt against league teams. Iowa’s Megan Gustafson leads the conference at 1.69.

Oden’s confidence continues to grow but so does the trust the coaching staff has in her. She hit the game-tying basket near the end of regulation in last week’s come-from-behind win at Michigan.

“I’ve been put in a position to make the big shots, like the one coach put me in at Michigan when she called the play that she did,” Oden said
 




Sad to give up the big lead, but they held on for the nice road win.

Bell seemed a little headier with her play today.

teamstats.jpg
 

Wow thats a nice free throw advantage for a road game. Did the majority come before end of game fouling?
 


A wonderful, let's do what's necessary, win. Destiny Pitts kicked it off with a terrific 13 point first quarter (a layup, a jumper with an and one, a three pointer, three free throws after getting fouled on a three and finally a jumper with :37 seconds left). Carlie capped the first quarter with a buzzer beating three for a 29-27 Gopher lead. Minnesota opened up a 16 point lead in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Gophers were able run to clock to secure the win.

Inside, it was a bit of a struggle for Fernstrom and Edwards but Taiye Bello finished with 9 points and 10 rebounds.

The Boilers, missing Lamina Cooper because of illness, played seven players. Minnesota played eight; although Brunson only played 2 minutes.

Notable stat: Bell and Hubbard each had 5 steals.

AND: Bell was fantastic tonight: 22 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 steals and 2 turnovers. She was tough to stop going to rim.

Minutes Played (Starters Bolded):

40 Bell
40 Hubbard
40 Pitts
31 Wagner
19 Edwards
14 Fernstrom
14 Taiye Bello
2 Brunson
 



Nice win for the Gophers, who controlled the pace in the first half and early in the second. Iggy is right...Bell was terrific. She was the catalyst. And Pitts came up big early. Hubbard with a good all-around game. Seems like the Boilers decided to key on Wagner. Bello also with a solid game. I thought Edwards and Fernstrom got too many minutes tonight and Bello should have had more....but then again I think that almost every game. Four straight home games coming for the Gophers, including 2 against ranked teams Michigan and Maryland. If the Gophers can beat PSU and then follow up with home wins against the Terps and the Wolverines, maybe they'll find themselves on the positive side of the bubble. Gritty win for the Gophs tonight on the road against a formidable team that had won three straight.
 

overpass said:
Wow thats a nice free throw advantage for a road game. Did the majority come before end of game fouling?
Click to expand...

There were a number of late fouls. However, the key fouls occurred about midway through the second quarter when McLaughlin and Harris picked up their second fouls and spent much of the rest of quarter on the bench. The Gophers took full advantage with a 13-4 run for a 47-40 half time lead.
 

https://purdue.rivals.com/news/purdue-minnesota-77

Post Game Quotes:


“The name of the game was their rebounding,” said Coach Sharon Versyp, whose team played without starter Lamina Cooper (illness) for the fourth time this season. “We knew they were going to be a big rebounding team, and they had 20 offensive boards. With that, we fouled them every time they got the ball (back) and they were always shooting free throws. We usually don’t put teams to the line 21 times. We’re usually (the ones) doing that.”


“We didn’t want to be down 16," said senior Andreona Keys, "but we knew they scored a lot of points and we had to play defense. We didn’t do that. If you don’t play defense, you have to outscore them and we didn’t.”


“We couldn’t score the ball,” Versyp said. “We were getting stuck and I don’t think we were sharing the basketball as well. It was kind of a dead end sometimes with certain individuals. (But the foul issue) doesn’t matter, we’ve had that situation before.”



“The 20 (offensive) boards for us paid big dividends in different ways,” Minnesota coach Marlene Stollings said. “We were able to go back up and score on some of those, and then late we were able to kick the ball back out to eat up a lot of the clock.

“Our clock management in the last 2:30 was really solid.”


“They were tougher than us, more physical,” Versyp said of the Gophers. “They didn’t wince one time. We did.”

"There's going to be a bottle neck, I believe, as we wind down here in Big Ten play," Stollings said. "There typically is. So that head-to-head tie becomes huge. That's something we talked about the last couple days with our team, in these single games when you come down and end up in a tie position, these become bigger and bigger.

"And this is a big RPI game for us, because Purdue is playing so well, with big victories of late. We knew from an RPI standpoint, this could be a big game for us. In terms of our NCAA Tournament goals, and I know they have the same, this was a big win."
 

When I checked last night, Gopher RPI bumped up to 47
 



We don't have the context, and it's possible that would clarify, but I'm a little troubled that Stollings doesn't seem to get RPI in those comments.
 

If the Gophers win 4 of their 5 last games of the season, it’s hard to see them getting left out of the tournament.

Charlie Creme hasn’t done a bracket update recently. When he does, I have a feeling Minnesota and Purdue will be sitting together in the “first four out” category. So if they win the games they are supposed to and have one more good win (Michigan or Maryland), that should be enough.

They could also just win the Big Ten tournament. They have the depth and conditioning to win three games in three days. Why not?
 

Shades, I agree with you...win 4 of the last 5 and it would be hard to keep them out of the NCAA tourney. Only road game is against an Illinois team that has struggled all year. PSU Sunday very winnable, although not a lock for a team that lost to San Diego. We can make our mark against two beatable ranked teams at home (Michigan and Maryland). Indiana here also beatable. Pedal to the metal time for our Gophers. I'm still irritated about the non-conference scheduling, but this team can still overcome that.
 

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